Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From the Radiolab for Kids podcast: Dive into this tale of a saved whale that may have found a way to say thanks to its rescuers.
We start off in a cathedral full of animals — hermit crabs, parrots, hamsters, dogs, cats and bunnies — being blessed. We then wonder, do the animals feel grace? What do we really know about what goes on inside an animal’s mind? Do they also experience gratitude, despair or anger? How much emotionality do humans and animals share? And can we measure it?
We get the story of a rescued whale that may have found a way to say thanks to its rescuers. And then we speak to behavioral scientist Clive Wynne, and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard, Alexandra Horowitz, to decipher the whale’s behavior.
Episode Segments:
0:00 Intro
3:39 Animal Blessings
6:50 A Whale Of a Tale
18:02 Do Our Dogs Really Feel Guilt?
For more, read “Inside of a Dog” by Alexandra Horowitz — simonandschuster.com/books/Inside-of-a-Dog/Alexandra-Horowitz/9781416583431
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🌱 Listen to more Radiolab for Kids episodes on YouTube: bit.ly/3YCcOBE
🔎 Subscribe to Radiolab and Radiolab for Kids on YouTube: bit.ly/3I9KI53
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🌎 Radiolab for Kids features episodes about nature every other week. Sometimes these will be brand new Terrestrials episodes full of songs and silliness, sometimes they will be our very best, shiniest, furriest, family-friendliest Radiolab episodes about animals or plants or nature. You’ll always get a little hello from host Lulu Miller, and we hope that this feed will feel like a nature walk, a place you can show up and explore and always encounter something unexpected out there in the wilderness. You don’t have to be a kid to listen, just someone who likes to see the world anew.
Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by Kim Nowacki
From the Radiolab for Kids podcast: Dive into this tale of a saved whale that may have found a way to say thanks to its rescuers.
We start off in a cathedral full of animals — hermit crabs, parrots, hamsters, dogs, cats and bunnies — being blessed. We then wonder, do the animals feel grace? What do we really know about what goes on inside an animal’s mind? Do they also experience gratitude, despair or anger? How much emotionality do humans and animals share? And can we measure it?
We get the story of a rescued whale that may have found a way to say thanks to its rescuers. And then we speak to behavioral scientist Clive Wynne, and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard, Alexandra Horowitz, to decipher the whale’s behavior.
Episode Segments:
0:00 Intro
3:39 Animal Blessings
6:50 A Whale Of a Tale
18:02 Do Our Dogs Really Feel Guilt?
For more, read “Inside of a Dog” by Alexandra Horowitz — simonandschuster.com/books/Inside-of-a-Dog/Alexandra-Horowitz/9781416583431
🎧 Subscribe to Radiolab for Kids wherever you listen to podcasts: bit.ly/4cfL7BW
🌱 Listen to more Radiolab for Kids episodes on YouTube: bit.ly/3YCcOBE
🔎 Subscribe to Radiolab and Radiolab for Kids on YouTube: bit.ly/3I9KI53
👍 Like this video ✏️ and leave us a comment!
Follow Radiolab:
Instagram — instagram.com/radiolab
X (Twitter) — twitter.com/Radiolab
Facebook — facebook.com/Radiolab
Threads — threads.net/@radiolab
Our newsletter includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up here: radiolab.org/newsletter
Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab today: radiolab.org/the-lab
🌎 Radiolab for Kids features episodes about nature every other week. Sometimes these will be brand new Terrestrials episodes full of songs and silliness, sometimes they will be our very best, shiniest, furriest, family-friendliest Radiolab episodes about animals or plants or nature. You’ll always get a little hello from host Lulu Miller, and we hope that this feed will feel like a nature walk, a place you can show up and explore and always encounter something unexpected out there in the wilderness. You don’t have to be a kid to listen, just someone who likes to see the world anew.
Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by Kim Nowacki
