Podcasts

I was just thinking today, are there any good zoo podcasts out there about zoos future, what’s trending in zoos or really anything about zoos. If you know of any let me know.

 

I've been listening to "Off Exhibit" which is done by Maryland Zoo. I've enjoyed it. "Zookeeper stories" is also good but it focuses more on zookeepers and well, their stories. I also enjoy "Zoological Radio" which is done by Santa Babara Zoo.

 

I recommend the Taronga Talks podcast series which started earlier this year. It features a wide range of topics including their in situ conservation work.

Another Australian podcast I enjoy is ABC’s Off Track.

“Off Track, with Ann Jones, is an Australian radio show and podcast which combines the relaxing sounds of nature with awesome stories of wildlife and environmental science, all recorded in the outdoors”.

 

'Taronga Talks' with Haydn Turner is a favourite of mine, you get to 'meet' all of the vital people at Taronga and gives you a really good insight.

 

The Zoo Logic podcast by Dr. Grey Stafford and numerous others is one that I have listened to some episodes of and which I found interesting and enjoyable. They tackle a variety of zoo and animal conservation-related topics.

Zoo Logic

 

The Zoological Society of London has a series of podcasts; see the link below for details.

https://www.zsl.org/zsl-wild-science-podcast

 

Just went through the list of topics for each of these - this is a treasure trove. Thanks for introducing us to both!

 

I've listen to quite a lot of conservation / zoology / biology podcasts over the past year , but I haven't yet found any that were specifically related or focused on zoos that were any good. There was one zoo focused podcast that I attempted to listen to made by two keeper gals who work for some zoo in the USA but it was excruciatingly badly made and I gave up on it.

Here are a couple of general animal (and plant) related ones that I have enjoyed:

• All Creatures Podcast- weekly animal conservation discussions - Very good and especially the episodes where they interview conservationists working around the world. I really respect what they do (from what I gather they have both worked in zoos and are big supporters of ex-situ conservation) although the chatter and tangents can really grate on my nerves a little.
• Species podcast - Very good and entertaining accounts of species and explaining of scientific literature on these in plain language without all the unnecessary pretentious academic jargon. I discovered this podcast through wanting to find out more information on the potto and wasn't at all disappointed as I actually learned some interesting facts about that species from listening.
  
• The Common Descent Podcast - Very entertaining podcast on paleontology that has really helped improve my knowledge about evolutionary history.
  
• Escape The Zoo • A podcast on Anchor - Interesting podcast with interviews with conservationists but a little boring in parts and the host can be a little too repetitive for my liking.
• Podcast — In Defense of Plants - Excellent podcast on plants/ botany. Lets be honest , generally we all have a little bit of "plant blindness" and its refreshing to learn more about the plants and fungi that also comprise the natural world.

 

Here are two animal and environment-related podcasts that I have taken a liking to:

"SciShow Tangents" is hosted by Hank Green, Ceri Riley, Sam Schultz and Stefan Chin who are part of team behind the science YouTube channels SciShow and CrashCourse. It is a science podcast coming out every Tuesday discussing a variety of science-related topics in an organized format. A lot of the episodes talk about animals and zoology or mention animals in some form.

A little warning though: the hosts do use vulgar language sometimes and it does sometimes contain adult/vulgar references or jokes.
SciShow Tangents : Episodes | WNYC Studios | Podcasts

"The Anthropocene Reviewed" is a monthly podcast done by Hank Green's brother John Green, in which he "reviews facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale". Some of his topics include animals and environmental matters. For example he has episodes on the Canada goose and the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō.
The Anthropocene Reviewed : Episodes | WNYC Studios | Podcasts

 

The Toronto Zoo has one called Wild for Life which I really enjoy.

 

Recently I have discovered two more animal podcasts that I really enjoy.

The first is "Just the Zoo of Us" by Christian and Ellen Weatherford. This weekly podcast's basic concept is to review animal species and rate them out of ten in the categories of effectiveness (physical adaptations), ingenuity (behavioral adaptations) and aesthetics (self-explanatory). The Weatherfords also do regular guest episodes where they talk to experts about a certain species or group of species. They also somewhat regularly mention and show appreciation for zoological institutions.

Just the Zoo of Us
Just the Zoo of Us • A podcast on Anchor

The second is "Life, Death and Taxonomy" by Joe Raspolich and Carlos Rivera. The baseline for this also weekly podcast is "Your thirty minutes of interesting animal info".

Life, Death, and Taxonomy - Your Thirty Minutes of Interesting Animal Info!

 

That ZSL is a great podcast however it's a bit more conservation based than zoo based for my taste. Tagging along for any other good recommendations.