Episode

The surprising reason people name their cars

Podcast
Think from KERA
Published
Jun 26, 2026
Duration seconds
2737
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_140_cd5d0a94-ed33-4f5d-bce3-8e25e3defddb&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F140%2Ffeed-rss.xml
Audio
https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/140/cd5d0a94-ed33-4f5d-bce3-8e25e3defddb/standard__2_.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/think-from-kera-875208/episodes/the-surprising-reason-people-name-their-cars
Markdown
/podcast/think-from-kera-875208/the-surprising-reason-people-name-their-cars.md

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Summary

From our little fur babies to “Herbie” the car, we imbue the world around us with wonderous human-like qualities. Justin Gregg is senior research associate with the Dolphin Communication Project and an adjunct professor at St. Francis Xavier University, where he lectures on animal behavior and cognition. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the benefits of anthropomorphism and the detriments of its polar opposite dehumanization. Plus, we’ll be introduced to a wide world where we love to see animals and objects as reflections of ourselves. His book is “ Humanish: What Talking to Your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals About the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize .” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices