Happy Earth Day! This is an important time of year where we focus our attention on the perils facing the planet and get inspired to help her. So today our guest is Dr. Richard Twine, author of, The Climate Crisis and Other Animals (Sydney University Press, 2024). He is a professor in Sociology and Co-Director of the Centre for Human- Animal Studies (CfHAS) at Edge Hill University, UK. He also co-editor of The Rise of Critical Animal Studies – From the Margins to the Centre (Routledge, 2014) and author of Animals as Biotechnology – Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies (Routledge, 2010).  Richard has also published articles on ecofeminism, vegan transition, the food system, and the animal-industrial complex.

Richard tells us about Critical Animal Studies and how it is inspiring many areas of academic study to consider human-animal relations. We then discuss Richard’s new book and how climate disruption is affecting wild animals, marine animals, birds and even insects and microorganisms. He talks about the impact on farmed animals who now face events like frequent flooding, fires, and heatwaves due to a changing climate. We also get into the weeds of the confusing, controversial, and politicized animal agriculture emissions numbers and why there is a wide range of percentages from different sources and how to decipher what is most accurate.We also cover climate justice, food justice, the importance of a social science viewpoint of the climate crisis and much more.

Resources:

Richard’s website:  http://www.richardtwine.com

Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar details and free registration 

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 Hope for the Animals Podcast

National Animal Rights Day is a unique event coming up on June 2, 2024 and today we have the creator of this day of action, Aylam Orian. Aylam is a Hollywood actor, filmmaker and animal rights activist. With his non-profit “Our Planet. Theirs Too.” he has established The National Animal Rights Day (N.A.R.D.) – a day of moving events dedicated to animals and their rights, which are held simultaneously in major cities every June. NARD events are now held in 50 countries around the world. He is also the creator of The Declaration of Animal Rights – a vegan, animal liberation document that details the rights all animals have as living beings on planet Earth – which has been translated to 23 languages. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous known films and TV shows (30 Rock, Code Black, NCIS: LA, The Informer, Strargate Origins), and he wll be seen next in the new TV show about The Holocaust, “We Were the Lucky Ones.”

Aylam tells the story of how he started The National Animal Rights Day in 2011 and how the day of action has grown every year and spread across the globe. He also tells us about the inspiration behind the creation of The Declaration of Animal Rights, how it reflects the UN declaration of human rights, and how it’s a roadmap for a future of compassionate human-animal relations. Hope and Aylam also get into a discussion on best strategies for animal advocates and how the trajectory of the movement, in our opinion, is out of balance. Aylam also gives us some insight into just how vegan-friendly Hollywood really is and some hopeful signs of veganism on a soap! Join us for this inspiring discussion.

Resources:

National Animal Rights Day (NARD) June 2, 2024

Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar

Hope speaking in Portland, OR. on April 21

Support us:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Today on the podcast we are joined by Faik Bourik, founder of Vegius, a provider of vegan services to support farmed animal sanctuaries worldwide.  Faik is a mathematics, physics, and astronomy college instructor who combines his academic background with his roles as a professional writer and entrepreneur. Passionate about animal rights and gender equality, he founded Vegius to provide much needed financial support to farmed animal sanctuaries. 

Faik talks about how he fell for the humane hoax and bought humanely labeled products when he was first thinking about farmed animal issues. He shares how little meat he ate growing up in Algeria and how the traditional diets of so many around the world are predominately plant-based. He talks about the importance of farmed animal sanctuaries to open people’s hearts and to make emotional connections to animals. We also discuss karma theory and how this is an important concept to bring to western culture, which brought us to some interesting history lessons from Faik.

Resources:

Vegius

Support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Connecting veganism to other justice causes is critical to our success and our guest today recognized this at a very young age. Zane McNeill is a scholar-activist, chair of the National Lawyers Guild’s Animal Liberation Committee, and was the co-manager of the collective Right for Animal Rights Activists. They have worked closely with the Institute of Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) and have published chapters in ICAS collections, including Vegans on Speciesism and Ableism: Ecoability Voices for Disability and Animal Justice and Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination: Essays on Solidarity and Total Liberation. They have also edited Queer and Trans Voices: Achieving Liberation Through Consistent Anti-Oppression, Vegan Entanglements: Dismantling Racial and Carceral Capitalism, and Building Multispecies Resistance Against Exploitation: Stories from the Frontlines of Labor and Animal Rights (forthcoming, Peter Lang Publishing).

Zane will help us to unpack new terms like “consistent anti-oppression” and “total liberation” as well as “carceral veganism” where animal activists align with agencies to criminalize and deport people in marginalized communities of color when we should be targeting the system of oppression itself. They discuss the parallels of body autonomy issues for humans and non-humans. Zane addresses everything from micro aggressions experienced by animal activists within the movement to larger, structural issues of oppression. Join us for this important discussion.

