January 21, 2026

Ambitious goals for reducing animal suffering (with Jeff Sebo)

1 hour 27 minutes

Read the full transcript here.

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What would a global ban on industrial animal agriculture by 2050 actually achieve across welfare public health and climate? Can a phased transition built on price taste and convenience overcome identity, culture, and religion in shaping diets? Which mix of informational, financial, and regulatory policies shifts behavior without backlash? Where is the line between small humane farms that persist and large systems that must end? How do we align consumer values with daily choices when cognitive dissonance makes the topic uncomfortable? When does a little guilt motivate change and when does it harden resistance? What evidence would show that plant-based and cultivated options have reached parity that tips the market? How do we protect farmers and workers while shrinking harmful production at scale? What are the realistic tipping points for social norms around meat in different communities? If the expected suffering avoided each year dwarfs human history how should that reshape priorities?

Jeff Sebo is the 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. His 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 The Moral Circle and Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves are out now.

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