Sentientism
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 comp...
AI overview.Jamie Woodhouse is an independent podcast creator known for exploring complex philosophical questions through a compassionate lens. With a focus on the Sentient…
Insights from recent episode analysis
On the show
- Eva Meijer1 ep
- Michael Waite1 ep
- Carrie Freeman1 ep
Also: John Sanbonmatsu, Mari Andrew, Ray Nayler, Raffael Fasel, John Adenitire, Isabella La Rocca Gonzalez, David Clough, Joan Slonczewski, Natalie Khazaal, Björn Ólafsson, Steph Whyte
Audience Interest
- philosophy of sentient beings
- ethical treatment of animals
Podcast Focus
- exploring big philosophical questions
- interviews with diverse guests
Publishing Consistency
- active for five years
- weekly episode releases
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
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By chart position
- 🇳🇿New Zealand · Philosophy#112386 to 1.1K
- 🇩🇰DK · Philosophy#149210 to 607
- 🇭🇰HK · Philosophy#124207 to 599
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
804 to 2.3K🎙 Weekly cadence·249 episodes·Last published 2w ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
1.6K to 4.6K🇺🇸71%🇳🇿14%🇩🇰7%+1 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
884 to 2.6K83 real followers tracked across platforms
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/7/26 |  Magnus Vinding | Compassionate Purpose, Reasoned Politics, Suffering-Focused Ethics | Sentientism 252 | Magnus Vinding co-founded the Center for Reducing Suffering where he is also a researcher. He is the author of books including Compassionate Purpose, Reasoned Politics and Suffering-Focused Ethics. In this Sentientism conversation, he explores how we can live purposeful lives that help make the world better, but that are also good for us as individuals. We're sentient beings too, of course, so we need to be compassionate to ourselves.We cover his journey from a Protestant upbringing in Denmark to adopting naturalism, why he defends a moral realist view centred on experience, and why good intentions and compassion alone aren't enough without evidence and reason. We discuss the case for suffering-focused ethics and answer common objections about extinction, death and freedom. We also look at how veganism and concern for wild animals follow from taking sentience seriously, what a reasoned politics might look like (including sentientist democracy or sentiocracy), and how to sustain compassion without burning out. Magnus's newest book, Compassionate Purpose, argues that self-compassion is central to that.Topics include:- Epistemology: naturalism, evidence and reason, and Hempel's dilemma- Metaethics: moral realism and the "is-ought" gap- Suffering-focused ethics, and the role of freedom, autonomy and instrumental values- Veganism, antispeciesism and wild animal suffering- Reasoned Politics: liberal democracy and sentientist democracy- Compassionate Purpose: self-compassion, burnout and pragmatismChapters:00:00 Clips00:37 Welcome02:37 Magnus' Intro06:30 What's Real?29:55 What Matters?49:45 Who Matters?1:08:29 A Better World: Reasoned Politics01:19:29 A Better World: Compassionate Purpose01:32:23 Follow Magnushttps://magnusvinding.com/https://centerforreducingsuffering.org/Magnus's books are free to read:Reasoned Politics: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15422/9798233943911Compassionate Purpose: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15422/9798235156883 Suffering-Focused Ethics: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15422/9781667091495The Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason, & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 35m 30s | ||||||
| 9/17/26 |  Denise Baden | Is Sustainable Ethical Business Just Bullshit? | Sentientism 251 | Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Business, climate activist, and novelist, joins Jamie for a Sentientist conversation about what's real, who matters and how to make a better world.We cover:🌍 Growing up with an "evangelical atheist" father, and why she never believed in God or Father Christmas⚖️ Where morality comes from without a religious foundation; Aristotle, virtue ethics, and the "who matters" question🐀 Her own journey from indifference to empathy for animals, rats, and the microbial world in her soil🥩 Why shaming people about meat and flying backfires and what actually shifts behavior🏢 Why corporate social responsibility "won the battle but lost the