Video

A few years ago, James Koroni invited me to join him and a few others in singing Christmas carols. Putting aside the fact that I’m an atheist Jew (which, no, I don’t consider to be an oxymoron), I decided, that I had been behaving too much like a Grinch, and so I’d feign “jolly” and join the caroling crew. Maybe it …

One of my favorite things about one of my favorite new videos is the headline in the Huffington Post article that introduced it, “‘PediaMeat’ Video From Funny Or Die Pokes Fun At Vegans And Vegetarians.” Confused? I know… It’s crazy, right? Though I fully expected to be incensed,  for some reason I made myself watch it anyway, and, after doing so, I …

I’m pretty much positive that I will never lose sight of the images permanently imprinted in my head, put forth in the video SUBJECT, by dancer James Koroni and videographer Joshua Katcher. If you’re under the impression that SUBJECT will stay with me because it documents horrific animal abuse, think again. If you’re sure that the reason SUBJECT is now a bookmark on …

Surely you have noticed the disgusting trend of “Turkey Trots” in recent years, come Thanksgiving. They make me ill. Frequently, such events, touted as “family-friendly,” involve some kind of a short run, and other “festivities” that blindly make light of the mass murder of turkeys on this oppressive holiday. As Mercy for Animals has demonstrated most recently with their “Butterball Abuse” undercover …

One of my favorite parts about the Let Live Northwest Animal Rights Conference (RIP, Let Live) was they captured all of their workshops on video. Seems like an extremely obvious thing to do in order to seriously magnify the potential for expanding the reach of the animal rights message and — in this case — showcasing the wise words of some …

I almost don’t want to admit that I was apparently the 653,323,322nd person to watch the insanely popular “Gangnam Style” video. But I missed the memo somehow, so forgive me for being late to the party. And what a party it is. To date, this is YouTube’s second most-watched video (next to — and what does this say about our society? …

Last week, you all fell in love with our editor, Cassandra Greenwald, when she wrote about how she is transitioning her editing career to focus on editing for animal rights and vegan causes, in her beautiful piece, “You Don’t Have to Be a Veterinarian to Help Animals.” Yeah, we love her too — so much so that we decided to bring her …

Here’s an advocacy idea for you: Be a cute kid with no front teeth, get on an extremely popular national (or international) television show, and passionately recite a poem you wrote about animal rights. Put a large snake around your neck, and you’ve got yourself a viral YouTube video sensation. That’s exactly what 7-year-old Olivia Binfield did when she was a …

Though I have blogged in the past about video resources that bring attention and awareness to animal issues, I have never ever come across something quite as comprehensive, accessible, and just plain cool as the website “Animal Activist Documentaries.” Curated by Curitiba-based activist and documentarian Bia Dantas, Animal Activist Documentaries was created with the simple goal of “bringing together films that …

While catching up on some of my favorite blogs the other day, I learned from Ashley Maier over at Connect the Dots Movement of an exciting opportunity: “A. Breeze Harper Invites Black Male Vegans to Contribute to a New Publication.” Seeing as how the book that Breeze edited, Sistah Vegan, is beside my bed, currently being devoured each night — on …

I’m always on the lookout for uplifting music about animals. When activist David Savage emailed me to tell me about his new creation, “I’m an Animal, Please Don’t Eat Me,” I was appreciative of the excuse to momentarily procrastinate. So I listened. And damn. Now I can’t get the catchy tune out of my head. The indie-folk-esque nature of the song …

We adore vegan drag queen Honey LaBronx, who inspired and entertained us recently on our podcast. In addition to being an up and coming star, Honey is a tireless activist for so many who need her — our! — attention, including (of course) animals, and the LGBT community. When Honey invited Mariann and me to be guests on her popular web …

Have I told you lately that I love Portland? If you’ve been paying attention, then you know that Mariann and I are here through the end of the year so that Mariann can be a visiting professor of Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School, as part of their Center for Animal Law Studies. (As we’ve said before, she is …

Sometimes life hands us something we didn’t expect. Hopefully, when that happens, we each do our best to deal with surprises in a gracious and positive way. Lemons to lemonade, as the saying goes. But the fact is is that most of us don’t get handed a cave full of bats. That’s exactly what happened to Norma Monfort of Samal Island …

