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

This week, Mariann talks to Aysha Akhtar about what empathy is and how empathy for animals helps us recognize the interconnectedness of all social struggles against cruelty and injustice; how her background in neurology has lead her to these discoveries and guided her writing; and the dog that changed her life, led her to a life of greater animal empathy, and gave her the courage to stand up to her sexual abuse.   Akhtar is double board-certified in both neurology and preventive medicine and has a master’s degree in public health. She is the Deputy Director of the Army’s Traumatic Brain Injury Program. Previously, she worked for the Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats of the Food and Drug Administration. She is a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, in which she deploys to assist with national public health emergencies. She is also a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and is a consultant editor for The Journal of Animal Ethics. She is the author of Animals and Public Health and lives in Maryland. In the intro to this episode Mariann eats vegan chili on Broadway, Jasmin directed a TONY Award winner, and we discuss the reaction around Billie Eilish’s plea to her fans to go vegan. After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Mariann talks to Gavin Van Horn about his recent book The Way of Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds. They also discuss how coyotes are an entry point into considering the ways that wildlife in urban areas is adapting to human presence, how cities are critical to conservation efforts, and some everyday practices that can expand our perception of the community-of-life. Gavin Van Horn works at the Center for Humans and Nature, where he leads trans-disciplinary projects that explore place-based values and human relationships with the more-than-human world. He is the co-editor of City Creatures: Animal Encounters in the Chicago Wilderness (University of Chicago Press, 2015) and Wildness: Relations of People and Place (University of Chicago Press, 2017). His writing traverses the edges of spirit and nature, the wonder of the everyday, and the wildness within and without. He believes other-than-human voices and ways-of-being matter. He writes for, edits, and curates the City Creatures Blog and his words have appeared in Orion, Undark, Emergence Magazine, Belt Magazine, Red Savina Review, and Zoomorphic, among others. His most recent book is The Way of Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds (University of Chicago Press, 2018). In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann mourn the passing of beloved activists Mary Max and Doug Greene. They also address the Fair Oaks controversy, and talk about some recent listener reviews and ratings.  After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties about Fair Oaks. More info in the show notes! Don’t forget to get your tickets now for our upcoming live recording of Our Hen House’s 500th episode at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s June Jamboree! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Jasmin talks to poker pro and vegan restaurateur Garrett Greer about his restaurant, The Black Bean and how its “junk food” menu options help people transition to a plant-based diet. He also gives his thoughts on how a plant-based diet gives him an advantage at the poker tables and why more poker players should go vegan. Lastly, he details the tragic accident that changed his life, and how he almost lost everything until poker saved him. Garrett is the founder of The Black Bean, an Orange County fast casual restaurant with an entirely plant-based menu. The Black Bean celebrated it’s grand opening on March 16th 2019. Before entering the competitive restaurant world, Garrett competed both athletically and academically at UCLA. After graduating in 2007, Garrett pursued a career in film and television production before suffering a catastrophic spinal cord injury in 2010. Resulting in paralyzation of 80% of his body, Garrett found yet another way to compete: he became a world ranked, televised professional poker player with over $5 million in lifetime tournament earnings. If he isn’t on a poker table or running his restaurant, Garrett enjoys being in the gym and devoting his time and resources to miscellaneous philanthropy. In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann discuss the upcoming live recording of Our Hen House’s 500th episode at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s June Jamboree! They also offer their thoughts on how to emotionally cope with the possibility of humanity ending in 2050 and the animal rights activist who recently interrupted Kamala Harris on stage.  After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Mariann talks to Dr. Lorin Lindner of Lockwood Animal Rescue Center about the similarities in how Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects parrots and military veterans and the touching recover results her organization is achieving by pairing them together. She also discusses the hidden horrors birds experience in “birdie mills.” Lockwood’s co-founder Matt Simmons to tell us more about how the overlap between animals and military veterans and his co-creation of the WolfGuard Program. Dr. Lindner is a clinical psychologist who helped to start programs for both traumatized veterans and traumatized animals.  