“Shrimp on the Barbie: Australian Christmas Edition” by Walter Veit

Crosspost from Substack This December, I returned to Australia to spend Christmas with my wife's family. It's my third Australian Christmas, and I'm still shocked by the differences to the German festivities not too far from the Alps where I grew up. It's a hot summer day in the Southern Hemisphere, people wearing goofy Christmas outfits, and the centerpiece of the feast isn't a duck but…shrimps or rather as Aussies call them, prawns. Australian shops stock up on shrimps before Christmas I found that already strange in the previous years. But this year was quite different. This year I feel strangely melancholic. When I look at the shrimp on the platter I don't see odd food anymore but rather individuals. Piled on a platter, their black eyes still visible, their segmented armored bodies intact. It's also a contrast to how we usually consume meat. The animal processed. The individual disappearing. Not so in the case of these shrimps. But that's only part of the explanation for my change in attitude The plausible cause? I'm currently writing a book on the minds of these small and unassuming crustaceans. Yet, even after months of research on their lives, their surprising mental [...] --- First published: December 25th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EG9eFecpWuBmtEQ9S/shrimp-on-the-barbie-australian-christmas-edition --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

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