We love hearing from people around the world who care about animals, and this week’s guest definitely fills the bill. Tune in to hear about all of the work Musisi Mike, founder of Luv4All Uganda, is doing to grow compassion for both animals and humans, including running Uganda’s first all-vegan school.
We love hearing what’s going on in the world of veganism and animal rights around the world, and this week we catch up with Gina Song Lopez, who is conducting research on the vegan and animal rights movement in Taiwan and China.
Strategy is a big topic of debate amongst animal activists. What is the best way forward to create the most change? Esther Salomon of Animal Think Tank joins us to discuss the strategies and many lessons the animal rights community can learn from other justice movements throughout history.
Every activist knows that journalists who are willing to cover serious animal stories are all too rare, but this week we will be talking to someone who has carved out a career doing exactly that. Freelance journalist and animal advocate Jessica Scott-Reid shares her experience in the world of animal-related journalism.
Civil rights attorney Matthew Strugar joins me this week to talk about a case in Washington, DC, involving the rights of animal activists protesting the sale of foie gras at two prominent restaurants in that city. Our conversation will involve the controversial use of anti-stalking laws to limit protests, as well as the successful use of DC’s anti-SLAPP law to defend …
There’s nothing we love more than talking to people who are saving animals in places we’ve never been to, and today we’ll be talking to Sneha Shrestha in Nepal about her extraordinary work saving dogs, helping farmed animals, and spreading veganism through her organization, Sneha’s Care.
Do you try to keep up with animal-related legislation but sometimes find yourself wondering what it all means? This week we get some answers regarding the hugely important EATS Act and the effort to eradicate state animal welfare laws from Chris Green, Executive Director of the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law.
There is no place more relaxing than a beautiful garden, and nothing better to eat than homegrown fruits and vegetables, but what is a vegan to do when all of the potting soils and fertilizers are riddled with animal products? Jimmy Videle has the answers, and he joins us today to discuss his new book, The Veganic Grower’s Handbook: Cultivating Fruits, …
Panicked about climate? Wondering what to do? Nate Salpeter and Shira Jacobson join us to discuss Sweet Farm, a sanctuary that is attacking the climate crisis from many different angles. From animal rescue to the most sophisticated agriculture technology, from plant-based regenerative ag to composting, Sweet Farm will give you hope and inspire you on your journey!
Ever felt motivated to be more active but didn’t know where to find the resources to get started? This week Mariann speaks with Zeynep Sağlamöz, Global Graphics Coordinator for Animal Save Movement, about the fantastic resources they have made available to activists. She also tells us about animal rescue efforts during Turkey’s recent devastating earthquakes and the awe-inspiring progress made by …
On this episode, we have something a bit different. I will be talking with Kristina Bergsten, the owner and founder of The Animal Law Firm, a Colorado law firm with a multi-state practice. For those of you who are graduating from Law School or just looking to change your career and wondering whether you can make a living doing animal law, …
Has a painting or piece of artwork ever stopped you immediately, demanding your full attention? Such is so often the case with Jane O’Hara’s paintings. This week, Jane joins us for a conversation about her artwork, which highlights “the failure of the human-animal bond and the tendency of humans to impose their own agenda despite the risks.” We specifically discuss her …
Faraz Harsini, Ph.D., realized something was missing from the animal rights movement and decided to fill that gap. The organization he founded, Allied Scholars for Animal Protection (ASAP), is helping university students and others on campus build ongoing, lasting advocacy organizations. We discuss ASAP’s long-term plans for expansion, how students can get help starting their own chapter, the support ASAP offers, …
Chris Allieri is on a mission to save the Piping Plover, a species of beach-nesting shorebirds at risk of extinction. Founder of the NYC Plover Project, Chris, tells us about these delightful birds, their habitat, and the factors driving their potential demise. Chris discusses how he, alongside his team of volunteers, helps ensure the birds’ safety as best they can in …
Writer, liberator, and self-described DELINQUENT Aiyana Goodfellow joins the podcast this week for an eye-opening conversation that just might shift your perspective on many things, including veganism, anti-speciesism, and activism. Aiyana shares their thoughts on the mainstream vegan movement and the importance of developing one’s own ideology instead of simply “performing goodness” in your lifestyle and activism. We dive into why …
On this episode of the podcast, I will be talking, once again, with Katherine Meyer, who is the Director of Harvard Law School’s Animal Law and Policy Clinic, about a recent decision in a case handled by the clinic entitled New England Anti Vivisection Society (now known as Rise for Animals v Elizabeth Goldentyre). This case involves the provision of the …
