Kindness is Everything

Kindness Is Continuing To Fight For Rainbow Spaces—Protecting LGBTQ+ youth  **This episode does mention suicide and may trigger or be challenging for some listeners. Please be kind to yourself.** Nadia Kean-Ayub returns to talk to Anitha about her organization called Rainbow Spaces and the current environment in the United States towards folks in the LGBTQ+ community. It has been just over a year...

Kindness Is Being We Animals—Advocating For Animals Through Photojournalism. Anitha talks with Jo-Anne McArthur, the founder of We Animals. Jo-Anne and the team of photographers at We Animals bravely go into places where animals and the cruelty these sentient beings are forced to endure, is often hidden from the public. Through their photos, the folks at We Animals show us the suffering but also t...

Kindness Is Elevating Access—Ensuring folks have access to life-saving healthcare, even if it comes at self-risk. Launched in 2022, Elevated Access is a non-profit that provides pilots and planes at no cost to those seeking access to life-saving healthcare. Kira from Elevated Access joins Anitha to talk about the devastating healthcare bans in many States throughout the USA which affects those see...

Kindness Is Fulfilling Edgar’s Mission—How a photo shoot with a pig grew into a sanctuary for farm animals. Pam Ahern, the founder of Edgar’s Mission, a farm sanctuary in Australia, joins Anitha to talk about her journey to help animals. Pam talks about meeting Edgar for the first time and how a one-time photo shoot to raise awareness about the plight of farmed animals, turned into a lifelong adve...

Kindness Is Being Like Josh—How fostering one dog with special needs turned into an entire foundation helping dogs with disabilities. Kimberly Elliott, the founder of the Be Like Josh Foundation, joins Anitha to talk about how falling in love with Josh, a 10-month-old Golden Doodle with a brainstem disorder, inspired her to create a foundation that now helps so many dogs with disabilities live the...

Kindness Is Coffees For Gaza—How donating the cost of a coffee can make a positive impact. Dr. Inda Ahmad Zahri is a surgeon, a story creator, and one of the founders of Coffees For Gaza, a grassroots initiative to help families in Gaza. Since Anitha is a children’s author, the two begin the conversation talking about books and how Dr. Zahri combines what seems like polar opposites—the science of...

Kindness Is Helping Primates Together—How a group of sanctuaries work together to help primates. Amanda (Andy) Gray joins Anitha to talk about NAPSA (North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance) an incredible organization dedicated to uniting the primate sanctuary community. Of course, Andy and Anitha talk about the wonderful work NAPSA sanctuaries are doing to provide enrichment and professional li...

Kindness Is Ethical Wildlife Tourism—How to enjoy your trip while respecting wildlife Travelling to faraway places can create lovely memories but does it come at the expense of wildlife? Connie Needham joins Anitha to talk about ways to enjoy your holiday without causing harm to animals. The two chat about experiences such as elephant rides and photo-ops with wildlife and the harm these activities...

Kindness Is Zoocheck— Advocating to end the abuse, neglect & exploitation of wild animals Rob Laidlaw, the founder of Zoocheck joins Anitha to talk about his journey into animal activism. For over 40 years, Rob has been speaking up for wildlife. From his initial efforts to close down horrific roadside zoos to helping three elephants, who spent their lives in captivity, find a sanctuary, there...

Kindness Is Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary—A place where primates heal & recover from trauma. Rachelle Hansen joins Anitha to talk about Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, located in Ontario, Canada. Rachelle shares stories of the residents who currently live and have lived at the sanctuary. She talks about the friendships they have made, things they enjoy doing and how the folks at the san...

Kindness Is Being Annick Press—How a Canadian publisher is standing up for diversity & representation in their books, their authors, and their publishing team. Rick Wilks, the co-founder of Annick Press joins Anitha to talk about publishing children’s books. He shares his journey, memories and even his list of favourite books. The two also talk about book banning—what it is, the harm it causes...

Kindness Is Oscar’s Place—A sanctuary for donkeys. For the inaugural audio and video episode of the podcast, Ron King joins Anitha to talk about Oscar’s Place, a sanctuary for donkeys to heal and live happy donkey lives. Ron talks about the many individuals at the sanctuary and how people don’t realize that donkeys are incredibly affectionate, smart and love to hug! Ron also shares his journey of...

Kindness Is Fauna Foundation—Canada’s only chimpanzee sanctuary offers refuge for those who suffered from medical research. Mary Lee Jensvold joins Anitha to talk about Fauna Foundation, a place of healing for chimpanzees used and abused in the medical research industry. Mary Lee shares stories of the many primates rescued by Fauna Foundation. She speaks about the incredible capacity of these indi...