Resources: 

Zane’s Book Vegan Entanglements

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Compassionate Living’s YouTube Page

Do you want to know the truth about grass-fed beef? Regenerative grazing? Free-range eggs? This episode is jam packed with the jaw-dropping reality of greenwashing. Vasile Stanescu is an Associate Professor and Chair of Communication at Mercer University. He received his Ph.D. in the program of Modern Thought and Literature (MTL) at Stanford University. Vasile’s research focuses on greenwashing in animal agribusiness, critiques of humane meat, in vitro meat, and consumerist options for social change. He is the author of numerous publications on the study of animals and the environment including in the Journal of American Culture, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, the American Behavioral Scientist, and Animal Studies Journal. Vasile is also the co-founder of the North American Association for Critical Animal Studies (NAACAS).

Vas talks about what is really behind regenerative grazing and the false messaging around supposedly “new” methods of animal farming. We also talk about the detriment of chicken farming, how beef is so often cited as the worst culprit for the environment, and the myth that if you just switch to chicken, it’s so much better. Vas dives deep into how interconnected all animal farming industries are and how the supposed “green” meat movement is just another marketing tool for industrial agribusiness. He also shares how he feels that it is critical to eliminate the stigma on veganism and have Vegan Pride.

Resources:

Humane Hoax Online Conference details and free registration

Learn more and support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Studies cited in this episode:

Joseph Poore, University of Oxford

Tara Garnett, Food Climate Research Network at Oxford University

News media that is sympathetic to animals is critical in creating a compassionate world. A 2023 von Liebig Award Winner, Nina Jackel is a journalist and activist known for effecting change for animals around the world through her non-profit media organization that she founded called Lady Freethinker. Nina leads numerous divisions at the organization that expose cruel and illegal activities through undercover operations and galvanizing ordinary citizens to make a difference.

Hope and Nina discuss the importance of news media for animals and Nina offers advice about what makes good media that has the potential to reach wider audiences. She also talks about Lady Freethinker’s important campaign targeting social media posts that abuse animals, such as fake “rescue” videos where abusers put animals in distressful situations just for clicks. They also discuss how to reach people who care about animals, but haven’t made the connection to compassion for farmed animals and veganism.

Resources:

Lady Freethinker:

Website

FaceBook

Instagram

Twitter

William von Liebig Foundation Award Winner

Humane Hoax Online Conference details and free registration

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Please donate to Compassionate Living to support the continuation of this podcast. Thank you! 

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Did you know that your veggies, fruit, beans, nuts, and seeds were probably grown with the blood, ground up bones and/or manure of farmed animals? Or the ground up bodies of fish? This episode we are talking about Veganic farming, growing food without animal products and inputs, with Meg Kelly. In 2008 Meg co-founded the Veganic Agriculture Network to promote fully plant-based food systems that are not fertilized with the byproducts of farmed animals. She now teaches the Learn Veganic online gardening course to empower people around the world to grow their own fruits and veggies at home using sustainable vegan techniques. On this episode, she shares how to get started gardening veganically, how to create compost, how to consciously and compassionately co-exist with wildlife while gardening, and more. Meg has been gardening veganically for 15 years and explains the myriad of good reasons for the world to go vegan AND veganic!

Resources:

Veganic Summit (November 10 – 12^th 2023): https://veganicsummit.com/

Veganic Agriculture Network: https://goveganic.net/ 

Learn Veganic Gardening Course: https://learnveganic.com/ 

Free Guide to Veganic Gardening: https://learnveganic.com/materials/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnVeganic/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learnveganic/ 

Food Empowerment Project’s Chocolate List

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Hope for the Animals Podcast

Steven Rouk is the founder of Connect For Animals, a platform for people who want to help end animal farming. He has been in the animal advocacy movement for the last decade working on data analysis, strategy, community building, and grassroots activism. Steven and Hope discuss the importance of building vegan community to help people feel supported and connected in veganism and animal advocacy. They explore the psychological and social reasons for recidivism and the fascinating concepts of social network theory and how we spread information through our social networks.

Resources:

• Website: http://connectforanimals.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connectforanimals
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connectforanimals
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/connectforanimals/

Book Recommendation:

Change: How to Make Big Things Happen by Damon Centola

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Are you curious how to feed your companion animals vegan? Have you been considering switching your dog or cat to a vegan diet? Maybe you already do feed your companion plant based but want to be sure it’s the most nutritious vegan diet? Our guest today, Jan Allegretti, has answers.

Jan Allegretti, D.Vet.Hom, has been a consultant and educator in holistic health care for nonhuman animals since 1988, specializing in nutrition, homeopathy, and lifestyle assessment. She is the author of The Holistic Animal Health Series, which includes the bestselling The Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions, and The Fresh & Flexible Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat. She works with home caregivers, shelter and rescue organizations, and veterinary professionals on nutrition for our companions. Jan talks about the detrimental impact commercial dog and cat foods have on our planet and on farmed animals, and how feeding our companion animals a vegan diet can benefit not only our global ecological crisis, but support our dog’s and cat’s health so they can thrive.