war" and her plan for a 20-piece jigsaw puzzle to fix the systems locking in unsustainable business🗳️ Citizens' assemblies, stakeholder boards, and what she learned studying Cuba's participatory model📖 The "sleeper effect": how her novel Habitat Man changed readers' attitudes and their behavior... more than any academic paper she's writtenDenise is the author of Habitat Man, The Philosopher and the Assassin, and runs the Green Stories project (greenstories.org.uk), engaging writers to embed environmental and ethical themes in mainstream fiction.00:00 Clips02:23 Denise’s Intro03:02 What’s Real?11:32 What Matters?22:25 Who Matters55:42 Making a Better World1:24:39 Follow Denise:https://www.dabaden.com/http://www.linkedin.com/in/denise-baden-3742793https://www.greenstories.org.uk/https://bsky.app/profile/dabaden.bsky.socialhttps://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5wzjrb/professor-denise-badenThe Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason, & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 28m 52s | ||||||
| 9/3/26 | animal rightsmorality+4 | Björn Ólafsson | Sentient MediaBetter Food Foundation+4 | — | sentienceanimal protection+5 | — | 1h 26m 18s | ||
| 8/16/26 | Sentientismworldviews+4 | Steph Whyte | What even is RMPSSentientism+2 | — | SentientismScotland+5 | — | 1h 04m 52s | ||
| 7/18/26 | media analysisracism+4 | Natalie Khazaal | Georgia TechMARS test+1 | — | MARS testracism+5 | — | 1h 19m 02s | ||
| 6/7/26 | Sentientismworldview+5 | Michael Waite | Brain ShamanSentientism+1 | — | SentientismMichael Waite+5 | — | 1h 23m 32s | ||
| 5/3/26 | multispecies politicsnonhuman animals+4 | Eva Meijer | SentientismSentientism 245+1 | — | multispecies assembliesanimal ethics+4 | — | 1h 33m 18s | ||
| 4/26/26 | Sentientismnature+4 | Carrie Freeman | SentientismIn Tune To Nature+1 | — | Sentientismnature+4 | — | 45m 59s | ||
| 3/4/26 | animal ethicsfactory farming+5 | John Sanbonmatsu | — | — | omnivore's deceptionanimal agriculture+5 | — | 1h 14m 00s | ||
| 2/9/26 | spiritualityveganism+4 | Mari Andrew | How to Be a Living ThingAm I There Yet?+1 | — | sentientismanimal advocacy+5 | — | 1h 29m 50s | ||
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 1/16/26 | science fictionliterature+4 | Ray Nayler | Hugo AwardLocus Award+4 | QuebecCalifornia+9 | Ray NaylerHugo Award+6 | — | 1h 17m 18s | ||
| 12/10/25 | constitutional lawanimal rights+4 | Raffael FaselJohn Adenitire | Cambridge Law FacultyJesus College+3 | — | sentient beingsconstitutional protection+3 | — | 1h 37m 23s | ||
| 11/23/25 | arteco-feminism+4 | Isabella La Rocca Gonzalez | Lantern PublishingCensored Landscapes | MexicoItaly | Isabella La Rocca GonzalezCensored Landscapes+5 | — | 1h 20m 59s | ||
| 11/5/25 | animal welfareethics+3 | David Clough | University of AberdeenCreatureKind+3 | — | animal welfareChristian ethics+5 | — | 1h 32m 33s | ||
| 10/19/25 | science fictionmicrobiology+4 | Joan Slonczewski | Kenyon CollegeA Door into Ocean+3 | — | Joan Slonczewskimicrobiology+5 | — | 1h 34m 50s | ||
| 10/9/25 |  Teaching Compassion - Heather Marshall & Michelle St John of VinE - Sentientism 237 | Michelle St. John is the founder and director of VinE (Veganism in Education). VinE aims, through education, to encourage the development of empathy, critical thinking and ethical decision making, She has background in law, having worked as a Crown Prosecutor, a Magistrate and as guest lecturer on English Law at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow.Heather Marshall is a Senior Lecturer and Religious Education PGCE Course Leader at Edge Hill University . She is a specialist in #religiouseducation pedagogy but also has interests spanning diversity in learning environments, the impact of digital technologies on teaching, teacher identity formation, education policy, and effective assessment strategies. She is a VinE ambassador.