From Teddy Bears to Talking Fish: Children’s Media and Animal Personhood with Cogen and Hope Bohanec

From Teddy Bears to Talking Fish: Children’s Media and Animal Personhood with Cogen and Hope Bohanec

From Hope for the Animals by Hope Bohanec

December 2, 2025 · 1h 6m · Episode 127

About this episode

Hope and Cogen discuss the portrayal of animal personhood in children's media and its impact on our perception of animals.

Hope’s husband, Cogen, returns to the show for a unique discussion on the portrayal of animal personhood in media. They delve into the evolution of children’s entertainment and examine the representation of animals as individual, intelligent persons. Cogen and Hope explore how the depiction of animal personhood in these films has shaped our perception of animals. From Mickey Mouse to Charlotte’s Web and the Muppets, they examine how we have come to empathize with animals and recognize their e...

People in this episode

Host: Hope Bohanec

Guest: Cogen

Topics covered

  • animal personhood
  • children's media
  • empathy towards animals
  • representation of animals
  • evolution of entertainment

Keywords

  • animal personhood
  • children's media
  • empathy
  • Mickey Mouse
  • Charlotte’s Web
  • Muppets
  • entertainment evolution

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Mickey Mouse, Charlotte’s Web, the Muppets

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