10/21/10 Thursday

Stories about the animalness of animals, the irreducible ways in which they are not human.

Samantha Martin trains raccoons to play basketball and rats to bowl. She says that what we want from animals is for them to imitate humans. (5 minutes)

Act One. Food Chain In A New York Apartment.

Paul Tough visits Catherine Chalmers. She raises small animals and insects in her apartment, feeds them to each other, and photographs them eating each other. (20 minutes)

Song: "Insect Collector", Shonen Knife

Act Two. More Animals Eating Other Animals.

An original radio drama called "Kathleen on the Carpet," in which animals talk and hold their own "animal court." It's a comedy by David Sedaris, starring our own radio theater company, the Pinetree Gang. (14 minutes)

Song: "Rocky Raccoon", Lena Horne

Act Three. The Moment Humans Stopped Being Animals.

Anthropologists agree that humans stopped being animals when they started walking upright, on two legs. But scientists don't agree on why our ancestors did this. Ten years ago, Scott Carrier decided to do his own research on the subject. Scott is the author of Running After Antelope. (13 minutes)

Song: "I Wanna Be Like You", Disney's The Jungle Book

Carrier, Scott. Running After Antelope. Washington, D.C. Counterpoint, 2001.

Chalmers, Catherine. Food Chain: Encounters Between Between Mates, Predators and Prey. Aperture. 2000.