The Cost of Putting Humans First

Animal abuse is a predictor child abuse. Slaughterhouse locations correlate with violent crime. Over three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases trace back to how we treat animals and ecosystems. In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, Dr. Hope Ferdowsian connects these patterns to a single root cause: systems built on hierarchies that reduce living beings to their financial worth. She challenges public health to stop treating symptoms, expand its moral circle beyond humans, and finally address the conditions that create disease, violence, and exploitation in the first place. References for Our Discussion ◼️ Phoenix Zones Website Guest ◼️ Hope Ferdowsian , Co-Founder and President of Phoenix Zones Initiative Host ◼️ Purva Mehta, BMSc, MSc Producer ◼️ Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP® Production Notes ◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music Room Leave Us Some Feedback If you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to

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The Cost of Putting Humans First is an episode from Public Health Insight by PHI Media.

This episode is 26:02 long.

This episode was published on Mar 17, 2026.

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