Episode 159: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

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Welcome to the 159^th episode of Our Hen House, featuring Annie and Dan Shannon, authors of Betty Goes Vegan.

In today’s episode, we discuss the National Hog Farmer’s take on the role of Meatless Mondays. We like to file this discussion under the category, “Anxieties Rising!” Under that same category, we chat about the ridiculous stance by some of the media regarding why vegans are responsible for the decline of Peruvian culture, and we’ll also tell you about one of our podcast listener’s stories about their encounter with a woman who adamantly declared that the rainforest is being destroyed for tofu. Really? No, not really. We’ll squawk about why sometimes, all we need is the perspective of The Onion, and we’ll share a delightful and unlikely story of how Jasmin’s grandmother’s Our Hen House article on changing the world resulted in a reader putting together that, 50 years ago, my grandma knew her grandpa! Small world! We’ll also chat about smoothie fasts, moving woes, and why we cannot seem to unpack our bags.

Joining us today is the fabulous duo behind the new cookbook, Betty Goes Vegan – Annie and Dan Shannon. Annie and Dan, who are also the dynamos behind the popular blog, Meet the Shannons, will tell us about their new book, which veganizes 500 Betty Crocker recipes. They’ll tell us about how they feel their their book speaks to feminism, how liquid smoke can always save the day, the secret ingredients that make their recipes so delectable (Bisquick might or might not be one of them), the support they’ve received from Bettyheads, and, on a somewhat different note, their favorite movies from the 1980’s! This book, Betty Goes Vegan, which is about to be released in early February, is going to be huge. We can’t wait for you to hear their interview with us.

For our review, we’ll tell you all about the documentary, Samsara, a documentary without words that was filmed in over twenty-five countries throughout the course of five years, and documents the way the world works, taking viewers to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders. Among the artistic, harrowing, and beautiful journeys we go on, we take an unsettling and vitally important look into animal agriculture. We’ll tell you all about it.

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

This week’s news items include:

• “Sheep farmers flocking back to mulesing” from Animals Australia
• “Agency Moves to Retire Most Research Chimps” from The New York Times
• “Monkey Experiment Debate” from Jane Velez-Mitchell
• “Protecting the Wrong People” from Wyoming’s Trib.com
• “A Cat’s 200-Mile Trek Home Leaves Scientists Guessing” from The New York Times
• “Sundance Review: ‘Blackfish’ Ensures You’ll Never Go to SeaWorld Again” from Indiewire
• BE SURE TO READ OUR NEW ARCHIVED BREAKING NEWS SECTION, AND CHECK OUR BREAKING NEWS TICKER — FOUND AT THE TOP OF OURHENHOUSE.ORG — DAILY.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” -Krishnamurti

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