00:00 Donkeys and horses can mate and produce offspring called mules or hinis, and donkeys are often misunderstood as being stubborn when they are actually just self-preserving.

04:25 The section discusses the characteristics and behaviors of elephants, including their matriarchal society and their ability to mourn their dead.

08:35 Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, associated the idea of Santa Claus with gift-giving and added the concept of elves, making Santa Claus fat and jolly, and his cartoons held sway in elections during a time when many people were illiterate.

12:27 Political cartoonist Thomas Nast used his cartoons to label and criticize various political figures and groups, including the Copperhead press and Lincoln's secretary of war, and later depicted Ulysses Grant as power-hungry and referenced the struggle over the gold standard and inflation.

16:26 The inflation issue and chaos in the country were depicted in a cartoon with a broken plank over a pit, with the elephant representing the Republican vote and the pit labeled "financial chaos."

20:33 The Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey were first depicted together in a cartoon called "Stranger Things Have Happened," where Uncle Sam is confused and the two-headed elephant is choosing which road to go down.

24:53 The Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey were still seen as American parties despite their acrimonious relationship, and the popularity of NAST's cartoons solidified these symbols.

29:24 Thomas Nast faced challenges with the changing preferences of the American public and the shift to photochemical reproduction, which ultimately led to his downfall and pennilessness, and he died of yellow fever in Ecuador.

33:27 The host shares a story from a listener about encountering a bison while hiking in a national park in Canada, and then discusses a tweet they received about the use of the term "Indian" versus "Native American."

37:40 The host provides information on how to contact the podcast and promotes various sponsors.