Her book, Birds of a Feather: A True Story of Love, Hope and the Healing Power of Animals published by St Martin’s Press in May 2018 tells of how she got her start as an animal activist and then started her sanctuaries, first for parrots and then for wolves and wolfdogs. Having worked with Veterans for over 30 years she and her US Navy veteran husband started the Wolves and Warriors program for combat veterans who care for the animals at the wolf sanctuary and the WolfGuard Campaign for veterans who go into the mountains of North America to defend wild wolves. In the intro to this episode, Jasmin tells us her email self-care hack, we recount our recent food truck experinces–good and bad, and we take Anne Hathaway to task for her reprehensible story of “caving” and giving up being vegan. Mariann also tells us the surprising and horrible part of animal anatomy being substituted for calamari. After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Mariann talks to Suzy Amis Cameron about how her new book, OMD, Changing The World By Changing One Meal a Day, is generating surprising reactions from non-vegans and the tips the book offers to help you advocate for family members and others to adopt more of a plant-based diet. She also talks about the Cameron Family Farms, and the extraordinary push back she experienced when trying to make MUSE School‘s meals plant-based. Suzy Amis Cameron is a noted environmental advocate, former actor and model, and mother of five. In addition to founding MUSE School with her sister Rebecca Amis, she has founded a number of environmental organizations, including Cameron Family Farms (together with her husband, director James Cameron), Plant Power Task Force, Food Forest Organics, and Red Carpet Green Dress. In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann talk about trying to get family members to eat plant-based foods, Jasmin’s research into the health horrors of dairy,  and the outrage over the Green New Deal.  After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Jasmin talks to Leilani Münter about serving vegan burgers  to racing fans at Daytona and the incredible exposure she got for her Vegan race car. She also talks about her decision to retire from racing, and why human overpopulation is an animal rights issue. Leilani Münter is a biology graduate, race car driver and environmental activist. Discovery’s Planet Green named her the #1 eco athlete in the world, ELLE Magazine awarded her their Genius Award, and Sports Illustrated named her one of the top ten female race car drivers in the world. In 61 starts Leilani has scored 9 top five and 21 top ten finishes. Since 2007, Leilani has been adopting endangered rainforest to offset the carbon footprint of her race car. So far she has protected over 1500 acres of rainforest. She uses her race car to spread environmental awareness and animal rights among millions of race fans in the US. Leilani sits on the board of EarthxFilm, Empowered by Light, and the Oceanic Preservation Society, the Academy Award winning filmmakers behind “The Cove.” She is featured in their 2015 Emmy-nominated documentary “Racing Extinction.” Leilani is also a patron of Population Matters and an ambassador of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project. Leilani is vegan, her personal car is an electric Tesla Model S which she charges with solar power. Leilani’s motto is: never underestimate a vegan hippie chick with a race car. In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann talk about a life-changing addition to Jasmin’s coffee routine, focusing on the big picture of changing the world for animals instead of creating a toxic environment in the animal rights movement, and Jasmin’s new job! After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Mariann talks to Asher Brown, award-winning director and founder of Pollution.tv, about producing videos for clients like Beyond Meat, Gardein, So Delicious, Follow Your Heart and Veggie Grill, the Million-Dollar Vegan campaign, and Switch4Good, the dairy-free athlete non-profit he co-founded. In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann preview this week’s bonus content about their trip to Trader Joe’s, discuss Jasmin’s recent New York visit and the amazing food they ate, how Fiddler on the Roof relates to animal issues, a really fascinating discussion about animal agriculture on Ezra Klein’s recent Ask Ezra Anything 3: Endgame podcast. After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Mariann talks to Lori Gruen about the current state of the animal studies world, how new perspectives on animal activism and advocacy are expanding beyond academia and into activist conversations, her recent book Critical Terms for Animal Studies, the evolving role of empathy and how to direct it towards animals, and the danger of referring to people as “crazy cat ladies.” Lori Gruen is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University and the Coordinator of Wesleyan Animal Studies.  She is also a professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Science in Society. She is the author and editor of 11 books, including most recently Critical Terms for Animal Studies (Chicago, 2018) and animaladies (Bloomsbury, 2018); Entangled Empathy (Lantern, 2015); Ethics and Animals: An Introduction (Cambridge, 2011), and Ethics of Captivity (Oxford, 2014). Gruen has been involved in animal issues as a writer, teacher, and activist for over 30 years. Her relationships with scholars thinking about animals, activists working to protect animals, and, perhaps most importantly, with many different animals, uniquely inform her perspective on how we need to rethink our engagement with other animals.  