Episode 35 - Witnessing the Lives and Deaths of Animals Among Us

Our lives interconnect closely with the lives of animals. From the raven to the honey badger to the snake to the fox, we live in relationship with the animals, our neighbours and creaturely kin. When the convenience of our modern life causes animals great violence and harm, many of us are deeply affected, even heartbroken, and many of us privately seek ways to grapple with and grieve the cycle of life and death in a society that largely disregards animal life.      

Guest Dr. Amanda Stronza discusses her poetic animal memorials that resonate with tens of thousands of people, because they bring beauty to the deaths of the animals who live among us. Amanda is an environmental anthropologist who studies human relationships with animals, with 30 years’ of field research, conservation, advocacy, writing, teaching, photography, and documentary film. Her experience is mostly in the Amazon regions of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, though it is closer to home in Austin, Texas, that she creates and shares her powerful animal memorials.

From the deaths of the animals closest to us to the miraculous appearances of living herons and snapping turtles, this conversation invites us to pay attention and bear witness to animals, and to see their deaths in a way that honours animal life while also redeeming us – the human animal.