Why Do Animals Like to Play?
In his new book, “Kingdom of Play,” science writer and professor David Toomey set out to answer this question.
April 3, 2024
55 min
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2,253 of 3,393
April 3, 2024
Why Do Animals Like to Play?
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Episode 2,253 of 3,393 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
Why Do Animals Like to Play?
Summary
Why do monkeys belly flop, elephants mud-slide and rats play-fight? In his new book, “Kingdom of Play,” science writer and professor David Toomey set out to answer these questions. It’s an area of study that hasn’t gotten much attention, and Toomey dives into animal behavioral research looking at the neuroscience, and even dream study, behind it all. We’ll talk to Toomey and learn about what animal play can tell us about our own human behavior. And we hear from you: What animal play have you observed and have had questions about?
Guests:
David Toomey, author, “Kingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself"; english professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst - his other books include “Weird Life” and “The New Time Travelers.”
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