We're deep into the dog days of summer. But what does that even mean? Regardless of how overheated your pet may be feeling lately, the expression actually comes from the fact that during this timeframe, the sun occupies the same part of the sky as Sirius (the dog star) and Canis Major (the greater dog). But instead of focusing on outer space in this month's feature, let's dig into the archives to bring you a much more grounding selection of episodes about dogs and other animals.

Our most recent foray into the animal kingdom happened last summer, when Josh and Ray discussed the ethics of owning dogs and other pets with Gary Varner from Texas A&M University, author of Personhood, Ethics, and Animal Cognition. Then a few years earlier, Josh and Ken got down to brass tacks about the rights of nunhuman animals with Steven Wise, Founder and President of the Nonhuman Rights Project. Of course, animal rights and the ethical treatment of animals often rest on assumptions about animals' moral lives, which John and Ken explored in 2013 with Mark Rowlands from the University of Miami, author of Can Animals Be Moral? Those discussions are in turn often informed by what psychologists have learned about the mental lives of animals, including Colin Allen from the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior at Indiana University, who joined John and Ken back in 2007 for an episode on Animal Minds. This month's set is rounded out by a captivating 2014 episode with renowned animal ethicist Lori Gruen from Wesleyan University, editor of The Ethics of Captivity.

Grab a cool beverage — for you and your pet — and enjoy these episodes from the archive!