Veganism as Holistic Nonviolence — booklet now available

Hi everyone, I am pleased to share that a booklet that I wrote, Veganism as Holistic Nonviolence, is now available to read and print. In this booklet, veganism and animal rights are explained from an abolitionist and holistic perspective. The booklet provides information about vegan ethics, the history of our movement, and how to live vegan; quotes by vegan writers; and a list of recommended websites.

An online viewable version of the booklet with clickable links can be found at tinyurl.com/veganbooklet (this shorter URL is easy to share with others) or https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mnsUJMzKp3E1uFauXDYJtsVmtAyL1EsI/view (this is the link that the first one redirects to).

If you'd like to print and distribute the booklets in your local community (thank you!), you can find a printable template here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iO0-vKThIypMZ1kHpPsI0As6YqTWPo0K/view. Please be sure to flip the pages on the short edge when printing double-sided. Ideally the booklets would be stapled using a long stapler, although they do hold together fairly well even without staples.

If you have any feedback or questions about the booklets, feel free to email me at alwaysforanimalrights [at] protonmail [dot] com.

Episode 105: Interview with vegan sociologist Matthew Cole about critical animal and media studies, speciesism and veganism in the media, and an update on the Donald Watson Archive

This week, I am pleased to present my fourth interview with the vegan sociologist Matthew Cole, Senior Lecturer at The Open University. Matthew has been a vegan since 2005 and is the author and co-author of a number of academic articles and book chapters about the sociology of veganism and human-nonhuman animal relations. With his partner, the vegan sociologist Kate Stewart, Matthew co-authored the 2014 book, Our Children and Other Animals: The Cultural Construction of Human-Animal Relations in Childhood. In 2016, an anthology was published that was edited by Matthew Cole, Núria Almiron, and Carrie Freeman, titled, Critical Animal and Media Studies: Communication for Nonhuman Animal Advocacy.

In this interview, we discuss critical animal and media studies, and Matthew tells me about his research with Kate Stewart about human cultural attitudes towards urban-dwelling foxes in the UK. We also explore the place of environmental arguments in vegan advocacy, the use of mainstream and independent media to promote animal rights, how veganism tends to be portrayed by the mainstream media, and Matthew’s more recent writing on the similarities between a Batman storyline and a campaign to rename two species of aquatic animals in the UK. Then Matthew shares an update about the Donald Watson Archive Research Project.

Matthew Cole's Academia.edu page can be found here (please write to him if you'd like to read his writings that are listed there). Matthew's work on OpenLearn, including his short interactive course about veganism and speciesism, can be found here.

Thanks to Matthew for being a guest on the show again!

You can listen to the episode above or on CKCU 93.1 FM's website. You can also download the MP3 file from Archive.org.

You can find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to advocate for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 104: Interview with Ronnie Lee, co-founder of the Animal Liberation Front, about consistency and vegan ethics

This week, I am pleased to present my third interview with the long-time animal liberation activist Ronnie Lee. Ronnie has been a vegan for more than five decades and is best known for co-founding the Animal Liberation Front in the 1970’s. Currently he works to educate the public about the importance of becoming vegan. He also encourages vegans to become more involved in vegan education initiatives, in order to work towards the abolition of the exploitation and oppression of our fellow animals.

In this interview, Ronnie describes what it was like trying to obtain vegan-friendly food in the 1970’s. Then we discuss why war, environmental destruction, and human rights violations are not in alignment with the vegan ethic; why it’s important to challenge speciesism and human supremacism, rather than focusing primarily on cruelty; and how we can more effectively interact with the mainstream media. Ronnie also speaks about the role of anti-vivisection campaigning within the animal rights movement over the years, and he shares his views on celebrity culture within the vegan community.

After listening to this episode, you may be interested in tuning in to the two latest episodes of Still Alive!, the online talk show that Ronnie co-hosts with Roger Yates: The Media and the Message and Vegans and War.

You can listen to the episode above or on CKCU 93.1 FM's website. You can also download the MP3 file from Archive.org.

You can find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to advocate for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 103: Discussion with animal rights advocate Jeremy Hess about engaging in vegan advocacy conversations, recognizing pigs as individuals, and challenging speciesism in the media

Rosebud

This week, I am pleased to present my fourth interview with Jeremy Hess. Jeremy has been a vegan since 2014 and has been involved in various forms of animal rights advocacy over the years. On his website (which will be back online soon) and YouTube channel, he provides resources to help advocates use accurate and non-speciesist language and learn about animal rights theory. He is a co-founder and former co-panellist on The Animal Rights Show on YouTube. With his partner Nisha-Taylor Hess, Jeremy runs a microsanctuary, Respect Animal Sanctuary, in Georgia in the United States.

In this interview, Jeremy and I use an abolitionist animal rights perspective to examine three articles that were published on mainstream media websites, and we explore how we can move away from speciesist language use. We also discuss whether the words that we use in our vegan advocacy are understood by the general public. As well, Jeremy tells me about the experiences of the pigs Rosebud and Daisy at the microsanctuary.

