Listening in on Animals

Story+World: Changing Stories for a Changing World

Grace Miller joins UCLA Lab of Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) podcast producer Liv Slaby to discuss animal vocalizations, and why humans should listen. Drawing on her fieldwork across the Colombian Amazon, the Arctic Ocean, and the mangroves of Costa Rica, Miller walks listeners through the rich and often surprising world of bioacoustics—from fish that grunt and purr to complex beluga songs. Miller supplements her own experience and expertise by interviewing Todd Brinkman (wildlife ecologist), Kate Stafford (Associate Professor, Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute), Ben Sullender (spatial ecologist, Audubon Alaska), and Morgan Ziegenhorn (acoustic ecologist). The conversation explores what is gained when we decenter visuality in the ways that we understand the species around us, and what is lost when anthropogenic noise drowns out more-than-human soundscapes.