Pigs: The Overlooked Intellects

In this special episode of the Future Perfect podcast, neuroscientist Lori Marino helps us understand how arbitrarily we draw the lines between animals as pets and animals as food, and how we might redraw those lines.

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Further listening and reading: 

• Lori Marino has done in-depth round-ups of all the research on chicken cognition and pig cognition.
• You might also enjoy this study, where students who worked with chickens were surprised by their intelligence
• In the piece, we used clips from this BBC Earth segment on how pig intelligence compares to toddler intelligence, and a Compassion in World Farming piece on pigs and video games
• Dylan Matthews has written in depth about unnecessarily painful pig castration. He’s also written about the practice of mass-culling male chicks. 
• For more on what labels like “wild caught,” “organic,” and “grass-fed” actually mean for the food you eat, Rachel Krantz wrote a comprehensive guide. We also have more information on what it means for eggs to be “cage-free.” 

We always want to hear from you! Please send comments and questions to futureperfect@vox.com. 

This podcast is made possible thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators. They research and promote the most effective ways to help animals.

Featuring:

Lori Marino, Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy

Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), staff writer, Vox 

More to explore:

Follow all of Future Perfect’s reporting on the Future of Meat.

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