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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Black Dogs Deserve Love and Happy Homes, Too
#928B: Fred Levy wrote and took the photos for his book “Black Dogs - Stories of Love and Friendship,” because of the “black dog syndrome” at shelters — where they get overlooked and euthanized at a higher rate — and explains why it is hard to photograph a black dog.
Are "Button-Pushing" Dogs Really "Saying" Anything?
#928A: Federico Rossano — Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at UCSD — conducted an international study of people using the "buttons" to communicate with their dogs — and took a lot of professional flak for doing the study, and the conclusion that the dogs do seem to be "saying" something, despite Tracie's unwavering skepticism about the whole concept!
Is Your Dog Happy? How Do You Know?
#926B: Emma Grigg — who is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, focused on Companion Animal Behavior and Comparative Biomedical Sciences — discusses her book “The Science Behind a Happy Dog.”
An Explorer's Guide to the World’s Living Wonders
#927A: Cara Giaimo discusses her book “Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World’s Living Wonders” and how she managed to collect such a cornucopia of information and beautiful images about flora and fauna around the world.
Furlanthropy Helps You Raise Money for Veterinary Costs
#926B: Adam Spencer explains how www.Furlanthropy.org is the first not-for-profit platform for crowd funding to help with veterinary costs, eliminating fake appeals, making sure it is a legitimate fundraiser so the money raised goes directly to the vet, and providing charitable tax receipts for donors.
Who Loves Cats More? Americans or the Japanese?
#926A: Kristyn Vitale (of www.maueyes.com, Cat Behavior, Science & Training) has been studying cat sociability — how much is influenced by how social the humans are towards the cats?
Darwin’s Dogs...and Cats
#925B: Elinor Karlsson (who holds the Chair in Biomedical Research Genomics and Computational Biology at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and is Director of Vertebrate Genomics at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT) talks about her big "citizen science" project called Darwin’s Dogs — with Darwin's Cats soon to follow.
"Itching to Love" from NPR Story Teller
#925A: Shelley Fraser Mickle's memoir “Itching to Love” explores why she and her dog developed such a deep bond.
To Make Rescue Successful “Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak”
#924B: Michael Schneider founded and flies the plane for Pilots to the Rescue, flying dogs and cats to new homes, along with social media influencers onboard to keep “telling the story” because keeping a nonprofit financially healthy depends on engaging with an audience — “Sell the sizzle, not the steak” as his father taught him and he hopes shelters will do.
Toxic Masculinity at the End of the Leash
#924A: Annie Phenix, author of “Positive Training for Aggressive and Reactive Dogs” discusses dangerous dogs bred for aggression, who are then encouraged on that path by dangerous owners, like the college professor who wrote a book unapologetically describing how he used his students to practice his obedience skills with his vicious German Shepherd who wanted to “attack to kill.”