36.09 - MU Podcast - The Strange World of Genius Animals

Summary

Mysterious Universe explores the strange history of so-called genius animals, drawing on Vincent and Margaret Gaddis's 1970 book The Strange World of Animals and Pets. The hosts recount dogs and horses said to do advanced math, spell out sentences, read minds, predict the future, and even help locate missing children. They weigh the idea that these animals were not reasoning but tapping into a telepathic 'mind at large,' comparing them to savant calculators and the nonverbal children in The Telepathy Tapes.

Key takeaways

• 1Chris, a beagle mix owned by George Woods of Warwick, Rhode Island, reportedly calculated square and cube roots by tapping his paw, was studied by J.B. Rhine, and predicted his own death date of June 10, 1962 (he died June 9)
• 2Jim the Wonder Dog of Sedalia, Missouri, was tested at the University of Missouri in 1933 and reportedly obeyed commands in several languages and picked seven consecutive Kentucky Derby winners
• 3The Elberfeld horses (Clever Hans, Muhammad, Zarif), trained by Wilhelm von Osten and Karl Krall, allegedly did math and spelled out spontaneous complaints such as 'Albert has beaten Hanschen'
• 4Black Bear, a Shetland pony from Briarcliff, New York, debuted in 1927 under the American Society for Psychical Research and allegedly told novelist Zona Gale he had once been King Solomon
• 5Lady Wonder of Richmond, Virginia, was tested by J.B. Rhine, Louisa Rhine, and William McDougall in 1928 and reportedly gave the clue that led to the body of missing boy Danny Mason in 1951
• 6The book links the animals to idiot savants and Aldous Huxley's 'mind at large,' and quotes Sir James Jeans's 1930 book The Mysterious Universe on mind as the 'creator and governor of matter'

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

UKG is the workforce operating platform with unified HR, payroll, and workforce management. Built to solve the unique challenges of frontline work. Powered by People First AI and decades of labor data, UKG turns workforce intelligence into real-time decisions around staffing, pay, compliance, and productivity, enabling every worker to confidently take action as work happens. Because when work works, everything works. Learn more at ukg.com slash work. UKG. HR, pay, and workforce management. I see this cyber truck the other day with this handicapped license plate on it. And I was like, yeah, we know. Yeah. Thanks for telling us. I think they should make them with the square wheel on the image for the chair. You know what I mean? Just so that there is a bit of a delineation in there. Because they're rocking a different disability altogether. Make it a polygonal wheel. Yeah. Welcome to Mysterious Universe, season 36, episode number 9. Today, we're going to investigate the strange world of genius animals. Wizard pets that earn their keep in life and in our hearts. I am your animal-friendly host, Brayden Thomas. And with me, as always, is the man who has had none of his shots and is feral as they come. As Jolot Hodgeded. How are you, bud? Just rabid over here. Foaming at the mouth, I see. Yes, sir. Yep. Looking great. How's the week going so far? Outstanding. Truly outstanding. You can feel this heat just giving up. It's like, all right, fine. Everything looks like fallout here, but it's lack of rain and things dying. Not necessarily, you know, oh, nice, the coming of good weather. It's the coming of weather's got to change. This is going to be a desert for long. Oh, yeah. ...

Excerpt from Mysterious Universe, Sep 4, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.