Comedian Myq Kaplan is back on the podcast this week to discuss the intersection of animal rights, activism, and the creative arts. We discuss Myq’s latest comedy album, A.K.A., as well as the recently widely released Live In Between Albums, and he gives us a behind-the-scenes look into his creative process. The vegan comedian also dishes on his upcoming appearance at …
When it comes to thinking about animals, Bob Fischer believes we should be doing it more often and more deeply. A professor of philosophy at Texas State University and the author of, among other things, Animal Ethics—A Contemporary Introduction, Bob joins the podcast this week for a conversation about animal ethics, philosophy, and activism. Bob shares how empirical data and philosophical …
From Texas cattle ranchers to vegan sanctuary founders, Renee King-Sonnen and Tommy Sonnen have turned around their lives and are helping others, both animal and human, to do the same. Now, the incredible story of how they have rescued and continue to care for 137 animals has caught the attention of filmmaker Jason Goldman, who embarked on capturing their daily lives …
Longtime animal advocates may be familiar with the term total liberation, but what exactly does this mean? Yvette Baker joins us today for an exploration of total liberation activism and its profound influence on her own animal advocacy. In our conversation, she sheds light on oppressive language commonly used when representing animals and urges everyone to unlearn and challenge it for …
This episode of Our Hen House features an animal rights legend, renowned philosopher, and ethicist, Peter Singer. In this thought-provoking conversation, we explore a range of topics, including the principle of equal consideration of interests, the nuance between sentience and consciousness, and the evolution of the animal movement since Peter’s groundbreaking book Animal Liberation was first released 50 years ago. Peter …
If you are pleased that California’s Prop 12 (which, in a small but important way, limits the amount of suffering that can be imposed on mother pigs) survived in the Supreme Court, but you are still unclear as to exactly why and exactly who voted for what, you have come to the right place. Today I will be talking, once again, …
This week we dive into the world of documentary filmmaking with renowned photographer and documentary film director Louie Psihoyos. Louie is perhaps best known for his 2009 film, the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove, which shed a brutal light on the remarkably cruel dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. In our conversation, Louie shares how movies can help change the world and …
The Standard American Diet—heavy in dairy and meat products—has long been known to contribute to chronic, diet-related illnesses, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Long-time vegans know this quite well, but what about the general public? Dr. Ted Barnett and Carol Barnett join the podcast to discuss the Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute and how they support those looking to switch …
Last autumn, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game canceled the crabbing season for the Alaskan snow crab for the first time in history after the crustaceans’ population dropped an astonishing 87 percent. This is only one of the stories recently covered in depth by ecologist and journalist Spencer Roberts, who joins us on the podcast for an overarching conversation about …
Just five years ago, a very small herbivorous chef who resides in a modest tree stump took Instagram by storm, impressing thousands with his culinary expertise and tiny, plant-based eats—and he hasn’t slowed down since. In fact, he even helms his very own show on Nick Jr. The Tiny Chef has captured hearts worldwide, and this week, director and animator Rachel …
On this episode, I will be talking, once again, to Vanessa Shakib of the California law firm, Advancing Law for Animals. Vanessa is representing E.L., who, though you don’t know her by name, you have definitely heard about. She is the young girl whose beloved goat, Cedar, who started out as a 4H project, was brutally killed against E.L.’s wishes in …
In September of 2021, Alicia Santurio and Baywatch actor Alexandra Paul rescued Jax and Ethan, two gravely ill chickens, from a transport truck heading for a slaughterhouse owned by Foster Farms. The activists faced misdemeanor charges for petty theft, and this March, they stood before a 12-person jury as part of a nine-day trial, previously unheard of for such charges. Alexandra …
Since its founding in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has advocated for farmed animals and large-scale institutional reform with the ultimate goal of removing animals from the food system. Senior Director of Advocacy Aaron Rimmler-Cohen joins the podcast this week to discuss Farm Sanctuary’s Food Systems Shift program. In our conversation, Aaron discusses the disastrous policy of government subsidies of animal products and …
Humor can be a powerful tool to promote change – and vegan actress and musician Kate Nash knows how to wield it to hilarious effect. We’re thrilled to welcome Kate for a discussion about her recent film, Coffee Wars, which manages to deliver a powerful pro-animal message while, at the same time, making everyone laugh. As we all know, that’s not …
