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

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,…

Have you been wondering about the state of veganism and animal rights in Uganda? Well, we’ve got you covered! Nabaasa Innocent Kashobera, founder of the Uganda Vegan Society and a passionate advocate for animals, joins us this week and fills us in on the state of veganism and, on the other hand, the growth of factory farming, in Uganda and Africa…

Wow! Camille DeAngelis visits the podcast this week and does she have a story to tell!! She is, of course, the author of Bones and All, an inverted fairy tale with a sympathetic girl monster protagonist that has since been turned into an award-winning film starring Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Russell. At heart, though it may not be obvious at first…

We’re thrilled to welcome filmmaker Ryuji Chua to the podcast this week. You may already be familiar with Ryuji, and his animal rights-focused work, thanks to his appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah earlier this year. In our conversation, Ryuji tells us why it’s important for humans to shift our messaging from broad generalizations, such as saving a species,…

We’re delighted to welcome Nirva Patel to the podcast this week for a wide-ranging conversation about the different ways she’s working to make the world a better place for animals. We begin by discussing Nirva’s background in Jainism, how the religion informs her beliefs regarding the treatment of non-human animals, and the work she has done in that realm to create…

Author Peter Alagona, PhD,  joins us on the podcast this week for an illuminating conversation about the wild creatures that coexist alongside humans as part of the fabric of city life, as well as the habitat the city itself creates for these animals. Since World War II, populations of wild animals have increased in urban areas largely due to, as Peter…

Artist and Our Hen House’s own beloved graphic designer Weronika Kolinska joins us this week for a conversation about the ways in which art can be a means to help bring people’s attention to what is happening to animals. Weronika, who specializes in t-shirt design, tells us why she believes wearable art is a particularly effective form of activism and how…

Welcome to this special holiday presentation of Sanctuary: A Radio Play, an annual Thanksgiving tradition at Our Hen House! This performance marked the world premiere of John Yunker’s Sanctuary at New York City’s Symphony Space during the Culture & Animals Foundation’s Compassion Arts Festival. We were thrilled to have been a part of this witty, engaging, and incisive production that portrays&...

We are joined this week by Altamush Saeed for a conversation about the critical disaster relief work he’s spearheading in response to the devastating floods that occurred in Pakistan earlier this year. Altamush updates us on the current status of the floods and the effects this climate disaster has had on both the human and animal populations within the country. The…

Liz Ross has made it her mission to help people of Caribbean heritage embrace vegan living. She joins us on the podcast to discuss how Rethink Your Food, the nonprofit she founded, is helping her reach Caribbean people, in the islands and beyond, to promote the benefits of a plant-based food system. Liz discusses how she hopes to engage, not only…

Karthik Sekar, PhD wants to see the world move beyond an unsustainable, inefficient animal-based food system. He joins us on the podcast this week for a conversation about his recent book, After Meat, which details why animals are an outdated “production technology,” as the agricultural industry calls them. We discuss why plant- and microbial-based foods are far superior to their animal…

Lisa Dumas is on a mission to make the world a better place. This week she joins us on the podcast for a conversation about how she’s working toward expanding access to plant-based food options to those in need. Not only is she increasing accessibility for healthy alternatives, Lisa is also helping underserved communities access critical educational information on making informed…

Imagine a world where cows, chickens, pigs and humans not only coexist, but live and flourish amongst each other within the same communities. For vegan artist Hartmut Kiewert, this is the definition of utopia, and he joins us on the podcast this week for a conversation about his truly unique artwork. Hartmut’s Animal Utopia series, which depicts animals and humans thriving…

The World Federation for Animals (WFA) is a new membership organization that seeks to harness the collective strength of the animal protection movement to advocate for the inclusion of animals in global policy making. This week, CEO Dr. James Yeates and Policy Director Jessica Bridgers join us on the podcast for a conversation about how the organization is spearheading this global…

Zoe and Sherstin Rosenberg are an unstoppable mother-daughter activist duo, and we’re thrilled they’re joining us on the podcast this week. You may remember Zoe as the brave activist who chained herself to the goalpost during a Memphis Grizzlies NBA game earlier this year in protest of the cruel use of ventilation shutdown on the team owner’s factory egg farm. Zoe…

Award-winning journalist Marina Bolotnikova is writing the story to change the way mainstream media covers farmed animals. We’re thrilled to welcome her to the podcast this week for a conversation about her eye-opening work to alert people to the horrifying reality of animal agriculture. Marina discusses her thoughts on objectivity and integrity within journalism and why she chooses to free-lance...

Torre Washington has caused quite a stir in the world of professional bodybuilding with his plant-powered, all natural approach to the sport. This week, he joins the podcast to discuss his personal  journey to veganism through Rastafari and the Ital diet, as well as how and why he got into the art of bodybuilding. Torre shares his reasons for following a…

Amy Luebbert is the definition of a community powerhouse, and this week she joins us for a conversation about Des Moines, Iowa’s growing vegan scene and the importance of approaching activism through an antiracist lens. Amy, a founding member and the President of VegLife Des Moines, tells us about the nonprofit’s commitment to fostering community and connecting vegans—and the vegan-curious—to reso...