Freedom of Species

We’re joined by social philosopher Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky who discusses his academic work exploring the way the meat-eating industry uses the term “humane” to avoid the questioning of the killing of animals.You can follow Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky on Twitter @PPodosky and you can view his publications, including the article ‘A Linguistic Method of Deception The Difference Between Killing Humanely and a Humane Killing’, which we focus on in this show, here: http://unimelb.academia.edu/PaulMikhailCatapangPodosky

In this weeks show we hear a talk by Laila Kassam titled, ‘How can we build a powerful mass movement for animal justice.’ Laila Kassam is a part of the Animal Think Tank Collective. You can find resources and more about the collectives work on their website.

Reem Lascelles from EVER Sanctuary is in the studio, talking about the devastating plight of rabbits farmed for meat in Australia and why they are largely invisible in our society.  She describes the appalling conditions that they are subjected to, from birth to slaughter, and the physical and psychological impacts that such conditions have on a highly sensitive, social, and intelligent animal.  Reem also explains the many different degrees of welfare protection that may be applied to this single breed, the New Zealand White, and how she follows a campaign path that incorporates both incremental reform and abolition.  EVER Sanctuary  www.eversanctuary.orgEVER Sanctuary on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/eversanctuaryberry/Aussie Farms  www.aussiefarms.org.au

We’re joined by PhD candidate Melissa Laing who discusses her research on social workers standing up for companion animals, in addition to their human clients.You can follow Melissa on Twitter @ylaingylaing and you can also hear her talk Encountering Interspecies Homelessness: Stories of Social Workers’ Resistance to Anthropocentrism, plus other talks from the Sociology and Animals session at the 2018 ‘Precarity, Rights and Resistance’ conference by The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22TASA+2018%22

On this show we’re joined by Mary Merkenich, a member of Socialist Alliance and writer for Green Left Weekly, who discusses links between capitalism and the oppression of animals. We also play a talk by Dilan Fernando, Co-Founder of Young Voices for Animals, from the event Animal Liberation and Capitalism, which Mary Merkenich also spoke at, as well as Kristin Leigh, President and Campaign Director of Vegan Rising. You can listen to audio of this event here: https://archive.org/details/animalliberationandcapitalism You can also read Mary Merkenich’s article ‘Capitalism’s abuse of animals degrades us all’ at the following link (note that the picture used for this show is taken from this article): https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/capitalism-abuse-animals-degrades-us-all?fbclid=IwAR3zk5RMMKPGaQeehC-24oveX8LeNuFwDqrOuMwju0pXVknONowPsXtV8WQ

We hear from Sue McKinnon & Peter Roberts, both of the Kinglake Friends of the Forest community group which is going head-to-head with the government-owned logging company VicForests, to save the little-known greater glider from extinction.Sue & Peter explain how, despite the greater glider's threatened status, VicForests continues to clearfell coupes throughout the native forests of Central Highlands and Gippsland where greater gliders are known to inhabit.  They also describe the bold direct action and careful surveys that the dedicated members of Kinglake Friends of the Forest have undertaken, in defence of the greater glider.  And how the Victorian Government have deliberately prioritised the economic interests of the logging industry over the survival of the greater glider and a safe climate.  Kinglake Friends of the Forest https://www.facebook.com/Kinglake-Friends-of-the-Forest-449764088934522/

In this week's show, we are joined by two researchers who investigate the psychology behind veganism. Maddie North is a Deakin University PhD candidate investigating the role of social norms in veganism and the individual’s willingness to reduce meat consumption. Dr Madeline Judge shares their research into the psychological and ideological foundations of veganism and the stereotypes non-vegans use to define vegans.News link:President of the National Farmers Federation invites the public to visit animal farms. Find out more on Vegan Australia's website.Dr Madeline Judge.  Photo courtesy of Maddie North.

Conservation is a field of research and practice that works to protect the environment. Despite our efforts in conservation for over a century, we are still witnessing the significant degradation of landscape through habitat and biodiversity loss. Compassionate Conservation is a new movement within conservation that tries to respond to several ethical issues within the field. We speak with Dr Arian Wallach, a key researcher in Compassionate Conservation at the University of Technology Sydney.   Compassionate Conservation website  https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-compassionate-conservation

On this show we explore the world of "humane" animal products and the marketing of animal products. For more on this topic, you can view the resources below:https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/26/humane-milk-is-a-myth-veganism-advert-cleared-by-standards-bodyhttp://freerangefraud.com/http://humanemyth.org/https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/the-role-of-the-ideology-of-animal-welfare-in-the-consumption-and-marketing-of-animal-origin-products/199399

We share a presentation given by David Nibert, a sociology professor from Ohio's Wittenberg University, on the animal industrial complex.This recording was made available by Alternative Radio:  https://www.alternativeradio.org/