Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

Imagine a world where cows, chickens, pigs and humans not only coexist, but live and flourish amongst each other within the same communities. For vegan artist Hartmut Kiewert, this is the definition of utopia, and he joins us on the podcast this week for a conversation about his truly unique artwork. Hartmut’s Animal Utopia series, which depicts animals and humans thriving…

The World Federation for Animals (WFA) is a new membership organization that seeks to harness the collective strength of the animal protection movement to advocate for the inclusion of animals in global policy making. This week, CEO Dr. James Yeates and Policy Director Jessica Bridgers join us on the podcast for a conversation about how the organization is spearheading this global…

Zoe and Sherstin Rosenberg are an unstoppable mother-daughter activist duo, and we’re thrilled they’re joining us on the podcast this week. You may remember Zoe as the brave activist who chained herself to the goalpost during a Memphis Grizzlies NBA game earlier this year in protest of the cruel use of ventilation shutdown on the team owner’s factory egg farm. Zoe…

Award-winning journalist Marina Bolotnikova is writing the story to change the way mainstream media covers farmed animals. We’re thrilled to welcome her to the podcast this week for a conversation about her eye-opening work to alert people to the horrifying reality of animal agriculture. Marina discusses her thoughts on objectivity and integrity within journalism and why she chooses to free-lance with…

Torre Washington has caused quite a stir in the world of professional bodybuilding with his plant-powered, all natural approach to the sport. This week, he joins the podcast to discuss his personal journey to veganism through Rastafari and the Ital diet, as well as how and why he got into the art of bodybuilding. Torre shares his reasons for following a…

Amy Luebbert is the definition of a community powerhouse, and this week she joins us for a conversation about Des Moines, Iowa’s growing vegan scene and the importance of approaching activism through an antiracist lens. Amy, a founding member and the President of VegLife Des Moines, tells us about the nonprofit’s commitment to fostering community and connecting vegans—and the vegan-curious—to resources.…

Summers in the United States are often synonymous with state and county fairs. Advertised as idyllic family fun, these fairs are replete with animal exploitation and the horrors of animal cruelty. Rachel McCrystal and Hervé Breuil of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary join the podcast this week to talk about what really happens to animals at such events. They outline the cruel realities…

This very special extra episode is a compilation of interviews we have conducted over the years with our dear friend and passionate animal advocate Sherry Colb, who, as you may know, died last month. These interviews range from our first encounter with Sherry, when she came on to talk about her book, Mind if I Order the Cheeseburger? And Other Questions…

Tamara Human is the definition of a fearless, compassionate leader and activist, and this week she joins the podcast from Kyiv, Ukraine. Tamara is the force behind Every Animal, a Ukraine-based NGO founded in 2019 committed to mobilizing the vegan movement among Ukrainians. In our conversation, the founder shares how Every Animal is supporting vegan soldiers on the frontlines of the…

The brilliant karol orzechowski joins the podcast this week, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! karol currently serves as the Content Director for Faunalytics, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower animal advocates with access to thorough, reliable data. While Faunalytics is best known for using research and statistics to strengthen pro-animal, anti-suffering activism, the organization is now also producing visual…

We’re honored to welcome Andrew Rowan, DPhil, to the podcast this week for a critical conversation about companion dogs and poverty. Dr. Rowan has a long tenure in the animal protection movement and is currently the President of WellBeing International, an NGO dedicated to achieving optimal wellbeing for animals, people, and the environment. He joins us today for a discussion about…

Christopher “Soul” Eubanks is an unstoppable force, and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to the podcast this week to discuss his new nonprofit, APEX Advocacy. The organization is committed to increasing the number of activists from the global majority. Christopher describes the three central missions driving APEX Advocacy: the Black Vegan Everything website highlighting Black-owned businesses, the Global Majority Caucus…

There are few issues more contentious amongst vegans than what to feed companion animals. So, this week, we are going there! Veterinarian, researcher, and animal welfare specialist Andrew Knight knows more about this topic than pretty much anyone, and we are thrilled that he is joining us for a discussion about his recent peer-reviewed study exploring the health impacts of vegan…

Documentary filmmaker Gloria Pancrazi and Michael Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s join us this week for a conversation about the recent film, Coextinction. We discuss the stars of the film: the Southern Resident Orcas of the Pacific Northwest who are currently facing extinction and the salmon, whose brutal exploitation is contributing to the to the starvation of the orca and other wildlife. …

Powerhouse environmentalist, wildlife conservationist, and animal advocate Jack Lekishon joins the podcast this week from Maasai Mara, Kenya. A native Maasai, Jack shares traditions from the people of The Mara and tells us about the land on which they live and the plethora of wild animals that also know the Maasai Mara as home. Jack also shares why the traditional Maasai…

Monica Engebretson is working to end cruel animal testing practices, and this week, she joins the podcast for an in-depth conversation about the state of medical and cosmetic animal testing. The North American Head of Public Affairs for Cruelty Free International, Monica breaks down how the global organization is working to bring an end to animal testing worldwide. Plus, she explains…

Jane Velez-Mitchell is a media powerhouse known for speaking up for animals, and today, we welcome her back to the podcast for a conversation about UnchainedTV, the free streaming platform committed to amplifying vegan, animal rights content. In our conversation, Jane explains how people can access this critical content worldwide, why she decided to make it available free of charge, and…

Visual artist and author Linnea Ryshke joins the podcast for a conversation about her recent book, Kindling, a collection of poems and mixed media artwork inspired by the artist’s difficult, but instructive, experience working as a laborer at an organic meat farm. During the conversation, Linnea outlines what she initially hoped to gain by working there and describes her day-to-day life…