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips00:53 Welcome03:00 Heather's Intro- Teaching kids, now teaching teachers and research- Richard Twine episode04:11 Michelle's Intros- Polish & English parents- Social anthropology- Law (barrister and magistrate), human rights and justice- Vegan at 50 "that was the big change... human rights, animal rights, hand in hand"- "Education was a key for change... because in my owneducation I hadn't been given that opportunity to explore the moral status of animals"- Marc Bekoff, Melanie Joy episodes- Founding VinE "This is where we begin"- Launching resources with Angela Hill from RE Today @re-today-services - Ethical veganism as a worldview (featuring religious andnon-religious ways in like #Sentientism)- Spirited arts competition with the @animalinterfaithalliance- Partnering with The Vegan Organic Network@GrowingGreenVideos 07:53 What's Real?Heather- Not brought up spiritual but a deep interest in religion and society- "I've got quite a secular worldview... but I understand the importance of religion... the impact... why people might want to be involved in that"- Critical thinking & questioning "I am quite scientific"- As a social scientist "I do recognise that things are beyond the physical as well"- Interested in psychology and how the brain works- Not so concerned about the metaphysical e.g. "whathappens after death"- "That probably seems a bit weird for someone that teaches RE (Religious Education)... I'm interested in other people's beliefs and why they might believe it... but I'm not that interested in exploring it for myself"17:31 What and Who Matters?50:02 A Better World?01:27:00 Follow Heather and Michelle:- VinE- VinE on Insta- VinE on LinkedIn- Heather at Edge HillAnd more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 31m 24s | ||||||
| 9/21/25 |  Giving $500 to 1000 people to do something Drop Dead Generous - Tom Cledwyn - Sentientism 236 | 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, fun, hopefully infectious generosity. They're giving away half a million dollars in $500 chunks to people who want to do something kind for someone else (whether human or not).In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips01:15 Welcome- Our introduction by Zoe Weil. Her two Sentientism episodeshere and here04:00 Tom's Intro- @dropdeadgenerous "It is a little left-field"- Background in advertising, design and creative roles "A marketing guy"- Working at Meta "for my sins" in Singapore and London- Doing "silly boy experiments... self-discovery... in the direction of service and doing good and trying to make adifference"- Now bringing marketing & creative skills directly into the space of social good- "Championing kindness, generosity and giving... my heart and head have fallen into alignment for the time being"06:04 What's Real?- Family and community "that didn't really hold religion particularly closely", despite attending church schools- Shifting from apathy about religion to "I became a quite aggressive #atheist "- If someone had asked Tom as a child "Do you believein God"... "I would have thought you were referring to Le God, who is Matthew Le Tissier, Southampton's best ever football player... now, unfortunately, a very strange conspiracist"- "I don't think I really asked myself those questions... I felt totally detached from it [religion]"- "The history of war. How often it seemed, and stillseems, that religion plays a big part in what people are fighting for or against... I found that very hard"- Reading the story of Prometheus stealing fire from Zeusand giving it to the people, then being eternally punished- "That story really framed what I felt... religion wasa real was also a real shame... it seemed to give people an opportunity to put, through faith, whether their accountability, responsibility or hope in the hands of something other than themselves"- "Angry teenage years"- Moving to London "A big place to be lonely in... Ihave a history of depression"18:40 What Matters?42:45 Who Matters?01:02:20 A Better World?01:24:42 Follow Tom:- Drop Dead Generous project- @Dropdeadgenerous- Tom on LinkedIn - [email protected] The DropDeadGenerous ideas voicemail podcastAnd more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 29m 42s | ||||||
| 9/5/25 |  We're Reaching a Critical Mass - Consumer Behaviour Expert Jack Waverley - Sentientism 235 | 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 in the Fashion, Business, and Technology (FBT) group. He also supervises a number of PhD and dissertation students. He is an academic expert member of the Academy of Marketing and a member of the Vegan Society's Research Advisory Committee.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips00:52 Welcome- Jack's talk at VARC 2025- "The VARC conference is like being in the future...where we want to get to... it really does feel like you've jumped forward 10 years"02:49 Jack's Intro- A marketing consumer researcher... focusing both onconsumption of animals and consumption for animals- "Markets as a system of morals... material objects moving around... infrastructures"- "How we move from one system to another"- The AI question "I very much adopt a sentiocentric or Sentientist perspective"- "The reason I'm concerned about animals is because they are sentient"- "If AI were to become sentient... then of course they would fall within... my moral circle"- "Most people think about 'what can AI do for me... for humans?... How does AI affect humanity?'"