Resources:

Sonoma County VegFest, September 23, 2023

Jan’s Website

The Holistic Animal Health Series Books By Jan Allegretti:

The Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions

The Fresh & Flexible Meal Plan: The Easiest, Most Nutritious Way to Feed Your Dog and Cat

Listen to the Silence: Lessons from Trees and Other Masters 

Vegan Supplements for Dogs and Cats:

Compassion Circle

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Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

We open today’s episode with Hope sharing some thoughts on the destructive EATS Act making its way through US legislation and then we have JH Burnett joining us from South Africa. JH spent years farming in both the sheep industry on his family’s sheep farm in South Africa as well as in the dairy industry. The experience sent JH into a deep depression and he left farming to dedicate himself to animal liberation and recently released a vegan memoir and offering services as a life coach. Join us for this incredible story of transformation.

Resources:

Veganism Has Won

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Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Ruchika Chitrabhanu was born and raised in a Jain family and pursued her Master’s in Philosophy in Jainism. Inspired by Gurudev Chitrabhanu and Smt. Pramoda Chitrabhanu, Ruchika has been a vegan for over seventeen years, and she raises awareness about animal compassion and the benefits of following a vegan lifestyle through events and festivals in India. She is a co-founder of Ahimsafest, India’s largest vegan festival, she also co-founded The Earthen One, an events platform to help people transition to a vegan lifestyle, and she is a board member of Jain Vegan Initiative. Ruchika will be a keynote presenter at our upcoming Ahimsa Vegan Conference.

Resources:

Ahimsa Vegan Conference- August 26 & 27. 2023

Gurudev Chitrabhanu and Smt. Pramoda Chitrabhanu

AhimsaFest in India

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Hope for the Animals Podcast

Dr. Tushar Mehta practices Emergency Medicine in the Toronto area and is the co-founder of Towards Ahimsa and Plant Based Data, a free database which organizes academic and institutional literature regarding plant-based diet health, environment, food security, and zoonotic pandemic risk. Tushar will be speaking at Compassionate Living’s upcoming Ahimsa Vegan Conference.

Tushar joins us to discuss the environmental impact of animal agriculture and thoroughly debunks “regenerative” grazing. He also addresses common arguments for eating local and other “sustainable” meat, dairy, and eggs. He warns of animal farming’s resource intensive use of land and water and offers solutions that we so desperately need as we swelter in the new normal of extreme summer heat, floods, and fires. This is a rebroadcast of an interview with Tushar in 2021.

Resources:

Ahimsa Vegan Conference

Another Industry Attempt to Greenwash Beef

Plant-Based Data

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Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

On this episode we are talking about an issue that affects so many, but is rarely talked about—discrimination because of the size of our bodies. Britty Mann joins us to break it down. Britty is the Founder and Executive Director of Planted Society, a U.S. nonprofit that makes plant-based eating more accessible to ensure a better future for the planet and all living beings. With over 15 years of experience in supply chain and community advocacy, Britty believes that we all have the capacity to help change the global food system, starting by fostering relationships with our own bodies and enacting change in our local communities.

Bitty shares with Hope her thoughts on fat bias in the animal and vegan advocacy movement and how certain campaigns and protocol can be exclusionary and hurtful. She talks about the concept of “healthism” and how it affects the experience and contribution of larger bodied people in the vegan movement.

Resources:

Ending Anti-Fat Bias Resources and References

Episode 24: Fat Justice and Veganism with Andy Tabar

Planted Society

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

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Hope for the Animals Podcast

Today on the podcast we have Brialle Ringer joining us. Brialle is a breathwork, yoga, and meditation guide, vegan fairy goddess, and embodied leadership coach on a mission to support changemakers lead with greater ease, joy, and passion. Drawing from her degree in Social Work, certifications in Yoga, Integrative Energy Healing, and Plant Based Nutrition, Brialle takes a trauma-informed, healing centered, and holistic approach to her work.

Brialle share with Hope how her wholistic healing journey expanded into a service for the vegan community. She talks about the importance of feeling the grief and anger around the state of the world and channeling those feelings in a supportive system and healing environment. Brialle offers suggestions on ways to ground yourself emotionally and physically so we can break free of “grind culture” and embody a more sustainable work/life balance. She also talks about the work she does with the Global Majority Caucus focused on supporting black, brown, and indigenous people of color who are working in animal and vegan advocacy.

Resources:

Brialle’s Website

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is known as the joyful vegan. She is a recognized expert and thought leader on the culinary, social, ethical, and practical aspects of living compassionately and healthfully. A long-time animal advocate and vegan, Colleen is a bestselling author of seven books, an acclaimed speaker, producer of one of the longest running vegan podcasts, a regular contributor to National Public Radio, and the host of luxury vegan trips around the world. Colleen shares her thoughts on living joyfully as a vegan, how to cultivate joy and say “yes” as a vegan, how traveling to other countries with her vegan travel tours brings her joy, and the challenges and triumphs of her zero waste journey.

Resourses:

JoyfulVegan.com

Food for Thought Podcast

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Hope for the Animals Podcast

Lisa Barca is a lecturer in the Honors College at Arizona State University, where she teaches humanities, writing courses, and seminars on the ethics of humans’ relationships with other animals. Her current research centers on critical animal studies, media ethics, rhetoric and ideology, and the intersections of feminism and animal rights. She holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures and is a contributing author to the volume Meatsplaining: The Meat Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial and also to The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs.

