Barbara J. King
is a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. She is a Chancellor Professor of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary. With a long-standing research interest in primate behavior and human evolution, King has studied baboon foraging in Kenya and gorilla and bonobo communication at captive facilities in the United States.
Recently, she has taken up writing about animal emotion and cognition more broadly, including in bison, farm animals, elephants and domestic pets, as well as primates.
King's most recent book is How Animals Grieve (University of Chicago Press, 2013). Her article "When Animals Mourn" in the July 2013 Scientific American has been chosen for inclusion in the 2014 anthology The Best American Science and Nature Writing. King reviews non-fiction for the Times Literary Supplement(London) and is at work on a new book about the choices we make in eating other animals. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work in 2002.
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When was the last time you got really excited by good science depicted in a movie? Anthropologist Barbara J. King joined scientists last week in helping producers make more accurate TV and movies.
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Empathy for people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder can come about by reading first-person accounts and by knowing the facts from science, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
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When it comes to finding and preparing food, we're a continually inventive species. Anthropologist Barbara J. King asks: What are the food trends of the future?
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A storm of this magnitude affects many animals. Uplifting videos show people rescuing all kinds of animals from Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
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From new discoveries in human evolution in South Africa and California emerge fierce and welcome scientific debates, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
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As Minor League Baseball teams take the field this summer, cowboy monkey rodeos shouldn't be invited along as "entertainment," says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
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Anthropologist Barbara J. King explores links between global warming and migratory bird behavior as new research on white storks reveals some are wintering closer to home.
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Barbara J. King, a professor emerita of anthropology at William and Mary, discusses whether Neanderthals had "religious capacity."
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Octopus behavior has captivated scientists and animal lovers alike; now, eating these animals alive is catching on in some U.S. restaurants, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
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Would compassion be your first response if you survived a shark or bear attack? Anthropologist Barbara J. King hopes her answer would be "yes."