Jeff Sebo

“Change is possible but hard” – Jeff Sebo – Author, Activist, Academic – New Sentientist Conversation

We talk about spanning philosophy disciplines and taking academic thinking into the real world through activism for a multi-species political society. We discuss Jeff’s journey from considering Christian ministry, through reactionary atheism, then to a more generous interpretation of religious thinking. We cover naturalism, sentience, the nature of consciousness and much more!

Claudia Hirtenfelder

“Imagining a better future through our everyday decisions” – Podcaster and academic Claudia Hirtenfelder – New Sentientist Conversation

“Imagining a better future through our everyday decisions.” In this video, Jamie talks to the host of The Animal Turn Podcast and PhD Candidate in Geography at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, Claudia Hirtenfelder.We talk about cycling 6,000km across Asia using vegan power! and Claudia’s journey from Christianity to atheism. We discuss how to temper our rationality with humility and by considering diverse perspectives and how to temper our focus on the value of individual sentients with a recognition of social factors.

Mikko Jarvenpaa

“Breeding into suffering is the root of the problem.” – Sentient Media founder Mikko Järvenpää – New Sentientist Conversation

Mikko is a tech start-up founder and CEO (now https://candle.to/​). He founded & is now board chair of Sentient Media – an organisation dedicated to making the world a better place for all sentient beings through journalism.In these Sentientist Conversations, we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”. Sentientism is “evidence, commitment & compassion for all sentient beings.”

Jasmin Singer headshot

“A Fabulous Vegan Future!” – Jasmin Singer – New Sentientist Conversation

Jamie talks to author, activist, non-profit co-founder and podcast host, Jasmin Singer. Jasmin is the author of “The VegNews Guide to Being a Fabulous Vegan” and the memoir “Always Too Much and Never Enough“. She co-founded Our Hen House and co-hosts their podcast.We talk about growing up celebrating both Hannukah and Christmas, going vegetarian at 19 because it fit Jasmin’s cool New York image – then going vegan and instantly dedicating her life to animal advocacy. We also discuss the parallels between religious and carnist indoctrination, the intersection of different forms of oppression and the balance between institutional and personal social change.

Randall Abate headshot

“How can I have been morally asleep for so long?” – Prof Randall Abate – New Sentientist Conversation

Randall is an author and environmental, animal, climate and constitutional law professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey. His books include “What Can Animal Law Learn From Environmental Law?” and “Climate Change and the Voiceless: Protecting Future Generations, Wildlife, and Natural Resources”.

Josh Gellers

Happy New Year! Also “De-centring the human” – New Sentientist Conversation with Josh Gellers

In this video, Jamie talks to author and associate professor Josh Gellers. Josh’s work spans animal, environmental and artificial intelligence ethics and law. He is a research fellow with the Earth System Governance Project and is a Fulbright scholar. He is Author of “Rights for Robots”.

We talk about growing up in a culturally Jewish household, non-human rights (animal, robot or otherwise) and how to take a pluralistic approach that “wades in the waters of other ways of knowing” without slipping into a relativism that excuses causing needless harm.