Festival 2022

The current focus of Thinking Out Loud is on Animals and Pandemics. Covid-19 is very likely a zoonotic disease, which means that it was transmitted from animals  to humans. Other dangerous infectious diseases, such as SARS, MERS, Ebola and HIV originated in animals too. In fact, of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, 75% are zoonotic. Joining Katrien Devolder are philosophers, scientists and other experts to discuss how we might prevent future pandemics. See all our TOL interviews on our YouTube channel playlist.

Episode 3: Factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics! with Professor Aaron S. Gross (University of San Diego)

In this interview with Dr Katrien Devolder (University of Oxford), Professor Aaron S. Gross (University of San Diego) explains why factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics, and what we, as individuals, can do to help end factory farming (even if we don't feel ready yet to become a vegan...)

Episode 2: Should we feed our pets a vegan diet?, with Dr Josh Milburn (Sheffield)

There are plenty of good reasons to avoid products from factory farms. We can change our own diets, but can we change that of our pets? We discuss the option of vegan pet food, pet food made from invertebrates, and in vitro meat (incl. in vitro human flesh!).

Episode 1:  How to prevent future pandemics, with Jeff Sebo (Professor of Environmental Studies at NYU)

Katrien and Jeff discuss factory farms as breeding grounds for pandemics, and the importance of considering human and animal health together.