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.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?”
Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
01:48 Bel's Intro
- Journalism, fashion editor, social & animal justice activism
- "The world of fashion sucks you in"
- Co-founding The Islington Climate Centre & running The Empathy Project
04:19 What's Real?
- (I mis-spoke & asked "what matters?" - sorry!)
- Growing up in #hongkong ... rich, vibrant, urban
- "Really loving animals" first companion animal at 3 "they were these beautiful things"
- Stray animals & wet markets "but no one talked about it"
- Food "a very big deal in that culture"... valuing the exotic e.g. suckling pig / turtle soup
- "At least they were honest... there was no pretense at compassion"
- "I tucked in because everyone else tucked in"
- "I held this love of animals whilst eating them for a very long time"
- Growing up "broadly agnostic" with a Jewish father & a mother who moved through various religions
- Saying the Lord's Prayer every morning at school
- "I just couldn't correlate why there were so many sad things happening & god didn't seem to be very active in sorting it out"
- Coming to #spirituality through "the extent of the suffering... abuse... cruelty"... "I could not rationalise it"
- "I'm going to drive my love to them through thought & visualisation & #meditation "
- "My god is the natural world"
- "Animals are the sentient representations of nature"
- "I do like to get my hands in the soil"
19:34 What Matters?
- "Religions are man made constructions... constructed in times long gone... by powerful men... You cannot not question them."
- Suffering as central to understanding good & bad
23:46 Who Matters?
- "Even as we talk most people will think we're talking just about humans"
- Moral philosophy's focus on humans
- The rationalisations that support animal exploitation "I had an innocent idea of what authority does"
- "I would volunteer in animal shelters then go home and have a meat dinner"
- A journalist trip where they helped a sheep get free from barbed wire then "had lamb for dinner"
- "My awakening... was my encounter with the #Yulin dog meat festival... I started to question the nature of humanity"
...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sentientism/messageCheese Challenge & Pescetarian Paradox - Maja Cullen, Devon Docherty, Carol Jasper - Sentientism 200
"Reductionism is well-named. It reduces what you can do." - Michael Levin - Sentientism 199
"We need to imagine a different world" - Emilia Leese - author and host of Think Like a Vegan - Sentientism 198
Hip Hop is Going Green - Keith Tucker of Hip Hop is Green - Sentientism 197
Nigerian Food Revolution - Hakeem Jimo of Veggie Victory and ProVeg Nigeria - Sentientism 196
Consciousness Live! - with skateboarding philosopher Richard Brown - Sentientism 195
A Truly Humane Education - Laura Chepner - The Vegan Society's Education Officer - Sentientism 194
Imagining Ethical Schools - Sentientism 193
Is Veganic the Future of Farming? "We grow plants using plants" - Jimmy Videle - Sentientism 192
Half-Earth Socialism - Troy Vettese - Sentientism 191
"Your Neighbour Kills Puppies" - Tom Harris - Activist, Artist & Author - Sentientism 190
"A new world of animal justice" - Sabine Brels of World Animal Justice - Sentientism 189
Talking to Humanists about Sentientism - Cross-post bonus from Podcast for Inquiry - Sentientism 188
"What if we saw ourselves as species diplomats?" - David Peña-Guzmán of Overthink and SFSU - Sentientism 187
Could animal farming be good for the animals? The Logic of the Larder - with Nick Pendergrast - Cross-post bonus episode from 3CR's Freedom of Species radio show and podcast - Sentientism 186
"If you combine rationality and compassion you have the essence" - Jonathan Leighton of OPIS - Sentientism 185
Is veganism a moral obligation? Ghostless Machine cross-post bonus - Sentientism 184
Don't underestimate your influence! - Chris Bryant of Bryant Research - Sentientism 183
160: "Mother Cow, Mother India" - Yamini Narayanan - International Development A/Prof - Sentientism
Waking Cosmos - a cross-post bonus episode - Sentientism 182
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