Well, this one is certainly a blast from the past! On this episode, we are extremely excited to welcome journalist and author, Amy Sutherland! Chris first met Amy 21 years ago (!) when she came to spend time with him and his classmates at Moorpark College's (then-named) Exotic Animal Training and Management Program (aka "EATM") to do research for what would become a book about the program (Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers). A few years later, this lead to a widely-acclaimed New York Times article about how Amy applied the animal training principles she'd learned to her husband, which shortly thereafter lead to another amazing book about the power of using good operant conditioning techniques with the fellow humans in our lives (What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers). We had a great time catching up with Amy to chat about what it was like getting a crash course in "our world," getting her perspective on the importance of what we do, and asking us some great questions about our hopes for the future of the field.

Shout outs in this episode: NEI's own, Steve Martin!

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com!

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This episode is brought to you by Magic Mind! To learn more about the world's first mental performance shot and get up to 48% off your first order, go to https://www.magicmind.com/tectalkpod and enter the code TECTALKPOD20 at checkout. Thanks, Magic Mind!

You know what they say: you send Chris and Ari an email, you end up on the podcast. We're super happy to welcome Jeremiah Shon from John Ball Zoo to the show! Jeremiah is a recent NEI workshop attendee who reached out to share some cool training stuff that he and his team have been doing with their birds recently, so we brought him on the show to talk about how they put together their "group training program," the process of getting buy-in from people at all levels, the importance of seeing ourselves as scientists, and the value of recognizing when an idea you created doesn't belong to you anymore.

Shout outs in this episode: Amy Fennell, Erin Moloney, Katelyn Ferringer, and Scott Trauger. Ya'll rock!

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com!

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This episode is brought to you by Magic Mind! To learn more about the world's first mental performance shot and get up to 48% off your first order, go to https://www.magicmind.com/tectalkpod and enter the code TECTALKPOD20 at checkout. Thanks, Magic Mind!

Our hosts dig into all forms of media - print, social, and electronic - to discuss the challenge of "cultures of silence" in the zoo field (which, we beg your pardon, involves us repeating a little salty language), and chat about some good advice about how positivity and leadership behaviors can help, courtesy of great recent articles in IAATE's publication The Flyer by NEI's own Amy Fennell and Ari Bailey!

If you have a suggestion for a question, topic, or guest you'd like to hear on a future episode of the show, let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com!

References:

Promoting Positivity in Animal Care: Thriving Amidst Challenges by Amy Fennell

Leadership for All! by Arianna Bailey - IAATE's The Flyer, Volume 31, Number 3, Summer 2024

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This episode is brought to you by Magic Mind! To learn more about the world's first mental performance shot and get up to 48% off your first order, go to https://www.magicmind.com/tectalkpod and enter the code TECTALKPOD20 at checkout. Thanks, Magic Mind!

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The TEC Talk Podcast is also proud to be sponsored by Audible.com! To support the show and get a free 30-day trial of everything Audible has to offer, visit http://www.audibletrial.com/tectalk- thanks Audible!