In the latest episode of “Lives Well Lived”, Kasia and I speak with philosopher Martha Nussbaum about fragility, love, justice, and the search for a good life.

In our conversation on “Lives Well Lived”, Martha Nussbaum argues that emotions are forms of cognition, ways of recognising what matters, but that society often warps them. One damaging example is the belief that we must always strike back when wronged, as if retaliation could undo harm.

Factory farming is indefensible. Animals deserve more than freedom from pain. They deserve the chance to flourish according to their own ways of life. That’s what Martha Nussbaum claims, in our conversation on “Lives Well Lived.”

You don’t need to believe in God to think that morality is objective — just as you don’t need to believe in God to think that mathematics or the laws of logic are objective. Moral truths can stand on their own. Credit: The Institute of Art and Ideas, 2024

In our new “Lives Well Lived” episode, Stephen Fry reflects on his adolescence and the experiences that shaped him. He speaks about falling in love with a boy at school, how it upended his world, and how he came to understand his sexuality at a time when resources and acceptance were scarce.

In the latest episode of Lives Well Lived, Kasia and I speak with writer, actor, and broadcaster Stephen Fry about the experiences that shaped his life and outlook. We discuss his adolescence, including the period he spent in prison for credit card fraud, discovering his sexuality through...

In our new “Lives Well Lived” episode, Stephen Fry joins us to discuss the future of democracy and the rise of tech oligarchs. We discuss whether democracy still has real power, how it collides with the influence of figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and why guardrails...

When you do applied ethics, you often end up challenging common-sense morality. That’s part of a long philosophical tradition - Socrates himself asked people about justice, only to show them they didn’t understand it as well as they thought. (1/2)

In our new “Lives Well Lived” episode, Anna Machin discusses polyamory and whether it can be a lasting alternative to monogamy. She explains why polyamory has always existed, how some people experience lower levels of jealousy, and why love should not be seen as a finite pie to be divided.

In a new article for Project Syndicate, Benjamin Sievers and I argue that terminally ill patients should have the opportunity to make a meaningful "last gift" by taking part in carefully designed medical studies. Those freely choosing to participate would accelerate research that...

We’ve all felt it - eyes meet across a room, a conversation flows, and we head home thinking, it must be love.

The worst thing we can do is keep buying products from factory farms just because they’re cheap. I believe all decent people who want to live ethical lives should stop supporting this system. The suffering it causes to billions of animals each year is immense and entirely avoidable.

In the latest episode of “Lives Well Lived”, Kasia and I speak with evolutionary anthropologist Anna Machin about the science of love, attraction, and human relationships. She explains how oxytocin and dopamine work together to quieten fear and motivate us to take the risk of love,... (1/3)

If you’d like to stay updated on my latest writings and podcast conversations, I encourage you to subscribe to "Bold Reasoning”. It's where I share essays, reflections, and releases of new episodes of "Lives Well Lived". You can find it here: boldreasoningwithpetersinger.substack.com

Congratulations to Educate Girls for making history as the first Indian organisation to win the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award. By mobilising communities, strengthening local systems and bridging the gender gap in remote districts, they are making education possible for girls who were once left out.

If animals lived genuinely good lives with their biological, physical, social, and emotional needs met and were then killed painlessly, I would have far fewer objections than I do to current farming practices. (1/2)

I support the proposed amendments to Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation. Watch my full statement on the Dying With Dignity Victoria website here: www.dwdv.org.au/2025_vad_ref...

Standing outside Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue, surrounded by luxury shoes, I’m reminded of a thought experiment I wrote about 30 years ago: If you walked past a shallow pond and saw a child drowning, would you ruin your expensive shoes to save the child? Everyone says yes, of course. (1/2)

A new book asks: What Is the Point of Moral Philosophy?. Yes, that's the title. It's a collection of essays edited by Roger Crisp, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu and published by Routledge, and I have a new essay in it, entitled "Changing Lives." That's my answer to the question asked

Is my real point that we should abolish the use of animals? My concern was always with the suffering we inflict on animals. My ethics is close to that of Jeremy Bentham, who focused on reducing suffering and increasing well-being... (1/2)

I accepted an invitation from Christian podcast host Sean McDowell, not to debate the existence of God, but rather to see where we agree, and where we disagree, on some important ethical issues. It was a worthwhile discussion. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmcm...

I once thought there were no objective moral truths. Over time, I became persuaded that there are self-evident truths, axioms of ethics, that provide an objective foundation for morality. Recognising this was a turning point in my thinking. Credit: The Institute of Art and Ideas, 2024

I’ve signed a limited number of copies of my latest book, Animal Liberation Now, the fully revised and updated edition of my work on the ethics of our treatment of animals. If you’d like a signed copy, you can order one here while they’re available: www.petersinger.info/shop/p/peter...

Over the past few years, my media director has played a crucial role in enabling me to reach more people with ideas that matter, whether it's through sharing videos, podcasts, newsletters, interviews, providing information about a coming event, or just making a comment on social media.

I don’t eat meat from animals, but I recognise the ethical question of whether it is wrong in all circumstances is more balanced than I once thought. One thing I’m clear about: anyone who refuses to buy products from factory-farmed animals is on the right side. (1/2)

For those who suggest I have been silent on Gaza - I have not. You can refer to my Project Syndicate columns of October 11, 2023, January 5, 2024, and May 9, 2024.

