Our Feline Fictive Kin: Are Cats Full-Fledged Family? 🧑🏽‍🍼🐈 👪🏿 💕

Season 2 Finale - out now! Featuring family sciences scholar Carol Johnston (Kansas State U.), Korean Adoptee Adoptive Family Network Executive Director Katie Bozek and Stoopkid Stories' Melly Victor

Apr 16, 2024

Holy cats - we are at the end of Season 2, how did that happen!! Listen now to a truly purr-sonal story, cat family!

Speak of - cat family is the topic of the episode! And we are VERY excited that our kin over at The Purrington Post, a fresh, fun and feline-friendly online lifestyle magazine for cat lovers, is premiering our episode tomorrow - check out the article here and follow them at @thepurringtonpost! Thank you, team Purrington Post!!

Oh, and -

Meet Captain Kitty!! We are excited to attend a CAT-THEMED variety show, called Catbaret, on Thursday 4/25 at Caveat (21 A Clinton St, New York, NY). Use code: MEOW425 for $10 off your tickets [purchase here]! There will be comedy, music and purr-lesque. Very apropos of kitties since all cats are kind of naked. Come spend time among new and familiar cat friends - we can’t wait!! Follow Catbaret on Instagram at @catbaretshow and reply to this email if you’ll attend!

In this episode…

Did you know that we share a whopping 90% of our homogeneous genetic material with…cats? That’s actually more than man’s other best friend! And in this episode, we make the case to promote our pets - especially our cats - as full-time family, full stop.

Join us in conversation with a family sciences professor, a family therapist and a kids’ podcast host as we dive deep into what “family” is, and isn’t - and why. By the end of this episode, you’ll notice and appreciate the strength and length of your own family ties, including those with your cat! Tune in and share with your family, near and far!

Special thanks to Bjorn and Trip at the National Council on Family Relations, Dr. Stephanie Coontz.

The producers also thank Dr. Regina Morantz-Sanchez, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

This episode is dedicated to the memories of William O. and Stephanie M.

Support the podcast, sign up for The Captain’s Log, the companion podcast newsletter and learn about way$ to help keep this ship afloat for our next season here: linktr.ee/6degreesofcats.

Referenced episodes:

About the experts:

Katie Bozek, Ph.D., L.M.F.T. is the executive director of the Korean Adoptee Adoptive Family Network (KAAN) and the owner and operator of Transitions Therapy, PLLC, her independent private marriage and family therapy practice. She serves on the boards of the West Michigan Asian American Association (WMAAA) and the Michigan Board of Counseling. Follow KAAN @wearekaan on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Carol Johnston, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Kansas State University (Go Wildcats!) whose work has explored different ways to measure and operationalize family structure patterns over the life course to better capture a holistic picture of family dynamics. She is also the cat parent to Ash and Arlo, and can be followed at @carolanna12 (Instagram) or @carolannacoffee (X).
Melissa “Melly” Victor is the founder of 2-time Black Podcast Award nominee Stoopkid Stories, a storybook podcast featuring 7 young Black characters which has been featured on the NY Times’ "A Big List of Podcasts for Bigger Kids", in Podcast Magazine, and by Bello Collective. She is also a musical theatre actress, most recently seen as a member of the touring ensemble for Little Shop of Horrors. She can be followed @stoopkidstories on Facebook, Instagram and X or @melly_music on Instagram.

Producer, writer, editor, sound designer, host, basically everything*

Amanda B. (Instagram @catsuitband)

* with co-executive producers Binky & Snuggles

Animal voices include:

Binky & Snuggles _^..^_

Music

Captain Kitty: all music supervision, mixes and arrangements unless otherwise noted
Samples licensed via Loopcloud
Additional sound effects from Pixabay.com

Logo design:

Research used:

AFTH Marketing. (2021, February 5). The complexity of transracially adopting black children. AFTH. https://afth.org/the-complexity-of-transracially-adopting-black-children/
Boston School of Theology Editors. (n.d.). History of Korean immigration to America, from 1903 to present. History of Korean Immigration to America, from 1903 to Present | Boston Korean Diaspora Project. https://sites.bu.edu/koreandiaspora/issues/history-of-korean-immigration-to-america-from-1903-to-present/
Brief history of adoption in the United States: Adoption network. Adoption Network |. (2022, September 22). https://adoptionnetwork.com/history-of-adoption/
Cats Protection. (n.d.). Pregnant cats, birth and care of young kittens. Cats.org. https://www.cats.org.uk/media/1029/eg18_pregnant_cats-_birth_and_care_of_young_kittens.pdf
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2020, October 30). What is epigenetics? the answer to the nature vs. Nurture Debate. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/what-is-epigenetics-and-how-does-it-relate-to-child-development/
Claggett, S. R. (2023, July). Native American settlement of North Carolina. NCpedia. https://www.ncpedia.org/history/early/native-settlement
Crowell-Davis, S. L., Curtis, T. M., & Knowles, R. J. (2004, February). Social organization in the cat: A modern understanding. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.jfms.2003.09.013
Federal Depository Library Program. (n.d.). FDLP Resource Guides: Military History: American conflicts and wars: Home. Home - Military History: American Conflicts and Wars - FDLP Resource Guides at U.S. Government Publishing Office. https://libguides.fdlp.gov/military-history-american-conflicts-and-wars
Funk, L. M. (1970, January 1). Fictive Kin. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_16-1
Graff, E. J. (2010, September 13). Anatomy of an adoption crisis. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/09/12/anatomy-of-an-adoption-crisis/
Laybourn, S. M. (2024). Out of place the lives of Korean adoptee immigrants. New York University Press.
Lussenhop, J., Philip, A., & Eagle, J. G. (2023, June 15). Native American families broken up despite federal law meant to keep them together. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/native-american-parental-rights-termination-icwa-scotus
National Geographic Society. (n.d.). New England colonies’ use of slavery. Education. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/new-england-colonies-use-slaves/
Native Americans. Native Americans | Minnesota Historical Society. (n.d.). https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/native-americans
PBS. (2003b, April 7). The origins of adoption in America. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/daughter-origins-adoption-america/
Park, S., Hongu, N., & Daily, J. W. (2016, August 12). Native American Foods: History, culture, and influence on modern diets. Journal of Ethnic Foods. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618116300750#:~:text=It%20is%20important%20to%20keep,plants%20and%20animals%20for%20food.
Park, Y. S. (2019, September). Park on mckee, “disrupting kinship: Transnational politics of Korean adoption in the United States.” H-Net network on Diplomatic History and International Affairs. https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/reviews/4715102/park-mckee-disrupting-kinship-transnational-politics-korean-adoption
Pearl S. Buck International Editors. (2021, September 14). Pearl S. Buck International: About our founder Pearl S. Buck: Pearl S. Buck International. Pearl S. Buck International. https://pearlsbuck.org/about/biography/
Putnam, Robert D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Randall, C. (2023, May 19). How much DNA do we share?. AlphaBiolabs. https://alphabiolabsusa.com/learning-center/how-much-dna-do-we-share/#:~:text=Our%20feline%20friends%20share%2090,species%20are%20so%20closely%20related.
Renick, C. (2023, June 16). The nation’s First Family Separation Policy. The Imprint. https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/nations-first-family-separation-policy-indian-child-welfare-act/32431
Schwartz, M. (n.d.). A History of Dogs in the Early Americas. The New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schwartz-dog.html
Stack, C. B. (2003). All our kin: Strategies for survival in a black community. Basic Books.
Tolman, C. (2019, January 15). Kosekis from Gotō: Japanese Genealogy explained. Legacy Tree. https://www.legacytree.com/blog/japanese-genealogy-explained
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2023, July 24). Hague process. USCIS. https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/immigration-through-adoption/hague-process
U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts. Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration
U.S. Library of Congress. (n.d.-b). Overview : colonial settlement, 1600s - 1763 : U.S. history primary source timeline : classroom materials at the Library of Congress : library of Congress. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/colonial-settlement-1600-1763/overview/

CALLS TO PASSENGERS

…that’s you!

If you love what you’re listening to and want to make sure we stay afloat:

STAY IN TOUCH!! Keep opening the emails - we’ll be announcing the launch of our community goodies, soon! 💛
Click on the button on this note to pledge, once we get our business in order 🙂
Submit a glowing review of 6 Degrees of Cats on the platform on which you listen 😻
Email or DM a podcast critic or pop culture newsletter shouting us out 🤩
Recommend this podcast to five friends (that includes internet friends!) who would love it 🥰
Post about us (downloadable social media visual here!) on your platform of choice 🥹

The Captain's Log by Captain Kitty (6 Degrees of Cats Podcast)

Discussion about this post