Lisa and Hope talk about how animal farmers are treated favorably in media and how stories of farmers using alternative and “better” farming methods are featured and praised without question or an opposing view. Lisa explores the “absent referent,” or the erasing or hiding of animal’s identities and how it relates to the humane hoax. She also talks about how the new “humane” do-it-yourself slaughter normalizes violence toward animals and she offers advice to journalists, and to us all, on language that helps the animals to be seen and heard in media stories about them. We also hear about Lisa’s band Scarlet Rescue and her musical outlet for the vegan message. BONUS: We end the episode with one of Scarlet Rescue’s songs, BBQ Protest.

Resources:

Order the Book! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Lisa’s Music Videos:

BBQ Protest

Keycard to Hell (Monkey experimentation at Arizona State University)

Sign the petition: Change.org petition for the monkeys

Hope’s Upcoming Events:

June 8, 2023- Online Presentation about the book for Animal Activist Mentorship. Register here.

June 10, 2023- In Person Book Release Presentation for The Humane Hoax in Eugene, Oregon. Info here.

On this episode we have our second session of the Humane Hoax Book Club with two of Compassionate Living’s Humane Hoax Team volunteers Marian Erikson and Fireweed. We talked about a few of the chapters from the new anthology, The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs. A fascinating chapter we examine is called “Murder She Wrote” about the memoirs of Femivores, women who own farms and dominate and kill animals in an attempt to gain equality in the male dominated spaces of farming, hunting, and butchery. We explore other chapters that focus on speciesist language, the cognitive dissonance of consuming animals, and we expose foodie culture for its celebration of violence.

Resources:

Order the Book! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Humane Hoax Online Conference, May 20: Register here

Marian Erikson’s Plant Based Briefing podcast

On this episode we are featuring one of the contributing authors to the new book, The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs, Nicholas Carter. Nicholas is an ecologist and co-founder of PlantBasedData.org, a library of peer-reviewed studies calling for plant-based diets. He has his Master’s in Environmental Practice and his thesis focused on the global estimates of greenhouse gas emissions attributed to animal agriculture. He also works with Plant Based Treaty as a Science & Policy Analyst and Plant Based News as a Data Scientist & Lead Researcher.

Nicholas’ chapter is called Grazing Vs. The Planet and in this episode, he unpacks sustainable animal agriculture and labels like carbon negative and carbon neutral beef. Nicolas tells us about how he recently debated representatives of While Oak Farms and exposed them for their greenwashing. He also shares some solutions like rewilding and veganic agriculture and how we have the tools we need to heal this planet, we just need the will to implement them. Nicholas says, “Veganic farming is the real regenerative agriculture.”

Resources:

Buy the Book! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Humane Hoax Online Conference, May 20: Register here

Nicholas Debates White Oak Farms

Film: Rewilding a Mountain

The wait is over! Hope Bohanec’s book is finally out! Our host of the Hope for the Animals Podcast, Hope Bohanec, has released an anthology called The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs published by Lantern Publishing and Media. As humanewashing and greenwashing become more prevalent and pervasive, this volume, with 18 contributing authors, activists and academics, exposes the humane hoax from every angle.

We have two guests on the podcast today for our first session of the Humane Hoax Book Club to discuss the book. Alastor Van Kleeck has a Ph.D. in English and co-founded the Triangle Chicken Advocates Sanctuary as well as The Microsanctuary Movement. Alastor also co-founded The Humane Hoax Project with Hope and wrote a chapter for the new book. Much of Alastor’s writing is available at strivingwithsystems.com. Also joining us is Sena Crutchley. Sena is an associate professor and long-time animal rights and environmental activist. She is a founder and board member of Piedmont Area Vegan Educators and also founded and runs Ruby’s Refuge, a microsanctuary for chickens and fishes. Sena is a volunteer on the Humane Hoax Team.

Resources:

ORDER THE BOOK! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs.

Register: Virtual Book Launch Party, April 29

The Humane Hoax Project

Happy Easter! In honor of spring, today we are featuring rabbits and welcome Mark Hawthorne to the podcast. Mark is the author of numerous books on animal rights and social justice, including: A Vegan Ethic: Embracing A Life Of Compassion Toward All and the bestselling Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism. His most recent book is called The Way of the Rabbit which is a joyful celebration of rabbits, both wild and domestic. Mark is a longtime rabbit lover who has fostered and rescued many bunnies over the years, eight of whom he adopted. He also volunteers with the vegan food justice group Food Empowerment Project, that was founded by his partner Lauren Ornelas.

Mark tells us some stories of the rabbit in history and myth, shares interesting insights about rabbits, talks about the rise in popularity of using rabbits for meat in the US, and also talks about his other book Bleating Hearts: The Hidden World of Animal Suffering.

Resources:

Book Launch Party for The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs edited by Hope Bohanec. Register Today! 

