Freedom of Species

Come along with us as we explore the history of World Vegan Day around the world and right here in Melbourne. World Vegan Day was founded by the UK Vegan Society in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary of the inception of The Vegan Society. Today World Vegan Day (November 1st) is celebrated around the world with a variety of events and activities.  We are joined by our guest Malia Donovan, a long term activist who was on the committee organising the World Vegan Day Melbourne event who now runs her own vegan hospitality business Little Mylkbar. One of our hosts Meg on the show today is a Co Founder of World Vegan Day Melbourne. What is the significance of World Vegan Day (and World Vegan Week and Month)? How did the World Vegan Day Melbourne event change the vegan landscape here in Melbourne?  How will you be celebrating World Vegan Day?  The Vegan Society UK World Vegan Day link https://www.vegansociety.com/news/news/world-vegan-day  Little Mylkbar https://littlemylkbar.com.au/ https://instagram.com/littlemylkbar?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==  World Vegan Day eventsMelbourne https://facebook.com/events/s/world-vegan-day-with-nadia-fra/5782501648519972/ Perthhttps://facebook.com/events/s/world-vegan-day-perth-2023/277287671835412/ NSWVegan Campout Australia (World Vegan Month)https://facebook.com/events/s/vegan-camp-out-australia-2023/862737264415703/  Music is three demo songs from local Melbourne Vegan outfit Privateer. The Last Machine Lies Finally at Rest https://soundcloud.com/privateer_band/the-last-machine-lies-finally-at-rest-demo Sarajevo https://soundcloud.com/privateer_band/sarajevo-1 You call my Name https://soundcloud.com/privateer_band/you-call-my-name-demo

We discuss the documentary film Stray that follows dogs on the streets of Istanbul, Turkey and examines their daily lives and their search for food, shelter and at times, company. The dogs are not defined by relationships with people, yet their lives often intersect with a group of teenagers who are refugees from Syria. Turkey is one of the few countries that prohibits killing stray dogs. Stray | Official Movie Website | A Magnolia Pictures Film | Directed ... https://www.straymovie.com/ We also spoke about the book Radical Companionship: Rejecting Pethood and Embracing our Multispecies World by Aiyana Goodfellow.  Radical Companionship https://www.radicalcompanionship.com/the-book/ Music played: Suldusk from the album Lunar Falls: The Elm and Drogue. Lunar Falls | Suldusk https://suldusk1.bandcamp.com/album/lunar-falls If you have any feedback on this or any other show, please contact us at freedomofspecies@gmail.com

Join us as we delve into the dodgy 'sport' of horse racing and the infamous Melbourne Cup. In this episode we talk to the founder of The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses and long term animal activist Elio Celotto about his introduction to animal activism, the highly successful Nup to the Cup campaign and the horse racing industry in general. Nup to the Cup official websitehttps://nuptothecup.org/ Coalition for the Protection of Racehorseshttps://horseracingkills.com/The Final Race Expose documentaryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp-ALoBRW20 Nup to the cup events across AustraliaCPR Events page: https://nuptothecup.org/events-near-you/?fbclid=IwAR2VK7PRvX7AaFWcBoG_duBvM2qzAaOv6_645J56PywAklCD-4dT6W6CvaI  Victoria Flemington https://www.facebook.com/events/1395092991074881 Selby https://www.facebook.com/events/3230504473920503/ Glenrowan https://www.facebook.com/events/1476820146436776/ Ballarat https://www.facebook.com/events/280344338230633/ Geelong (Geelong Cup on 25/10/23) https://facebook.com/events/s/protest-the-geelong-cup/321442800566805/  NSW Chippendale https://www.facebook.com/events/199240436400078/ North Curl Curl https://www.facebook.com/events/143400222130920/  Queensland Bowen Hills https://www.facebook.com/events/966348791250234/ Surfers Paradise https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/just-another-drag-show-tickets-718254086307?aff=oddtdtcreator Edge Hill https://events.humanitix.com/high-tea-fundraiser-featuring-the-canine-cup?fbclid=IwAR1S2pbnLs8GJA6J1P1vEZK-SG9mwWMhQOYubqrPzXcJydeipR8kEEAhrms  ACT Canberra https://facebook.com/events/s/compassionate-stakes-t-rex-rac/945862169845208/  Music Nup to the Cup! by Jacob Brizzi https://spotify.link/GNS3y2mIADb Mantle Piece by Jacob Brizzi https://soundcloud.com/user-906549963/mantle-piece Fighting for Love by Jacob Brizzi https://soundcloud.com/user-906549963/fighting-for-love

