Vegans Talking Shit

In the conclusion of their two-part episode, The Tofu Trio reviews the vegan-related milestones they hoped to see in 2025 and the reality of how things actually unfolded. Spoiler alert: It wasn't pretty. Vegan cheese hasn't improved all that much, plant milks are failing to outsell dairy, and vegan breakfasts remain elusive. Furthermore, lab-grown meat is still prohibitively expensive, a...

Almost exactly one year ago today, Vegans Talking Shit released the episode "Goals and Hopes for 2025." Now that a year has gone by, did The Tofu Trio meet those goals? And did their hopes come to fruition? After Joey's solo episode last week, the gang is back together to discuss. But first, the conversation kicks off with Jon and Vanessa's recent trip to Canada, highlighting t...

With Jon and Vanessa on vacation, Joey flies solo once again for this special Christmas edition of Vegans Talking Shit. Back in April, Joey's first solo attempt clocked in at just over 10 minutes. This time, he's much more loquacious. The vegan talk is light, but the content is heavy. Joey finally answers lingering questions from previous episodes: What did he think of "Kill Bill: T...

For this week's episode of Vegans Talking Shit, the Tofu Trio welcomes Rafi Neuburger, a fellow vegan traveler Jon and Vanessa met while on a vegan cruise. Rafi has been vegan for over 25 years, helped found the Swiss Vegan Society, and is strongly committed to reducing the suffering of human and non-human animals. The four of them discuss, among other things, the future of veganism, what the...

The Tofu Trio is back to talk about ethical investing in part two of a two-part episode. Before diving in, Joey talks about movies and a kitten who left him smitten, but Vanessa steers the show back on topic before things get out of hand. During their discussion, Jon talks about the importance of tracking your spending, Vanessa navigates the moral tightrope of investing while staying true to your...

In part one of a two-part episode, The Tofu Trio gets into ethical investing, and discuss whether or not it's possible to make good financial investments while keeping your soul intact. But of course, it isn't all just IRAs, stocks, and ETFs. Joey gives a startlingly detailed review of his first-ever colonoscopy, Jon shows some love to the Vegan Vampire apparel company, and Vanessa revis...

For this Thanksgiving episode of Vegans Talking Shit, the Tofu Trio offers tips on how to survive the annual holiday tradition that tends to feature a dead turkey as its centerpiece. They spend a good 15-20 minutes on the topic, but the rest of the episode is mostly topic-adjacent chatter; Jon gets into the controversy of sports teams with Native American mascots, noted Brazilian Vanessa patiently...

The Tofu Trio returns to discuss vegan terms, the familiar ones and no-so-familiar ones. Truthfully, they discuss the topic for only about 15 minutes. The rest of the time is devoted to various other things; Jon talks about women's soccer, Vanessa drops some truth bombs about the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, and Joey reveals what he's been doing to keep the sound of his dog's...

For the last month or so, busy schedules have made it nearly impossible to get all three members of The Tofu Trio to record together. But now, finally, Jon, Vanessa, and Joey are together again, and in this episode, they discuss everything they've learned after surviving their first full year as podcasters. They get into the complications of moving from audio-only podcasting to video recordin...

With Jon unavailable as he deals with work stuff, Joey and Vanessa deliver a topic-free episode and provide an update on the future of the podcast, including the Vegans Talking Shit online store that they're currently developing. Also on the show, Joey talks about his Non-Vegan Voices episodes, Vanessa gets into her love for a local eatery interestingly named Zen Mystery, and they spend some...

With Jon and Vanessa in Chicago this week, Joey hosts another Non-Vegan Voices episode, and this time, it's his dad who joins the show. Joey's dad is an Italian American octogenarian with a thick New York accent who can't let a few minutes go by without cracking an absolutely abysmal joke. Joey is known for constantly veering off topic, and that's certainly the case here, but s...

Once again, you're getting only two-thirds of The Tofu Trio, because Vanessa is in Brazil. Just accept it, folks. Jon and Joey discuss whether or not it's okay for vegans to have pets, a controversial topic for some in the vegan community. They also talk about whether or not it's okay to have wild and exotic animals as pets. If you've listened to this podcast enough times, it w...