- "I'm much more interested in 'what can we do for AI?'... our responsibilities for AI... how can AI help post-humanity, more than humanity, all sentient beings."- "I've ended up in this... very anthropocentric tradition... marketing and consumer research... but bringing in animals and bringing in AI"- A new field of #SentientistMarketing ?05:14 What's Real- Growing up in "a nominally Christian household... but we never went to church... more agnostic"- "There was never an explicit framework of... this is why these things are good or bad"- A liberal, progressive upbringing "live and let live"- "It wasn't quite a blank slate [re: moral thinking] but it was as close as you probably get"- "Broadly naturalistic is my baseline... interested in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics... scientific ways of approaching the world"- "I didn't really go out looking for any kind of revelation... [or] any strict rules... [or] some sort of authority figure"- "I didn't mind other people having religion but for me it just didn't make sense... I was naturalistic"31:44 What and Who Matters?35:50 A Better World?01:21:40 Follow Jack:- Jack at Manchester University- Jack on LinkedIn (please get in touch)And more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 24m 03s | ||||||
| 8/23/25 |  Is Your Suffering An Illusion? - Keith Frankish - Sentientism 234 | Keith Frankish is a philosopher and writer, British-born but now living in Crete, Greece. He is an Honorary Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Sheffield, a Visiting Research Fellow with The Open University, and an Adjunct Professor with the Brain and Mind Programme at the University of Crete. He is also editor of the Cambridge University Press series Elements in Philosophy of Mind. He spent many years thinking about the nature of belief and reasoning, developing a ‘two-level’ view of the human mind that he set out in his 2004 book, Mind and Supermind. Now he focuses mostly on Philosophy of Mind and says "I now spend much of my time defending the unpalatable but salutary view that phenomenal consciousness is an introspective illusion."In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips00:52 Welcome03:15 Keith's Intro- "By the way I don't think sentience is an illusion"- "I'm best known as a person who thinks consciousness is an illusion... I don't think that"- "I spend most of my time thinking about the human mind"- "I suppose I have a sort of campaigning streak"- "The state of consciousness science is unsettled... a revolutionary state"- "It's important for science... for philosophy... for knowledge... ethical implications too"- "Trying to invite people to look at things a different way"- Moving from UK academia to Greece "I moved more tothe edges... I think it freed me... to spend more of time doing I think are important... devote energies to things that perhaps wouldn't have got so well rewarded in the formal academic structures"08:23 What's Real?- Working class family- "Religion was present but in a very watered down typically sort of English way... I was baptised... go to church... Sunday School"- "It was never oppressive"- Uncle "... a wonderful example of the compassion and... the commitment to social justice that can come with religion"- Reading an encyclopaedia about the scientific scepticismabout the soul "Oh right, there's no soul then... and that was it!"- "I had a very strong inclination to trust science... certainly against religious interpretations of the world"- "...there's another world in which I would have become a scientist."- "You can't really educate yourself in science but you can educate yourself in philosophy... philosophy can only be taught by self-education."01:04:55 What Matters?01:15:10 Who Matters?01:47:26 A Better Future?01:58:12 Follow Keith:- keithfrankish.com - Keith on BlueSky (“I do not post on Twitter any more”)- Keith on Mastodon - Keith on Wikipedia And more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 2h 01m 52s | ||||||