We’re pretty excited about this documentary, premiering this Monday, June 18, on HBO. Subtitled, “Stories of Fear, Loss, and Betrayal,” it promises to go much further than the usual TV puff piece about the human-animal bond, or the intelligence level of dogs. Instead, it promises to delve into the real story of what happens to so many dogs who aren’t so …

We first told you about the documentary, Lunch Hour, back in 2010. At the time, the film — which focuses on the ugly underbelly of the national school lunch program — was mostly just buzz (“Did you hear that activist James Costa is making a film exposing the horrors of school food?!”). But now, at long last, it’s making the festival …

Maya Lin is in the memorial business. Most famous for her soul-stirring Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC,  Lin has now turned her sights on memorializing the earth, or, rather, all that is missing from the earth. She has built an extraordinary website that asks the question What Is Missing? and helps us each answer it by allowing us to take glimpses, through video, …

Here at Our Hen House, we are big fans of all things video. We love to make them (check ’em out, like our video on Sue Coe, or Jasmin’s video tour of NYC Vegan Weekend on a Budget), and we love to see other people make them, get them up, and spread the vegan word (among our most beloved? OHH’s reviewer …

A few weeks ago, we spoke at the much-buzzed-about Worcester VegFest, right outside of Boston. We told you all about this massive and inspiring event on the 119th episode of our podcast (also available via iTunes), which — in addition to us — featured speakers Kathy Freston, T. Colin Cambpell, and Nathan Runkle (we were, needless to say, humbled to be among …

There’s a forthcoming movie that, according to activist extraordinaire Bruce Friedrich, “is capable of fundamentally changing the worldview of its audience.” As you might suspect, the documentary, entitled Speciesism: The Movie, by filmmaker Mark Devries, challenges the commonly-held belief that animals are there for the pleasure and profit of homosapiens. Speciesism — a kind of discrimination that most humans practice against …

Satire is woefully underused within animal advocacy, yet you can’t just tell people to “be satirical!” since it’s frequently such a natural skill. When done effectively, I am such a big ridiculous fan, since, probably like no other medium, a good satire has the power not only to make us think, but also to make us laugh at ourselves in a …

Yes, it’s true. Although I know everyone reading this managed to get themselves born on one day or another, I nevertheless feel entirely entitled to think it’s pretty special that my birthday is coming up very, very soon on April 6. And I even feel entitled to tell you exactly what I want. What I am hoping for this year is …

A couple weeks ago we told you about IFEEL, the incredible rapper who is changing the world for animals through his words and videos. I heard from so many of you who were feeling this guy’s unique artistic efforts (don’t miss the harrowing and beautiful reasons that he cites to explain “Why I Do It“), so, clearly, I had to tell …

The upcoming Yale Environmental Film Festival (running April 9-15) will be highlighting films that examine our relationship with the planet, but what makes it unique is that — refreshingly — it is including animals in the mix. Of the roughly one dozen films, all of which were chosen specifically because of the way they addressed “humanity’s impact on the planet” (that’s according to …

We usually reserve coverage of current events for our podcast, but there are two news items that not only demand all of our attention, but are creative representations of activism at its finest. Both of these items will be covered during tomorrow’s podcast episode, during which we’ll have the opportunity to interview the heads of two game-changing organizations. So tune in …

If you’ve never read Melanie Joy’s book, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows, you have a wonderful experience in front of you. In her examination of what she refers to as “carnism” (which she talked about extensively when she was on our podcast), Dr. Joy brings unprecedented light to the invisible belief system that underlies people’s ability to …

Last October, Mariann and I had the honor of speaking at the Lewis & Clark Animal Law Conference in Portland, OR. In case you missed it, we even devoted an entire podcast episode to the conference (episode 93 — which you can listen to on our blog or through iTunes — and by the way, it’s one of favorite and most comprehensive episodes). …

Sue Coe is one of my heroes. She basically epitomizes the essence of our Art of the Animal video series, which features artists of all kinds who speak up for animals through their medium. We are, to say the least, thrilled — beside ourselves, really — to be featuring Sue Coe in our newest Art of the Animal video. As I write …

Have you heard? The sloths are coming, and we at Our Hen House could not be giddier about it. Here’s the short version of how this venture started: Writer and filmmaker Lucy Cooke fell in love with Taz, a baby sloth who (get this!) she first learned about while watching a Youtube video! So Cooke traveled 5,000 miles to Costa Rica to …

