Kindness is Everything

Valentin Gruener achieved his childhood goal to live in Africa and work with wildlife, and not just any wildlife. Val has spent the past twelve years raising, caring and loving Sirga, a lioness who came into his life when she was around ten days old. Val talks about what it’s like sharing his life with a wild lion, including some heart-warming stories. He also talks about the reasons for the devas...

Derek Walter’s life took a dramatic turn when his then partner, Steve Jenkins brought home a tiny little pig named Esther. Derek talks to Anitha about how this small being created huge and wonderful changes in his life. Derek quickly fell in love with Esther, became one of her two dads, moved from a suburb to the country so Esther could have all the space a pig needed, welcomed even more farm anim...

Kaila and Waian, the incredible sisters who created The Original Surfers, join Anitha to talk about their initiative to reach out to teens and raise awareness to protect oceans and the marine animals who live there. These amazing young women also share what it’s like working with a sibling and much more!  To learn more about The Original Surfers, please click on the following links:  https://www.t...

Thirteen-year-old Justin Sather joins Anitha to talk about his love for one of Earth’s smallest beings—frogs.   Justin shares how a children’s book and a childhood blanket inspired Justin to clean up his community's wetland, and how that project has grown to cleaning up rivers and oceans, protecting acres of rainforest and collaborating with other young people from all over the world.   A truly in...

Anitha is joined by M.O. Yuksel and Omar Abed, two creators who write books for children. In addition to talking about their amazing books, M.O. and Omar share their thoughts about the role of a children’s author when actual children in the world are being harmed.  It’s an honest conversation about an important issue. To connect and learn more about these incredible authors, please click on the li...

Anitha chats with Rainbow Mosho, an incredible artist on the autism spectrum.  Rainbow uses her art and her voice to raise awareness about issues such as autism, endangered animals and vitiligo.  Her art has been exhibited in Dubai, Beijing, Belgium, NYC, LA, Miami, Tennessee.  Her thoughts: " Autism Acceptance is an opportunity to share about the marvels and challenges faced by incredible beings...

Many of us see and walk past folks who live in parks, street alcoves and under bridges, but rarely do we stop. Anitha's guest, Lorraine Lam, not only stopped, she wanted to help. Lorraine chats with Anitha about the homeless crisis and her involvement in finding a solution. Here are some action points for listeners who want to get involved in trying to solve the housing crisis.  Follow social medi...

Anitha was over-the-moon star struck to chat with the incomparable Gene Baur. Gene is the founder of the Farm Sanctuary, an animal advocate, author and so much more. He has been on shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Larry King Live, and now The Kindness Is Everything podcast! Gene talks about his incredible journey from doing commercials to promote companies like McDonalds and KFC,...

With issues such as climate change, food insecurity and animal welfare all related to/caused by the animal agricultural industry, Anitha is thrilled to continue her discussion around veganism. Anitha is joined by Kelly Chianciola and her two lovely daughters, Dani and Lana. All three talk about their decision to become vegan and how it has impacted their lives. They also tackle questions like—Why...

A bit late for Veganuary, but never a bad time to talk about health, animal welfare and all things vegan. Devorah Bowen joins Anitha to talk about journey from becoming a vegan to her incredible social media account, The Yummy Vegan. They also delve into topics such as, where do vegans get their protein, why are there vegan-haters, the diabolical yet ingenious marketing of the dairy industry and o...

For the first episode of 2024, Anitha chats with educator and education and equity consultant, Rabia Khokhar. Spurred by her desire to showcase diverse stories, Rabia created Rabia Reads, her Instagram account where she recommends picture books with diverse main characters. Anitha and Rabia chat all about books, including her current favourite book. Hair Oil Magic by Anu Chouhan If you’d like to l...

Thirteen-year-old Evie Mutsch, joins Anitha to talk about her very cool clothing line called Eco Evie. Made from recycled water bottles, Eco Evie has stopped over 30,000 water bottles from going into landfills. In addition to creating beautiful clothes, Evie donates a portion of all sales to charities supporting animals, the environment and people. To learn more about Eco Evie, check out the follo...

