Radical Animism, Language and Agency

07/05/21 • 55 min

Episode 34. In this episode, we hear from Jemma, about her concept of radical animism and book of the same name. We begin with Jemma’s current studies of fungi and what we humans can learn from it. Jemma then expands on some of the themes of Radical Animism – including the 4 blows to human narcissism, the agency of the anthropocene, the evolution of language, and the animism of literature, including how texts like Alice in Wonderland can challenge and bring fresh light to our expectations of nonhuman animal agency.

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The Psychology of the Meat Paradox

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Episode 33. In this episode, we hear from Rebecca, whose research at Lancaster University takes a closer look at the meat paradox. Rebecca explains some of the psychological mechanisms people use to justify their meat eating. Rebecca’s research investigates meat reduction strategies and highlights the importance of social support for people going vegan, as well as digging deeper into anti-vegan attitudes.

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Just Wondering

In this episode, we hear from Just Wondering, a collective of three individuals based in Eastern Europe. M, Mina and Aron. They make animated videos which they describe as “inescapably political and speculative”. I picked some of the video that had really piqued my interest - an impossible choice really, as the topics covered by Just Wondering cover so much ground, from Tim Morton’s hyperobjects to Sunaura Taylor’s disability liberation approach. A liberation movement must change the narrative and storytelling is Just Wondering’s strength. We hear about their learning journey through the theory and how the collective came to make videos, as well as details about the illustration and animation process. We also hear briefly about some of the collectives plans for the future. Just Wondering on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/justwondering/featured Just Wondering website: https://www.justwondering.io