Since our first episode aired on January 18, 2010 – with guest Stewart David – we have never once missed a week. As Mariann will attest, in order to meet our deadline of producing a 1-hour show each week, complete with ramblings, a special guest interview, AR news, and a review, it is not unusual for Jasmin to foist the microphone in her face during the wee hours of the morning, while the whole, wide, tofu-munching world is fast asleep.
We hope you look forward to Saturday mornings as much as we do!
But, as we will both happily confess, the roughly one thousand hours we’ve put into this venture has been well worth it, to say the least. In addition to recently garnering us the title “Indie Media Powerhouse” by VegNews Magazine, our podcast has connected us with our heroes (and yours), including luminaries like Jonathan Balcombe and Gene Baur, well-known personalities like Jane Velez-Mitchell and Rory Freedman, movement icons like Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Neal Barnard, sanctuary leaders like Jenny Brown and Miriam Jones, vegan fashion gurus like John Bartlett, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart and Joshua Katcher, animal law intellects like David Wolfson, Rebecca Huss and Steven Wise, and – perhaps our favorite episodes – every day folks who are bringing animal rights into the classroom, the workplace, and onto the radar.
Perhaps what we enjoy the most about our podcast is the unbelievable community that we’ve been able to enjoy as a result of it. Our podcast listeners have become like our extended family, many of whom email us several times a month. As Jasmin’s grandma – an 87-year-old proud vegetarian, and a frequent guest on our show – has observed, listening to an “audio program” (as Grandma calls it), is profoundly different than watching a TV show, where “they do the thinking for you.” We like to think that Grandma is right. There is indeed something distinctly awesome that comes from an audio podcast, both from the podcaster and the listener’s point of view.
Our 100th episode is generously being sponsored by MooShoes!
Though we can hardly believe it, our 100th podcast episode airs this Saturday, and — much to our excitement — is being generously sponsored by MooShoes Vegan Shoe Store. MooShoes proudly offers the largest variety of vegan shoes and accessories in the world, and during their 10th birthday party last weekend, we made a nice dent in our holiday shopping! We love MooShoes and are beyond thrilled that they are sponsoring our 100th episode, and offering a $100 gift certificate to one lucky listener.
In honor of our 100th episode, please help us reach 100 reviews on iTunes! If you listen to our podcast and you like it, please take a minute today to give us a friendly review and 5-star rating on iTunes. As we’re writing this, we have 63 ratings (all 5 stars – thank you!). Can you do us a solid and help us get to 100?
Lastly, remember, our podcast is entirely listener-supported! That means we need your support to keep going. If you want to continue to hear quality episodes, please consider making a monthly donation of at least $10 a month! As our thank you for donating, between now and the end of the year, every person to sign up for a monthly donation will receive a free Our Hen House tote bag! It’s all ethically-sourced and vegan-made (thanks to our friends at Lion’s Share Industries). Thank you for listening, and for helping us to build a strong voice for animals.
And now, announcing the guests for our 100th podcast episode, which, as usual, will go up this Saturday, both on iTunes and right here on our blog. We are elated to bring back 2 of our favorite guests from previous shows, Peter Singer, and Isa Chandra Moskowitz! We promise that you will be enlightened, entertained, and engaged.
Thank you, listener family, for being such rock stars. So many of the questions you ask us are about how we keep going, how we produce so much content, and how — in the face of such despair and adversity all around us, on such an unfathomable level — we remain, nonetheless, indefatigably positive. In addition to clinging on to the knowledge that we all do have the power to make this world a little less cruel — even maybe a smidgeon compassionate! — you are so much of what gives us hope and fuel. Your voices, your stories, your determination, inspires us and motivates us to provide an indie media forum that is, indeed, a place to find our way to change the world for animals. As we approach our 100th episode, let us just say: thank you for listening to our show, and for letting us listen to your stories. We so appreciate you.