| 8/8/25 |  Positive Power Through Connection - Steven Rouk - Sentientism 233 | Steven Rouk is founder of the non-profit Connect For Animals, a platform that connects people who want to end factory farming and bring about a more anti-speciesist world. He also helps high-positive-impact organisations implement technology and artificial intelligence solutions.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips01:02 Welcome- Will we DESTROY! each other in this conversation?03:07 Steven's Intro- Math, music and writing, then data science and programming- Philosophy and "what does it mean to lead a good life?"- Animal ethics... footage from a farm investigation- Dabbling in vegetarianism & veganism "caring about animals more seriously"- "This is a huge problem... what would it look like for me to devote more of my life..."- Full time animal advocacy... volunteering, bringing data & tech- Working for Mercy for Animals - Seeing people struggling to get active and "plugged in" & stay engaged- "I don't think we've been doing a very good job of capturing this people power"- Founding Connect For Animals "Get them connected... stayconnected... get active for animals... accelerate the end of factory farming"08:40 What's Real?- Growing up in Georgia, USA in a religious, Christian family (half Methodist, half Baptist, several pastors)- "It was a very large part of my life growing up... church Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, summer mission trips, choir."- "That meaning... came from the Christian church"- Specific beliefs, some fundamentalism, Bible literalism- "I remember thinking that the Earth was 6000 yearsold and evolution was a hoax... carbon dating wasn't real"- "There was also this deep caring for others side... family... people who didn't have what you have... sick... bad things happened to them..."- "My mum... someone who just cares so deeply for others"- At a science & maths focused high school "There came to be these little questions... things are not squaring up right"- "For a while... what I've been taught from religion is true... I just need to work out how to make it square with these otherfacts... maybe the people who believe in evolution are completely mistaken... an anti-religious, anti-spiritual conspiracy?... scientists trying to destroy religion?"- "Learning about the conspiracy... a mistaken or misguided or bad worldview" vs. learning the actual facts48:59 Who Matters?01:07:42 A Better World?01:29:30 Follow Steven- Connect For Animals (Create an account, sign up for the newsletter and explore!)- Steven on Insta- Steven on LinkedIn- Steven on Twitter- Stevenrouk.comAnd more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 32m 11s | ||||||
| 7/30/25 |  What Animal Festivals Tell Us About Being Human - "Forget The Camel" author Elizabeth MeLampy - Sentientism 232 | Elizabeth MeLampy is an author and a Harvard-educated lawyer, with experience in animal law and environmental law. While in law school, she worked on issues related to farmedanimals, wild animals, and captive animals with Harvard’s Animal Law & Policy Clinic. She was also in the inaugural cohort of Emerging Scholar Fellows with the Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy, where she worked onanimal law scholarship. After two clerkships—with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Federal District Court in Arizona—Elizabeth litigated with one of the top environmental nonprofits in the country. Her firstbook, Forget The Camel: The Madcap World of Animal Festivals and What They Say About Being Human, was published in 2025.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips01:15 Welcome- Mark Bekoff episode https://youtu.be/-pwfNH-KgWI- Kim Stallwood episode https://youtu.be/5-8vYRhJvaU03:25 Elizabeth''s Intro- "Sentient creatures matter"- Forget the Camel "Animal festivals... I study them as microcosms of our relationships to non-human animals"- "Try to make sense of how we treat so many animals differently"- The Rattlesnake Roundup "They beheaded and killed rattlesnakes in public... then made bloody handprints"- A Jumping Frog contest- The real Groundhog day- "There's a lot more that ties those events togetherthan separates them even though you're killing animals in one context and not in another"- "The overarching paradigm of human superiority applies to them all"06:10 What's Real?