The Toad Detour is, perhaps, a perfect storm of animal activism. In Roxborough, a Philadelphia neighborhood, hundreds of toads migrate from nearby woods and gardens to the Roxborough Reservoir. Each year, more than a hundred toads are squished by cars on their way to the Reservoir. In Toad Detour, a community-wide project to save these toads’ lives, the first step was to …

When I heard that we were headed to Toronto for a bar association event, I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was supposed to be a very cosmopolitan, diverse city, but, let’s face it, the bottom line is, “how’s the food?!?” Are we talking vegan mecca or vegan wasteland? Or something in between? Well, not to worry, Toronto’s …

It’s almost impossible to quantify the number of people who have been introduced to thinking about animals in a new way by Paul Watson and the organization that he heads up, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. While the readers of this blog may be used to viewing animals as victims of human cruelty, as well as heroes of their own lives, …

I have always wanted to be that person. The one who could just turn out beautiful scarves, hats, sweaters, etc., etc.,  just by sitting on the couch and magically and effortlessly twirling her needles. Alas, I am, instead, the perennial starter of knitting projects that I end up giving up on and never finishing. Well, those days are over. I am …

Two thirteen-year-old girls in Ontario, Brittney and Ines, decided to make their school Independent Project a short documentary about pound seizure. Entitled “Pound Seizure: The Ultimate Trust Violation,” the informative and moving film has, to date, received over a thousand hits — which is way more visibility than my 8th grade project, which I think was a report on Bette Midler’s …

It seems like every week there is another important film to talk about. It’s so exciting to see animals’ stories being told in ways that truly have the power to reach people and potentially make change. A Fall from Freedom promises to be an important contribution to the fight to end the captive dolphin and whale industry. Featuring in-depth conversations with …

Myq Kaplan is insanely hilarious. And he’s vegan. And no, that is not a typo. Not only was he a finalist for NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” but Myq’s CD — Vegan Mind Meld — was one of iTunes’ top 10 bestselling comedy CDs of 2010, and received massive critical acclaim. If you listen closely to Myq’s jokes — when you’re not choking …

Last month, we brought you a sold-out event here in NYC entitled “The Truth Will Set Them Free: An Evening With James E. McWilliams.” James, of course, is the author of Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly, as well as a columnist for The Atlantic, The New York Times and Freakonomics. (If you didn’t …

I cannot tell a lie. It was, indeed, fun — like insane, delicious fun — traveling around the past few months speaking at VegFests and conferences. And the fun is not over, as we still have several events coming up. After the success (and good time) we had with the last video we made for VegNews TV — NYC Vegan Weekend …

Video is perhaps the most important tool our movement has to create change. If a picture speaks a thousand words, the power of a video to change hearts and minds is truly unquantifiable. Chances are, the vast majority of those of you who are reading this were impacted to get further involved with animal advocacy because of a video. Someone showed …

Every day, Mariann and I post a different idea or opportunity to change the world for animals. Show your support by voting for Our Hen House as your favorite blog in this year’s VegNews Veggie Awards! It’s the first year we’re nominated and we would love the opportunity to win, so that more people can learn about Our Hen House’s vision …

We have to admit that we love flash mob musicals. From the ridiculous to the sublime, we love them all. In fact, it is our fondest dream to one day actually be in the place that Improv Everywhere, or some other interpreter of this truly brilliant art form, decides to seize and turn into a Broadway stage. That being said, our …

“The Golden Rule” by Sarah Kiser is a new video on YouTube that has really touched us. This hauntingly beautiful 4-minute video uses artwork (by Sarah) and music (by Kevin MacLeod) to encourage people to question why we love certain animals, yet turn a blind eye to others — supporting (literally, funding) the horrific animal agriculture industry by buying its products. …

Fashion designer extraordinaire John Bartlett, who was recently on our podcast discussing his newfound veganism, has now launched a new line of clothing that benefits independent rescue groups that are pulling animals from kill shelters throughout the country. The Tiny Tim Collection was named after John’s rescue dog who, sadly, passed away last fall from lymphoma. After being involved in a …

We hens from Our Hen House live in NYC, and have for a clucking long time — certainly long enough to know where to get smashing deals on scrumptious vegan food, and find out the best way in at some rad cultural happenings around town. So when VegNews asked me to host and produce several upcoming videos for the fabulous VegNews …