Episode 155: “Whatever you believe you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

Welcome to the 155^th episode of Our Hen House, featuring interviews with Carrie Forrest, Alan Seidner, Ben Braman, Kelly Galligan, Amanda Lanza, Kathleen Lohnes, Kathy Iannacone, and Fernanda Guevara.
In today’s episode, we continue our road trip adventure from Portland, OR, back home to New York City. Today’s travels bring us to Yucca Valley, Palm Desert, Tucson, Tombstone, Bisbee, El Paso, Junction, San Antonio, and Austin. We’ll share with you interviews from passionate vegans and animal rights activists whom we meet along the way, including Carrie Forrest from Carrie On Vegan, her other half, Alan Seidner, Ben Braman from Vegan Feed, the folks behind Tucson’s newest vegan restaurant and educational center, Urban Fresh, Bisbee’s sole vegan restaurant owner (of POCO), Kelly Galligan, and scientist and athlete Amanda Lanza. We’ll also chat about everything from missing Christmas, to motel breakfasts, to unexpected trips to the vet, to the new most common excuse people give for why they can’t be vegan (of course they can…).
Being the final episode of 2012, we will also give you our top 10 highlights from Our Hen House in the past year. Head’s up though: One of us might get a little verklempt.
All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.
This week’s news items include:

• “Los Angeles Weighs Law Banning Elephant Shows” from the New York Times
• “The Milk Cliff” from the Washington Post
• “Engineered Fish Moves a Step Closer to Approval” from the New York Times
• “Court fines Pepe’s Ducks $400,000, quacks down on free range claims” from Smart Company
• “Eastern Shore farmers, Perdue win pollution lawsuit” from the Baltimore Sun
• “Nine Workers at Pig Farm Charged With Animal Cruelty” from KGWN TV

“Whatever you believe you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” -Goethe
The Our Hen House podcast is sponsored by The Seed. The Seed is currently working hard on putting together another huge vegan tradeshow in NYC, this one coming in early April. We will once again be speaking, and we’re already eagerly anticipating this massive, inspiring event. Stay on top of The Seed by signing up for their fun, thought-provoking e-newsletter, and by reading their blog. Visit theseedexperience.com.
You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can listen and subscribe on iTunes! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Don’t forget – we’re reader and listener supported. Plus, we offer some fantastic thank you gifts for your donations. Thank you for helping us to create quality content, and for helping us to bring you a new, hour-long podcast episode each week!