Horses, Cats, and Chickens: Animal Power and Us

Now & Then

Vox Media Podcast Network

History, Society & Culture, News Commentary, News

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How have animals influenced the American economy over the course of the nation’s history? And why have we seen such a sizable pandemic pet boom? Heather and Joanne discuss three moments where animals shaped national culture and financial health: the rise of the frontier cat in the mid-1800s, the decline of the urban horse in the early 1900s, and the brief craze in backyard chicken coops that accompanied both World Wars. Now & Then has won the inaugural Signal Award for Best History Podcast! Thank you so much for voting for us! Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. Head to: cafe.com/history For more historical analysis of current events, sign up for the free weekly CAFE Brief newsletter, featuring Time Machine, a weekly article that dives into an historical event inspired by each episode of Now & Then: cafe.com/brief For references & supplemental materials, head to: cafe.com/now-and-then/horses-cats-and-chickens-animal-power-and-us/ Now & Then is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So Bella brings me the post and I'm like, oh no, this won't be good. I mean, it's a vet's bill.
0:07.5	But then I remember many pets pet insurance. My complete policy covers Bella for up to £15,000 of vet fees.
0:16.0	And breathe.
0:19.6	Ensure your happiness with many pets pet insurance.
0:24.4	Get a quote at minipets.com.
0:28.4	Contitions and exclusions apply.
0:40.4	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, this is now and then. I'm Heather Cox Richardson
0:47.1	and I'm Joanne Freeman. Today we're going to talk about a topic that I'm guessing many people
0:53.5	listening have some connection to possibly because of the pandemic and the topic is pets.
1:01.4	In some ways, given the pandemic, we've seen a shift in the way people are interacting with pets,
1:10.3	the percentage of people who have pets. So the last three years have brought what some people
1:16.0	are calling a pandemic pet boom. Apparently more than 23 million American households, nearly one in
1:24.4	five nationwide, adopted a pet during the pandemic, according to the ASPCA, the American Society for
1:31.6	the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. And I am one of them. I have my barricade, Nubi, the history
1:37.4	bird who I got towards the beginning of the pandemic. I did not realize Nubi was a pandemic bird.
1:43.0	Nubi was a pandemic bird, but he was a rescue pandemic bird. He was found in Central Park
1:48.4	first September of the pandemic. Who knew? I feel like he's been with us forever.
1:53.2	Because he's part of the gang. That's right. At any rate, pets are a thing that many people have
1:58.1	been thinking about, particularly me, ways in which people have owned animals and treated them as
2:04.5	pets or not treated them as pets. And what that suggests about how we see ourselves, how we see
2:10.7	society and how we think about economics. And that always surprises me because when you and I
2:16.2	talk so much on this show about democracy and about the ways in which democracy intersects with
	...

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