Constantly Curious w/ Ed Yong

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Our Dogs Are Conduits To Appreciating the Natural World

About The Episode

Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist and author, Ed Yong, was in the midst of writing his latest book – An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal The Hidden Realms Around Us – when a corgi named Typo came into Ed Yong's life as his first dog. The book, about the vast differences in sensory experiences and capabilities found in other animals, turned out to be a perfect companion to learning alongside his pup. Raising Typo allowed Ed to reflect daily about what his own dog might be feeling, and how that in turn was different (or similar) from his own instincts.

Every creature perceives the world in its own unique way – and the way we feel it as humans is very different. That does not mean one way is right or wrong, or one less fulfilling than another. But what it does mean is that we live life in a kind of “sensory bubble” even when we do not feel like we're missing out on something. However, when we actively look for differences in ways that other animals sense the world, we can pop this “bubble” concept and imagine the natural world in new and exciting ways.

With dogs, they live in a world where smell reigns above all. Their noses are physically more receptive to different scents, and they have more physical capabilities to retain them. For example, humans only have a single airway for air going into our lungs. Smells pass through our nose on the way in, but then we lose those smells after we exhale. Dogs, on the other hand, have two different receptors for air – splitting their airway into one path for the lungs and one path to a chamber in their nose for smells, filled with thousands of neurons to help decipher scents, which prevents the scent from escaping when exhaling.

Ed loves leaning into these differences between us and dogs, between dogs and other animals, and between us and non-dog animals. Growing our sensory world perspective is an invaluable set of knowledge that we can use every day: to become more curious and empathetic by imagining the hidden natural worlds all around us. This way of thinking may lead us to feel more connected to and protective of our dogs, nature, and the planet.

About The Guest - Ed Yong

Ed Yong is a British-American science journalist who reports for The Atlantic magazine, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the pandemic. He has written two New York Times bestsellers: I Contain Multitudes, about the partnerships between animals and microbes, as well as the recent book An Immense World, which examines the sensory world of different animals. He is currently based in Washington D.C. with his corgi, Typo, and his wife.

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