On March 2 nd , Spanish philosopher Susana Monsó gave a fascinating talk at the Vetmeduni about her book “ Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death ,” whose German translation “ Das Schweigen der Schimpansen: Wie Tiere den Tod verstehen ” was recently awarded Austria's 2026 “Science Book of the Year ” in the category of science/technology by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research. [1] Drawing on the fields of comparative thanatology and the philos

On February 26th, John Sanbonmatsu, Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, gave an inspiring online talk on his most recent book The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves, published in 2025 by NYU Press. In his book, Sanbonmatsu, draws on a wide range of thinkers to analyze the existential dimensions of speciesism and to deconstruct how the hegemonic system reproduces itself. Borrowing Marx’ concept

On January 27 th , Svea Jörgensen gave an interesting talk at the Messerli Research Institute entitled “ Struggling to Balance the Scales: Empirical Insights from the Ethical Review of Animal Research in Sweden .” Svea outlined details of her PhD project, which investigates the ethical review process of applications for animal research in Sweden. There are six regional Animal Ethics Committees (AECs) in Sweden that are tasked with the transparent ethical reviews of animal res