Dr. Milton Mills, a prominent advocate for plant-based diets and a practicing physician, joins us this week for an in-depth discussion about the misconceptions surrounding vegan diets and how such misunderstandings have evolved over time. Dr. Mills, who offers extensive evidence that humans aren’t innate omnivores, thoroughly debunks the myth that humans need meat to be healthy and explains how taking …
On this episode, I will be talking, once again, with Asher Smith, Director of Litigation at the PETA Foundation, about a recent victory in the 9th Circuit in Sullivan v The University of Washington. This case involves a crucially important aspect of the Animal Welfare Act – the IACUC, or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The Act provides, rather unfortunately, …
Did you know dietary supplements often contain hidden animal-based ingredients, and there are no requirements for this to be disclosed on the label? This week, Terraseed founder Maria Cebrian joins the podcast to discuss vitamins for vegans and the challenges of sourcing high-quality plant-based ingredients and truly eco-friendly packaging. She also describes how Terraseed has partnered with Animal Save Movement for …
When Marcus Daniell isn’t on the tennis court winning Olympic titles, he’s focused on high-impact charitable giving. He joins us on the podcast from New Zealand for a conversation about his organization, High Impact Athletes, which helps athletes create world-changing impacts through charitable donations. In our discussion, Marcus details athletes’ historical donating patterns and how High Impact Athletes helps connect them …
Before he was a cat rescuer, Sterling “TrapKing” Davis was a rapper—a unique trajectory in the field of animal rescue. Sterling—who dedicated himself to improving the lives of stray cats after a lifelong connection to them—joins us today for a delightful conversation about, among other things, trap-neuter-return (TNR) and how he’s working to increase diversity within cat rescue. In our discussion, …
Disrupting the global food system is one of the most pressing issues of our lifetimes—and it’s no small lift. Today, we welcome two powerhouses working to help the world shift to a kinder, plant-based food system. David Meyer and Galina Hale serve as the CEO and Chief Research Officer, respectively, of Food System Innovations (FSI). They join us this week to …
Why do women in the institutional animal rights movement often feel unable to speak up? Why are animal rights organizations losing too much talent to burnout because of negative employment experiences? Dr. Krista Hiddema joins us to discuss her doctoral research on women’s experiences working professionally within the animal rights movement and the factors that, she asserts, too often drive them …
On today’s episode, I will be talking to Margie Robinson, an attorney with the Humane Society of the United States. Margie will be telling us about Humane Society of the United States v National Institutes of Health, the latest lawsuit in the years-long effort to relocate to sanctuary ALL the chimpanzees formerly held for research by the National Institutes of Health …
Sometimes it is easy for all of us who care about animals to forget what an extraordinary contribution sanctuaries make to our understanding of the animals we try to serve. Elan Abrell joins us this week to remind us never to take sanctuaries for granted. Elan is a cultural anthropologist who’s dedicated himself to animal studies and, recently, to a close …
When Josh and Wendy Smith adopted Roswell, the dog, they didn’t imagine caring for him would lead them to start their very own animal sanctuary. We’re thrilled to welcome Josh and Wendy to the podcast this week to hear this and more inspiring stories about their sanctuary, Odd Man Inn, their animal advocacy work, and their recent move across the country. …
You’re in for not one but two interviews with incredible activists in this episode! We’re thrilled to welcome both Gwenna Hunter and Sue Fischer back to the podcast for updates. First, we catch up with Gwenna about her newest project, the Vegans of LA Food Bank. Gwenna tells us how she turned a longtime dream into a reality after partnering with …
This one just might move you to tears. Why? Because it’s about ELEPHANTS! Need we say more? Scott and Kat Blais have dedicated their careers to helping captive elephants live out the rest of their lives the way nature intended. This week they join the podcast from rural Brazil, home to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, a project by the organization they founded, …
On this episode, I will be talking to Taimie Bryant, a law professor at UCLA School of Law. She will explain some of the ins and outs of a law review article she recently published in the Marquette Law Review entitled “Novel Food Ingredients: Food Safety Law, Animal Testing, and Consumer Perspectives.” This article involves the question of what the FDA …
What if you could feed your companion animals real meat without ever having to slaughter an animal? Because Animals is working to make this dream a reality, and the CEO and co-founder, Shannon Falconer, Ph.D., joins the podcast this week to tell us how they’re doing it. Traditional companion animal foods are made with byproducts of animal agriculture, including meat found …
We love hearing from fellow animal advocates in different parts of the world, and this week we are thrilled to welcome Linda Ncube for an exceptional conversation about animal activism in rural Zimbabwe. Linda is the founder of Humane Africa Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a “compassionate, healthy, and just environment” for animals. She joins us to explain how she’s …
