The Deal with Animals with Marika S. Bell

Episode 8 of Series 16: The Captivity Conversation- Transcript Drawing on his experience working both inside zoos and as a policy advocate, Chris argues that while captivity may have a limited role in species recovery, modern zoos often fall short of their conservation promises and raise profound questions about what animals need to truly thrive.Guest Bio: Chris is captivity research and policy manager at the Born Free Foundation. He has over 10 years of experience in captive animal-related fields with previous roles including zoos and other captive animal establishments before joining Born Free over five years ago. Chris has expertise in the welfare of wild animals kept in zoos and as pets, as well as related topics including behaviour, conservation and legislation relating to the captive keeping of wild animals. He leads and oversees the production of evidence-based reports, publications, and recommendations that inform and influence policy, practice, and public opinion on the issues affecting captive wild animals. The reports and academic publications have been featured in scientific journals, presented at conferences, including the Oxford Centre for Animals Ethics’ 2025 Summer School, and featured in various forms of media.Chris also regularly represents Born Free within stakeholder working groups, government consultations and various interview formats.Book Recommendations: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter WohllebenRelated Links:TDWA BlogGuest Book Recommendations List

Episode 7/8 of Series 16 : The Captivity Conversation - Transcript Maddy describes multispecies design as moving beyond human-centered design to consider how products, systems, and services affect non-human lives. We discuss sanctuaries as “safe bubbles” and the idea of “captive freedom,” parallels to children’s constrained freedom. Maddy explains her methods combining sensory/visual ethnography with speculative design and storytelling, including a role-playing card-based workshop imagining post-farming futures and power, hierarchy, and captivity across humans, animals, and land.Guest Bio: Madelena Mañetto Quick is a design innovation lecturer specifically centring multispecies design and design justice. Since working on and completing her Masters project, a design and culture exploration of a pig farm in Aotearoa New Zealand, she has been focused on understanding the worlds we build with farmed animals. Madi’s research has subsequently explored interspecies relationships within farms and farm animal sanctuaries and the stories surrounding them. As a creative design researcher, Madi adopts a multidisciplinary approach, entangling multispecies ethnography, narrative studies, and speculative design. Her work aims to challenge dominant assumptions, reimagine human-animal relationships, and envision radical, hopeful futures through critical design and storytelling. Book Recommendations:Cheek by Jowl by Ursula K. Leguin- Cheek by Jowl is a collection of talks and essays on how and why fantasy matters. Norsecer of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao MiyazakiRelated Links:TDWA BlogGuest Book Recommendations List

Episode 7 of Series 16: The Captivity Conversation- Transcript Dogs live under profound human control and their wellbeing depends on how we understand their agency, sensory world, and autonomy. This conversation asks us to observe our dogs like ethologists — with curiosity rather than correction — and to rethink what ethical care looks like when the captive animal is living right beside us.Guest Bio: Jessica Pierce is a bioethicist and writer whose work explores how humans might live more attentively and responsibly alongside other animals. She is the author of fourteen books on animal ethics, environmental philosophy, and human–animal relationships, including Who’s a Good Dog? And How to Be a Better Human and Dogpedia: A Brief Compendium of Canine Curiosities. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, TIME, and Scientific American. Pierce is a faculty affiliate at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School, and she lives in the Colorado Rockies, where her thinking is shaped by daily encounters with dogs, wildlife, and the more‑than‑human world.Book Recommendations: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova BaileyRelated Links:TDWA BlogGuest Book Recommendations List

Episode 6 of Series 16: The Captivity Conversation- TranscriptVictoria Stilwell joins me to talk about how we shape dogs’ lives through training, communication, and the choices that determine whether they feel safe, understood, and able to express themselves. Our conversation looks closely at the the limits of control, and what it really means to build a relationship that supports their agency rather than restricts it.Guest Bios: Victoria Stilwell is a globally recognised dog behaviour expert whose work in humane, evidence‑based training reaches audiences in over 200 countries through It’s Me or the Dog and her ongoing role as training consultant for Channel 4’s The Dog Academy. She is the founder of Positively.com, CEO of the VSPDT trainer network, and President of the Victoria Stilwell Academy, a leading institution for positive‑reinforcement dog‑training education. Stilwell is also the author of five bestselling books and a frequent contributor to major TV, radio, and media outlets worldwide.Book Recommendations: Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra HorowitzRelated Links:TDWA BlogGuest Book Recommendations List

Episode 5 looks outward: how to apply the psychology of eating animals, behaviour‑change research, and cross‑disciplinary insights to build a more effective, culturally aware, globally relevant animal‑advocacy movement. The episode argues that progress depends on meeting people where they are, adapting strategies to context, and designing interventions that make pro‑animal behaviour easy, normal, and socially supported.This Episode Features:Jared Piazza — co-founder of The Fair Society researching how children and adolescents come to understand (and morally judge) the origins of animal products.Ondine Sherman — author and co-founder of animal advocacy organization Voiceless, focused on how and when to talk to children about animal ethics.Chris Hopwood — co-founder of The Fair Society and personality psychologist exploring how honesty with kids about eating animals compares to how we talk to adults.Katja Liebal — leader of the Children in Nature project, studying how cultural and environmental factors shape children's relationships with animals across 18 countries.Antonia Gefahrt — social scientist researching how people respond to vegan advocacy and how autonomy threat drives defensive reactions.Related Links:PHAIR Society A biannual gathering of researchers and advocates focused on human–animal intergroup relations, moral psychology, and behaviour change.For more info check out the blog at www.thedealwithanimals.comGuest Book Recommendations List