Some of Mark’s Books:

The Way of the Rabbit

Bleating Hearts: The Hidden World of Animal Suffering

Striking at the Roots

IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new report: “Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”

Today on the podcast we dig into the philosophy and practice of Effective Altruism (EA) and how it permeates and influences the animal rights movement. Krista Hiddema, Executive Director of For The Greater Good, has written a chapter in the new anthology, The Good It Promises, The Harm It Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism edited by Carol Adams, Alice Crary, and Lori Gruen. Krista offers a broad introduction to EA and how in the last decade, it has informed and now enveloped the animal advocacy movements strategy and tactics and why this may be a detrimental path for the animals. She shares stories of how campaigns that are unquantifiable can have profound impact and should not be pushed aside by the EA trend.

Krista holds a doctorate in social sciences where her research focused on the need to utilize ecofeminist principles in matters of board governance within the animal rights movement. She holds five other degrees in areas of leadership, human resources, and organizational development, she teaches strategic planning and board governance, she is a fellow with the Animals & Society Research Initiative, and a reviewer for the Journal of Critical Animal Studies, and much more. She resides in outside Toronto, Canada.

Resources: 

Book:

The Good It Promises, The Harm It Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism edited by Carol Adams, Alice Crary, and Lori Gruen

Krista:

• DrKristaHiddema.com
• https://drkristahiddema.com/blog
• https://drkristahiddema.com/blog/2022/12/14/effective-altruism-the-impact-is-fear-corruption-and-it-is-also-not-good-for-animals
• https://www.facebook.com/Krista.Hiddema

Naijha Wright-Brown is the Executive Director of the Black Veg Society, a 501c3 non-profit organization that educates predominantly Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities on the benefits of holistic living, the plant-based diet, and veganism.  She is also the co-creator of Vegan Soulfest and Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month. Naijha shares her journey creating a soul food restaurant called The Land of Kush as well as an incredibly successful Black-focused vegan festival all while running the Black Veg Society. Naijha is on a mission to help people find their vegan soul!

Resources:

Naijha Speaks- YouTube

Black Veg Society

Vegan SoulFest– August 19 & 20, 2023

About the Egyptian Kingdom of Kush

Soul of Ahimsa: Vegan Spiritualty Retreat in NY

On today’s episode we have a recurring guest joining us, Hope’s husband, Cogen Bohanec. Hope and Cogen start us off with a big announcement and then Cogen discusses his work as a constructive theologian in the Dharma Traditions and how he connects Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Dharma with environmental and animal rights issues. He talks about eco-psychology, eco-theology, karma theory, and the dangers of “human exceptionalism.” Cogen also talks about his recent writings regarding animal personhood, animals’ intrinsic value, and how we can remove systems of oppression through religious and cultural transformation.

“It is a false binary to say that we are either altercentric (other centered) or egocentric. That’s a false binary. Actually it’s more of a dialectic, care for ourselves is care for the other. Care for the other is care for the self. It’s a both/and solution.” – Cogen Bohanec, PhD

We would like to thank A Well-Fed World (AWFW) for their generous support of this podcast! A Well-Fed World is an international hunger relief and food security organization advancing plant-based foods and farming to create a sustainable, nourished, and climate-friendly future. Learn more at awfw.org.

Resources:

Vegan, Animal Advocacy and Veganism is an online, self-study course with Hope Bohanec, offered by Arihanta Academy. Learn more and register for the spring semester here.

Other Episodes with Cogen:

Episode 48: Vegan Love and Rescue with Cogen and Hope Bohanec

Episode 57: The Vegan Hypocritical Imperative with Cogen and Hope Bohanec

Happy New Year! Today on the podcast we have Sangita Iyer joining us. She is a journalist, biologist, award-winning filmmaker, National Geographic Explorer, and founder of Voice for Asian Elephants Society. Sangita was born and raised in Kerala, India, home to captive elephants used in temple ceremonies, documented in her award-winning film Gods in Shackles and now her new book called Gods in Shackels: What Elephants Can Teach Us About Empathy, Resilience, and Freedom. Considered the “Blackfish for elephants,” the film exposes the heartbreaking plight of these amazing gentle giants in India. From her home in Canada, Sangita now oversees teams on the ground in India who combat elephant poaching, illegal trade, habitat loss and more. Hope and Sangita discuss the precarious situation for elephants in India, for both the wild population and for the captured elephants used in rituals.

“Elephants are the largest animals on earth, and they are literally designed to play a vital role in the ecosystem. Climate change has no borders, so what happens to elephants in India and Africa reverberates and impacts other countries at a devastating pace.” -Sangita Iyer

Resources:

Gods in Shackles (website)

Gods in Shackles (film)

Gods in Shackles (book)

Voice for Asian Elephants Society

Happy Holidays! In this episode, Hope is flying solo and she wanted to share with you some exciting things coming up in the new year for Compassionate Living and our signature projects, the Humane Hoax Project and the Ahimsa Living Project. She also talks about the mixed message of the holidays with tidings of love and peace wrapped up with overconsumption and meat eating.

