In 2017, Wayne Hsiung and a crew of animal rights activists from Direct Action Everywhere broke into a Utah pig farm run by Smithfield Foods, one of the largest pork distributors in the world. They were there to capture video of what they say were thousands of mistreated and abused animals kept in tiny metal cages barely bigger than their bodies. As they were leaving, they took two sick piglets out with them.
Prosecutors in Utah charged Wayne with burglary and theft. What came next was the court battle that he wanted all along. During his trial, Wayne made a truly bizarre argument that forced the jury, and all of us, to stare straight at our complicated, sometimes uncomfortable relationship with animals. This week on the show, we grapple with the impossible question at the center of it: What is the value of a piglet?
Special thanks to Kim Nederveen Pieterse, Nathan Peereboom, Jo Eidman, Sam Kozloff, Rachel Gross, Alex Allaux, and Joan Schaffner.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Sindhu Gnanasambandan and Jae Minard
Produced by - Sindhu Gnanasambandan
with help from - Pat Walters
with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly
and Edited by - Alex Neason and Pat Walters
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Articles -
A Rabbit, is a rabbit, is a rabbit… Not under the Law (https://zpr.io/ezUPRE36VZVk) by Schaffner, J. E. in The Global Journal of Animal Law
Animal Rights Activists Are Acquitted in Smithfield Piglet Case (https://zpr.io/ayaV9gDneNsw) by Andrew Jacobs in The New York Times
Meet the Activists Risking Prison to Film VR in Factory Farms (https://zpr.io/HEXdpf5Q7VAB) by Andy Greenberg in Wired
Audio -
VR Puts Viewers Inside the Grisly Reality of Factory Farms (https://zpr.io/pMHq5RVkzUM3) a 2-part podcast by Wired
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That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang wanted to learn. So he turned Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into an oratorio. We tag along as Lang’s piece heads toward its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic. (Part one of a two-part series.)
SOURCES:
Fleur Barron, opera singer and mezzo-soprano.
David Lang, composer and professor at the Yale School of Music.
RESOURCES:
"Finally, an Opera About Economics," by Stacey Vanek Smith (Bloomberg, 2026).
"The Little Match Girl Passion," by David Lang (2023).
The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith (1776).
EXTRAS:
"In Search of the Real Adam Smith," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
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First up on the podcast, Online News Editor David Grimm shares a batch of fun stories with podcast host Sarah Crespi—from spider hearts racing when traffic gets loud to a disease-preventing house. Staff Writer Adrian Cho hops in to help discuss the possibility of black holes without singularities at their center.
Next on the show, epigenetics has become a hot topic in pop science but the ethical conversation is not keeping up. The idea that parents can pass down epigenetic marks from environmental toxins or trauma to their children—without changes in DNA—has been around for decades but the research in people is lacking. Jackie Leach Scully, a professor of bioethics and director of the Disability Innovation Institute at the University of New South Wales, discusses where the research actually is and the concerns that may arise if such marks do appear to impact the young.
Last up this week, we are launching our 2026 biography books series with books host Angela Saini and Science books editor Valerie Thompson. The pair discusses the difficulty of picking biographies and what can be learned about science, fame, and researchers as people from reading these types of books.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
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This is the abbreviated version of Checkup's call-in on sports betting ads. Former Canadian Olympian Bruce Kidd wants sports betting ads banned…but the Canadian Gaming Association says this will make things worse. Should they be completely banned? We'll hear from both sides of the debate.
We tell ourselves that meaning comes from impact, passion, or finding the “one right path.” But these beliefs can leave us feeling stuck — even when our lives look perfectly fine on paper. Behavioral scientist Dave Evans describes a new approach, borrowed from design thinking, to help us build lives that feel more alive, flexible, and real.
What makes brave people different from the rest of us? It isn't a lack of fear — instead, it's a trait that might surprise you. Learn more in this video on our new YouTube channel.
Episode illustration by Getty Images for Unsplash+. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The Trump administration rekindled the cross-border crosstalk with Canada this week, as this summer's trade deadline looms. An economist and US trade expert decipher what's at stake for both countries as Canadians share the impact all this is having on their daily life.
Just as trade talks resume between Canada and the US, ICYMI features highlights from Checkup's 2018 show from Madison, Wisconsin. Canadians and Americans weigh-in on the trade war in the lead up to the final negotiations which lead to CUSMA/USMCA.
Hockey and basketball playoff season is in full swing...and so are the sports betting ads. One-third of Canadians aged 18 to 29 gamble online. Former Canadian Olympian Bruce Kidd wants sports betting ads banned…but the Canadian Gaming Association says this will make things worse. Should they be completely banned? We'll hear from both sides of the debate.
