The Emotional Lives of Animals | Marc Bekoff

The Overpopulation Podcast

Animals feel deeply, and recognizing their emotions could transform how we treat them. Marc Bekoff, animal behavior expert and author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, joins us. Highlights include:

• How cognitive ethology helps us understand the minds and emotions of animals, and why this understanding is essential for improving their wellbeing;
• What is wrong with the traditional animal welfare approach and why Dr. Bekoff advocates for a science of animal well-being that values each individual animal’s life;
• Why human overpopulation exacerbates habitat destruction and the suffering of animals, stressing the need to reduce human impact on ecosystems;
• Why the language we use to describe animals, such as referring to them as “who” instead of “it,” plays a crucial role in shaping our perceptions and treatment of them.

See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:

https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/marc-bekoff

ABOUT US

OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast]

OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.

Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.

Learn more at populationbalance.org

Copyright 2025 Population Balance