How annoying is it when you are just getting into a good book, starting to identify with, or at least sympathize with, the protagonist, and then get thoroughly turned off when they sit down to enthusiastically eat a dead animal? Today, author Christine Melanie Benson joins us for a conversation about her recently published debut novel, Marrying Myself, in which, happily, …
Have you been wondering about the state of veganism and animal rights in Uganda? Well, we’ve got you covered! Nabaasa Innocent Kashobera, founder of the Uganda Vegan Society and a passionate advocate for animals, joins us this week and fills us in on the state of veganism and, on the other hand, the growth of factory farming, in Uganda and Africa …
Today I will be talking to Raffael Fasel and Sean Butler, who are the founders of the Cambridge Center for Animal Rights Law at Cambridge University in the UK. They are doing something quite special — a series of workshops in various parts of the world seeking to help law professors and lawyers, and perhaps some others, develop courses at their …
Wow! Camille DeAngelis visits the podcast this week and does she have a story to tell!! She is, of course, the author of Bones and All, an inverted fairy tale with a sympathetic girl monster protagonist that has since been turned into an award-winning film starring Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Russell. At heart, though it may not be obvious at first …
We’re thrilled to welcome filmmaker Ryuji Chua to the podcast this week. You may already be familiar with Ryuji, and his animal rights-focused work, thanks to his appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah earlier this year. In our conversation, Ryuji tells us why it’s important for humans to shift our messaging from broad generalizations, such as saving a species, …
We’re delighted to welcome Nirva Patel to the podcast this week for a wide-ranging conversation about the different ways she’s working to make the world a better place for animals. We begin by discussing Nirva’s background in Jainism, how the religion informs her beliefs regarding the treatment of non-human animals, and the work she has done in that realm to create …
Author Peter Alagona, PhD, joins us on the podcast this week for an illuminating conversation about the wild creatures that coexist alongside humans as part of the fabric of city life, as well as the habitat the city itself creates for these animals. Since World War II, populations of wild animals have increased in urban areas largely due to, as Peter …
On this episode, I will be talking to Alene Anello, whose law firm, Legal Impact for Chickens, is pursuing a shareholder derivative case against Costco regarding the treatment of the poor little birds whose bodies end up being their extremely popular, and very cheap, rotisserie chickens. Essentially, in Smith v Vachris, currently pending in Superior Court in King County, Washington, Legal …
Artist and Our Hen House’s own beloved graphic designer Weronika Kolinska joins us this week for a conversation about the ways in which art can be a means to help bring people’s attention to what is happening to animals. Weronika, who specializes in t-shirt design, tells us why she believes wearable art is a particularly effective form of activism and how …
Welcome to this special holiday presentation of Sanctuary: A Radio Play, an annual Thanksgiving tradition at Our Hen House! This performance marked the world premiere of John Yunker’s Sanctuary at New York City’s Symphony Space during the Culture & Animals Foundation’s Compassion Arts Festival. We were thrilled to have been a part of this witty, engaging, and incisive production that portrays …
We are joined this week by Altamush Saeed for a conversation about the critical disaster relief work he’s spearheading in response to the devastating floods that occurred in Pakistan earlier this year. Altamush updates us on the current status of the floods and the effects this climate disaster has had on both the human and animal populations within the country. The …
Liz Ross has made it her mission to help people of Caribbean heritage embrace vegan living. She joins us on the podcast to discuss how Rethink Your Food, the nonprofit she founded, is helping her reach Caribbean people, in the islands and beyond, to promote the benefits of a plant-based food system. Liz discusses how she hopes to engage, not only …
Karthik Sekar, PhD wants to see the world move beyond an unsustainable, inefficient animal-based food system. He joins us on the podcast this week for a conversation about his recent book, After Meat, which details why animals are an outdated “production technology,” as the agricultural industry calls them. We discuss why plant- and microbial-based foods are far superior to their animal …
Lisa Dumas is on a mission to make the world a better place. This week she joins us on the podcast for a conversation about how she’s working toward expanding access to plant-based food options to those in need. Not only is she increasing accessibility for healthy alternatives, Lisa is also helping underserved communities access critical educational information on making informed …
On this episode I will be discussing a case that a lot of you have no doubt heard of, and that is National Pork Producers Council v Ross, which was recently argued in the Supreme Court. This case brings into question the constitutionality of Proposition 12, something else which many of you may be familiar with, by which California set certain …