During this discussion we explored some of the ideas of the animal rights scholar-activists David Nibert and Joan Dunayer (see also here). You can find the Unlearning Speciesist Language Facebook group, of which Jeremy is an admin, here!

News articles that we discussed on the show:

• "Two giant pandas from China to arrive at US National Zoo", The Guardian, 29 May 2024
• "Concerned about cruelty, animal rights group wants police at bull-riding event", CBC News, 31 May 2024
• "Water-hungry golf courses plague Arizona’s native javelina-filled landscape", Vox, 25 October 2023
  

At the end of the episode, we'll hear some excerpts from the song, "Creatures Great and Small", by the vegan singer-songwriter Ellie Sarty.

 

You can listen to the episode above or on CKCU 93.1 FM's website. You can also download the MP3 file from Archive.org.

You can find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to advocate for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Jeremy the Ape and
Daisy the Pig

Episode 102: Interview with Wendy McGovern about vegan ethics and language, anti-consumerism, ecofeminism, and anti-vivisection

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with the long-time animal rights advocate Wendy McGovern. Wendy has been a vegan since about 1997. She has been involved in a variety of vegan and animal advocacy initiatives over the years, including hosting the London Animal Rights March in 2021. She is the host of the Thrive Vegan World podcast and a co-panelist on the Animal Rights Show on YouTube.

In this interview, Wendy and I discuss the importance of viewing veganism as a holistic paradigm shift rather than only a diet, and we explore the issue of consumerism in relation to vegan ethics. Then Wendy speaks about how we can challenge speciesism through our language use, and how ecofeminist perspectives can help us to think critically and holistically about intersecting oppressions. We also discuss why the animal advocacy movement has shifted away from its previous focus on anti-vivisection activism. Finally, Wendy shares her thoughts on advocating for veganism and animal rights in our everyday lives.

Links:

Thrive Vegan World podcast: https://thriveveganworld.libsyn.com/

The Animal Rights Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwKCH_ItjqELgL3NE35hj70YazgZBHfZB

 "Mexico's female matadors return to the world's largest bullring", Archived from NPR.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20240324134816/https://www.npr.org/2024/03/09/1236728490/mexico-bullfighting-women-bullfighters 

Wendy McGovern in discussion with Roger Yates and Ronnie Lee about why the movement's focus shifted away from anti-vivisection activism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTniWsitwSo

Unlearning Speciesist Language Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/553752208470902

Roger Yates and Ronnie Lee's Still Alive! show discussing vegan activism ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z__CQhXkoUM

You can listen to the episode above or on CKCU 93.1 FM's website. You can also download the MP3 file from Archive.org.

You can find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to advocate for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 101: Interview with Roger Yates about the Vegan Information Project, veganism as holistic social justice, and the importance of grassroots activism

Poster from the Vegan Information Project

This week, I am pleased to present my seventh interview with the vegan sociologist and animal rights advocate Roger Yates, who has been a vegan since 1979.

Roger’s 2005 PhD dissertation focused on the social construction of speciesism. In the 1980's, he was a Press Officer for the Animal Liberation Front, and in 2013 he co-founded the Vegan Information Project (also known as VIP) in Ireland. He has a blog, social media accounts, and a YouTube channel, where he advocates for veganism and animal rights from an abolitionist perspective.

In this interview, Roger outlines the history and philosophy of the Vegan Information Project, and he emphasizes the importance of understanding and challenging cultural speciesism as vegan advocates. He also speaks about the ethical and practical issues surrounding money in the animal advocacy movement, and why vegan advocates are sometimes accused of "forcing" our views on non-vegans. We discuss the importance of viewing veganism as a movement for holistic social justice, and we share our views about some of the things we'd like to see the vegan movement do differently in 2024 and beyond.

You can listen to the episode above or on CKCU 93.1 FM's website. You can also download the MP3 file from Archive.org.

You can find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to advocate for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Posters from the Vegan Information Project

Episode 97: Interview with animal rights author Joan Dunayer about speciesism and language

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with the writer and animal rights advocate Joan Dunayer, who has been a vegan since 1989. Joan is the author of two books: Animal Equality: Language and Liberation, published in 2001, and Speciesism, published in 2004. Additionally, a number of her essays about speciesism and language have appeared in anthologies and other publications, including the books Critical Animal and Media Studies (edited by Núria Almiron, Matthew Cole, Carrie P. Freeman) and Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations (edited by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan), among others.

In this interview, Joan tells me about what led her to become a vegan and write her first book. She describes what speciesism is, how it manifests in everyday language use, how we can challenge speciesism through language, and how speciesism and sexism are connected through derogatory language. She also speaks about the moral status of insects; speciesist attitudes within the animal advocacy movement; and the legal rights that she advocates nonhuman animals ought to have.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/61427.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-july-26-2023.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 94: Discussion with Jeremy Hess about anti-speciesist language, speciesism in the mainstream media, and providing sanctuary for nonhuman refugees

This week, the vegan animal rights advocate Jeremy Hess returns to the show for a third interesting discussion! I previously interviewed Jeremy for Episodes 62 and 78 of my show.