“If we haven’t changed our hearts and we just change our habits, then any progress is built on a flawed foundation.” -Hope Bohanec

DONATE TO COMPASSIONATE LIVING’S MATCHING CHALLENGE

Elly Nakajima is the founder and director of Animal Alliance Asia – a movement building organization dedicated to empowering and training animal justice activists across Asia. Born in Japan and currently based in the UK, Elly is passionate about building a more inclusive, culturally relevant, and effective movement across Asia. She was one of the first Japanese language educational content providers for vegan advocates in Japan.

Hope and Elly discuss the need for vegan advocacy to adapt and change for different cultures and different audiences in Asia. Elly explains why truly local leadership across Asia is critical for the ideas of veganism and animal rights to thrive. Elly is on a mission to empower woman and people of the global majority to embrace leadership roles in animal rights and to feel confident advocating for animals in their countries and regions.

Resources:

Animal Alliance Asia

DONATE TO COMPASIONTE LIVING’S MACTHING CAMPAIGN

This episode is a rebroadcast of a solo show from last year at this time where Hope explores the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, the malleability of tradition, and the plight of the millions of turkeys that suffer and are killed for the holidays. We hope you enjoy this episode replay. Happy ThanksLiving! 

Dr. Jason Hannan is Associate Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, & Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the editor of Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial. Jason and Hope talk about this edited volume and about “meatsplaining” as a PR tactic of the animal agriculture industry. They talk about how animal exploiters use the law, social media, anti-vegan trolling, and the humane hoax to justify and sanitize atrocities in animal farming. They also talk about Jason’s current book project, New White Saviors: The Colonial Mythology of Meat, which examines the meat industry as a form of cultural and ecological imperialism. He is also the Chair of the Winnipeg VegFest, the largest vegan and animal rights festival in central Canada.

Resources:

Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial 

Episode 48: Love and Rescue with Hope and Cogen Bohanec

Vegan Festival Season is here! Today Hope chats with Erika Hazel. Erika is a popular social media influencer and food blogger known as the Bizerkeley Vegan. Erika became The Bizerkeley Vegan after she transitioned to the vegan lifestyle and the name comes from her love of everything others see as bizarre or unique about Berkeley, California. Erika organizes the Bizerkeley Food Fest and she and Hope talk about the importance of vegan food fests for building community, supporting small businesses, and showing pre-vegans how good plant-based food can be.

“Going through the stomach is my form of activism.” -Erika Hazel, The Bizerkeley Vegan

Resources:

Instagram: The Bizerkeley Vegan

Today on the podcast it’s all about leather-free materials—fabrics that mimic leather, but are animal-free and more ecological. We have two guests with us to talk about their businesses that focus on innovations in non-leather goods. First up is Paras Doshi, founder of Doshi, that offers fashionable and durable non-leather items like belts, wallets, and purses. Then we have Troy Akin, founder of the company EcoSports. Troy makes footballs, basketballs and more using a material that is vegan, chemical free, biodegradable and that retains the feel and bounce that you would expect from a high-quality ball. Join us to hear about the future of vegan products beyond food and how these fabrics are helping to revolutionizes eco and ethical living.

Hope also reminds listeners about her upcoming 6-week course on nonviolence and vegan ethics called Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy, and Veganism starting on Saturday, September 24.

Resources: 

Hope’s Course: Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy, and Veganism

Doshi

EcoSports

More about the leather industry from BiteSizeVegan

Sonoma County VegFest

On this episode we are joined by Christopher Jain Miller, the co-founder and Vice President of Academic Affairs of Arihanta Academy, a Jain Dharma college. He completed his Ph.D. in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is the academic advisor for the global Jain Vegan Initiative. Chris and Hope dig deep into the parallel philosophies of Jain dharma and vegan living. They explore the concept of Ahimsa, Sanskrit for non-violence, and how young Jains are seeing veganism as a way to practice their principle of non-harming in a modern context.  They also discuss Arihanta Academy, a new online Jain college, and Hope’s class in starting Sept 24 called Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy and Veganism.

Resources:

Arihanta Academy

Hope’s Class- Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy, and Veganism

Chris’s Classes- Jain Philosophy in Daily Life, Yoga Sūtra: The Classical Yoga of Patañjali

Instagram- @thejainveganinitiative

Did you know that ducks like to take a swim before breakfast and that cows like to have a view? Paul Drake is the designer and construction leader of the animal housing at Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge, where he is helping to pioneer a new process called animal-centered design. Paul has a Master’s of Architecture and has a passion for designing sustainable structures that can improve the lives of animals. Lenore Braford is the Founder and Animal Care Director at Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Lenore has nearly a decade of experience working with and enriching the lives of animals. On this episode, we will hear all about the new process of animal-centered design and how this unusual animal refuge is innovating sanctuary life and creating unique spaces designed for each individual species of farmed animal to feel safe and thrive.

