Michael is head of philosophy at the University of Liverpool. His current work spans transhumanism, death and meaning. He has written on whether non-human animals can have meaningful lives and What It Is Like to Be a Bot. He says of his work: "As a philosopher, I am a generalist, which is a nice way of saying that I have done many different things and I am not really an expert on anything in particular. Most people would probably tag me as an ethicist, but this is only true in a very broad sense. Figuring out what is right and what is wrong, permissible or impermissible, does not hold much interest for me. It seems to me that when people are debating these questions they are actually arguing about something else, namely who we want to be and in what kind of world we want to live. For me, doing philosophy is ultimately a sustained attempt to get to grips with this "deeply puzzling world" (to borrow an expression of Mary Midgley's), to understand it and to understand our place in it. Philosophy is not business; it's personal, more akin to therapy than to science. It's about finding out what is actually going on and what we are doing here. Can philosophy provide an answer to these questions? I don't know. All we can do is keep on trying. Perhaps what matters is not that we find an answer, but that we keep the question alive."

Michael is an atheist and has a broadly naturalistic worldview. He has a sentiocentric moral scope but is working towards putting that into practice.

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism podcast and here on the Sentientism YouTube.

Michael at the University of Liverpool
Michael on Academia.edu

Ashley is Director of Outreach for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). She has led a broad range of PETA's campaigns and has been interviewed about her work to promote animal rights by the LA Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and in many other publications.

Ashley is a Christian Scientist but has a broadly naturalistic epistemology, using evidence & reasoning. She is vegan and has a sentiocentric moral scope.

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism Podcast.

@ashlovesmongo
@ashlovesmongo (Insta)

Between 1999 and 2014, Bel was Style Editor for Metro. The fall of Rana Plaza in 2013 forced a re-assessment; today, she is a writer, speaker and activist with a focus on animal rights, the climate emergency and the toxic fashion system. Bel has taken part in and moderated numerous panels for brands and organisations and has been interviewed about her work in activism, alternative systems in fashion and culture change.

Bel is vegan and has a sentiocentric moral scope. She describes herself as spiritual, not religious and, in our conversation below, says "my god is the natural world".

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism podcast.

BelJacobs.com
@bel_jacobs
Bel on FaceBook
Bel on Instagram
The Empathy Project
Islington Climate Centre

Paige is Communications Director for the streaming platform UnchainedTV. After initially going vegan “for the environment” Jane became an ethical vegan after attending her first vigil with LA Animal Save. Paige later became a Contributor for JaneUnchained News where she reported on vigils, PETA protests, VegFests, book launches, Cubes of Truth & vegan conferences. Paige then became Booker for LunchBreakLIVE, a daily cooking show & Senior Booker for JaneUnChained News. Now, as UnchainedTV Comms Director & co-producer/co-host of the Plant Based In the ‘Burbs show, Paige brings inspiration, humor & humbleness to the kitchen, showing simple swap outs & easy recipes to inspire people to bring more plants on their plates. She also works with Gwenna Hunter who launched the first vegan food bank in Southern California.

Paige is vegan and has a sentiocentric moral scope. She describes herself as "spiritual more than religious".

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism podcast.

@RoachePaige
@PaigeParsonsRoache

Paul is a psychologist. He is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on language, morality, religion, fiction, and art. His books include "Against Empathy" (making the case for rational compassion), "The Sweet Spot" (about the "pleasures" of suffering) and "Just Babies" (on the origins of good and evil).

Paul has published extensively on compassion and morality, including this paper "Children prioritize humans over animals less than adults do" co-authored with previous Sentientism guest Matti Wilks. His moral scope is unclear and he doesn't yet seem to have boycotted consumption of sentient animal products. He is an atheist and has a naturalistic worldview, rejecting supernatural beliefs.

paulbloom.net
Paul on Wikipedia
@paulbloomatyale

Sandra describes herself as a vegan foodie, content writer & editor and wife on a mission to empower others to make small, meaningful decisions and actions that will help make the world a better place. She is co-host of VEG Networking Canada, a place where plant-based and vegan companies connect and collaborate. Sandra is the author of the book "Vegan Marketing Success Stories".

Sandra does hold some supernatural and spiritual beliefs but is aware of the risks that come from those types of worldviews having experienced, then leaving, the NXIVM cult. Sandra is vegan and has, at least, a sentiocentric moral scope.

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism podcast.

sandranomoto.com
@SandraNomoto
Sandra on Instagram
Sandra on YouTube
Sandra on FaceBook
Sandra on LinkedIn

Adrian is a multi-award winning fantasy and science fiction author. He is known best for his series Shadows of the Apt and for his novel Children of Time. Children of Time was awarded the 30th Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2016.

Adrian has a naturalistic worldview and, conceptually (not yet in practice), a sentiocentric moral scope.

Find his Sentientist Conversation with me here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism Podcast.

@aptshadow
Adrian on Wikipedia
adriantchaikovsky.com

Emerson is the host of the Counter Apologetics & Walden Pod podcasts. Both are also available on his  @Emerson Green  YouTube channel.

He is an atheist and has a naturalistic worldview. He is "nearly" vegan, so is working on putting his sentiocentric moral scope into practice.

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism Podcast.

Emerson's LinkTree
Emerson's Blog

Pearl describes herself as "poly-vocational". She is a foreign relations & management consultant with an MA in International Relations & an MBA in International Business. She is a vegan whole foods advocate via her "Le Twisted Spoon" club. Pearl is also a community organiser and public speaker.

Pearl generally has a naturalistic worldview but does believe there is "someone bigger than myself that clearly loves me". She is vegan.

Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism Podcast.

@BruntPearl
pearlbrunt.com