iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Over $2m raised to help end factory farming 🐔🐟🐖 Thanks to the massive support and generosity of Dwarkesh Patel and other amazing donors. We at FarmKind were really proud to play a small role in making this happen. youtu.be/r5H-bFGOjBM?...

youtu.be

Podcast Fundraiser Goes Viral, Saves MILLIONS OF ANIMALS!

YouTube video by Chris Bryant, PhD.

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

🎧 Episode here: 🟢 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4YpY... 🍎 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Who really decides what's on your plate? (with Mark Bittman)

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

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Who really decides what's on your plate? 🍽️ New episode of Changed My Mind is out! My co-host and I talked to @markbittman.bsky.social about his journey from joyful recipe writer to outspoken critic of the US food system. We dig into how his focus shifted from individual choice to systemic issues.

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

🎧 You can find the episode here: 🟢 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6kl4... 🍎 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Why facts don’t change minds, but stories do (with Melanie Joy)

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

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Changing people's minds isn't about facts and logical arguments - it is so often about identity and stories. In the latest episode of Changed My Mind we chat to Dr Melanie Joy about the power of story telling and how one dodgy burger completely changed her life.

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

🎧 You can find the episode here: 🟢 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5v7t... 🍎 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

What’s happening in your brain when you change your mind? (with Rick Hanson)

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Your brain is literally "Velcro for bad experiences but Teflon for good ones." This negativity bias served our ancestors well, but today, not so much. In this fascinating conversation, Dr. Rick Hanson shares how to intentionally rewire your brain for greater flexibility, resilience, and happiness.

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Looking forward to this! Jamie is a great communicator on ethics

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

I know this is a stone-cold take: trying to out-Reform Reform on immigration seems not only wrong but stupid, you're just signalling that you think they're right about the issue but you'll never be prepared to go as far as them. Labour needs to be honest: immigration is quite good, actually

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

🎧 You can find the episode here: 🟢 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2EwK... 🍎 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Are you morally ambitious enough? (with Rutger Bregman)

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

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Working 60 hours a week making PowerPoints that no one reads? Rutger Bregman (@rutgerbregman.com) thinks we could use our fancy degrees to actually help people instead of making rich people richer. Crazy, right? Find out more on the latest episode of Changed My Mind

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Reposted by Thom Norman

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

I love him I must marry him.

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Finally fulfilling my contractual obligation as a 30-something white guy to start a podcast. "Changed My Mind" launched this week where we'll interview people who possess the rarest superpower of all: admitting they were wrong about something.

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Turns out telling people "Go Vegan" is like telling someone "Just be happy" during a crisis. We need to stop threatening people's "good person" identity and make folks feel included instead of judged. Who knew psychology mattered more than my moral superiority? shorturl.at/9LGIB

animalthinktank.substack.com

Is our messaging meeting the psychological needs of our audiences?

Through focus groups and message-testing, we've found there are three core needs to fulfil for a message to be more persuasive...

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Been loving @chrisbryantphd.bsky.social new YouTube channel—short, sharp, evidence-backed takes on how to actually help animals. Recently he gives a shout-out to FarmKind—showing how smart giving can match the impact of going vegan. 📺 Sub to Chris: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTvw...

youtube.com

How To Save Animals On The Internet

YouTube video by Chris Bryant, PhD.

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Great article - its really important the Gov maintains its commitment not to undermine welfare through trade. A Prop-12 style ban on low welfare imports is really a no brainer: It's fair for animals, fair for consumers and fair for farmers.

This might seem crazy, but are we sure this is good news? 1) In order to meet cage free and better chicken commitments, we actually need more farms (because they'll take up more space) 2) This could just 'offshore' animal ag to countries with lower standards Would be interested in your take

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I'm assuming many of your R-wing friends would be on the libertarian side of the right? Why do they want to support Trump anyway? He's clearly not on their team, he's just stollen their football kit.

How about 'there basically isn't a strategy at all' - I feel like understanding the Trump White House in terms of the personality of the leader (liable to changing his mind, enjoys picking fights, likes to be seen as 'strong') makes more sense than trying to find some theory of strategy.

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Starmer must protect UK farmers and animal welfare from trade deal betrayal

The UK-US trade deal is a ticking time bomb for British farming. We might allow imports from a system where practices illegal in Britain for decades are industry standard. If it's too cruel to produce here, it's too cruel to import here. @animalpolicyint.bsky.social www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/view...

lbc.co.uk

As the UK scrambles to avoid Trump’s tariffs we risk making a dangerous trade-off.

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

- How $1 can help free a hen from a cage for a year - Why 0.01% of Americans giving $300/year would DOUBLE global funding - How corporate campaigns have moved 40% of US hens to cage-free Listen below! youtu.be/2Q0aVBgHlC0?...

youtu.be

People vs. Animals? Help Both WITHOUT Going Vegan - Christian Expert Explains

YouTube video by Christians for Impact

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I spent an hour unpacking the moral tragedy of factory farming and how Christians can be better stewards of creation with JD Bauman for Christians for Impact:

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

For just $23 a month, you can OFFSET the impact of your diet on animals—without changing what you eat. That's because the animal charity space is so underfunded that small donations can have MASSIVE impact: youtu.be/2Q0aVBgHlC0?...

youtu.be

People vs. Animals? Help Both WITHOUT Going Vegan - Christian Expert Explains

YouTube video by Christians for Impact

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

When I first found out about factory farming, my biggest struggle was simply feeling helpless to do anything about it. But the good news is we can all - surprisingly easily - help change this cruel and destructive system. My piece for GreenQueen: www.greenqueen.com.hk/diet-offsets...

greenqueen.com.hk

Opinion: Why Going Vegan Isn't the Only Way to Fight Factory Farming

FarmKind's Thom Norman believes people going vegan may not be the best way to fight factory farming. His solution? Diet offsetting.

