Episode 215: “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.”

Welcome to the 215^th episode of Our Hen House, featuring Lori Marino [transcript] and Sangamithra Iyer. 
In today’s episode, we squawk about which animal rights messages are seeping their way into our morning cartoons, and whether anthropomorphizing is a good or a bad thing when it comes to cartoon characters. We will tell you which animal advocate we just saw starring on Broadway, and we’ll make a pretty groovy announcement about a major conference we will be attending. We’ll talk about one writer’s article on why she wears fur and leather, and while we’re on the subject of writers, we will talk about one of Jasmin’s favorite ones, who disappointed us to epic proportions. And, of course, we’ll bring you “Rising Anxieties,” too.
Joining us today is Lori Marino, a neuroscientist and expert in animal behavior and intelligence, whom you might know from her role in the documentary Blackfish. Lori will get us up to speed on the latest on marine mammal evolution, biology and cognition, as well as let us in on the important work she’s doing for farmed animals.
Then, we’ll be joined by Sangamithra Iyer, author of the new ebook, “The Lines We Draw,” a publication of – wait for it… — Hen Press, Our Hen House’s new ebook publishing arm! We’ll tell you all about Hen Press, and Sangu will let you in on “The Lines We Draw,” a story about boundaries — physical, biological, and ethical — which evolved out of a conversation with the late Dr. Alfred Prince, a hepatitis researcher, about the use of chimpanzees in medical research, and expanded into a larger discussion about ethics.
All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights. 
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“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” – Oscar Wilde wrote this in the short story, “The Nightingale and the Rose.”