The Spiritual Life of Animals with Elena Mannes

Aired Thursday, 7 February 2019, 7:00 PM ET

The Spiritual Life of Animals with Elena Mannes

For eons, dogs have held the title of “man’s best friend, and
stories abound of their loyalty, service, and their sometimes
seemingly miraculous ability to both understand and communicate to
others their human companions’ needs in emergency situations. And
for as long as we humans have bonded with our canine companions, we
have wondered whether our dogs have thoughts and feelings.

Elena Mannes is an award-winning television journalist and
producer. Looking for companionship after a near-fatal car crash,
she decided to get her first dog. But what she found with her dog
Brio shook the foundations of her physical and spiritual worlds,
sending her on a quest to discover the nature of his spiritual
origins and to contemplate and seek out the possibility of
interspecies communication—even after death. Motivated by her
experience with an animal psychic, Mannes produced a filmed segment
with Diane Sawyer featuring the same psychic, who described
Sawyer’s country house and her dog’s favorite spots in the
yard.

Elena Mannes joins Sandie in this week’s show to discuss her book,
Soul Dog: A Journey into the Spiritual Life of Animals, in which
she shares her investigations into the spiritual life of animals
and her with animal communicators, psychics, and scientists
specializing in animal intelligence such as Rupert Sheldrake.

About the Guest:

ELENA MANNES is an award-winning independent documentary
director/writer/producer whose honors include six Emmy Awards, a
George Foster Peabody Award, two Directors Guild of America Awards,
and nine Cine Golden Eagles. She has written, directed, and
produced series and documentaries for CBS, PBS, ABC, and the
Discovery Channel, including The Amazing Animal Mind and the PBS
primetime special The Music Instinct, which led to the writing of
her first book, The Power of Music. For more info visit her website
at: www.souldogbook.com