- "I have both backgrounds very strongly... the religious spiritual side and the more scientific, naturalistic side"- Grandfather and mum church ministers, grandmother aveterinarian and an anthropologist, father a software engineer- "Core pillars of my upbringing... Thinking about the world really critically, really analytically... on one side... on the other side... a Protestant Christian upbringing in the Church"- "Core values, more than religious dogmatism, ofcompassion, of kindness, of generosity, of sacrifice... key Christian values... open hearted, open minded, compassionate lens"- "I was really lucky to be raised in a version of the Christian church that prioritises those things"- "The two sides [religion and science] work so closely together... it's not 'you believe in god or you believe in science'"- "The mysteries of the world... things you could explore with a variety of disciplines... read the Bible... do a science experiment... all sorts of ways to figure out what is going on"- Grandparents lived on an animal farmAnd more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 29m 02s | ||||||
| 7/18/25 |  "You can be a victim of oppression and also oppress others" - Seb Alex - Sentientism 231 | Seb Alex is an animal and human rights activist, as well as a lecturer, photojournalist and author. He is Founder of the Middle East Vegan Society. Seb has run animal rights advocacy workshops for over 1300+ activists across Europe, the Middle East and Australia. He has given lectures in over 2/3 of universities in The Netherlands and more than 55 universities and schools in Canada, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Portugal, reaching more than 6000 students. In 2020 and 2021, Seb collaborated with Lebanese Vegans in opening the world’s first animal rights and Vegan support centre that still operates today in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips01:23 Welcome03:00 Seb's Intro- Born and raised in Lebanon, originally Armenian- Activism (for human and non-human animal rights) since 15-16 years old- "There's a very important moral urgency"- Addressing a regional gap re: animal advocacy in the Middle East "Maybe I shouldn't complain and I should start doing something"- "There are grass roots groups within the Middle East"05:01 What's Real- Armenian community and the role of Christianity- "I was not really raised religious"- Attending an Armenian school founded by an atheist"but we had some historical religious courses"- Praying and church "I did feel Christian up until 12-13 years old"- Asking for a sign "I was really disappointed that no one showed up... you're a kid and you really believe in these things... then you get slapped in the face"- Becoming more agnostic over time "leaning more to I believe in what I see... no faith whatsoever"- Attending 3 Vipassana Buddhist meditation retreats"for 10 days you don't talk to anyone... you have to meditate for at least 10 hours a day... gives you a lot of back pain... at least my back pain is true!"- "It wasn't religious... it was a scientific way of meditating which I really enjoyed"- Finding a big interest in religion again recently... religious history... watching the Christspiracy Film documentary- Launching the Vegan Islam initiative "This is quite powerful... I didn't expect this from Islam... I straight away bought a Quran"- "You can make a very strong case for animal rightsusing religion"- "How people can go through so much pain and still believe in god..."- "I'm very well educated in it but I still don't find any faith in me"32:08What Matters?37:27 Who Matters?58:10 A Better World?01:28:50 Follow Seb:- Sebalex.org (reach out for lectures!)- @seb.alex- Middle East Vegan Society - VeganIslam And more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 32m 05s | ||||||
| 7/5/25 |  In the classroom! - Sentientism 230 | I recently gave this presentation to a network of Religious Education (RE) teachers from Northumberland in the UK. It's aimed at helping teachers bring the Sentientism worldview and its themes into their classrooms. Feedback and ideas are always welcome. Of course I'd love to help in any way I can too so please reach out in the comments, via the sentientism.info website or via @sentientism on any social media platform.The content is similar to my workshop sessions with:- Church of England's Chester Diocese RE teacher conference- WASACRE (Wales Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE))- Hull SACRE Religions and Worldviews Conference- Tower Hamlets and Hackney RE Network- Wiltshire RE Network- Kirklees/Bradford/Leeds RE Conference- Newnham and Barking & Dagenham RE Network- North East England RE Network- Hull & West Riding RE Network- Northumberland, Hillingdon, Wiltshire, Sefton, Oldham