Priya Sawhney is an organizer, poet, and co-founder of both The Sanctuary Initiative and Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). She is also one of my best friends on earth, and the person I’ve entrusted with the two beings I love more than any other – my dog Oliver and my cat Joan – as I face off with Smithfield in the trial that may change my life.

For that reason, she will not be joining me in Utah. Oliver’s trauma has left him trusting of very few human beings. He needs her more than I do. Joan, who went blind and is probably near his end of life, requires round-the-clock care. But even as her physical presence will be missing, her spirit will be strong. And we tell the story in this conversation about another trial, in which the force of Priya’s spirit arguably saved me from prison.

Whether that happened or not – or whether it will happen in this case – there is a bigger point to that story. At every point in history, there are a nearly limitless number of possible futures. Every choice we make causes a split in the universe, towards futures filled with either cruelty or compassion. This is what theoretical physicists call the multiverse, and it’s as weird as it sounds. The power of Priya’s spirit is that it bends all of these branches towards compassion. It may very well be why I’m not sitting in a prison today, and it may save me from prison over the next few days. Because when people feel what Priya feels, what you and I feel, and what the animals feel, they are moved to act.

This will likely be my last podcast before the verdict, and perhaps the last podcast (with my voice) in a long time. But remember: the podcast will continue, in Priya’s voice (while sometimes reading my words), no matter what happens in Utah. And so long as you keep speaking your truth, we will prevail – and the multiverse will bend towards compassion.

The livestream by Priya that may have saved Wayne from prison

Priya’s joy from finding Bertie, the beagle rescued from a lab, then lost on the streets

Music by Dayzee Deva (cover of "Everybody Have Fun Tonight”)