Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

This week on Rising Anxieties, we’re covering the full spectrum of animal agriculture chaos — from the political circus surrounding James Talarico’s (alleged) veganism to the unsurprising news that living next to a factory farm might be slowly killing you. Plus, a meat industry columnist accidentally makes the case for abolishing animal agriculture, and the screw worm is getting uncomf...

In this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, host Mariann Sullivan speaks with Amal Bouhabib, senior staff attorney at FarmSTAND, about a landmark federal lawsuit involving three young men from Guatemala who were recruited to the U.S. on J-1 cultural exchange visas and subjected to dangerous working conditions, fraudulent promises, substandard housing, and coercive threats at an industrial swine ope...

On this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann cover a packed week of animal rights news, kicking off with a cringe-worthy DM urging a vegan to accept “happy” backyard eggs — and why you don’t owe anyone a debate. They explore the theory that the meat industry, like Big Oil, is seeing the writing on the wall and quietly trying to…

In this powerful episode, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Tim Woodward, Executive Director of Animal Rescue Corps (ARC), an organization founded the same year as Our Hen House — 2010 — that has since conducted over 200 large-scale rescue operations saving thousands of animals from neglect, abuse, and crisis situations across the country. Large-scale animal rescue operations: ARC&#...

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by poet, activist, and friend Gretchen Primack for a raw and deeply personal conversation about how animal advocates sustain themselves emotionally in a world that can feel overwhelmingly bleak. From the ground-level account of the Ridglan Farms beagle rescue to the growing momentum around Marshall BioResources in&#82...

The animal agriculture industry had a busy week proving it can always find new depths to plumb. From North Carolina State University researchers congratulating themselves on shaving four minutes off the time it takes to suffocate chickens, to the beef-on-dairy pipeline quietly turning male calves into a supply chain “opportunity,” to a USDA food safety apparatus held together with 9% f...

In this episode of The Our Hen House Interview, Mariann Sullivan speaks with Andrea Diaz, Executive Director of Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA), the only international Buddhist animal advocacy organization. Andrea shares how DVA is working across Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States to align Buddhist teachings of compassion and non-harming with the dietary choices of the world&#8217...

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by Amber Canavan of PETA — and her rescued hen, Rosemary — to discuss PETA’s newly released white paper on the failures of cage-free egg labeling. Amber breaks down the gap between consumer perception and the grim reality of cage-free facilities and offers her conclusion that humane-washing…

The latest episode of Rising Anxieties covers a week of predictable chaos in the animal agriculture world. Billie Eilish said what many of us were thinking — eating meat is inherently wrong — and the left proceeded to embarrass itself with a barrage of bad-faith counterarguments. Meanwhile, the federal government is finally going after Big Beef and Big Egg for antitrust…

In this powerful episode, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Lindsey Soffes, Head of Programs at Rise for Animals, to explore the growing movement to end animal experimentation. From the explosive Ridglan Farms story to landmark federal legislation, Lindsey breaks down why this moment may be a turning point for animals in laboratories — and what advocates can do…

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by Matthew Dominguez, U.S. Director for Compassion in World Farming, for an urgent deep-dive into the Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act — dangerous preemption language hidden inside the Farm Bill that could strip states of their right to pass and enforce farm animal protection laws, wiping out…

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann digs into the uncomfortable gap between what institutions say and what they do — starting with Harvard Law School’s baffling decision to shutter its fully-enrolled Animal Law Clinic. From there: the industry’s coordinated PR campaign against plant-based alternatives (spoiler: they’re scared), the ongoing farce of in-ovo sexing technolo...

In this week’s interview, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with filmmaker Ray Cruzzola, founder of World Change Media, to discuss his moving documentary I’m Trying — a tribute to Canadian animal rights activist Regan Russell, who was killed in 2020 while protesting outside a pig slaughterhouse. Ray shares how he uses cinematic storytelling as a tool for social change, why he…

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann cover a wide range of topics: Jasmin shares behind-the-scenes moments from her theater rehearsal, including an organic conversation about veganism, tallow lotion, and gelatin that unfolded among cast members without any agenda-pushing on her part. She also pays tribute to the legacy of Tommy Raskin, animal rights activist and son of…

The animal rights movement has found its big tent: everyone hates factory farming, right? In this solo rant, Mariann Sullivan ponders “anti-factory farming” as a unifying movement strategy — specifically, the inconvenient fact that being against something isn’t the same as having a plan to replace it. She also takes on a growing narrative that out-and-proud veganism is somehow th...

In a landmark ruling, a federal court in the Northern District of California struck down four of six challenged Trump administration regulations that had significantly weakened the Endangered Species Act’s core enforcement mechanisms. Host Mariann Sullivan speaks with Noah Greenwald, Endangered Species Program Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, about the case — what was challen...

In this episode of The Hen Report, hosts Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan speak with Julia Reinelt, Executive Director of AVA International, about the upcoming Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit in Toronto (May 21–24). Julia walks listeners through what first-timers can expect, highlights the conference’s Whova app for networking and scheduling, and previews standout speakers — includi...

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann doesn’t let you look away — from the chaotic and heartbreaking Ridglan “rescue” that wasn’t, to a Yale study proving that just showing people a picture of a pig reduces meat orders by 22% (yes, really). Along the way, she covers a vegan vendor pushed out of Time Out Market for refusing to serve dairy,…

In this interview episode of Our Hen House, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with vegan zoologist, author, and activist Jordi Casamitjana for a wide-ranging conversation about the philosophy, legal landscape, and long-term vision of the vegan movement. Ethical veganism as a protected belief: Jordi shares the full story behind the landmark 2020 UK legal case that held that ethical…

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan cover a range of stories at the intersection of animal rights, activism, and culture. They dive deep into the ongoing Ridglan Farms beagle rescue situation — with a planned April 19th action drawing thousands — and the support from Congressman Mark Pocan, who pushed back on Ridglan’s request for…

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann runs through a lineup of stories that have the animal agriculture industry sweating — from a ballot initiative that could make killing animals for food illegal in Oregon, to the egg board spending a cool million to get scrambled eggs into school cafeterias, to bird flu quietly turning dairy cows into a mammalian petri dish.…

Rose Patterson, Director of Animal Rising in the UK, joins Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan for a deep dive into one of the most daring and legally complex animal rescue stories in recent UK history. Rose shares how Animal Rising evolved from a climate-focused Extinction Rebellion offshoot into a frontline animal rights organization, and what it really takes to challenge the…

In this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan mark Mariann’s 76th birthday with a wide-ranging conversation touching on animal rights, food trends, and the power of changing your mind. Mariann reflects on her Rising Anxieties episode, connecting the Declaration of Independence’s “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to animal rights, while Jasm...

It’s Mariann’s 76th birthday, and instead of cake, she’s serving up a surprisingly coherent framework for moving the animal rights movement forward — one that borrows from the Founding Fathers, sidesteps the usual vegan vs. welfarist cage match, and lands on a deceptively simple idea: animals deserve the right to pursue happiness, starting with the right to raise their own young....

In this episode, Mariann sits down with Bruce Friedrich, Founder and President of The Good Food Institute and author of Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food and Our Future, for a wide-ranging conversation about why the plant-based and cultivated meat revolution isn’t dead — it’s just getting started. Alternative proteins are a global...