S9E2: Modernity with Erica Hill and Susan Nance

Erica Hill and Susan Nance join Claudia on the show to discuss “modernity.” They discuss what this relatively messy shorthand means for history and for understanding human–animal relations. They try to unpack what is meant by modernity and touch on everything from industrialisation to concealment and consumption.   Topics Covered:  Animal History, the journal that tries to understand animals as historical subjects  Using animal welfare science to interpret historical animals’ behaviour Zooarchaeology, domestication, and deep-time shifts that complicate ideas of modernity  Concealment and the contradictions of animal use  Intensification and standardisation  Celebrity animals and hidden populations   Animal Highlight: Bears in Kingston, Ontario Date Recorded: 27 April 2026 Erica Hill is President's Arctic Professor at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Alaska. She is an archaeologist with broad research interests in how humans and animals lived together in the past. She has published extensively on Indigenous human engagement with marine mammals in the North Pacific and has worked in Iceland, Peru, and the US Southwest. Her most recent edited volume is Reimagining Human–Animal Relations in the Circumpolar North (2024) with Peter Whitridge.  Susan Nance is Professor of History and affiliated faculty with the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She is the author of various books and articles, including Rodeo: An Animal History (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020) and Animals in Nineteenth Century America: A History in Documents (Broadview Press, 2026). Susan is also Co-Lead Editor at Animal History, the first scholarly journal dedicated to the histories of animal life and human-animal relationships. Her current research documents the nature and scope of the trade in biologically-wild animals in the 20th century United States through a study of Las Vegas. https://susannance.com/  Featured:  Animal History Rodeo: An Animal History by Susan Nance The Historical Animal by Susan Nance Reimagining Human-Animal Relations in the Circumpolar North edited by Peter Whitridge and Erica Hill Ordinary Cities: Between Modernity and Development by Jennifer Robinson  What Is Animal Prehistory? by Shumon T. Hussain Man and the Natural World by Kieth Thomas Hundreds trying to storm Wisconsin beagle research facility on the CNN The Animal Turn is part of the  iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, LinkedIn,Blue Sky, and Instagram Credits: Sponsor: Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) Guests: Susan Nance and Erica Hill Host: Claudia Hirtenfelder Editing and Production: Claudia Hirtenfelder Episode Artwork: Rebecca Shen Content Creation and Support: Herre de Bondt and Carlo Salzani Technical Support: Christiaan Mentz Animal Highlight: Stones Walking Tour Sound Effects: BBC Sound Effects; Epidemic Sound Bed Music: Gordon Clarke Logo: Jeremy John A.P.P.L.E Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the  iROAR Network. Learn more on our website.