Susan McCarthy is a San Francisco freelance writer and the author, with Jeffrey Masson, of "When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals."

Susan McCarthy's Salon stories

Saturday, Jan 5, 2008 05:39 PST

Tigers don't belong in zoos

But where can the big cats go? The deadly mauling in San Francisco underscores the paradox of zoos today.
Monday, Jan 27, 2003 12:02 PST

Move over, Dr. Phil!

Dr. Tatiana mostly offers advice on banana slug penis problems and sponge louse jealousy, but we can all gain from her sexual wisdom.
Friday, Sep 6, 2002 12:28 PDT

Classroom karaoke

If California schools keep the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, there will be kids like I was, who will remain silent, move their lips and hope that patriotic peers don't catch them.
Monday, Jul 22, 2002 12:31 PDT

Sometimes a snake orgy is just a snake orgy

A new book examines what we can and can't learn about sex from watching bonobos, birds and earwigs.
Wednesday, May 8, 2002 12:38 PDT

Don't call me a sexpert

Cynthia Heimel made her name by giving girls hilarious tips about blow jobs. Now she says she can't escape her own rep.
Thursday, Aug 23, 2001 12:00 PDT

How to say you're sorry: A refresher course

These days, apologies are everywhere in the national and international news. Yet few nations or individuals know how to make one.
Wednesday, Apr 4, 2001 17:00 PDT

New team names spell victory!

Today the sports moniker game's not about identification, it's about intimidation. Just ask the Raging Drag Queens, the Syphilitic White Missionaries or the Declining Test Scores.
Wednesday, Nov 29, 2000 12:04 PST

Reefer monkey madness

Researchers persuade simians to get themselves stoned -- and say it helps prove that dope is addictive.
Monday, Nov 6, 2000 11:29 PST

Grease rustlers

Black-market bandits have their eyes on that vat of used frying oil in the alley behind your local greasy spoon.
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2000 12:00 PDT

In sickness and in hell

Before you marry, find out if the two of you are compatible when you are ill. It could save you years of anguish.
Tuesday, Jun 27, 2000 12:14 PDT

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Her books on dogs have made her a bestselling author, but her fascinating life as a writer began over 40 years ago in the Kalahari Desert.
Thursday, May 4, 2000 09:00 PDT

Eating germs

Our semi-sterile lives may be too much of a good thing. Now scientists are inventing "dirty" therapies to remedy our dangerous cleanliness. Second of two parts.
Wednesday, May 3, 2000 09:00 PDT

Talking dirty

Bring on the germs. Too much cleanliness may be making some people sick. First of two parts.
Thursday, Mar 30, 2000 09:00 PST

On immortality

You might want to live forever, but should Hitler?
Thursday, Mar 2, 2000 09:00 PST

The truth about the polygraph

It's junk science, but proponents say it can be a useful tool in interrogations, and even a deterrent.
Thursday, Mar 2, 2000 09:00 PST

Passing the polygraph

Professional criminals are the ones most likely to beat the lie detector.
Friday, Feb 4, 2000 09:00 PST

"Rattling the Cage"

In his new book, animal rights law professor Steven Wise argues that chimps are persons too.
Tuesday, Dec 21, 1999 09:00 PST

Gary Larson

He created a world entirely populated by the lumpy, the big-nosed, the bespectacled, the bug-eyed and the foofy-haired. Welcome to "The Far Side."
Friday, Oct 29, 1999 09:00 PDT

Eating Satan's footprints

What can the onion and garlic diet do for you? Ask, rather, what you can do for Macedonia.
Wednesday, Oct 27, 1999 09:00 PDT

Jane Goodall: The hopeful messenger

Like Hawking, Goodall has been elevated to the status of sage, but does knowledge of the wild beast really imply knowledge of the human heart and soul?
Wednesday, Sep 22, 1999 09:00 PDT

Can Viagra save the tigers?

Traditional Asian medicine practitioners have been at odds with conservationists for years. But that's starting to change.
Wednesday, Sep 8, 1999 09:00 PDT

Laugh track

Someday doctors might be replaced by Marx Brothers movies.
Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 09:00 PDT

Voyage into the great unflossed

A dental-phobic writer takes a trip into the cavity we call the mouth.
Wednesday, Jul 28, 1999 09:00 PDT

Why we don't smell more

Our olfactory sense is highly developed and underused.
Thursday, Jul 15, 1999 09:00 PDT

Spin doctoring

Expectations about your health or illness can cause reality to follow suit.
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