We discuss the biggest questions: "what's real?", "who matters?" and "how to make a better world?" with scientists, celebrities, activists, writers and philosophers. The Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings." It's a simple, yet radical, philosophy that's grounded in reality (naturalistic epistemology) and has compassion for all sentient beings (mostly human and non-human animals). Naturalism & sentiocentrism combined.
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcast | Website | Spotify | RSS
Julie is an author, artist and animal activist.
In these Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.”
The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss (with Luna barking in the background):
– Growing up reading the Children’s Encyclopaedia
– Julie’s life in public service & social work
– Studying Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism
– Spirituality & inter-connectedness & diversity
– Naturalistic and mystical versions of awe, wonder and inter-connectedness
– “There’s some spirit in everything”
– Being comfortable not knowing. Humility and open-mindedness
– “I’ve always had more questions than answers”
– Starting every day in prayer and meditation to god, but not a god defined by any established religion
– “god” as an energy in the universe
– “Humans are like ants in a big machine” Our perceptions are limited
– Being a freethinker. Interested in all cultures and all religions
– Shifting from being focused on human issues to becoming a non-human animal advocate
– Albert Schweitzer’s reverence for life
– Having ancestors that profited from animal exploitation
– Hating injustice, oppression and abuse
– Bertrand Russell’s analytic philosophy
– Being a teacher and educator. The importance of a holistic education about all aspects of life
– An experience with a stray dog. Being talked into looking after it
– Seeing a council worker take the perspective of non-humans seriously
– Visiting an egg farm and seeing the hens crammed in to cages
– Reporting the egg farm to the RSPCA and being told “it’s legal”
– The danger of a reverence for nature leading to excuses about animal product consumption “life consumes life…”
– Experiencing unconditional love as a child
– Patterns of abuse
– The importance of animal law and regulations
– The range of ways individuals can drive change, both personally and through our roles influencing and driving institutions
– Are we at the beginning of a huge movement for non-human animals?
– The power of social media to help us drive change
– The influence of education and indoctrination
– The influence of films and fiction. Dominion, Gunda, Seaspiracy, books
– “Within one generation – everything will be very different”
– Millions of animals are exploited, tortured and killed in research & testing
– “If it was ethically justified they would’t need to hide it.” “Most people don’t want to needlessly cause suffering & death”.
– Tapping in to latent decent human ethics?
– Fighting indifference.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at https://sentientism.info/. Join our “wall” https://sentientism.info/wall/ using this form: https://sentientism.info/im-a-sentientist.
Everyone interested, Sentientist or not, is welcome to join our groups. Our main one is on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/groups/sentientism.
Thanks, Graham for the post-production: https://twitter.com/cgbessellieu.
Amy Wilson (https://twitter.com/Ms_AmyPWilson) is an Animal, Human & Earth Rights Lawyer. She founded the Animal Law Reform & Animal Law Africa NGOs. She works as the Aquatic Animal Law Initiative Fellow at the Center for Animal Law Studies and volunteers …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 30 March 2021
Tom Cledwyn describes himself as the “chief emailer” at Drop Dead Generous (he’s actually the co-founder). Inspired by Chris Anderson’s (of TED) book, “Infectious Generosity”, Tom and his co-founder John Sweeney set up DDG as an experiment in sparking creative, …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 21 September 2025
Jack Waverley is a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Manchester. He uses marketing and consumer research to protect and promote the interests of all animals, including humans. Jack teaches on a range of BSc and MSc courses …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 6 September 2025
