Exciting news, everyone. We’ve got a new one from Zoe Azulay, the talented Death, Sex & Money producer who brought you our Snake Guy episode and introduced us to Adonis Williams, the New York City mover with a gift for guiding city residents through life transitions.
And this week, Zoe brings us Jim Tierney, Pet Detective.
Zoe started work on this episode after a scary incident in her neighborhood dog park. One of the other dog owners was hit by a car while walking her dog, and while the dog owner was taken to the hospital and received care, the dog bolted. She was missing; the dog park group chat started worriedly buzzing.
Eventually, the pup was found five miles away, across a bridge in Brooklyn.
Zoe wondered about this dog’s solo adventure in the city, and that led her to the professionals like Jim who help panicked and worried New York City dog owners in similar straits. Jim is trained in pet tracking and takes us along as he tries to find dogs lost in the big, dangerous city.
Some of this episode feels like a mystery thriller, and other parts will make you want to give a big hug to all the people in your life who’ve been healed by an intimate relationship with an animal.
In particular, I loved hearing how Jim described how it felt when — after the Marine Reserves, a divorce, and getting sober — he stumbled into dog-walking for money:
Very, very, like, high vibration. Like, I felt very serene. I felt like I was around no drama. And I really just loved being with the dogs and building relationships with the families and the dogs. And it was very peaceful. I loved being outside. I loved that I was moving…And I think that came from grief. I think because of the sense of grief and loss of even an identity coming out of school. I wasn’t a student anymore. I didn’t have a wife anymore. All my friends were gone that I used to know. I was just kind of alone. And I think that had something to do with opening me up to something.
I was very glad to join the latest season of Try Hard, the podcast hosted by Alex Sujong Laughlin from Defector Media. I love this show’s message about trying out loud, and in this episode, Alex and I talked about my matrescence and experiences of early parenthood, and how, for me, it wasn’t until after I became a mother that I realized how much of my professional identity was fueled by earning permission to advance instead of… just trying to do stuff?
We also discuss the newsletter Ordinary Animals by Danielle M., where I got to answer this very thought-provoking questionnaire about motherhood.
And our episode about Jim Tierney, New York City pet detective, made me appreciate the people in my life who are most attuned to the needs and behavior of animals. Most especially, my husband Arthur. He’s a professor and wildlife ecologist, and before that, he was a boy who noticed, cared for, and learned to train animals.
For this week’s episode for Death, Sex & Money Plus listeners, I asked Arthur to tell me about attuning to the animals around us, the time he had to physically protect his dog on the streets of Manhattan, and his training philosophy for our new puppy, Lewis, and how it connects to parenting our children. “Whatever you’re doing in the formative period is what you’re going to need to live with in all its many forms over the arc of the whole relationship,” he tells me.
If you still want more puppy content after this, enjoy this romp from the other night:
As Arthur and I talked about animals for Death, Sex & Money Plus listeners, he reminded me of this lovely 2015 conversation between then-President Obama and Sir David Attenborough.
Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, on her 250th birthday wish for America: “I hope we outgrow our fascination with conflict entrepreneurs.”
“Fresh-faced and shiny-haired, Chynna, Carnie, and Wendy were the Platonic ideal of early-nineties girls next door. They were nothing like me, I felt. And yet, I found myself believing them, as they sang in high, sweet, clear voices about heartbreak and trust, about the power of self-reliance and letting go of old patterns.” The New Yorker’s Naomi Fry about the particular pleasure of being an early teen in the 1990’s when Wilson Phillips released “Hold On.”
I’m rooting for Chris, “just a dude who didn’t want to work in corporate anymore and is choosing life.” You can follow along at @chrischooseslife on Instagram.
Many, many people weighed in on the meaning and lessons of Graham Platner’s disastrous campaign failure—and the anger, betrayal, and disappointment left in its wake. I appreciated Sebastian Junger’s thoughtful, anguished assessment of the end of the Platner campaign.
Aubrey Plaza, very pregnant, popping Tums and talking trash and on the basketball court.
Until next week,
Anna
This newsletter is free to you, but let me urge you to support the Death, Sex & Money team by becoming a member of Death, Sex & Money Plus. What do you get? Ad-free listening and special member-exclusive podcast drops. Please join us at slate.com/dsmplus or through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
7/14 The Pet Detective
7/14 DSM Plus: A Chat With Anna’s Favorite Animal Trainer (Her Husband)
7/7 How Much Should You Spend on a Wedding?
6/30 Emmy-Winner Jeff Hiller Returns! Talking Bodies and Money in a Changing Hollywood
6/30 DSM Plus: Reading My Boyfriend’s ChatGPT History Led to Our Breakup
6/23 Was Dad Being a Creep? And Other Childhood Memories to Decipher
6/16 Spouses Peter Dinklage and Erica Schmidt on Bad Interviews, Fame, and Parenting
6/16: DSM Plus: This Meditation Will Help You Find the Courage to Open Up
6/9 Something Rotten at Stanford
6/2 DSM Plus: A Hands-On Retreat Where Men Learn to Flirt (and More)
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