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

Comedian Myq Kaplan is back on the podcast this week to discuss the intersection of animal rights, activism, and the creative arts. We discuss Myq’s latest comedy album, A.K.A., as well as the recently widely released Live In Between Albums, and he gives us a behind-the-scenes look into his creative process. The vegan comedian also dishes on his upcoming appearance at…

When it comes to thinking about animals, Bob Fischer believes we should be doing it more often and more deeply. A professor of philosophy at Texas State University and the author of, among other things, Animal Ethics—A Contemporary Introduction, Bob joins the podcast this week for a conversation about animal ethics, philosophy, and activism. Bob shares how empirical data and philosophical…

From Texas cattle ranchers to vegan sanctuary founders, Renee King-Sonnen and Tommy Sonnen have turned around their lives and are helping others, both animal and human, to do the same. Now, the incredible story of how they have rescued and continue to care for 137 animals has caught the attention of filmmaker Jason Goldman, who embarked on capturing their daily lives…

Longtime animal advocates may be familiar with the term total liberation, but what exactly does this mean? Yvette Baker joins us today for an exploration of total liberation activism and its profound influence on her own animal advocacy. In our conversation, she sheds light on oppressive language commonly used when representing animals and urges everyone to unlearn and challenge it for…

This episode of Our Hen House features an animal rights legend, renowned philosopher, and ethicist, Peter Singer. In this thought-provoking conversation, we explore a range of topics, including the principle of equal consideration of interests, the nuance between sentience and consciousness, and the evolution of the animal movement since Peter’s groundbreaking book Animal Liberation was firs...

This week we dive into the world of documentary filmmaking with renowned photographer and documentary film director Louie Psihoyos. Louie is perhaps best known for his 2009 film, the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove, which shed a brutal light on the remarkably cruel dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. In our conversation, Louie shares how movies can help change the world and…

The Standard American Diet—heavy in dairy and meat products—has long been known to contribute to chronic, diet-related illnesses, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Long-time vegans know this quite well, but what about the general public?  Dr. Ted Barnett and Carol Barnett join the podcast to discuss the Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute and how they support those looking to switch&...

Last autumn, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game canceled the crabbing season for the Alaskan snow crab for the first time in history after the crustaceans’ population dropped an astonishing 87 percent. This is only one of the stories recently covered in depth by ecologist and journalist Spencer Roberts, who joins us on the podcast for an overarching conversation about…

Just five years ago, a very small herbivorous chef who resides in a modest tree stump took Instagram by storm, impressing thousands with his culinary expertise and tiny, plant-based eats—and he hasn’t slowed down since. In fact, he even helms his very own show on Nick Jr. The Tiny Chef has captured hearts worldwide, and this week, director and animator Rachel…

In September of 2021, Alicia Santurio and Baywatch actor Alexandra Paul rescued Jax and Ethan, two gravely ill chickens, from a transport truck heading for a slaughterhouse owned by Foster Farms. The activists faced misdemeanor charges for petty theft, and this March, they stood before a 12-person jury as part of a nine-day trial, previously unheard of for such charges.  Alexandra…

Since its founding in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has advocated for farmed animals and large-scale institutional reform with the ultimate goal of removing animals from the food system. Senior Director of Advocacy Aaron Rimmler-Cohen joins the podcast this week to discuss Farm Sanctuary’s Food Systems Shift program. In our conversation, Aaron discusses the disastrous policy of government subsidies of anim...

Humor can be a powerful tool to promote change – and vegan actress and musician Kate Nash knows how to wield it to hilarious effect. We’re thrilled to welcome Kate for a discussion about her recent film, Coffee Wars, which manages to deliver a powerful pro-animal message while, at the same time, making everyone laugh. As we all know, that’s not…

Dr. Milton Mills, a prominent advocate for plant-based diets and a practicing physician, joins us this week for an in-depth discussion about the misconceptions surrounding vegan diets and how such misunderstandings have evolved over time. Dr. Mills, who offers extensive evidence that humans aren’t innate omnivores, thoroughly debunks the myth that humans need meat to be healthy and explains how ta...

