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 Clips

01:00 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.

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal conundrum, and the quiet greatness of Harry Kane: European Nights 03/10/26