About This Episode
Discover how Dr. Temple Grandin’s own autism helped her revolutionize animal welfare when she sits down with Neil deGrasse Tyson in his office at the Hayden Planetarium in NYC. Dr. Grandin, a leading voice in understanding autism, explains how autistic brains are different. Explore Temple’s style of photo-realistic thinking – “My mind thinks kind of like Google Images” – and her concerns about the “smart, geeky kids” at one end of the autism spectrum. In studio, Neil is joined by co-host Chuck Nice and Dr. Paul Wang of Autism Speaks, who describes searching for a cause among environmental risk factors and genetic vulnerabilities. You’ll also hear how Temple, a Professor of Animal Science at CSU, changed the way animals are treated in U.S. slaughterhouses, reducing discomfort and improving animal welfare. Learn about biological system overload and overbreeding in racehorses and dairy cows. Humane Society VP Paul Shapiro explains Temple’s far-ranging impact and debates veganism and cultured meat with resident steak lover Chuck. (Warning: Adult lyrics in music clips.)
NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Autism and Animal Science with Dr. Temple Grandin.