Did you know dietary supplements often contain hidden animal-based ingredients, and there are no requirements for this to be disclosed on the label? This week, Terraseed founder Maria Cebrian joins the podcast to discuss vitamins for vegans and the challenges of sourcing high-quality plant-based ingredients and truly eco-friendly packaging. She also describes how Terraseed has partnered with Anima...

When Marcus Daniell isn’t on the tennis court winning Olympic titles, he’s focused on high-impact charitable giving. He joins us on the podcast from New Zealand for a conversation about his organization, High Impact Athletes, which helps athletes create world-changing impacts through charitable donations. In our discussion, Marcus details athletes’ historical donating patterns and how High Impact...

Before he was a cat rescuer, Sterling “TrapKing” Davis was a rapper—a unique trajectory in the field of animal rescue. Sterling—who dedicated himself to improving the lives of stray cats after a lifelong connection to them—joins us today for a delightful conversation about, among other things, trap-neuter-return (TNR) and how he’s working to increase diversity within cat rescue.  In our discussion...

Disrupting the global food system is one of the most pressing issues of our lifetimes—and it’s no small lift. Today, we welcome two powerhouses working to help the world shift to a kinder, plant-based food system. David Meyer and Galina Hale serve as the CEO and Chief Research Officer, respectively, of Food System Innovations (FSI). They join us this week to…

Why do women in the institutional animal rights movement often feel unable to speak up? Why are animal rights organizations losing too much talent to burnout because of negative employment experiences? Dr. Krista Hiddema joins us to discuss her doctoral research on women’s experiences working professionally within the animal rights movement and the factors that, she asserts, too often drive them&#...

Sometimes it is easy for all of us who care about animals to forget what an extraordinary contribution sanctuaries make to our understanding of the animals we try to serve. Elan Abrell joins us this week to remind us never to take sanctuaries for granted. Elan is a cultural anthropologist who’s dedicated himself to animal studies and, recently, to a close…

When Josh and Wendy Smith adopted Roswell, the dog, they didn’t imagine caring for him would lead them to start their very own animal sanctuary. We’re thrilled to welcome Josh and Wendy to the podcast this week to hear this and more inspiring stories about their sanctuary, Odd Man Inn, their animal advocacy work, and their recent move across the country.…

You’re in for not one but two interviews with incredible activists in this episode! We’re thrilled to welcome both Gwenna Hunter and Sue Fischer back to the podcast for updates.   First, we catch up with Gwenna about her newest project, the Vegans of LA Food Bank. Gwenna tells us how she turned a longtime dream into a reality after partnering with…

This one just might move you to tears. Why? Because it’s about ELEPHANTS! Need we say more? Scott and Kat Blais have dedicated their careers to helping captive elephants live out the rest of their lives the way nature intended. This week they join the podcast from rural Brazil, home to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, a project by the organization they founded,…

What if you could feed your companion animals real meat without ever having to slaughter an animal? Because Animals is working to make this dream a reality, and the CEO and co-founder, Shannon Falconer, Ph. D., joins the podcast this week to tell us how they’re doing it. Traditional companion animal foods are made with byproducts of animal agriculture, including meat found…

We love hearing from fellow animal advocates in different parts of the world, and this week we are thrilled to welcome Linda Ncube for an exceptional conversation about animal activism in rural Zimbabwe. Linda is the founder of Humane Africa Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a “compassionate, healthy, and just environment” for animals. She joins us to explain how she’s…

How annoying is it when you are just getting into a good book, starting to identify with, or at least sympathize with, the protagonist, and then get thoroughly turned off when they sit down to enthusiastically eat a dead animal? Today, author Christine Melanie Benson joins us for a conversation about her recently published debut novel, Marrying Myself, in which, happily,…