SACRES (committees that define local authority RE curriculums).A big thank you to everyone involved for exploring the Sentientism worldview with me and with your students!00:00 Intro02:00 Non-religious worldviews04:00 What's on kids' minds?06:25 What is the Sentientism worldview?09:14 Where did Sentientism come from?14:30 Sentientism and other 'isms16:45 Teaching the Sentientism worldview27:00 Lesson Idea 1: Single Lesson28:16 Lesson Idea 2: The Quadrant30:54 Lesson Idea 3: Imagining A Sentientist World32:39 Lesson Idea 4: What's True? Who Matters? Now What?44:56 Help and Resources#religiouseducation #RETeach #philosophy #teaching #Epistemology #Ethics #vegan #animal #animalrights #belief #religion #worldview #ai #aiethics #alien #Humanism #Ahimsa #Sentiocentrism #Anthropocentrism #Biocentrism #Ecocentrism #Sentientism #Disinformation #conspiracism | 44m 19s | ||||||
| 6/22/25 |  How wide should "The Moral Circle" go? - Jeff Sebo - Sentientism 229 | Jeff Sebo is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Affiliated Professor of Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Philosophy, and Law, Director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, Director of the Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy, and Co-Director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program at New York University. He is also a Faculty Fellow at the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy & Land Use Law at the NYU School of Law and an Advisor at the Animals in Context series at NYU Press. Jeff's research focuses on moral philosophy, legal philosophy, and philosophy of mind; animal minds, ethics, and policy; AI minds, ethics, and policy; and global health and climate ethics and policy. His books include The Moral Circle and Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves and he is co-author of Chimpanzee Rights and Food, Animals, and the Environment.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips01:20 Welcome- Our first Sentientist Conversation, episode 26 - Jeff's book The Moral Circle - Endorsements from previous Sentientism guests Barbara King and Peter Singer- Welcome Smokey!02:50 Jeff's Intro- Research and teaching and leading programmes at NYU including the Wild Animal Welfare Programme and the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness - Asking "How humans can better interact with the non-human world... who might matter, how much might they matter, what might they need, what might we owe them, what follows for our actions and policies and priorities...?"- Directing the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection "agriculture, farmed animal welfare, #biodiversity, wild animal welfare..."- Directing the NY Center for Mind, Ethics and Policy "Non-human minds... invertebrates and AI systems"04:37 The Moral Circle- JW: "Does it have to be a circle?"- "I was concerned... it implies that humanity is at the centre and that other beings matter or are closer to the centre to the degree that they resemble us"- "We right now at least increasingly agree that all humans and many non-human animals... merit consideration"- "The book asks 'should we go farther?'"08:32 What Makes Us Matter?11:39 Why is Sentience Important?19:16 What About Zero-Valence Consciousness?28:08 Properties vs Relational Approach38:10 So Who Matters?43:28 Do AIs Matter?48:47 Do Photons Matter?56:15 Do Future Beings Matter?01:01:51 How Much Do They Matter?01:14:44 The Role of Epistemology?01:18:26 A Better Future?01:22: 33 Follow Jeff:- Jeff on BlueSky - Jeff on Twitter- "The Moral Circle"- Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves (now open access and free to read!)And more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 25m 04s | ||||||
| 6/11/25 |  "Sentience is the bedrock of ethics" - Jonathan Balcombe - Sentientism 228 | Jonathan Balcombe is an ethologist and author. He lectures internationally on animal behavior and the human-animal relationship. Jonathan’s books include: The Use of Animals in Higher Education; Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good; Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals; What A Fish Knows and SuperFly.In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.00:00 Clips01:00 Welcome- Links to previous episodes: Jo-Anne McArthur, Marc Bekoff, Claudia Hirtenfelder, Jordi Casamitjana "people who are really thinking about sentience and its importance in the world"03:06 Jonathan's Intro- "I'm Canadian but I'm also American and British"- Biology, ethology, animal behaviour, then non-profit animal protection- "I was always very interested but also concerned about the wellbeing of animals... non-human animals because of course we're animals as well"- "Then I discovered I was pretty good at writing books!"