Freedom of Species

We discuss the animal liberation themes in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Charlotte’s Web, War Horse and Bold Native. Cassie, Stephen, Julia and Nick are discussing animal liberation movies in light of the upcoming Animal Liberation Film Festival. This festival is being held from 6-8 November in Melbourne – at Cinema Nova in Carlton. For more information on the festival, see: https://alff.org.au/  ...

Lottie and Hayden discussed how anyone, yes even YOU, can help create social change for important issues like animal justice and the climate. They drew from the book 'Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change' by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly, which argues that rather than either/or, both individual and systemic actions are needed to create lasting, p...

In modern times, over one third of the Earth’s ice-free land is dedicated to animal agriculture, but it was a centuries long journey to transform our diverse world into one big paddock. The British wool industry played a pivotal role in building the wealth of England leading up to the colonial period and the transition from feudalism to capitalism. In cases such as the Scottish Highland clearances...

Today Lottie discussed the ethics of human and non-human animal reproduction and adoption. She argues that adopting pets reduces harm and saves lives. But adopting children is not a perfect analogue and removing children from their families and communities often causes a lot of trauma. She argues that an ethics of adoption that is consistent across species would center what is best for the animal...

Nick is joined by criminologists Cassie Pedersen and Stephen Burrell to discuss gender and animals. Some more specific topics we cover are: petromasculinity and intersections between gender and the environment, veganism as a feminist practice but also the way some vegans attempt to distance themselves from emotion/femininity, and representations of gender in the documentary Game Changers.  Links: ...

Today Hayden and Lottie discussed the ins and outs of caring for a rescued, indoor, vegan cat. This episode is in honour of our beautiful cat Ceci!  We outlined reasons to try switching your cat to a vegan diet and discussed ways to do that safely. More info can be found below:  Sustainable Pet Food: https://sustainablepetfood.info (especially 'FAQs' and 'Vegetarian Feline Diets'.) Their 'Sustaina...

Lottie and Trev talked about antinatalism, pronatalism and reproductive justice, and overlaps with veganism and environmentalism.  We argued that reproductive choice is paramount, through access to birth control and abortion, education and careers for girls and women and other measures to improve quality of life globally.  We questioned the impact of depopulation as a solution to environmental cri...

    The Dying Trade is the debut documentary film by animal rights activist and YouTuber Jack Hancock-Fairs. It explores the meat industry through the deeply personal lens of the filmmaker's relationship with his father, who is a slaughterhouse worker.   The documentary has earned high praise and award nominations for its balanced take on a highly polarising topic. Instead of relying on typical "p...

Adam, Hayden, Lottie and Nick discuss whether the show Pluribus (Apple TV) promotes a pro-animal rights message, including highlighting the “straw man” arguments against veganism in the show and in fan reactions to it. We also cover what we’d each do in the Pluribus scenario, not necessarily advocating for cannibalism, and the Pluribus as an analogy for communism while the main character Carol rep...

In this episode Lottie and Nick talked about diversity of tactics, innovation of tactics and radical flank effects in social movements, and what animal (or any other!) activists can learn from these phenomena. We argue for unity in fighting for our common goal of ANIMAL LIBERATION. But we discuss how diverse tactics, both radical and moderate, can be positive for social movements.  Resources we dr...

On Sunday June 14th 2026, the Freedom of Species team had yet another nail-biting animal trivia show to raise donations for 3CR's Radiothon 2026! This year is special as it is 3CR's 50th birthday!! Listen along to our trivia show - Can you guess the answers before the listeners? CORRECTION: The animal sound played in the show was in fact a quail, not a bandicoot!! Trev apologises sincerely. Luckil...

     On today's show we chat about songs with animal liberation themes that we have been listening to. Unfortunately due to copyright restrictions, we cannot include the songs in the podcast and have listed them below so you can check them out.      Songs we played on the show:Good Boy by Paris Paloma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NfyIpE4zawThe Beast Within by EcotageMaking Do by Lake Street Dr...

Soy boys, militants, social justice warriors, hypocrites, bleeding hearts, hippies... stereotypes abound when people talk about vegans!  In today's show, Lottie, Nick and Hayden tackle these vegan stereotypes. We talk about what truth some of these stereotypes have and what they get wrong.  In terms of how this can influence our animal justice activism, we discuss a model of attitude change from s...