After a break that included a not so fun surgery and a very fun trip to Sumatra, Anitha is thrilled to be back podcasting. Here she chats with Zach Skow, the founder of Marley’s Mutts and the Pawsitive Change Program. Zach openly talks about his health struggles and how volunteering at a dog shelter literally saved his life. As a way of giving back to the dogs who helped him when he needed it, Zac...

Some people have a huge heart. Susie Cogswell is one of those incredible humans who not only has a huge heart, but willingly allows it to be broken over and over again. Susie joins Anitha to talk about her journey in animal rescue and what it’s like to adopt, foster and love senior dogs. Sadly, senior dogs can find themselves in shelters for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, these dogs are ofte...

Twelve-year old Jack Dalton joins Anitha to talk about the many ways he helps animals, including his favorite animal, the orangutan. Through his YouTube Videos, public speaking engagements, fundraising efforts and writing a picture book, Jack has raised funds and awareness for critically endangered orangutans. In fact, as of March 2023, Jack has helped plant over 13,000 trees to reforest habitat f...

Ten-year old Normani Hamilton joins Anitha to talk about all the wonderful things she is doing to empower other black children. From writing and publishing her first book to entering pageants, Normani hopes to inspire other children to love themselves just the way they are. To learn more about Normani’s efforts to help critically ill children, click here: https://give.gktw.org/fundraiser/4520867 T...

This episode is a wonderful example of dedication and persistence making a positive impact. Kamilya Tulebaeva from Kazakhstan shares her inspiring story of how she moved her country to ban dolphinariums. It’s an incredible achievement and one you will definitely want to hear about. Here are links to the movies/documentaries Kamilya mentioned. Intraterrestrial. A Fleeting Contact: English version:...

Izzy Hirji wears many hats—wildlife vet, world traveller, photographer, conservationist, vegan, and television celebrity! He joins Anitha to share his incredible adventures as he follows his hero, Dr. Jane Goodall, in making the world a better place for all beings. Izzy begins the episode by talking about his childhood fear of dogs and how he not only over came that fear, but now travels the world...

Sabrina Fair Andronica joins Anitha to talk about being a children’s author and an animal lover, and how she combines these two parts of her life. In her books, Sabrina gently tackles subjects such as dealing with grief over the loss of a pet, animal testing, and misconceptions people have about certain breeds of dogs; in particular pitbulls. She visits schools in hopes of inspiring children to be...

An exciting start to 2023, Anitha talks to Jake Davis, a lawyer working to seek legal protection for non-human animals. Anitha met Jake at a conference about the plight of animals in captivity. The conference was hosted by Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS Elephant Sanctuary) and Jake was one of the speakers. Jake chats with Anitha about his journey from a child who loved animals, to now, us...

To celebrate the last episode of 2022, Anitha invited two special young guests to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year.

Like many people, the pandemic inspired Monique Monelle and her husband to take up a new hobby during lockdown. But their new ‘hobby’ was wonderfully unusual. They were inspired to rescue ex-battery hens. Monique talks about what it was like when the hens first arrived, how she and her husband take care of them when they’re not feeling well, and how she fell in love with their unique personalities...

Anitha is thrilled to celebrate the 50th episode of the podcast with Lauren Saville who is the manager for the Roots & Shoots program at the Jane Goodall Institute Canada. The goals of the Roots and Shoots program and this podcast are very similar—empowering and supporting youth who are making a positive difference for animals, people and the environment. Lauren talks about how this program has gr...

Twenty-one-year-old, Emily Redford from Ontario, Canada joins Anitha to talk about her experience caring for animals in different parts of the world. Emily has travelled to India, Hyderbad, Egypt, Panama and Greece to volunteer with local animal rescues. Though she is not ‘officially’ trained in animal health care, Emily is totally hands-on and assists with before and after surgery care, sedating...

Seventeen-year-old, Nikita Dhawan is on a mission to free Shankar, a lone African Elephant, from the Delhi Zoo. Shankar was only two years old when he was taken from his family and deposited into the Delhi Zoo. Now, 26 years old, Shankar has endured endless years of isolation and being chained for 17 hours a day. Nikita is determined to end Shankar’s suffering by having him live at a sanctuary in...