The Psychosphere

Science writer Jo Wimpenny takes us into the world of animal fables, discussing with Melanie what these old, mythical intuitions have to tell us about animal minds.

Neuroscientist and animal advocate Lori Marino discusses the intelligence of cetaceans with Melanie, and the consequences of captivity on these extraordinary minds. Why are whales and dolphins some of the smartest animals around, and how could we reimagine a world for their wellbeing?

Avi Loeb discusses the possibilities of alien intelligences with Melanie. Have other intelligences already contacted us and would we know how to read the signals if they had? Why is alien intelligence associated with crank science, and what are the rational routes through to considering the possibilities of off-Earth minds?

Melanie discusses the idea of personhood in non-human animals with science writer Brandon Keim. How can we recognize personhood in other species, and what does this mean for their moral considerability?

Renowned neuroscientist Anil Seth discusses his work on selfhood and the emergence of consciousness. Melanie and Anil consider whether consciousness is solely a human phenomenon or whether new science suggests that consciousness is widespread among animals.

Bestselling author and self-confessed flint-knapping nerd, Rebecca Wragg-Sykes discusses her research on neanderthals with Melanie. Why were our fellow humans dismissed as a brute, dumb creature for so long, and what can recent research tell us about the minds of this lost but separate species of human? Rebecca is the author of Kindred: Neanderthal life, love, death and art, and her work can be found at: https://www.rebeccawraggsykes.com/

Melanie discusses group psychology and the psychological bases of racism with psychologist Steven Roberts. Roberts is Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. You can find out more about his work here: https://profiles.stanford.edu/177091

In this episode, Melanie discusses animal minds and animal ethics with Professor Francoise Wemelsfelder. Francoise is Professor of Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Scotland's Rural College. She pioneered a methodology for the study of animal expressivity (body language) and subjective experience, generally referred to as ‘Qualitative Behaviour Assessment’ (QBA). Her research focuses on the application of this method as a practical tool for welfare assessment and management in farm, zoo, and companion animals. Research interests associated with this work are animal boredom and environmental enrichment.

A discussion on the intelligence of octopuses and cuttlefish, and on the origins of consciousness, with celebrated writer and philosopher, Peter Godfrey-Smith. Peter is Professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He is the author, among others, of Other Minds and Metazoa. You can read more about his work here: https://petergodfreysmith.com/

How smart is a slime mould? In this episode, Melanie is joined by Nirosha Murugan to discuss the weird and wonderful lives of slime moulds. Nirosha is Assistant Professor in the Health Sciences department at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, where she studies tissue biophysics and cancer biology. In her prior work, she studied regenerative biology and comparative cognition, with a focus on slime moulds, an almost unclassifiable set of single cell organisms, famed for their seemingly paradoxical abilities to be intelligent in the absence of a brain... You can learn more about Nirosha here.