   We discuss the documentary film Christspiracy (2024) that was seven years in the making and poses questions about faith and the ethics of eating animals.    Links:    The film: https://christspiracy.com/    Why Are So Few Christians Vegan? A Reflection on Charles Camosy’s “Why All Christians Should Go Vegan” by Kim Socha and Rowan Taylor (2017): https://animalliberationcurrents.com/why-are-so-f...

     We welcome Dr Dana Kolsky from Animal-Free Science Advocacy (AFSA) to discuss animal testing, including the recently released documentary film How to Make Drugs and Feel Great about Everything. Dana's bio:Dana is a dedicated veterinary surgeon whose career is driven by a deep commitment to animal welfare. Since 2018, she has cared for small animals with compassion and integrity, guiding count...

This week Savanna sits down with Nick and Ruby Ramsden (recently finished her PhD research on vegan activism in Japan).  We talk about Japan's culture towards animal rights and animal welfare issues in at Nara Park and Animal cafes in Japan.  Articles: Nara  https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15210364 https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15935109 https://www.japan-suki.com/en/visit/places/nara-deer-...

Why are so many climate activists still hungry for flesh? In today's show, Betty and Nick talk about the importance of adressing animal agriculture within the climate justice movement. Those of us living in the global North must be willing to confront how our daily consumption choices contribute to climate change as well as understanding how corperations and governments continue to profit from env...

 Most Victorians care about wildlife. Most Victorians hate animal cruelty. Yet Victoria is one of the few states left that still allows a recreational duck and quail shouting season. For 83 days each year, duck and quail shooters can run around dressed like Rambo, blasting small birds out of the sky for fun.  But what happens after the shots are fired? Listen to our interview with duck rescuer Nat...

   We celebrate the life and incredible contributions of Chris Rust and share tributes from Chris's loved ones, friends and comrades. For decades, through Food not Bombs, Chris embodied a quiet, unwavering commitment to solidarity, anarchist DIY ethics, and animal rights. Through FNB, Chris brought people together, created spaces of care and solidarity, and lived out his belief in mutual aid, comm...

   On today's FoS show we're talking total liberation, countering the mainstream vegan narrative and community building with guests Claire and Jesse.  We discuss their personal journeys into activism and the founding of The Raven Corps, Cool Kids Snack Cakes and Vegans Against Fascism.    Bios:    Claire is a long-time vegan activist, humane educators, and animal rights attorney. She's the founder...

 It's 3CR Subscriber Week 2026! Listen in as we cram the most Freedom Of Species hosts physically possible into the 3CR studio to help play animal trivia with the listeners, in an effort to gain more subscribers. If you are not a subscriber yet or haven't re-subscribed recently, please do! https://www.3cr.org.au/subscribe  Music Played:'Sneaky Meat Boys' by Hot Tubs Time Machine - https://hottubst...

On this week’s episode, host Savanna talks with Jennifer and Elise about dating as a vegan, their experiences good and bad, online dating and Valentine’s Day ideas.  If anyone is interested in being interviewed for Jennifer’s PhD research on dating, you can email her at: datingculturesresearch@gmail.com  Music: Animal Liberation by Los Fastidios. Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini. Hello Kitty by...

Claire, Ruby, Lottie and Nick discuss the animal rights themes in the Wicked movie series. We also explore representations of racism and ableism in the movies, as well as connections between racism, ableism and animal oppression.  Resources on overlapping human and animal oppression:  Food Empowerment Project on slavery: https://foodispower.org/human-labor-slavery/  Food Empowerment Project on env...

On this Summer Special, Claire, Ruby, Hayden and Nick discuss Reddit stories through a social justice lens. The stories cover: appropriate attire for meeting your partner’s parents, surprise birthdays, TikTok trends, sparkling water, leave for work to care for companion animals, movie theatre etiquette when you’re allergic to dogs, sharing food on dates and calling out line cutters.  This is our f...

On this Summer Special, Lottie, Hayden and Nick discuss ways to use technologies more ethically.  We will have one more Summer Special next Sunday Jan 18. Normal Freedom of Species programming will resume on Jan 25.  Music: Spotify loves ICE by Dope Knife. Heavy Foot by Mon Rovia. Robot Writes a Love Song by PUP.  Links: Book: 'Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives' by Siddharth...