- "Sentience... what animals are thinking, what are they feeling..."- "It's a very exciting time to be an ethologist... scientists are asking questions that were considered taboo... the inner livesof animals... The taboo is gone."- "There's a lot going on between the ears of a hedgehog or an elephant or a fish... not just vertebrates... there's a lot going on in the insides of animals without a backbone... insects, arthropods, crustaceans... octopuses and squids and nautiluses... the darlings of invertebrate sentience"- "Somebody thinking about thinking in non-humans"- JW: "Science has had to catch up with common sense"07:35 What's Real?- Non-religious parents but mum joined the Quakers when pregnant with Jonathan- "As my body was forming inside my mum's womb, religion was coming into her life"- "I go to a Catholic church, not because I'm Catholic but because I sing... it's good for me, it's good for my health and my spirit"- "It's a bit ironic that this atheist, me, goes to a Catholic church every Sunday..."- "My partner is Catholic... when I met her she was a Catholic omnivore and now she's just a Catholic"- "I'm not working on her to try to convert her and she's not trying to convert me... by and large our worldviews are verycompatible"- Quaker principles "Two of them I really like... non-violent and peaceful... open freedom of expression..."- "In the worship... anyone can get up and speak at anytime... "22:32 What (and Who) Matters?41:35 A Better World?01:12:00 Follow Jonathan:- "Super Fly"- "What a Fish Knows"- "Jake and Ava"- Jonathan on Wikipedia- jonathanbalcombe.com (sign up for his newsletter!)And more... full show notes at Sentientism.info.Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! | 1h 15m 33s | ||||||
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Distribution & Reach
About the show, platforms, and key insights.
Distribution & Reach
About the show, platforms, and key insights.
Jamie Woodhouse is an independent podcast creator known for exploring complex philosophical questions through a compassionate lens. With a focus on the Sentientism worldview, he engages with diverse guests, including scientists, activists, and writers, to unpack concepts surrounding reality, moral consideration, and the betterment of society. The podcast “Sentientism” stands out due to its unique approach of blending naturalistic epistemology with a commitment to compassion for all sentient beings. Covering a range of topics from ethics to societal issues, the format typically includes in-depth conversations that challenge listeners to reflect on their values and beliefs about who matters in the world. Listeners, numbering between 50,001 and 70,000, are drawn to the show for its thought-provoking content and the opportunity to engage with radical yet grounded philosophical ideas. The podcast offers valuable insights into how evidence and reason can inform a compassionate worldview, making it relevant for those interested in ethics, culture, and societal betterment.
By the numbers
- Total followers: 23K
- Total plays: 296K
- Total reviews: 24
Platforms
TuneIn
- Followers: 4
Castbox
- Followers: 37
- Plays: 970
YouTube
- Subscribers: 23K
- Views: 295K
- Videos: 319
Podcast App
- Followers: 25
- Reviews: 24
Podcast Republic
- Followers: 17
Key insights
What the show covers
- exploring big philosophical questions
- interviews with diverse guests
- naturalism and sentiocentrism
- compassion for all sentient beings
Audience interests
- philosophy of sentient beings
- ethical treatment of animals
- scientific discussions on reality
- cultural impacts on society
Platform reach
- available on YouTube
- website for more information
- Facebook group for community
- no other platforms detected
Publishing consistency
- active for five years
- weekly episode releases
- 243 total episodes
- consistent publishing schedule
Chart history for Sentientism
Peaked at #112 in New Zealand, currently #112 in New Zealand.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | — | #112 | #112 | — |
| HK | — | #124 | #124 | — |
| Denmark | — | #149 | #149 | — |
Chart Positions
3 placements across 3 markets.
Chart Positions
3 placements across 3 markets.