Hope for the Animals

We are welcoming back to the podcast Erin Wing. She first joined us on Episode 115 to talk about her undercover investigative work. Hope has invited Erin back on the show to help us connect the dots between oppressions that affect humans and non-humans. She shares her story of growing up in an inner-city food desert and how that shaped her perception of animals and food. Erin talks about how her e...

MUSIC BONUS on this episode! Hope has a wonderful conversation with vegan musician Brent Ratkovich. A singer and guitarist, Brent has recently been focused on a recording project that will produce three animal rights, vegan themed songs. They will be released as an EP called Three to Set Them Free in October of 2026. Listen and enjoy two of Brent’s new songs on this episode! Brent shares the chall...

From environmental protection to animal advocacy, on this episode we explore the connection of protecting wild animals and places to a vegan ethic of nonviolence. Jack Gescheidt created his TreeSpirit Project to use art, advocacy and activism to raise awareness of our interdependence with trees, forests, wild animals and the natural world. A lifelong nature and animal lover, Jack turned profession...

We start this episode with a movie review from Hope of the new pro-animal film The Sheep Detective . Then we move into a conversation with Kathy Cullen, founder of Jolene's Retreat. Kathy and Hope discuss rescues and the residents of Jolene’s Retreat sanctuary. Kathy has rescued numerous small “companion” pigs and they discuss the problem of breeding “potbelly” and “teacup” designer pigs. The...

Rev. Carol Saunders is an ordained Unity and interfaith minister and organizer of the Whole Planet Spirituality Forum and Retreat at Unity Village. She is the host of the podcast The Spiritual Forum ; author of Wolf and the Lamb , an online ministry to awaken the world to our Oneness with all beings and author of the booklet, The Forgotten Teachings of Charles Fillmore: How Our Relationship with A...

Meet Peanut: Artificial Intelligence for Vegan Encouragement Our guest today is Jeannie Walter, she is a retired librarian, longtime animal advocate, and has created Peanut the pig, an AI coach at the center of GetYourOinkOn.com , a vegan coaching app. Peanut uses warmth, humor, and a distinct personality to help people take meaningful steps toward eating more plants. The approach is intentionally...

Why should be care about bees? Why should we avoid honey and beeswax? Vegans want to eliminate as much harm, exploitation, and killing as possible. When animals are farmed for profit, there is always compromise of their wellbeing, and bees farmed for their honey and beeswax are no exception. Ethical veganism is about getting justice over the species barrier, and in this case it’s concern for the a...

Vegans are careful to read ingredients, to make sure no animal products are in our meals, we scrutinize products for animal testing, but what about a 401k? What about an investment portfolio? What kind of animal use and abuse do investments support? More than you would ever consider putting your money into if you had a choice. Our guest today is working on a solution. Claire Smith and her team hav...

Tapping into fandom with animal protection and vegan messages, The Protego Foundation accesses sci-fi, fantasy, and other other devoted fan communities to advocate for animals. Our guest is Brittany Drake, campaigns director for The Protego Foundation. Brittany talks about the foundation’s creative campaigns such as getting vegan butter beer offered at the Harry Potter theme parks, a Game of Thron...

Happy Pride Month! We’re celebrating Pride with Kathleen Gage, the founder of Vegan Visibility. Kathleen shares her experiences as a vegan lesbian and emphasizes the significance of understanding the history of the LGBT+ community and its relevance to current political and social dynamics. Kathleen discusses her business, Vegan Visibility, and her work with Blue Barn Animal Sanctuary in Creswell,...

Cage-free eggs are everywhere. They are now available at most every grocery store, a muffin lists cage-free eggs in the ingredients, and a restaurant touts cage-free omelettes on their menu. Is this a win for hens? We crack into this question with Amber Canavan examining PETA’s new document called, “White Paper On the Failure of Cage-Free Housing Systems To Reduce Over All Hen Suffering”. On this...

Vegans are visionaries. We hold a vision of a nonviolent future where all animals are free from human imposed commodification, suffering, and killing. What if this vision was on the ballot and we could vote on it? That could be happing soon with the Oregon Initiative Petition 28 — officially titled the PEACE Act , People for Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions. This ballot initiative would el...

