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

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.

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 audio is on our Podcast here on Apple & here on all the other platforms.

We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
02:00 Paige’s Intro
05:09 What’s Real?

• Paradigm shifts & language
• Cultural differences re: dog & horse meat & values
• Living on a cattle ranch w/grandparents “hard work & love”
• California to Tennessee & back
• “I’m more #spiritual than religious”
• Agreed meanings of “humane” “so that humans can feel comfortable eating these animals”
• “A lot of systems are breaking down” some in a good way, some not so good
• #COP27 #greenwashing
• The Farm Bill, animal agriculture subsidies, lobbying
• How bad ethics & bad epistemology feed each other
• A sunday school teacher aunt
• Corporal punishment “for me there was a Bible & a ruler”
• “Pretty much buying into the American way… & #christianity “
• A spiritual workshop
• #thesecret & Michael Beckwith & the Agape International Spiritual Centre “A Baptist/Buddhist experience… this really fits my heart… commonality & peace”
• #transcendence & interconnectedness in both naturalistic & spiritual ways of thinking
• JW: Risks in spiritual movements that focus on “#manifesting your own future… so if bad things happen to you it’s your fault” & high control & dangerous leaders & coercion
• “If we take personal responsibility we can socially change… stop blaming others”
• “Everything that has ever happened to me I take full responsibility for… even child abuse.”
• “A brother who took his life at 19″… “losing both parents to brain injury”
• “I’d rather be empowered”
• Risks of victim-blaming, even when the victim is ourselves
• “There are situations where there are victims, perpetrators… (JW) & systemic influences we have very little control over”
• Children working in US slaughterhouses
• “Work towards justice for others”

35:19 What & Who Matters?

• Religious ethics “ultimately about obedience”
• “Thou shalt not kill… do unto others… are still cornerstones”
• Daughter goes vegetarian at 9 the vegan at 13 yrs old after seeing animal farming videos
• “I’m going to support her but it was inconvenient” cooking, family gatherings
• Watching @cowspiracyfilm with daughter “Within the first 15 mins… I’m going vegan… animals matter… animals have #sentience … who am I am to take another’s life?”
• How veganism is trivialised/seen as a “hobby” vs. other social justice causes
• Avoidng vegan activists “I didn’t want to know – that was their world”
• A #harikrishna temple
• @ed.winters “I’ve been lied to all these years… how did I not know?”
• Learning about #dairy
• “The best way to handle this [types of trauma] is with a professional”
• How responsibility, accountability & compassion relate “empathising with others”
• “Being someone who was victimised… I want justice for all”

53:23 How Can We Make a Better Future?

• “A responsibility for social change”
• “Heal ourselves first”
• “Hope in action”
• So many of our systems “were set up broken”
• #microplastics
• Breaking Boundaries film
• “We need to work together… create that village feeling again”
• Removing subsidies from harmful industries
• “My activism isn’t yours… get in there & start doing it”
• Learning broadcasting
• #plantbased products & “foodworthiness”
• Gwenna Hunter’s #vegan #foodbanks #VegansofLosAngeles
• Talking to animal farmers “The day before I was vegan I wasn’t”
• Helping animal farms transition (Miyoko, RAP)
• “Nobody wants to work in a slaughterhouse”
• “The animals are rising up”
• #Christspiracy film
• Elwood’s Dog Meat & farming toddlers

Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info.

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Thanks to Graham for the post-production and to Tarabella and Denise for helping to fund this episode via our Sentientism Patreon.