Isabella Rossellini + Sharon Van Etten

Filmmaker and actress Isabella Rossellini describes the night she went to see Temple Grandin speak at Hunter College, and ended up enrolling in graduate school to study animal behavior at the age of 60. Isabella’s friend and professor Dr. Diana Reiss speaks about her research work with animals, and the importance of seeing them not just as species, but as individuals. Rock star Sharon Van Etten explains why this project meant the world to her, and performs a new song titled "for Isabella." Chapters: 09:30 Isabella Rossellini describes how Darwin decoded animal intelligence using photography 24:11 Dr. Diana Reiss tells a story about a dolphin who turned her training methods back on her 38:39 Sharon Van Etten speaks about the catharsis of writing about intensity and darkness SongWriterPodcast.com Instagram.com/SongWriterPodcast Facebook.com/SongWriterPodcast TikTok.com/@SongWriterPodcast YouTube.com/@SongwriterPodcast SongWriter is a music and songwriting podcast that turns stories into songs. Host Ben Arthur invites writers, poets, and musicians to share a story or poem, then pairs it with an original song written in response. Along the way, the show explores the creative process through intimate conversations and performances. Guests have included Questlove, Susan Orlean, David Gilmour, Joyce Carol Oates, David Sedaris, and George Saunders. Distributed by PRX, SongWriter also appears on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Café and in Paste Magazine. Learn more at SongWriterPodcast.com . Season seven is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

You can listen to Isabella Rossellini + Sharon Van Etten online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Isabella Rossellini + Sharon Van Etten is an episode from SongWriter by Ben Arthur.

This episode is 49:04 long.

This episode was published on May 5, 2026.

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