After that conversation, I read Animal Machines by Ruth Harrison. It exposed the reality of factory farming in Britain: animals crammed into tiny spaces, their welfare disregarded entirely. Once I understood the suffering behind the food, I couldn’t look at meat the same way again.

I had never had a serious conversation about not eating meat until one day at lunch with a fellow student at Oxford. He explained he was a vegetarian, and why. It was the first time I’d been asked to think seriously about the ethics of what was on my plate. That conversation changed my life.

Some people talk about overthowing capitalism; it’s more realistic to encourage capitalists to do better. At the Profit for Good Conference in Amsterdam, we explored how businesses can commit to doing the most good they can with their profits...

Effective altruism combines both the heart and the head. The heart motivates us to help. The head makes sure what we do is effective and well directed. It’s not enough to mean well - we should aim to do the most good we can with the resources we have. Source: TED, 2013

A small but growing number of entrepreneurs are rethinking profit. Instead of asking how much they can take, they’re asking how much good they can do. That’s the idea behind the Profit for Good movement. I co-hosted its first conference last month in Amsterdam...

I believe we can say, without qualification, that inflicting unnecessary suffering on innocent beings is wrong. Suffering is intrinsically bad. That’s an objective moral fact. This principle underlies much of my work on animal ethics, global poverty, and effective altruism. If we accept it,...

Sometimes people who have been influenced by my writings have acted in ways that I reject. Now something similar has happened, in a dramatic way, to David Benatar, the anti-natalist philosopher. We discuss it, in my latest piece for Project Syndicate. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...

Some people say that to bring about a better world, we must overthrow global capitalism. But how? I think it is more realistic to reimagine capitalism in a way that will reduce suffering and improve lives. At the Profit for Good Conference in Amsterdam last month, I spoke with Rutger Bregman...

In the latest episode of “Lives Well Lived”, Kasia and I speak with psychologist and author Ellen Langer about why she believes the mind and body are not separate, but a unified system and what that means for how we approach health, ageing, and everyday life.

In our new “Lives Well Lived” episode, Ellen Langer challenges the assumptions we take for granted, from how high cabinets are built to how we define what’s possible. Recognising that most of what surrounds us was decided by someone, not handed down from above, opens the door to...

In a letter just published in the French newspaper Le Monde, I've joined other prominent academics in calling for the release of Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian leader - from Fatah, not Hamas - who has been in Israeli prisons since 2002. annaczielinska.com.

We often think of chronic illness as fixed; something we can’t influence. But as psychologist Ellen Langer explains in our latest “Lives Well Lived” episode, that belief can limit us unnecessarily.

In the latest episode of “Lives Well Lived,” Kasia and I speak with social psychologist Ellen Langer about the “replication crisis” in psychology. We ask for her reaction to a study that attempted to replicate one of her well-known experiments, but did not get the striking results...

In the latest episode of “Lives Well Lived”, Kasia and I speak with animal rights activist and lawyer Wayne Hsiung about why he believes open rescue, entering farms to document conditions and save suffering animals, is a morally justified act.

When Wayne Hsiung rescues an animal from a factory farm, he doesn’t hide what he has done. He takes the animal to a vet, finds sanctuary placement, and hands a full dossier of evidence to the authorities - sometimes in person. In our latest “Lives Well Lived” episode, Wayne explains why this...

On June 11, I joined nearly 200 business leaders, charity entrepreneurs, and changemakers in Amsterdam for the first Profit for Good Conference, co-hosted by the School for Moral Ambition. The idea is simple, but powerful: use business profits to do as much good as possible.

I recently had a thoughtful conversation with neuropsychologist and environmental ethics advocate Pınar Şengül about veganism, animal suffering, and the ethical choices we make in daily life. youtu.be/U8tRO51-w8A?...

Bhutan vaccinated 94% of its population in just four days and had one of the world’s lowest COVID-19 death rates. How? According to former Health Minister Dasho Dechen Wangmo, it came down to three things: trust in leadership, national solidarity, and the agility that comes from being small...

Open Rescue was pioneered by Patty Mark in Australia in the 1980s, to expose the cruelty of factory farming. Patty was leading Animal Liberation, not to be confused with the Animal Liberation Front, which sought to inflict economic damage. youtube.com/shorts/S4_Vm...

Over the past couple of years, my Media Director has played a crucial role in expanding the reach of my work, from launching and promoting the "Lives Well Lived” podcast and the "Bold Reasoning” Substack to sustaining meaningful growth across every major digital platform.

In the latest episode of “Lives Well Lived”, Kasia and I speak with Bhutan’s former Minister of Health, Dasho Dechen Wangmo, about how she led her country to achieve a 94% COVID-19 vaccination rate in just four days, and maintained one of the world’s lowest death rates.

How do you measure happiness? In Bhutan, Gross National Happiness is more than a philosophy - it’s a policy tool. Every new initiative is screened not just for economic impact, but for how it supports wellbeing, environmental sustainability, spiritual values, and cultural preservation.

@casssunstein.bsky.social, legal scholar, author of Nudge, and former Obama advisor, has just published a thoughtful Substack post about reading Animal Liberation Now. I'm pleased to see that it’s prompted him to reconsider one of his long-held intellectual loyalties: the value of tradition as...

At the end of each “Lives Well Lived” episode, we ask: “Do you think you’ve lived well so far?” Dean Spears’ answer was simple: “Absolutely.” Not because of accolades or achievements but because of the people he’s worked with, and the meaningful work they’ve done together.