About this episode
Elizabeth Preston discusses animal caregiving and its reflections on human parenting in her new book.
A blue whale mother that fasts for months while her calf puts on close to 250 pounds a day. A male hamster who acts as a midwife while his partner gives birth. Healthy bird parents that lurch along the ground, feigning injury to keep predators away from their nest. These are some of the remarkable examples of animal caregiving that science journalist Elizabeth Preston says can hold up “uncanny mirrors to the human experience and the puzzle of why and how we’ve evolved to pour our resources into our children.” We talk to Preston about her new book, “The Creatures’ Guide to Caring.” What have you noticed about the animal caregivers around you? Guests: Elizabeth Preston, science journalist; author, "The Creatures' Guide to Caring: How Animal Parents Teach Us That Humans Were Born to Care" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Guest: Elizabeth Preston
Topics covered
- animal caregiving
- human experience
- evolution
- parenting
- science journalism
Keywords
- animal caregiving
- human evolution
- parenting
- science
- Elizabeth Preston
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Creatures' Guide to Caring
More episodes of KQED's Forum
- Deb Haaland on the Future of Native Leadership · June 12, 2026 · 52 min
- Olé, Olé, Olé! Expat Communities Celebrate World Cup Teams Playing in the Bay Area · June 12, 2026 · 52 min
- What Our Faces Reveal About Us · June 11, 2026 · 52 min
- What AI's Huge IPOs Will Mean for Housing Affordability in the Bay Area · June 11, 2026 · 55 min
- Ben Rhodes on the Speeches That Shaped America · June 10, 2026 · 55 min
- Trump Administration Shovels $75 million into Controversial Oakland Coal Terminal · June 10, 2026 · 55 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the KQED's Forum podcast page.