Dr. Melanie Joy, a Harvard educated psychologist, discusses managing relational conflict between vegans and non-vegans, the importance of vegan allies, and the balance between sensitization and relatability as an activist. She explores the concept of being 'ready' for veganism and the significance of focusing efforts on 'low hanging fruit.' The podcast also covers secondary traumatic stress disorder among vegan activists, understanding carnism as an invisible belief system, and effective communication strategies in the vegan movement.

Evanna Lynch and Dr. Melanie Joy bond over their shared solutionary approach to addressing injustice and discuss striking the right balance between personal development and social impact. They introduce the formula for healthy relating and discuss the importance of practicing integrity and honoring dignity in every interaction. The speakers also explore the significance of reading and writing, the role of artists in offering fresh perspectives, and the need to incorporate animal rights into conversations about systemic change. They emphasize the importance of building connections with people from various backgrounds and advocate for relational literacy as a solution to global issues.

Renowned psychologist Dr. Melanie Joy explores the concept of relational literacy and its impact on effective communication in personal relationships and on a global scale. She also discusses carnism and how it distorts perceptions and drives harmful behaviors. The episode highlights the importance of practicing integrity and dignity, improving mindfulness and self-awareness, and embracing imperfections in building healthy relationships and achieving societal change.

Psychologist Melanie Joy reveals the common denominator driving all forms of injustice. She discusses the psychology of violence and nonviolence, the concept of 'carnism', and the importance of healthy and functional relationships. The podcast also explores the significance of relational communication, understanding injustice, and addressing infighting within social justice movements.

What accounts for the way most of us eat? What’s the ideology, the theory, behind our diets? And what happens when you stop believing in it? Over the past decade, I’ve been on a fitful journey toward veganism. At least, that’s the way I normally say it. That’s the polite way to say it. The truth is I’ve been on a fitful journey away from the idea that unnecessarily inflicting suffering and death on literally billions of beings that can feel pain is moral. And it’s been one of the most disorienting, radicalizing experiences of my life. It’s the belief I hold most strongly that I’m most uncomfortable talking about. I find myself, out to dinner with friends, apologizing for it, avoiding it, gently mocking it. I didn’t really understand why I felt all this until I read Dr. Melanie Joy’s Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism. In it, she does something both obvious and brilliant: She names the ideology that governs the way we eat, investigates its beliefs and demands, and explores how its dominance makes it invisible. This is a conversation about carnism, but it’s also a conversation about how truly dominant worldviews work. "The primary way entrenched ideologies stay entrenched is by remaining invisible,” Joy writes. "And the primary way they stay invisible is by remaining unnamed. If we don't name it, we can't talk about it, and if we can't talk about it, we can't question it.” Joy’s work applies to much more than how we eat: It’s a lens for thinking about all the systems we’re so deeply embedded in that we can no longer see them, and so we learn not to notice if they compel us to do things that don’t align with what we believe to be right, or who we actually want to be. And it’s about what happens when those ideologies become visible and we have to grapple with what they’ve done to us and the world we live in. This is among the most important conversations I’ve had on this podcast. I can’t recommend it enough. Recommended books: How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger How to Create a Vegan World by Tobias Leenaert Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices