Month: December 2024

Tribal leaders are heading to Washington, D.C. for President Joe Biden’s last White House Tribal Nations Summit. The gathering is touted as a chance for tribal representatives to interact with Administration officials and gauge progress and hurdles when it comes to the federal government’s trust responsibility. The future of the regular meetings with the executive branch is uncertain. In his previous term, President Donald Trump chose not to convene regular meetings with tribes. We’ll get a preview of the upcoming summit and assess the potential for future interactions with the White House.

In Lexicat part 1, we met the author Mary Robinette Kowal and her cat Elsie, and learned about how they communicate via a set of buttons programmed with words. In part 2, two talking dogs, Bastian and Parker - and their humans, Joelle Andres and Sascha Crasnow - join us too, and explain how they discovered some very unexpected things about what their animal companions are thinking and feeling thanks to the buttons, and how they changed the ways they communicate with other humans too. And animal behaviour expert Zazie Todd gives us some tips for interpreting cats’ and dogs’ body language.

Find out more about the episode and read the transcript at theallusionist.org/lexicat2. 

Content note: this episode contains mentions of Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and death - human and animal death. But no descriptions of death.

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This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with music and production assistance from Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com. Find @allusionistshow on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, etc.

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