With Vanessa in Brazil, it's just two-thirds of The Tofu Trio in this episode. Joey talks about the TV shows he's been watching, he and Jon debate the merits of the Emmy-award winning HBO Max series "The Penguin," and Jon talks about his bathroom adventures after an incident that left him believing he'd mistakenly consumed dairy. They eventually get around to the topic, wh...

In part two of a two-part episode, The Tofu Trio are absolutely NOT discussing zoos and aquariums. Instead, they talk aliens, ghosts, past lives, and other supernatural stuff. Is this still a vegan podcast? Well, they do pause for a minute to ask if aliens are vegan, so there's that. Listen as Jon talks about Coast to Coast AM, the radio program hosted by George Noory that covers unexplained...

In part one of a two-part episode, The Tofu Trio grapples with the ethics of keeping animals in captivity. Joey admits his personal contradiction of never setting foot in an aquarium, but still visiting zoos, as long as he believes that they meet his delusional standards for conservation and welfare. Jon and Vanessa argue that zoos are animal prisons for profit, masquerading as centers for educati...

The Tofu Trio gets together to discuss their thoughts on vegan restaurants that add meat to their menus. But first, Joey talks about visiting the comic book store on Batman Day, Jon gives his thoughts on the few minutes of "Superman" that he watched, and Vanessa brings up her love for LEGOs. They eventually get to the topic at hand, but before long, they veer off and do something they&ap...

In part two of a two-part episode, The Tofu Trio continues their discussion on the article from VegOutMag.com about the seven challenges of being vegan. They actually stay on topic beginning to end, at least when not doing a lot of shameless self-promotion, and they tackle the very real feeling of vegan imposter syndrome. Also, Jon goes on a rant about online trolls, Vanessa talks about the guilt...

For the first time in more than a month, The Tofu Trio is together again! In part one of a two-part episode, Jon, Vanessa, and Joey discuss an article they read that details seven things that vegans find challenging. They actually stay on topic the entire time, though Joey does make a very subtle movie reference at one point. Also, hear about the guy who incurred the wrath of Vanessa after he crac...

Joey bookends this week's episode, which includes two interviews recorded during Jon and Vanessa's vegan cruise. First up, Vanessa interviews Holly Butler, a human dancing machine who went vegan for health reasons, but eventually became an ethical vegan. Then Jon interviews Nancy Illman, a 19-year vegan who decided to give up animal products after being told by a doctor that she needed s...

While on their vacation, Jon and Vanessa made a stop in Otranto, a coastal town in southern Italy's Apulia region, and that's where they recorded a video episode of the show. With the Adriatic Sea in the background, they discuss where they went, what they ate, and the people they met while on a vegan cruise. Although Joey isn't in this episode, Jon makes him proud by making multiple...

With Jon and Vanessa still on vacation, Joey sits down with his non-vegan niece Mallory to hear her perspective on vegan food, fur and leather, and how Gen Z views vegan people. They also talk about pickles, Mallory's tattoo goals, and Plant Pizza, the amazing vegan pizzeria that recently closed down. As the show winds down, they discuss "Sex and the City," "Gilmore Girls,&quot...

This week, Jon and Vanessa are taking a much-deserved vacation, so with two-thirds of The Tofu Trio gone, instead of doing another weak-ass solo episode, Joey chats it up with his brother Jerome to get the non-vegan perspective on everything from plant-based meat to vegan activists. Will this be a constructive conversation, or just another episode of two brothers bickering? Tune in to find out! Ve...

The Tofu Trio pulls back the curtain on how they were able to get Gary Yourofsky to appear on their show, what it was like interviewing him, and how they felt after it was all over. This episode was recorded right after the interview, with Gary Yourofsky's appearance fresh on their minds, and it's obvious that they were still giddy from the experience. Also, Jon hints at his plans for th...

At long last, The Tofu Trio interviews lecturer, educator, and vegan animal liberation activist Gary Yourofsky. In what may be his most incendiary interview yet, Gary Yourofsky doesn't hold back. He's raw, unfiltered, and not afraid to push a few buttons. Of course, this wouldn't be Vegans Talking Shit without some foolishness. Jon can't help but to strike up a conversation abo...

The Tofu Trio continues to read feedback from listeners, haters, and social media trolls, but in part two of this two-part episode, they spend all their time on a video they posted on Facebook that generated over 500 comments. They focus primarily on the negative comments, especially the more hateful ones. Weirdly, they almost seem to enjoy the negative comments more than the positive ones. There&...