Our guest this week is Davita Coronel, a PhD student at Deakin University with an interest in cultural relationships with animals on colonised lands. Her work explores what it takes to learn to live with flying-foxes in an anthropocentric and settler-colonial society.  Topics include: How Davita chose her PhD topic of a feminist and Indigneous ethics of care for living with flying foxes.What research questions she brought to this project.What her data gathering process included and what some of her experiences were. What the central findings of her project were.The kinds of theorising around care she engaged with in analysing her findings. And what these approaches to care can offer vegan philosophies and activism in the settler colonial context of Australia.  Useful links:Friends of Bats and Bushcare: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1848562278748974/Friends of Bats and Bushcare: https://www.parkconnect.vic.gov.au/Volunteer/group_details_public/?id=d7d85384-dc4b-e711-813b-e0071b676d01Getting to Know Microbats in Melbourne - FoS episode: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode/getting-know-microbats-melbourne Animals and Colonialism - FoS episode: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode-202203061300/animals-and-colonialismAnimal Voices - FoS episode: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode-202112261300/animal-voicesLife Upside Down - FoS episode: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode-202110311300/life-upside-down-bat-chat Music played: Seen by Mi-Kaisha Stressed Out by Ziggy RamoDon’t you worry by Electric Fields  Freedom of Species' Spotify playlist can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TJQujKYjGFoFP6LhBbaTS Image credit: Davita Coronel

Ondine Sherman is a life-long animal advocate, and is passionate about promoting respect and compassion for all creatures. She is the author of Vegan Living; A simple guide to cruelty-free, healthy plant-based life (2020), and Young Adult fiction, the Animal Allies series: Sky (2019), Snow (2019), and Star (2021). Ondine’s memoir, The Miracle of Love (2013) recounts her journey with her identical twin boys with severe disabilities (MCT8 disorder). In 2004 Ondine co-founded Voiceless, the animal protection institute with her father Brian Sherman AM and she is the organisation's Managing Director. Voiceless supports and invests in impactful people and projects to foster pro-animal values and create lasting systemic change. Since it's inception, Voiceless has used a myriad of tools and strategies to address institutionalised animal cruelty and create change. These have included in-depth reports on animal-use industries, public awareness campaigns, animal law and policy, and much more.  Ondine is currently a PhD student focussing on Critical Animal Studies, and holds a BA in Communications and an MA in Environmental Studies.   Links: Voiceless: https://voiceless.org.au/ Ondine's writing and books: https://www.ondinesherman.com/books  Music we played:This is How We Walk on the Moon by Jose GonzalesWeak by Asaf Avidan and the MojosDreamer by The Angelcy    Thank you for listenting to Freedom of Species and supporting discussions about animal rights, advocacy and topical animal-related issues on 3CR. If you have any feedback on any of our shows, please contact the FoS team at freedomofspecies@gmail.com

How easy is it to source ethical safety equipment? What about the good old Bunnings tradie breakfasts? What do your workmates think of your vegan lifestyle? Has anything changed over time? We speak with studio guest Michael, a land surveyor, and hear from people across Australia about their experiences working in the trades and industrial sectors as a vegan.  Plus we have some good old working class vegan punk music to top it all off! Announcement: Vegan Intersection Art Show: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZXtepzIUY56XYm9gUfVvuzAdPye005DmOXFoe1kUij-V1nA/viewform?pli=1 Music *Open your eyes - Goldfinger https://www.goldfingermusic.com/music/open-your-eyes-goldfinger/track/open-your-eyes/   *Subhumans - Evolution https://subhumans.bandcamp.com/track/evolution *Movement in the dead of night - Tears of Gaia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBny_x77nVw

Hayden and Lottie choose their dream menu in our vegan version of the foodie podcast Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster. We discuss our favourite foods as we imagine a better world for humans and other animals alike.  The following episodes of Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster feature vegan guests: Simon Amstell (episode 112), Romesh Ranganathan (episode 65) and Lou Sanders (episode 10). You can check these episodes out via the following link or your favourite podcast app: https://www.offmenupodcast.co.uk/episodes  Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ Food Glorious Food (From Oliver!): https://open.spotify.com/track/1dLUreWmSGnk8BDHPBINb3?si=3e80ccf8932c4c36 James Acaster on Ricky Gervais' Trans Jokes, from the Special Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999: https://www.youtube.com/watch/adh0KGmgmQw&pp=ygUbamFtZXMgYWNhc3RlciBicmF2ZSBjaXMgYm95 Lions by Rose Betts: https://open.spotify.com/track/2eETWBhd9Exuofm3pbSpMs?si=f34049e476ea4442