She has published extensively on topics in animal ethics and ecofeminism and has become known as a bit of an archivist for chimpanzees in the US given her work documenting the history of The First 100 chimpanzees in research in the US first1000chimps. (http://first100chimps.wesleyan.edu) and the journey to sanctuary of the remaining chimpanzees in research labs, The Last 1000 (http://last1000chimps.com). In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann talk about frustrating conversations about climate change over Passover, and who should bear the responsibility for fighting climate change. They also plug the upcoming YEA Camp for Adults. After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Jasmin talks to poet Gretchen Primack about her new book of poetry Visiting Days and her experience with writing about and working with incarcerated people. She also reads us two powerful and moving poems. Then, they are joined by author Intelligent Tarref Allah to discuss how he became a vegan in prison 19-years ago and lived as a vegan in prison for 12 years. He also talks about veganism as self-development for a person who was once immersed in the criminal world. Gretchen Primack is a poet and educator living in New York’s Hudson Valley. She has taught and/or administrated with prison education programs (mostly college) for ten years. She’s the author of three poetry collections, Visiting Days (forthcoming from Willow Books), Kind (Post Traumatic Press), and Doris’ Red Spaces (Mayapple Press), and a chapbook, The Slow Creaking of Planets (Finishing Line 2007). She co-wrote The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals with Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary co-founder Jenny Brown (Penguin Avery 2012). Her poetry publication credits include The Paris Review, Prairie Schooner, Ploughshares, FIELD, Poet Lore, The Massachusetts Review, The Antioch Review, New Orleans Review, Rhino, Tampa Review, and many others, and her work has been chosen for several anthologies, including Best New Poets 2006. Her poem “You Are a Prince,” published in Ploughshares, was featured on PoetryDaily.org. Gretchen is a passionate advocate for the rights and welfare of non-human animals and lives with several of them, along with a beloved human named Gus.Intelligent Allah is a bestselling author and editor known by family and friends as Intell, and he also writes under the pen name Vance Burrows in honor of his deceased friend Boo (Vance Burrows). Intelligent was a poet and aspiring rapper from Brooklyn until he was incarcerated in 1994. While serving 18 1/2 years in prison, Intelligent completed various writing courses and served on several editorial boards of prison newsletters. He became a published writer and editor. Intelligent is editor of over a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, including Wahida Clark’s New York Times bestsellers Justify My Thug and Payback Ain’t Enough. His editorials, essays and articles have been published online, in magazine, newspaper and in books. He has also been contracted for producing advertising copy, movie treatments and other writings. Intelligent is a also a graphic artist who has designed flyers and logos for companies and nonprofits like IBI Productions and Rehabilitation Through The Arts respectively. Learn more about him on Linkedin, Twitter (@intellwriter) and Facebook (Vance Burrows and Lickin’ License Group). After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.

This week, Mariann talks to Joey Savoie about why research matters for helping more animals, the work of figuring out where the funding for animal activism should go, what kinds of research is good for changing people’s minds, and what people are a good fit for starting a new charity. If you are interested in applying for Charity Entrepreneurship’s Incubation Program, you can learn more and submit your application here. The deadline for applications is May 15th. Joey Savoie is the co-founder of Charity Science, a nonprofit that has multiple projects running under it, including Charity Science Health (a GiveWell incubated charity) and Charity Entrepreneurship (a program to help new charities get founded). He has spoken at conferences in England, Switzerland, Canada, and the US. Joey has a background in impact evaluation and communications. In the intro to this episode, Jasmin and Mariann talk about trying to understand their emotions around the Notre Dame fire, Mariann’s newest Netflix obsession, and Jasmin’s interesting conversation with an old friend about politics and veganism. After the interview, Mariann brings us some Rising Anxieties. More info in the show notes! As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer. This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website, or subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on iTunes! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation, or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible! Thank you for helping us create quality content, and for helping us bring you a new podcast episode each week! The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.