Joanne Kong joins us on the Hope for the Animals Podcast to talk about her new book Vegan Made Easy: A Practical Guide to Plant-Based Living. This episode  explores the how-to of living vegan.  Joanne talks about why she felt it was important to start the book with the vegan connection to social justice. She and Hope also talk about the difference between vegan and plantbased, sticky situations th...

On this episode we are tackling the cultural and political shift back to meat, saturated fat, high-protein diets and the connection to hyper-masculinity. The US is seeing a resurgence of meat-eating as a symbol of masculinity, masculinism, meat connected to identity politics and the “culture wars”. Our guest, Jan Liband, will explore the social factors driving this backlash and explore how social...

Hope is hosting Compassionate Living’s Humane Hoax Online Conference on March 17, 2026 and to entice you to register, we are replaying a fantastic conversation from Episode 81 on humanewashing in journalism. Lisa Barca is one of the 18 contributing authors to Hope’s anthology The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy and Ethical Eggs and they had an insightful conversat...

Social media is ubiquitous. Love it or hate it, social media's influence shapes our lives and steers our culture. Johnny Oberg uses this power for the good of animals. Johnny has a social media superpower with 300,000 followers and millions of eyes on his persuasive posts. He and Hope discuss the potency of social media to transform our world to one that cares about animal freedom. They talk...

In this solo episode of Hope for the Animals , host Hope Bohanec breaks down major recent developments shaking the vegan and animal advocacy world. From the return of beef and dairy to the top of U.S. dietary guidelines, to government-backed support for the beef industry, to controversial new campaign encouraging people to donate money instead of going vegan — Hope examines how political power, in...

Grassroots activism is at the heart of justice movements, but animal advocacy has undergone significant changes in recent years. The grassroots has dried up and resources and energy has shifted. Laila Kassam has dedicated the past decade to researching social justice movements and analyzing their effectiveness. She will share her insights and practical strategies for implementing a healthy movemen...

Hope’s husband, Cogen, returns to the show for a unique discussion on the portrayal of animal personhood in media. They delve into the evolution of children’s entertainment and examine the representation of animals as individual, intelligent persons. Cogen and Hope explore how the depiction of animal personhood in these films has shaped our perception of animals. From Mickey Mouse to Charlotte’s W...

On this episode we explore Buddhism with Forrest Tierce, U.S. Project Director for Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA). DVA works to raise awareness on the connection between the ecological crisis caused by animal agriculture and Buddhist ethics—helping individuals and communities align their food choices with sustainability and compassion for all beings.   Forrest has been a dedicated vegan for 18 ye...

Joining us today is Dr. Faraz Harsini, the founder and CEO of Allied Scholars for Animal Protection (ASAP). Faraz shares with Hope the importance of creating ongoing infrastructure on US college campuses that students can utilize for continued outreach. They discuss various vegan education tactics such as the use of graphic imagery and its effectiveness. Faraz also talks about encouraging changes...

Hope is right at home this episode talking about one of her favorite subjects, humanewashing. Lia Wilbourn joins Hope for a conversation about their mutual frustration with the humane hoax and the deceptive marketing and cover-up tactics employed by the animal farming industry. They explore the detrimental impact of continuing to use the term “factory farming” and argue that the animal advocacy mo...

Farmed animal sanctuaries are the heart of the animal advocacy movement. Our guest today, Zoe Novic , Executive Director of CAPE (Center for Animal Protection and Education), knows this well as she grew up on a sanctuary in the Santa Cruz hills. Zoe has a diverse background that includes two years in the Peace Corps in Indonesia, a Master’s in Public Health, and leadership roles at The Humane Leag...

Some advocates in environmental and animal activism argue that we should solely focus on changing the system through government and corporate campaigns, discouraging grassroots action and personal change. Our guest, Janet O’Shea (informally known as Jay), co-authored an article in Newsweek in response to an environmental author’s piece arguing that going vegan is ineffective. Jay systematically de...

 Patty Leon and Rich Winograd both grew up as animal lovers…or so they thought. It was during the pandemic that they came across documentaries, books, and articles that removed their blindfolds and led to the light switch moment to make a change for the better. Today they continue to learn and grow, sharing, their insight as animal rights, vegan and social justice activists. They actively voluntee...