Tucson Festival of Books

The Strange and the Fierce: Stories from Earth’s Wild Side


The sleek jaguar. Mind controlling bugs. Nature is full of surprises. James Campbell and Mindy Weisberger discuss the jaguar’s ecological and cultural significance and the mind-bending strategies parasites use to turn insects into zombies.


Panelists
James Campbell

James Campbell is the award-winning author of "The Final Frontiersman," "Braving It," and "The Ghost Mountain Boys." He has written for Outside magazine, National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, and many other publications....

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Mindy Weisberger

Mindy Weisberger is a science writer, editor, producer and voiceover artist who has written for CNN, Scientific American, Live Science, and Scholastic. Her reporting covers weird animal behavior, paleontology, strange medical cases, space, earth science and more....

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Books:
Heart of the Jaguar
The Extraordinary Conservation Effort to Save the Americas' Legendary Cat
James Campbell
Science / Medicine / Technology
W. W. Norton, Incorporated
November 2025
ISBN 9780393867619
336 pages
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Rise of the Zombie Bugs
The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control
Mindy Weisberger
Science / Medicine / Technology
JHU Press
April 2025
ISBN 9781421451350
296 pages
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