There's no way I can watch this. I tried to watch Earthlings a few months ago and had a hysterical meltdown only a few minutes into it and was unable to sleep that night. I know I'm a vegan superfreak animal lover, but it tears me up too much to try to sit through this sort of thing for the exact reason that I think more people should: we gotta learn to empathize more with our animal friends.

The one thing that strikes me is the title: "mine," which implies ownership. I think it's critical that the filmmakers dealt with this topic, and I'm so grateful that these terribly overlooked tragic losses have been examined this way (and reviewed here—yay!). But I do wish that even beyond race and class issues, the filmmakers could have explored the speciesist tendencies that we have to claim animals as "ours," without their own agency.

Thanks for the feedback Nancy! I wish I knew if they'd be distributed in the U.S. At the moment, all I know is that they continue to make the film festival rounds. They don't seem to be on services like Netflix yet, but when I used to use Netflix in the U.S., I seem to remember a "request a film" feature. You may check YouTube... I think someone has put chunks of the films online.

I think this sounds like a particularly useful book for people who either travel or move internationally. It might help folks who don't think about these issues put them into context based on how they personally have to relearn toilets every time they go someplace abroad (in that, you might become more empathic if you were to imagine that disorientation as your dominant experience as a trans person in restrooms). I've definitely had instances - even as a cisgender woman - of trying to renegotiate public restroom space in places I've never been or where I am a visitor. I think the actual toilet (or in some places, lack thereof) is also as interesting as the space around it: a private room, a stall with no door, the gadgets associated with the stall (waste receptacles, flushing mechanisms, noise machines I found in Japan that mask the sound of peeing), and the specifics of how to queue in the waiting area, for example.

So much to think about! Great piece :)

Thanks for the comments and feedback, everyone. I agree that the system sounds ideal, and I've personally had fairly good experiences dealing with doctors and pharmacies here, which makes it easy to write from a positive perspective, even though my overall experience with Denmark has been far from that.

I can't speak to public health and insurance in countries other than the U.S. and Denmark, but there's definitely a lot of privilege associated with private healthcare (here and in general, I think). I don't have the option of paying for quicker service, and I'll reiterate that in the U.S., like many people, I lived without healthcare. For me, the advantages of getting my prescription cost so reduced outweighs the inconvenience of waiting three months for an appointment with a gynecologist. Then again, I've waited much longer in the U.S. That's why personal anecdotes only get us so far. Everyone has very different experiences, and it feels a little gauche to complain about a system that does provide what I need.

Having to go to the pharmacy for simple items is also something I specifically mentioned for the reason that I find it unbelievably inconvenient. You're correct, Mohan: if you don't live in central Copenhagen (I do not), getting anything done on the weekend - medical or otherwise - is not easy. I don't have a car in Denmark (one more thing that simply costs too much to afford here), so I (and my cat) do appreciate the veterinaries that travel - even though they're very expensive too! Where I lived in the U.S., I had a car and an animal emergency room. I think all of this illustrates that none of the systems are perfect and almost all of them offer trade-offs.

I absolutely adore Parker Posey. What an excellent interview! I'm also happy to see you address her age and the fact that many writers still think of her as a "girl." So nicely done!