February 1, 2023

EP. 302 — Why Are We So Obsessed With Dogs? with Dr. maythe han

Dogs. We give them prime placement on our dating profiles. We snuggle up with them to watch TV. We pamper them with treats and toys and songs. But how—and why—did we become BFFs with canines? And what does our love for dogs say about us? This week, anthrozoologist Dr. maythe han and her dog Frank join Jonathan to explore this special bond between humans and dogs.

 

maythe han is an anthrozoologist of more-than-human kinship with dogs. Addressing the question ‘how can we live a good life together?’, her research foregrounds embodied imagination and creativity in exploring how dogs and their humans become-with one another. She uses art and music to understand and communicate the ways in which dogs and their humans co-produce and re-produce systems, structures, and sensibilities involved in multispecies experiences and environments. She lives with her border collie, Frank, who is a very good boy.

 

You can follow maythe on Instagram and Mastodon @odetodogs for her artwork, on Twitter @maythehan, and at maythehan.com. And make sure to check out her gorgeous custom animal portraits—she’s taking commissions!

 

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation.

 

Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.

 

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

 

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.

 

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Transcript

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness & maythe han  JVN [00:00:00] Welcome to Getting Curious—or bienvenidos a Getting Curious! I’m Jonathan Van Ness and every week I sit down for a gorgeous conversation with a brilliant expert to learn all about something that makes me curious. On today’s episode, I’m joined by maythe han, where I ask her, why are we so obsessed with dogs? Especially my three. Because they’re so perfect! Welcome to Getting Curious. I’m so excited for today’s episode because it is about one of my very favorite topics in the world. [FRANK BARKS] Dogs! It’s perfect. Literally dogs. I was about to say, and not Michelle Kwan. It is about dogs, honey. I have a household full of cats and dogs, five cats, three dogs. And if you know anything about me, you know that it’s: I have just an unconditional love and obsession with kittens and puppers. I’ve learned so much about them from our episodes on cat and dog behavior an

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