Flock Exclusive Content

In this bonus Flock Friday Q&A, Dr. Ben Hunt of the Performing Animal Rights podcast joins the flock to dig deeper into performance-based animal advocacy — covering the ethics of using real animals in theater, creative “culture hacking” tactics from groups like ACT UP and the Yes Men, and how subversive, playful activism (like a broccoli-costumed protester going viral) can land…

Jasmin and Mariann dig into the rising wave of criticism aimed at vegan advocates—from viral influencer callouts to a widely-shared Substack essay arguing animal activists should abandon rights-based advocacy for welfare reform partnerships with factory farmers. They push back on the idea that vegans are “too mean” or too purist, arguing that real change comes from strategic power, not likability, before…

In this bonus episode, Jasmin and Mariann continue their conversation with investigative advocate Jennifer Raymond, digging deeper into the Miranda’s Rescue scandal in Humboldt County, California. They explore the policy failures that let a rescuer pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for animal welfare, why weak reporting laws let animals simply disappear, and what real oversight and accountability could look…

In this bonus episode, animal advocacy researcher Bjørn Ólafsson joins Jasmin and Mariann to explore an overlooked “pathway” to veganism: cruelty-free cosmetics. Drawing on his research with a Latin American consumer advocacy group, Bjørn explains why the same moral reasoning that drives someone to buy cruelty-free makeup can also lead them toward a plant-based lifestyle — and why diet-first thinking about…

In this bonus episode, Jasmin and Mariann dig into a thought-provoking article from Project Phoenix UK exploring whether animal welfare reforms strengthen or undermine the factory farming system, drawing parallels to debates in the decarceration movement. They unpack the idea that the strongest advocacy demands are both practical and visionary, and discuss why nuanced thinking, rather than a strict welfare-vs-abolition binary,…

In this bonus flock conversation, Joanne Molinaro (The Korean Vegan) goes deeper with Jasmin and Mariann on how she let go of the cognitive dissonance around eating animals, what it was like being the partner who resisted veganism before her husband brought her around, and why she thinks vegans may be more comfortable going against the grain than everyone else. Thank…

In this bonus chat, Rowdy Girl Sanctuary founder Renee King-Sonnen continues her conversation with Jasmin and Mariann about her new book, Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher, exploring how personal storytelling — more than facts alone — can shift hearts and drive social change, plus her hard-won advice for activists navigating burnout, secondary trauma, and the emotional weight of…

In this bonus episode, Jasmin and Mariann continue their conversation with filmmaker Joanna Zelman and her father, Dr. Jared Zelman, diving deeper into the making of Cow Trip. They explore how Joanna’s lifelong love of animals took root in childhood, what it means to be an “audience surrogate” in storytelling, and how showing a human’s reaction to hard truths can open…

In this Flock-exclusive bonus conversation, Sol Anzorena and Tom Grotewohl go deeper on the ideas behind their fight to protect the Porcupine Mountains — exploring human supremacy, why hope alone isn’t enough without action, the profound sense of place that comes from living off-grid, and why vegan advocates need to show up for environmental and wildlife battles. Thank you to our…

In this bonus episode, author and environmental engineer Sangamitra Iyer shares an adaptation of her paper presented at the More Than Human Rights Conference, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic and ethical choices that shaped her debut book, Governing Bodies: A Memoir, a Confluence, a Watershed (Milkweed Editions). Drawing on her work as a literary animal, Sangamitra explores how we…

In this week’s bonus conversation, Jasmin and Mariann continue their chat with Richie Richardson, AI Impact Director at Vegan Hacktivists, diving into territory they didn’t have time to cover in the main episode — including how to use AI as a writing tool without losing your voice, the surprisingly nuanced ethics of AI-generated art, what it means to grow up in…

In this bonus Flock Friday session, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with Gregg Tully and Liliana Pacheco of Animals Unbound for an extended conversation that goes beyond the main episode — covering Gregg’s deeply personal stories of supporting animal caregivers in war-torn Ukraine, the remarkable cultural shift toward animal compassion he’s witnessed in Nepal over 20 years, Liliana’s journey from psychology…