Resources:

Ryuji Chua on The Daily Show

Animal Centered Design

Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge

Compassion Consortium (monthly online spiritual vegan gathering)

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 62

Why not dog meat? Molly Elwood is the vegan activists who created the website, Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat which launched in August 2021 and has gone super viral with over 1.3 million unique views. The Facebook page has over 42k followers, and one post has reached nearly 10 million people and has 21k comments and 42k shares! This fictional farm raises dogs for meat with claims like “local,” “organic,” “free-range” and “ethical.” The idea was to satirize meat industry’s messaging, encouraging consumers to explore their cognitive dissonance around the animals they choose to put on their plates. Molly and Hope discuss the emotional and visceral reactions that this unique campaign has created, the use of satire in political action and change, and how Molly herself fell for the humane hoax before going vegan.

Resources:

www.elwooddogmeat.com

Mitali Deypurkaystha is a British-Indian woman based in the UK. A vegan of 10 years, Mitali has a book publishing company called The Vegan Publisher, using a hybrid book publishing model to help vegan and plant-based experts write books to amplify the voices of ethical entrepreneurs. Mitali tells Hope about her experiences with racism as a child and in particular an aspect of racism called colorism. She goes on to talk about her love of writing, choosing it as a career path, and how the passion of vegan entrepreneurs inspired her to start a vegan publishing company. Mitali explains what a mind map is and how this new method of organizing thoughts can help beyond writing books. She also tells Hope why she wrote her book, The Freedom Master Plan, and how it can help ethical entrepreneurs write and promote their books to catapult their businesses or organizations to the next level. 

Resources:

Sign Up for Compassionate Living’s E-news

Sign up for Hope’s online course: Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy, and Veganism with Arihanta Academy

Mitali’s Info:

Publisher website: https://www.theveganpublisher.com/

The Freedom Master Plan book website: https://www.thefreedommasterplan.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LetsTellYourStoryPublishing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/veganpublisher   

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veganpublisher/

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veganpublisher/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfrbspEvAQyN8thKIdh-ycg

Deborah Blum is the founder and Executive Director at Goatlandia Farm Animal Sanctuary in Santa Rosa, CA. Deborah moved to Santa Rosa to fulfill her dream of living with goats and what started as a passion grew into a non profit rescue, education organization, animal therapy, goat yoga, kid’s camp, as well as vegan catering and food events, and much more. Deb and Hope discuss their mutual love of goats and how the rise in popularity of goat dairy has created the same cruelty and ethical issues we see with cow dairy. Deb talks about using goats to graze public lands for fire prevention, and how this other popular use of goats is on the rise and has created yet another host of ethical problems and even more goats needing rescue. They also discuss Goatlandia’s vegan catering and the power of delicious vegan food to change the world!

Resources:

Goatlandia Farm Animal Sanctuary

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! We are celebrating Pride today with two amazing people, Mckenzee Griffler and Pax Ahimsa Gethen. Mckenzee holds a certification in Animal Sanctuary Management and is the Executive Director at the Open Sanctuary Project. Mckenzee is a trans woman and shares with us some basics of trans etiquette, unpacks some of the most pressing issues facing the trans community, and conveys why respecting and supporting trans people and trans kids saves lives. Pax Ahimsa Gethen is a blogger, photographer, Wikipedia editor, and long-time vegan. Pax shares their thoughts on the connection of being trans and being vegan, some San Francisco trans history, proposing gun abolition, and the story of their connection with a neurodivergent alpaca at VINE animal sanctuary.

Resources from Mckenzee (she/her/hers):

Podcasts:
Gender Reveal
TransLash Podcast
The Anti-Trans Hate Machine

Websites:

Them.us

https://genderdysphoria.fyi/
SingularThey.info
State Action Center – National Center For Trans Equality

Books:

A Quick & Easy Guide To Queer and Trans Identities
A Quick & Easy Guide To They Them Pronouns
Queer: A Graphic History
A Queer History Of The United States

Orgs:
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Trans Lifeline
The Trevor Project
The National Center For Trans Equality
ACLU

Resources from Pax (they/them/their):

Website:

http://funcrunch.org

Blog Posts:

Dare to disarm

Resistance to going vegan – excuses and responses

The Transgender District: https://www.transgenderdistrictsf.com/

Office of Transgender Initiatives: https://sf.gov/transcitysf

Compton Cafeteria Riots: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/21/stonewall-san-francisco-riot-tenderloin-neighborhood-trans-women

This episode we welcome back to the podcast Hope’s husband Cogen Bohanec. Cogen and Hope reminisce about giving vegan talks together in the early 2000’s, how enchanted they were with each other’s integrity and ethical values, and how some (almost) raw sushi was a symbol of their love. They then explore some vegan philosophies they have debated over the years. The first is what Cogen calls the Hypocritical Imperative, arguing that it’s better to be hypocritical than complacent. They also discuss vegan vs. plant based labels and if plant based offers a more inclusive option or a watered down ethic. They also investigate a philosophy they call Directional Ethics, which examines whether or not to support a restaurant or store or product based on their vegan “direction.”  They also discuss quantifiable and unquantifiable measures of effectiveness for veganism and activism. 

