Sentientism

94: Let's create more effective, compasionate narratives - Writer Alex Lockwood - Sentientist Conversation


Listen Later

Alex (@alexlockwood & alexlockwood.co.uk) is a fiction & non-fiction writer. He is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Research in Media & Cultural Studies at Uni of Sunderland. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from Newcastle University & has published stories, essays & journalism in a wide range of magazines, journals & newspapers. He has a particular fascination with how we write about our engagements and relations with the nonhuman world. Alex’s debut non-fiction work, The Pig in Thin Air, was published with Lantern Books in March 2016. Alex was one of the founding team of Animal Rebellion, a director of The Save Movement & a member of the Vegan Society‘s Research Advisory Committee. His “Planting Value” report for  @The Vegan Society  lays out plans for a transition towards a vegan UK plantingvalueinfood.org.

In 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:

00:00 Welcome

01:11 Alex’s Intro

  • A writer-academic-activist
  • The challenge of focus!
  • Private & public writing (e.g. COP26), being part of a network
  • 05:10 What’s Real?

    • Last week’s shamanic journeying ayahuasca retreat: “Asking deep questions about what it means to be a human being on this planet”
    • Animist ontologies & methodologies
    • Advocating for the non-human
    • “Who is a person?… can we co-create this planet [in a way] that recognises the birthright of all beings”
    • Growing up in working class, inner-city, South London council estates
    • Catholic upbringing, but with some atheist family
    • “School of hard knocks… spiritual & religious questions weren’t very real”
    • Confirmed as Catholic, school run by monks & church every weekend… “Realising it was a symbolic story… it wasn’t taught as a fundamentalist truth”
    • “Didn’t sit right with me that my very very kind & generous atheist grandfather (& his cats!) wasn’t going to go to heaven.”
    • Experiences of connecting with our planet, the broader universal spirit… that have always been quite real to me
    • ...
    • ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info and on YouTube.

      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!

      Thanks Graham.

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      SentientismBy Jamie Woodhouse

      • 5
      • 5
      • 5
      • 5
      • 5

      5

      24 ratings


      More shows like Sentientism

      View all
      Radiolab by WNYC Studios

      Radiolab

      43,774 Listeners

      Philosophy Bites by Edmonds and Warburton

      Philosophy Bites

      1,538 Listeners

      Unbelievable? by Premier Unbelievable?

      Unbelievable?

      2,008 Listeners

      The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The Political Scene | The New Yorker

      3,902 Listeners

      Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation by Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan

      Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

      526 Listeners

      Philosophize This! by Stephen West

      Philosophize This!

      15,044 Listeners

      Conversations with Tyler by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

      Conversations with Tyler

      2,383 Listeners

      Knowing Animals by Josh Milburn

      Knowing Animals

      33 Listeners

      Ologies with Alie Ward by Alie Ward

      Ologies with Alie Ward

      23,884 Listeners

      Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

      Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

      4,127 Listeners

      Hope for the Animals by Hope Bohanec

      Hope for the Animals

      57 Listeners

      The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

      The Rest Is History

      12,964 Listeners

      Planet: Critical by Rachel Donald

      Planet: Critical

      83 Listeners

      The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

      The Ezra Klein Show

      15,371 Listeners

      The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

      The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

      10,284 Listeners