Kindness Is Being Dr. Grace Gilbert—The journey from being a home-schooled conservative to bravely speaking out against current US Government policies. Dr. Grace Gilbert joins Anitha to talk about what it was like growing up in a Christian Conservative home, being home-schooled and the obstacles she faced to go to college and eventually become a doctor. She shares why she no longer adheres to Cons...

Kindness Is Otis The Handsome Hound—How an Animal Testing Survivor Is Living His Best Life & Raising Awareness'' Otis, a coonhound, was born into the cruel world of animal testing and subjected to many invasive and painful procedures. But Otis is one of the lucky ones, he was rescued by Robert Sturman who joins Anitha to talk about Otis’ life—then and now. Robert talks about the harsh world of...

Kindness Is Wild By Nurture—One woman’s dedication to opossums, porcupines, foxes and many animals often neglected when it comes to rescue. Claire Peters-Lunny, the founder of Wild By Nurture, joins Anitha to share stories about her Wildlife Rehab & Sanctuary. Claire’s love for animals began at a very early age so it makes sense that she now spends her days and often nights, caring for orphane...

Kindness Is Moonman Photography—How photos have the power to connect us with the wonders of wildlife. Kyle Moon joins Anitha to talk about his journey to becoming a wildlife photographer and guide at Yellowstone National Park. Kyle shares stories of photographing wild animals from birds to wolves to bison, including an incident when he accidentally found himself far too close to a grizzly mom and...

Kindness Is PETA KIDS—How PETA is showcasing kids & their compassion for animals. Samantha Crowe, PETA’s associate director of science education, joins Anitha to talk about the ethical treatment of animals, providing teachers humane alternatives to dissection, and so much more, including some really super kind kids. Samantha also announces PETA’s upcoming ALL STAR FOR ANIMALS contest. This con...

Dr. Crystal Heath generously joins Anitha for a third time. During her previous two appearances on the podcast, Dr. Heath focused on the importance of speaking up for animal welfare. This time, she talks about the injustices many humans are facing and why she is standing up for those who can’t protect themselves. Like others who are upset by the actions of the current US administration at detainin...

Kindness Is Creating Rainbow Spaces (an Encore episode)- How one woman created a safe space for youth in the LGBTQ+ community. In 2021 Nadia Kean-Ayub created Rainbow Spaces. She joins Anitha to talk about what motivated her to start this organization, how this group helps youth in the LGBTQ+ community, and how much they have grown in just three years. Nadia also shares her favourite ways to suppo...

Kindness Is Theo & 3 Sisters—How one couple took the phrase ‘adopt don’t shop’ to heart and welcomed a family of four kittens into their lives. What could be better than chatting about one adorable kitten— chatting about four! Anitha is joined by Lindsay Fortune who shares why she and her partner adopted four kittens all at once and how their life has changed. Theo, Sadie, Bailey and Stella, w...

Animal advocate Liz Wheeler has been drawn to animals her entire life. She talks to Anitha about Secondhand Stories, a non-profit sanctuary for chickens she and her husband founded in 2022. In the short time since inception, Secondhand Stories has rescued and cared for numerous chickens and is currently home to 22 very special birds. Liz talks to Anitha about the importance of seeing chickens as i...

Kindness Is Saving 25 Cats From Qatar Filmmaker Mye Hoang joins Anitha to talk about her latest documentary, 25 CATS FROM QATAR. Mye is a cat lover who shares her home with five cats so it makes sense that a visit to a cat café in Milwaukee, USA lead to her filming a documentary about the owner of the café, Katy McHugh. Mye films Katy's rescue mission to Qatar where she brings 25 cats back to the...

Kindness Is Being Friends Of Bonobos Anitha fell in love with bonobos when she first learned about these magnificent apes many years ago, and she is absolutely thrilled to have Ariel Rogers, the executive director of Friends Of Bonobos as a guest to talk about all things bonobos. Ariel talks about the incredible characteristics of bonobos, the reasons they are critically endangered and the remarka...

Kindness Is Creating Jarjeer Mules One of the highlights of Anitha’s time in Marrakech, Morocco was meeting Susan Machin and getting a tour of Jarjeer—the sanctuary she created for donkeys, mules and horses. Anitha was thrilled when Susan agreed to be a guest on the podcast. Susan talks about her journey from being a Barrister in the UK to moving to Morocco. She shares the ups and downs of those f...