Sentientism @sentientism.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Reposted by Thom Norman

Great to see more atheist / skeptic / freethinking communities engaging seriously in the question of how we treat our fellow sentient beings. Kudos to previous Sentientism guests Objectively Dan (#134) and @thomnorman.bsky.social (#214): www.youtube.com/live/X_OMjKZ... @atheistcommunity.bsky.social

youtube.com

Truth Wanted 08.06 with ObjectivelyDan and Thom Norman (@Sentientism)

YouTube video by Truth Wanted

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

99% of farm animals in the USA are suffering on factory farms. Imagine living your entire, short, life crammed shoulder to shoulder with thousands of others, constantly dirty, constantly fighting disease, never seeing the sun. Now times that by 10 billion. We can do better.

Almost all livestock in the United States is factory-farmed

It’s difficult to quantify animal suffering in a single number, but one metric often used to measure living conditions is the number of animals raised on “factory farms”.

Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴? What if you could just offset your meat eating - doing as much, or more, good for animals as changing your diet. Find out how, and why you should consider doing this, on Bentham's Bulldog recent Substack post:

What To Do If You Love Meat But Hate Factory Farms?

How to have a positive impact on animals if you eat meat

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Thom Norman @thomnorman.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

What's the biggest thing you can do to help end factory farming? Psst: it isn't changing your diet! Find out how even a $25 dollar donation a month can do even more to tackle factory farming than going 100% vegan.

Fighting Factory Farming: How Small Donations Can Make a Big Impact

In this episode, we chat to Thom Norman, co-founder of FarmKind, an organization dedicated to ending factory farming through strategic donations to highly ef...

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This article is full of bad arguments, but it IS true that going vegan isn't the only way to help tackle factory farming. Focusing only on the 'go vegan' message risks alienating people who might otherwise agree with us. To build a factory farming free world, we need a different message.

"vegans telling [the Regenuary founders] to “die of cancer” and that they were “c***s”." Here he has a point - if we want to see an end to factory farming, it is completely stupid to alienate others who - while wrong about the 'how' - share our 'why'. Not to mention that abuse is just wrong

"Big companies are jumping on the bandwagon [of Veganuary]" - Any food transition REQUIRES big companies to get involved - they help make products more available and cheaper. Maybe you think large corporations are bad per se, but let's not put fixing capitalism on the shoulders of the vegans eh?

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You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local

"Buying seasonal food, cutting air miles and buying from farms that look after nature could." It matters far more what you eat than where it came from, transport accounts for just 10% of food environmental costs and a smaller percentage for animal products. Source: buff.ly/2NTwfAA

ourworldindata.org

“Eat local” is a common recommendation to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet. How does the impact of what you eat compare to where it's come from?

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"Eating avocados on toast and drinking almond milk won’t save the world." - This one is such a cliche: Californian almonds produce about 2.6kgCO2e per KG - chicken is 9.8kg, beef 99.5kg. Also, most of the almond hate is about Cali almonds, but many almond milk brand in Europe don't use these anyway.

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"Big manufacturers are replacing factory-farmed meat with processed vegan food" - ultra-processed food has become a stick to beat vegans with, but we should point out that a) most of the health science UPF is NOT studying plant-based meats b) many vegans who eat whole foods many omnis eat UPFs

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But Josh argues, "monoculture vegan products aren’t sustainable" - yes moncultures have harmful enviro impacts, but both omnivores and animals ALSO eat monoculture plants. This isn't an anti-vegan argument, this is about the food system overall. It has nothing to do with regenerative *animal* ag

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Sadly, meat consumption is rising rapidly throughout the world. We already use 80% of agricultural land for animals, moving to regenerative ag would CERTAINLY mean more land used for human food which is, on most reasonable estimates, bad for bio-diversity, carbon emissions and pollution.

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Regenerative ag is going to save the planet, not veganism: it would be great if this was true, but regenerative ag came to prominence on very shaky science and the best comprehensive reviews show that leaving land wild is much better for the planet. Source: buff.ly/40v9WWL

oms-www.files.svdcdn.com

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One of my least favourite parts of January are the 'smart' takes on why Veganuary is actually bad - this time from Josh Barrie instead advocating 'Regenuary' (very clever right?). Josh bingo cards so many boringly bad anti-vegan arguments, I thought I'd go through em Source:

Josh Barrie on food: Veganuary? No thanks. I'm doing Regenuary

Rather than take part in a fad, consider spending the month eating produce from regenerative farms

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Grunwald's own piece shows what the alternative is like: sentiment beings reduced to 'beef animals', mistreatment prevented because it is 'inefficient', not to mention giant lagoons of waste, threats of more COVID-style pandemics and colonising more land to grow food to ship to these 'feed lots'

Early in the piece, Grunwald assumes that increased meat eating is a given, and we just have to find a way to meet the demand - whatever the consequences. This is where he is wrong: we can (and must) evolve the food system away from factory farming with new food tech like cultivated meat.

But that just underscores why we need to get off our current food trajectory. More factory farming, will destroy our planet, put our health at risk from more pandemics and condemn billions more animals to lives of abject suffering.