Our guest this week is long-term socialist and ant-fascist activist Daniel Dadich. Daniel is a second generation migrant, a union delegate, a social worker and a proud socialist. He's lived in Melbourne his whole life and have experienced racist policing and harassment first-hand. He's been involved in political campaigns in Melbourne for more than 15 years and has been a candidate for the Victorian Socialists in three elections. In 2022 he ran in the federal seat of Maribyrnong and confronted the former Labor Party leader, and sitting member for Maribyrnong Bill Shorten about Labor's appalling stance on refugee rights while they were both campaigning at a pre-poll booth on Saturday 14 May. Part of their discussion was captured on camera by a VS volunteer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3k-pYAGZxY  Topics discussed include: Why he became involved in socialist politics. What the links between socialist politics and veganism are.What Victorian Socialists stand for and his experience of being a candidate. The Warrandyte by-election. The rise of the far right. The Campaign Against Racism and Facism and the neo-Nazi gym in Sunshine.And how people can get involved if they are interested. Useful links: Victorian Socialists: https://victoriansocialists.org.auCampaign Against Racism and Fascism: https://www.carf.melbourneProtest: Drive the Nazis Out of Melbourne - Saturday 23 September at 14:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/1997178473978268 Music played:Health is Wealth by Bob VylanThe Hammer by Power StruggleIDGAF by Crac Boi Mental Freedom of Species' Spotify playlist can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TJQujKYjGFoFP6LhBbaTS

Over recent years technology has progressed in leaps and bounds, and our ability to understand our world through this lense has dramatically advanced.  But what does this mean for our animal friends? How might this technology be used? And if we are able to develop an animal version of Google Translate, will we even listen to what they have to say? Music KSHMR and Tigerlily - Invisible Children https://youtu.be/3QVYpRdb2l0?si=v5vjsr67eiWrpZR1 Steph Bitter - The Straw https://stephbitter.bandcamp.com/track/the-straw-2 Xavier Rudd - Follow the Sun https://youtu.be/0E1bNmyPWww?si=Rf8v5Njb0kcw_dIz Book: The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants by Karen Bakker https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60410945-the-sounds-of-life Article: Will Artificial Intelligence Help Us Talk to Animals? https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/will-artificial-intelligence-help-us-talk-to-animals Bunny the dog's YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@whataboutbunny?si=KKLh3dRh4hWqCJgS Billie the cat's YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@BilliSpeaks?si=oVLSdj1O6fMJyYyv Artwork by Little Vegan Artist: https://instagram.com/littleveganartist?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Our guest is world renowned conservationist Saengduean 'Lek' Chailert who is recognised for her unwavering commitment to the welfare and conservation of Asian elephants. Lek's work spans more than three decades and her tireless efforts have earned her many accolades, including the esteemed Legion of Honor award. Lek has been instrumental in improving the lives of hundreds of elephants in Asia through the work of the Save Elephant Foundation, which aims to educate elephant owners and promote compassion and respect towards these majestic creatures. In 2003 established Elephant Nature Park in the picturesque Chiang Mai region of Northern Thailand as a permanent home for injured, neglected and elderly elephants. https://www.elephantnaturepark.org/   She continues to raise awareness about the plight of both captive and wild Asian elephants and initiates projects dedicated to improving their well-being throughout Asia. Despite the challenges posed by a male-dominated industry steeped in tradition, Lek remains committed to advancing the welfare of elephants and spends her days at Elephant Nature Park, caring for the rescued herds of elephants and other animals who have found sanctuary there. Lek has an upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand with her captivating focumentary film "Elephant Mother", and Lek will be present at all the screenings, engaging with audiences during post-screening question and answer sessions. Session details are in the comments. "Elephant Mother" is a captivating documentary that highlights Lek's tireless efforts in championing the welfare and conservation of elephants. The film offers a unique perspective into the deep emotional bonds between elephants and the people striving to free them, shedding light on the need for conservation and protection of these majestic creatures. Film screenings of Elephant Mother start in Perth on August 27, 2023 and move across the country before heading to New Zealand.  Full screening details for can be found here: Australia - www.tinyurl.com/Elephant-Mother New Zealand – www.tinyurl.com/Elephant-Mother-NZ We discussed the documentary Love and Bananas, a film by Ashley Bell who teams up with Lek and goes on a daring mission across Thailand to rescue Noi Na, a 70-year old partially blind trekking elephant and bring her to freedom. http://loveandbananas.com/ Music we played: Colors of the Wind by Vanessa Williams.       "You don't need a bull hook to control an elephant. You can guide an elephant with love... And bananas"                   - Lek Chailert, Founder of Save Elephant Foundation  If you would like to contact the FoS team with any feedback on our shows, please email us at freedomofspecies@gmail.com Thank you for listening and supporting our show and keeping animal advocacy on the airwaves.