The Genius of Dogs #203

March 08, 2013

This episode was recorded when Science for the People was called Skeptically Speaking.

This week, we’re taking a look at man’s best friend through the lens of current research.  We’ll talk to Brian Hare, director of the Duke Canine Cognition Center and co-founder of Dognition, about his book The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think. Science writer Virginia Hughes breaks down the genetic history separating dogs from wolves. And author Deborah Blum explains why chocolate is so dangerous for our canine companions.

Guests:

  • Brian Hare
  • Virginia Hughes
  • Deborah Blum
Listen Now

Featured Book

The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think

Written by Brian Hare and Vanessa Hare

Book Blurb Find On Amazon

Other Episodes About Animals

What's wrong Colonel Sanders? Feeling chicken?

Give a cluck about chickens. The most popular meat actually has a 3,500 year history of cockfighting, backyard keeping, incubation invention, and a lot of scrambled eggs. And now, people are keeping... Read More

March 27, 2023

How birds go the distance

Birds carry out some of the most amazing feats of athleticism in the world. Hummingbirds cross the entire Gulf of Mexico, their tiny wings beating continuously for three days straight. A single... Read More

July 05, 2023

The Jewel Box

A lot of us learned basic ecology in primary school. Maybe we took a biology class in high school or secondary school and dug in a little more. We use terms like... Read More

July 31, 2023

Other Episodes About Evolution

This is not about dinosaurs

Most people know how the age of dinosaurs ended. An asteroid hit and all the dinosaurs died out. But it's never quite that simple. In her newest book, The Last Days of... Read More

April 25, 2022

This one really is about aliens

Do you believe there's something Out There? What do our ideas of aliens say about what life is, how life could look and act? And what does it say about us, about... Read More

May 09, 2023

How birds go the distance

Birds carry out some of the most amazing feats of athleticism in the world. Hummingbirds cross the entire Gulf of Mexico, their tiny wings beating continuously for three days straight. A single... Read More

July 05, 2023

Other Episodes About Genetics

With Genetic Knowledge Comes the Need for Counselling

This week we delve into genetic testing - for yourself and your future children. We speak with Jane Tiller, lawyer and genetic counsellor, about genetic tests that are available to the public,... Read More

March 22, 2019

Honey I CRISPR'd the Kids

This week we're coming to you from Awesome Con in Washington, D.C. There, host Bethany Brookshire led a panel of three amazing guests to talk about the promise and perils of CRISPR,... Read More

June 14, 2019

Do You Really Want to Find Out Who's Your Daddy?

At least some of you by now have probably spit into a tube and mailed it off to find out who your closest relatives are, where you might be from, and what... Read More

July 05, 2019

Other Episodes About Biology

Our Friend, the Wasp

Is there an insect more universally despised than the wasp? What have they done to incur so much of our ire? No one likes them. Well... almost no one. Seirian Sumner, Professor... Read More

May 25, 2023

How birds go the distance

Birds carry out some of the most amazing feats of athleticism in the world. Hummingbirds cross the entire Gulf of Mexico, their tiny wings beating continuously for three days straight. A single... Read More

July 05, 2023

The Jewel Box

A lot of us learned basic ecology in primary school. Maybe we took a biology class in high school or secondary school and dug in a little more. We use terms like... Read More

July 31, 2023

Other Episodes About Brains & Neuroscience

Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern

In "Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made us Modern", author Adam Rogers takes readers on a journey from prehistoric pigments to experiments working to make hues that exist only in... Read More

June 27, 2021

Tailoring your brain with science

Intent on improving your creativity or focus? Want to raise your IQ? What does that even mean? This week, we've got Emily Willingham back on the show to talk about tailoring the... Read More

January 31, 2022

Emotional Ignorance

On this week’s show, we’re getting emotional. Our guest, neuroscientist Dean Burnett, talks about his new book Emotional Ignorance. He shares how the experience of his father’s death during covid prompted him... Read More

January 16, 2023