How Queer Is The Animal Kingdom? with Eliot Schrefer

Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Sony Music

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Comedy, Education

4.9 • 21.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2022

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Were there same-sex couples on Noah’s Ark? Was Glee right that dolphins are just gay sharks? What’s a bonobo handshake?! Eliot Schrefer and Jonathan kick off our “Pride In Nature” series, running through June, with a conversation all about queer behaviors observed in animals. It’s “gay stuff” meets “why we need to ‘say gay’” stuff. You can follow Eliot on Twitter @eliotschrefer and on Instagram @schrefer. Visit him online at www.eliotschrefer.com, and make sure to check out his new book Queer Ducks (and Other Animals), out now! Eliot Schrefer is a New York Times bestselling author, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. His non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times and Discover magazine, and his novels include The Darkness Outside Us, Endangered, and the Lost Rainforest series. He is on the faculty of the Hamline University and Fairleigh Dickinson University MFA programs in creative writing, is getting a MA in Animal Studies at NYU, and reviews books for USA Today. Can't get enough of YA literature? Follow Epic Reads on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @EpicReads. Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Headshot Credit for Eliot Schrefer: Priya Patel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Getting Curious. I'm Jonathan Van Ness and every week I sit down for a gorgeous
0:06.1	Conversation with a brilliant expert to learn all about something that makes me curious on today's episode
0:12.7	I'm joined by Elliott Schrafer where I ask him how LGBTQIA plus is the animal kingdom
0:21.2	Welcome to getting curious as this Jonathan Van Ness on today's episode we are discussing two of my very favorite topics together
0:26.8	Gay stuff and animals on that note welcome to the show
0:31.1	Elliott Schrafer who is the New York Times best-selling author and a two time finalist for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature
0:39.6	His new book Queer Ducks and other animals the natural world of animal sexuality is
0:46.0	Everything and we're here to talk about it. So first of all welcome Elliott. How are you?
0:50.6	I am great. Thank you for having me on the show
0:53.2	I just have to say you are the most active listener. I've ever encountered so I just feel so grateful to get to spend time having you listen so actively to
1:01.4	Your animal behavior. Oh my god. That's a good nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. Thank you
1:05.8	So here's a thing. I remember when I was like
1:10.3	Maybe like six or seven seeing both like commercials and being like I
1:15.0	Am shivered in so many words
1:17.5	You don't like that like that oiled up male model honey. I was like who are you then I was like
1:23.2	You know wanting to like run up to the other boys on the playground and push them down
1:27.5	But like braid all the other girls hair and like be their best friend
1:30.4	Then I feel like you know not very much later on I started hearing about like
1:35.2	Gay and that that's like not a good thing that you don't want to be and I was like oh my god
1:39.4	And then one of the first things that people say when you're young is like well gay stuff couldn't be real or actual because it doesn't occur in nature
1:45.2	Like all the animals in nature all straight and that's just like widely accepted thing up in this country
1:50.6	But actually your scholarship
	...

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