Resources:

Episode 48: Vegan Love and Rescue with Cogen and Hope Bohanec

We continue our celebration of International Respect for Chickens Month with a reminder about the upcoming Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar on Saturday, May 21. Then our guest is Tara Hess who spent close to a decade working as a caregiver and in shelter management roles at Farm Sanctuary. She is now the Senior Advisor at the Open Sanctuary Project where she uses her hands-on experience to help create animal care resources that are accessible and reflect the many nuances of sanctuary work. Tara and Hope talk about combating harmful information about chickens and how the commodification of chickens demeans their worth as individuals. They discuss the Avian Flu epidemic that is devastating wild and domestic bird populations in the US and the risk to farmed animal sanctuary residents. Tara also talks about the new Rooster Resource from the Open Sanctuary Project, addressing misconceptions about roosters and rooster stigma.

Resources:

The Open Sanctuary Project

Rooster Resource

Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar– May 21, 2022- Information and Registration 

On this episode our guest is Alene Anello, founder of Legal Impact for Chickens, a litigation nonprofit dedicated to fighting for farmed animals. Alene graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for a federal judge, and then started litigating for animals. Hope and Alene chat about why it’s important to focus on chickens, starting a legal non-profit, and what her organization’s unique litigation strategies can do to help the billions of birds bred and killed for food. Alene is committed to helping chickens and creating a vegan world to honor the memories of her two beloved avian family members, Conrad and Zeke.

Resources:

Legal Impact for Chickens

 Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar Info and Registration

Happy Earth Day! Today we have a special Earth Day episode where we are exploring solutions. Hope starts us off with some inspiring green living ideas and then we have a fascinating conversation with Karthik Sekar, PhD. Karthik has a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University researching bioreactor design and systems/quantitative biology. He works as a Senior Data Scientist at Climax Foods and has written the book After Meat: The Case for an Amazing Meat-Free World. In this episode, Karthik uncovers the inherent inefficiencies of animal products and how we need “disruptive technology” to replace meat, dairy, and eggs. He debunks regenerative animal agriculture and reveals the important innovations in fermentation-based products that can revolutionize plant-based eating. Join us for an inspiring discussion about solutions.

Resources:

Website: AfterMeatBook.com

More Podcasts for Earth Day:

Reason for Vegan Series 10: The Environmental Impact of Animal Agriculture

Episode 25: Greenwashing our Food: Exposing Sustainable Lab

The amazing and fabulous Jasmin Singer is a worldwide leading expert on veganism, the co-host of the long-running Our Hen House podcast, a longtime contributor to VegNews magazine as well as the author and editor of numerous books. Hope and Jasmin had a ton of fun covering a lot of territory starting with reminiscing about being vegan in the 90s, Jasmin’s journey writing her memoir, and her evolution coming from the LGBTQ movement into the animal rights space and how that overlaps and connects. They talk the groundbreaking anthology that Jasmin recently edited about anti-racism in the animal rights movement, they discuss thin privilege and discrimination against larger bodied people and how that manifests in the vegan community, as well as the adventure of making her new home in upper state New York net zero.

Resources:

Website: https://jasminsinger.com

Blog: Jasmin’s Jargon

Podcast: Our Hen House 

Books: The VegNews Guide to Being a Fabulous Vegan,

Always Too Much and Never Enough: A Memoir 

Anthology: Antiracism in Animal Advocacy: Igniting Cultural Transformation

Episode 24: Fat Justice and Veganism with Andy Tabar

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gorden

Hope starts us off with some news on a case of blatant greenwashing from a long-time vegan company that has sparked a Compassionate Living Campaign. Then we are honored to have vegan and human rights activist Christopher Soul Eubanks on the podcast. Soul is a climate, human, and animal rights activist in Atlanta, Georgia and has dedicated himself to doing advocacy work that combats all forms of injustice. After becoming vegan, Soul helped co-organize Atlanta’s first ever animal rights march, started a YouTube channel, and is a contributing author to two anthologies. He is also contributing a chapter to Hope’s upcoming Humane Hoax anthology that will be published early next year by Lantern Publishing and Media. Hope and Soul talk about the importance of shifting animal advocacy to one of inclusion with a broader perspective for more effective activism. They discuss Soul’s new non-profit, APEX Advocacy, the term People of the Global Majority, delicious vegan southern-style food, and how animal rights can help achieve collective liberation for all.

Resources:

APEX Advocacy

Soul’s YouTube Channel

Black Vegan Everything

Boycott Comic Bliss Ice Cream Campaign and please sign the Petition

This episode we are joined by Reverend Sarah Bowen. Rev. Sarah is an award-winning author, animal chaplain, and multifaith spiritual educator. She is also one of the co-founders of the Compassion Consortium, a monthly interfaith, interspecies online spiritual gathering. Hope and Sarah discuss how for many, there is a paralleled path between a spiritual journey and a vegan journey. Sarah shares what it means to be an Animal Chaplin and discusses the existence of animal’s spiritual lives. Sarah also shares that she will be starting an Animal Chaplaincy program in the fall for anyone who is interested in the intersection of animal protection, animal relationships, and spirituality.

Resources:

Sarah’s Book: Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice For Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing The Planet

Compassion Consortium