In this bonus conversation, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with Dr. Liz Tyson, Director of Animal Welfare and Advocacy at Born Free USA, to explore how zoo activism fits into the broader animal rights movement — examining the “quiet suffering” of captive animals, the disconnect between caring about zoo animals and farmed animals, and whether institutions like zoos would even be…

In this week’s bonus content, Mariann shares an essay she originally wrote on Substack exploring a shift she’s noticed in how people justify eating animals. While defenses of meat-eating once leaned on arguments like necessity, naturalness, and tradition — the “four Ns” outlined by Melanie Joy — Mariann observes that many people have quietly moved away from reasons and toward excuses:…

In this bonus segment, Jasmin and Mariann are joined by Tim Woodward, Executive Director of Animal Rescue Corps, for an extended conversation covering topics that didn’t make it into the main episode — including Tim’s personal commitment to a plant-based diet, how Animal Rescue Corps embraces a vegan philosophy while welcoming volunteers of all backgrounds, their hands-on work rescuing farmed animals…

In this bonus conversation, Mariann and Andrea go deeper into Andrea’s personal story — from growing up on a farm in South Phoenix surrounded by animals she loved, to going vegan overnight at 27 after stumbling across a slaughterhouse video on Facebook, to how a burnout-induced meditation practice led a self-described lifelong atheist all the way to Buddhism and the executive…

In this Flock Friday bonus, Lindsey Soffes of Rise for Animals joins Mariann and flock members for a live Q&A diving deeper into the issues raised in this week’s interview — including the campaign building around Marshall Bioresources (the largest remaining dog breeder for research, with an estimated 20,000 animals), how primate research centers are quietly dropping the word “primate” from…

In this bonus conversation, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with Ray Cruzzola, first-time documentary filmmaker and the creative force behind I’m Trying — a film honoring the life and legacy of slaughterhouse vigil activist Regan Russell. Ray shares how he came to filmmaking through grassroots animal rights activism, how bearing witness can transform grief into action, and why he took an…

In this week’s bonus content, Jasmin and Mariann dig into the recent Ridglan open rescue protest in Wisconsin, discussing the wave of mainstream press coverage — including a segment on Democracy Now — and what it might mean for the animal rights movement. They explore the power of protest as theater, the surprising bipartisan attention animal testing is receiving, and why…

In this bonus conversation, Jordi Casamitjana — vegan zoologist, author of Ethical Vegan and Why Vegans Don’t, and the man behind the UK’s landmark legal protection of ethical veganism — goes deeper with Jasmin and Mariann on the practices that keep him going. Drawing on decades of animal behavior research, he shares how studying creatures from wasps to foxes cemented his…

In this Flock Friday bonus Q&A, Rose Patterson — Director of Animal Rising in the UK and activist recently acquitted for rescuing beagles from MBR Acres — joins Jasmin and Mariann for an intimate conversation with Our Hen House’s paying members. Rose opens up about finding joy amid high-stakes activism, her relationship with her husband Wayne Hsiung, and their shared commitment…

In this bonus conversation, Mariann Sullivan sits down with Good Food Institute founder Bruce Friedrich to explore the surprising intersections of religion, ethics, and animal advocacy — from Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical on animal souls to whether faith traditions can be called upon to challenge industrial animal farming. Bruce draws on his new book Meat to discuss why human nature, not…

In this week’s bonus content, Mariann reads her latest Substack piece — a thought experiment about a targeted boycott campaign she’s been mulling over. Drawing inspiration from the successful boycott veal movement of the 1980s, she proposes that consumers withhold purchasing cow’s milk until legislation requires dairy calves to remain with their mothers for at least six months after birth. She…

In this bonus conversation, Mariann Sullivan is joined by Penimah Tehilah of the Animal Activism Collective and Suzie Stork of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade for an extended discussion on campaign strategy — including whether awareness campaigns with unachievable goals can still be worth pursuing, how grassroots activists are plugging into corporate welfare campaigns around cage-free eggs and shrimp…