Ted Audio Collective.

This archival episode of Design Matters originally dropped in January of 2023.

One of the things that is key, is central to the feeling of understanding and intimacy

and connection with somebody is that you can look at each other in the face. intimacy in faces. From the TED Audio Collective, this is Design Matters with Debbie Milman.

For 18 years, Debbie Milman has been talking with designers and other creative

people about what they do, how they got to be who they are and what they're thinking

about and working on. On this episode, Alexandra Horowitz tells us about her study of dogs and why we humans have trouble understanding them.

It's very hard for humans to imagine that animals are thinking if they're not thinking in words or pictures.

We feed them. We go on long walks with them. We groom them and rub their bellies. We even share our beds with

them. But do we really know who they are? Yes, they're dogs, but do we know what's going on between those two floppy ears?

Alexandra Horowitz knows a lot more than most people.

She is a professor at Barnard College where she teaches creative non-fiction

writing and audio storytelling. A senior research fellow she also runs the

Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard. She's also written some of the world's best

books about dog cognition. Her latest is The Year of the Puppy,

how dogs become themselves.

She's here to talk about the relationship between humans and our canine friends

and a bit about herself as well.

Alexander Harowitz, welcome to Design Matters.

It's a complete pleasure to be here.

Thanks, Debbie.

Alexandra, you were born in Philadelphia.

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