Listening, Deconstructing and Reconstructing: Celebrating black vegans and centering their stories
Too often we see the mainstream framing of black veganism or indigenous veganism as an assimilation into white veganism. Veganism is painted as a white person thing, when it isn’t and never has been. That is why creating spaces for the narratives of black vegans to grow and flourish is extremely important. I hope with this...
Sustaining a grassroot movement to end animal research: Updates from No New Animal Lab & NYC Animal Defense League
In February 2015 we interviewed No New Animal Lab about their campaign to stop the expansion of the University of Washington’s research lab while pressuring the private construction firm, SKANSKA into terminating their contract with the university. U of W has been a long time animal research facility, using thousands of animals as research tools. Activists,...
intertwined roots and routes: immigration, healing, and connections with birds
Our current age called the Anthropocene – climate change, super-diverse societies, and other expressions that are occurring at such magnitude – “change” permeates our contemporary societies, public opinion and our scientific and political imagination. For thousands of years most species, including homosapiens have been migrating. Nowadays, it happens so much faster and it’s causes are often...
Living a life of non-judgement: unlearning the legacy of poor bashing in Canada with Bif Naked
Bif Naked, Canadian singer-songwriter, writer and motivational speaker has been quite active in speaking out against poverty. Partnering with Vancouver Raise the Rates, she recently participated in The Welfare Food Challenge, which aims to demonstrate the reality of living on $610 of social assistance a month. She wanted to get involved to raise awareness about the plight of our poor, to...
Radicalizing ourselves with art: Jared Paul on life as a spoken word/hiphop artist, growing up working class and advice for folks navigating DIY creative communities.
It’s scary to put yourself out there, and the world isn’t that welcoming to bright eyed anti-capitalist creatives, but there are safe spaces you can find yourself in with the help of good folks. It’s a huge privilege to be able to travel without restrictions and have your voice heard as an artist. It’s important...
cross-cultural conflict: Dr. Claire Jean Kim on the Yulin Dog Festival, western ethics, and racial tension
The internet exploded earlier this year with outrage from Western vegans, animal lovers, and dog owners in response to the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival held in Yulin, China. Graphic images inflamed sensibilities and a conflict began to mount that was clearly producing racial tension between the (typically) white animal rights protestors and the people...
Getting to know chickens: Myths of humane meat, domestication, and developing respect for farm animals
On this show we talk to Hope Bohanec, who has been active in animal protection and environmental activism for over 20 years and is a nationally recognized leader and speaker in the animal protection movement. She is currently serving as Projects Manager for United Poultry Concerns as well as the Executive Director of Compassionate Living, a Sonoma County,...
Which side are you on? Producing radical DIY media in times of activist repression
In this episode, you’ll hear us talk with Jeremy and Jordan, both long time vegan anarchists who are behind Which Side, a podcast by activists, for activists, that gives a platform for folks who are passionate about fighting animal, human and environmental oppression. We talk about producing DIY media projects, what it was like growing...
The Social Power of Cinema
This week we host a discussion with Cornell University sociology PhD student, Loredana Loy, on how representations of nonhuman animals and advocacy issues in cinema provide opportunities for social change and create an auspicious momentum for advocacy on behalf of nonhuman animals. Loredana;s blog series “Cinema for Social Change” provides a glimpse into her research...
Towards a world without domination and the end of meat
Have you ever imagined what our world would look like in a post-meat society? This episode we chat with Marc Pierschel and Jeff Wirth who are filmmakers working on the documentary, The End of Meat. This film project is seeking to explore what our world would look like in a post-meat world, where animals are...
Daring to care about ourselves and others: Anastasia Yarbrough on the foundations of liberation work
Anastasia Yarbrough, writer, naturalist, and activist, shares her reflections doing grounded grassroots community work that is inclusive to human and non-human animals. We talk about her experiences living in a small rural community as an activist, interspecies relationships, the powerful connections between afro-animal struggles, and the importance of radical self-care. Anastasia works as individual, following...
Resisting White Settler Colonization through Food Storytelling: Claudia Serrato from Decolonial Food for Thought
Claudia Serrato from Decolonial Food for Thought teaches about indigenous veganism from a Xicana Indigena perspective, sharing ways she has approached decolonizing her diet and creating spaces to hear how others are doing so too which ultimately, is a process of remembering ancestral cuisines through food storytelling. We talk about the impact colonization has had...
