DOG TALK® (and Kitties Too!) on 
DOG TALK® features Tracie's interviews with authors, pet experts and animal welfare advocates from around the world, discussing practical and philosophical issues regarding our relationships with dogs, cats, other pets, wildlife and the natural world.
The show broadcasts from WLIW FM 88.3 in Southampton, the only NPR station on Long Island, reaching from the East End across Long Island into Southern Connecticut and Westchester.
The show’s theme song is “Mmm My Best Friend” by Sophie B. Hawkins from her album TIMBRE.
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Bearing Witness to How Animals Enter Our Food Supply
#935B: Investigative journalist Gail Eisnitz talks about her new memoir “Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator's Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival,” which is an expose of how inhumanely animals are slaughtered and the health consequences to people doing the slaughter as well as to consumers, suggesting that supporting the Humane Farming Association (https://www.hfa.org/) is one way to raise your voice for a better system.
It’s Not Your Lab’s Fault (or Yours!) That He’s Fat!
#935A: Dr. Eleanor Raffan [Assistant Professor in Systems Physiology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge] has made a breakthrough discovery of the gene in Labrador Retrievers that makes them insatiable and drives them to overeat, confirmed with her “Sausage in a Box Test.”
Octopuses and Other Animals with Magnificent Minds
#934B: Christina Couch wrote “Innovative Octopuses, Half-Brained Birds, and More Animals With Magnificent Minds” for MIT Kids Press, specifically for geeky kids like she says she once was herself — although curious adults will equally love learning about the brains of many non-human creatures.
Unbelievable! A Pet Food Company That Gives Away Every Penny of Their Profits?!
#934A: Janet Scott explains how she and her husband, Jim, founded the renowned pet food company Wellness, which they had to walk away from, but were able to re-emerge with a new super premium high meat pet food — RAWZ — which astoundingly gives 100% of their profits to non-profit dog organizations with a total donated so far of $33.75 million.
Guess What? You're Actually Clueless About What Your Dog is Feeling!
#933B: Holly Molinaro talks about having just received her PhD from Arizona State University, at the Canine Science Collaboratory, where she studied dog owners’ perception (and misperception) of dog feelings and body language.
Losing His Dog Broke His Heart
#933A: Renowned New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss talks about his book “You Can Never Die - a Graphic Memoir,” which celebrates his 17-year love of his dog Penny — often-depicted in his drawings — discussing his deep grief over her death in the context of his complex, fascinating life, seen in magnificently drawn and hand-written journal entries in the book.
Do Free-roaming Dogs Have a Better Life?
#932B: Harry Eckman, internationally known animal welfare advocate, discusses population control of dogs and acts worldwide to protect them and the people they live amongst.
A Gratitude Journal for You & Your Dog
#932A: Kyra Sundance’s updated book “The Dog Tricks & Training Workbook: a Step-by-Step Interactive Curriculum to Engage, Challenge and Bond with Your Dog” shows us all the things we could do for fun with our dogs, as well as point out all we have to be grateful for.
Words Matter: Don’t Just Tell Someone Their Pet is “Fat”!
#931B: Dr. Ernie Ward’s own non-profit — the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) discusses the importance of using non-shaming vocabulary when speaking about overweight pets; and that veterinarians unconsciously have a bias (as do doctors in human medicine) towards patients that “have obesity” — which is a clinical condition requiring medical intervention.
The Horrors of the “American XL Bully Breed”
#931A: Annie Phenix (author of Positive Training for Reactive & Aggressive Dogs) discusses the horrible phenomenon in England of dogs with the moniker American XL Bully (a “breed’ not recognized as such in the U.S.), a type of dog which is now banned in the UK because of maulings of people by these massive powerful dog.