23. Interspecies ~ a language between us?

“Long ago when animals could speak …”. In this episode we explore the boundary lines between non-human species and ourselves, boundary lines that many indigenous peoples - and our ancestors - did not see, and the ability, or not for communication to pass across that boundary. Today, for western society, it is only in children’s novels that animals can speak and be heard.

So much is invested by animals in the biology of communication and we can teach creatures about human communication but is it inconceivable that they have an ability to speak to us in their form? In maintaining scientific distance do we only allowed artists and musicians to show us that other species have ‘language’ and we should not treat the non-human as less than ourselves?

 

THEME MUSIC BY DAVID ROTHENBERG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY KIND PERMISSION OF THE ARTIST http://www.davidrothenberg.net 

TOGETHER WITH ADDITIONAL MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE BY DAVID ROTHENBERG

Some of the ideas and references we make in this podcast can be found here:

Sitting Bull https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitting_Bull 
Tales from Ovid - Ted Hughes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_Ovid 
Chaser - border collie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaser_(dog) 
Kanzi - bonobo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzi 
Raven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven
Greater Honeyguide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_honeyguide
Red-tailed Hawk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_hawk 
Watership Down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down 
The Jungle Book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle_Book 
The Chronicles of Narnia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia 
John Masefield https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Masefield
Sperm Whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_whale 
Orca or Killer Whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale 
Blue Whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale 
Corky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corky_(killer_whale) 
David Rothenberg http://www.davidrothenberg.net
Thousand Mile Song https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/07/scienceandnature
Birds Why Birds Sing https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/dec/10/featuresreviews.guardianreview5 
Bug Music https://www.bugmusicbook.com 
Eisteddfod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisteddfod 
Jim Nollman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Nollman 
Dolphin Dreamtime http://www.doyletics.com/_arj1/dolphind.htm 
Kamchatka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsula 
Henry Beston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Beston 
Tree networks https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/ 
Plants and sound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_bioacoustics 
Himalayan Balsam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens_glandulifera 
David Abram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Abram
Becoming Animal https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318/becoming-animal-by-david-abram/ 
Prince Charles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles,_Prince_of_Wales 
Real Magic - Dean Radin https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/551604/real-magic-by-dean-radin-phd/ 
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids 
Evelyn Glennie https://www.evelyn.co.uk 
Monica Gagliano https://www.monicagagliano.com 
Plant Consciousness https://www.plantconsciousness.com 
Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal World - Stephen Harrod Buhner https://www.stephenharrodbuhner.com/about/ 
Kurukindi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ77sYSqD6o