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Podcast: New Books in American Studies
Episode: Dawn Day Biehler, "Animating Central Park: A Multispecies History" (U Washington Press, 2024)
Description: From deer and beavers to âfree rangeâ pigs and goats in and around Seneca Village, what we now know as Central Park has long been home to an abundance of animals. In 1858, the city adopted the Greensward Plan and began the long process of reshaping the 843 acres of land into a park where everythingâfrom the trees to the trails to the inhabitantsâwould be meticulously planned to benefit New Yorkers and to promote the city as a global metropolis among the likes of London and Paris. But this vision of Central Park embodied white elite European values, and disagree...