ANIMALISTIC

As humans, we love to categorize. But what if these categorizations don't really reflect biological reality? Professor Volker Sommer joins me this week to give us some insight into the history, and the problems with, the taxonomic system, including whether some non-human primates should actually be included in our "human" genus Homo.

Dr Raoul Schwing of the Kea Lab in Austria joins me to talk about one of his favourite topics, play. Do animals play? Why? And what special purpose does play serve in Kea parrots, one of the smartest and most mischievous birds on the planet?

This month, the UK government introduced a Bill to formally recognise animals as sentient beings. But what does this mean? And why is it important? What animals are sentient, and how do we know? To answer (some) of these questions I am joined by Dr Janet Pauketat, research fellow at the Sentience Institute.

I am joined by Dr Lynne Sneddon, a fish pain and welfare expert, who explains the research she does on fish pain, her incredible discoveries, and how she is using this research to drive welfare changes for fish everywhere

Dr. Judith Benz-Schwarzburg, a scholar of human-animal studies at the Messerli Institute, Vienna, joins me to discuss how the media diverts scruitiny from the meat industry, and how advertisers use clever tricks to sooth our conscience and keep us spending our money on their products, guilt-free. This conversation left me wondering... is the media brainwashing us?