Jeremy Hess has been a vegan since 2014 and has been involved in a variety of forms of animal rights advocacy over the years, including working at sanctuaries and doing street outreach to speak to the public about veganism. He was also a co-founder and co-panellist on The Animal Rights Show on YouTube. On his website, VeganInteractions.com, and his YouTube Channel, Jeremy the Ape, he provides resources to help advocates use accurate and non-speciesist language and learn about animal rights theory. He is currently in the process of co-creating a vegan microsanctuary called Respect Animal Sanctuary to provide a safe home for survivors of speciesism in Georgia in the United States.

In this interview, Jeremy and I discuss how we can challenge speciesism in our language use, and we examine a particular speciesist mainstream media article about animal rescuers. We also discuss how we can respond when people ask us about the "breeds" of our dog friends, why Effective Altruism is problematic from an abolitionist vegan perspective, how we can stay motivated to continue advocating for our fellow animals, and what Jeremy and his partner Nisha Taylor-Hess are planning for Respect Animal Sanctuary.

Here are a few more links, based on what we discussed in the interview:

• Andy Atkinson's new documentary, Animal Rights: We're Getting It Wrong
• The recently-published book, The Good it Promises, The Harm it Does, edited by Carol J. Adams, Alice Crary, and Lori Gruen
  
• Speciesist article from the Daily Mail (2019) (Archive.org link): "Animal Rebellion: They're the militant vegan wing of eco-warriors who shut down British cities and now plan to stop us eating meat, fish and dairy. As this undercover report reveals, HATRED is on the menu" (Correction: When speaking about this article in this episode, I said that there wasn't any mention of the victims of animal exploitation, but I was only referring to the title and summary. In fact, later on in the article, the authors did briefly mention that the activists were holding a moment of silence for a cow. However, the authors referred to the cow as a "beef cow", did not suggest that there was any need to show moral concern for the cow, and were mocking and villifying the activists throughout the article.)
  
• Speciesist article from Fox News (2023) (Archive.org link): "Animal 'rescuers' wreaking havoc by stealing farm animals: 'These are criminals, not activists'"
  

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/60577.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-may-17-2023.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 92: Interview with Richard White about vegan anarchist geographies, veganism as prefigurative praxis, and Critical Animal Studies

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with the vegan anarchist geographer Richard White, PhD, Reader in Human Geography at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. Richard has co-edited several books, including Vegan Geographies: Spaces Beyond Violence, Ethics Beyond Speciesism (published in 2022) and Anarchism and Animal Liberation: Essays on Complementary Elements of Total Liberation (published in 2015). He was the editor of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies from 2009 to 2012, and he has written many book chapters and academic journal articles on topics related to geography, anarchism, and veganism. Richard is also a veganic gardener and has been a vegan for about two decades.

In this interview, Richard shares his story of becoming vegan and getting involved in Critical Animal Studies, and he speaks about the significance of understanding the connections between spatial and social justice. We discuss the concept of prefigurative praxis as it applies to veganism, anti-capitalist and anarchist approaches to veganism, and the limitations of approaching veganism as a diet or consumer lifestyle. Richard also tells me about his experiences with veganic gardening and teaching about veganism and animal rights issues.

Thanks to Richard for being a guest on the show!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/59815.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-march-15-2023.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 91: Interview with Nella Giatrakou about vegan feminism, veganism as opposition to speciesism, and the vegan movement in Greece

Artwork by the vegan artist, Maria Tiqwah

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with Nella Giatrakou, a vegan feminist and translator living in Greece. Since becoming vegan in 2013, Nella has been involved in a variety of forms of animal advocacy. She is one of the contributors who volunteered her translation skills to help create an ecofeminist anthology in Greek, which was published last year. She is also a co-panellist on the Animal Rights Show on YouTube.

In this interview, Nella speaks about what led her to become vegan, how her understanding of veganism has evolved over time, and what her experience has been like as a co-panellist on the Animal Rights Show. We discuss the importance of viewing veganism as a social justice movement that opposes speciesism, rather than just a diet; connections between veganism and feminism; the problems with reducetarian advocacy; celebrity culture within the animal rights movement; and why some people claim to be ex-vegans. Nella also describes the state of the vegan movement in Greece, and she recommends books and other resources for people who are interested in learning more about veganism, animal rights, and animal liberation.

At the end of this episode, we'll listen to the first movement of Marianna Martines' Sonata in G Major, performed by the vegan piano player Judith Valerie Engel.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/59701.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-march-8-2023.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 90: Interview with Lee Hall about the connections between veganism, animal liberation, and environmentalism

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with the author and public speaker Lee Hall, who has been a vegan advocate since 1983. Lee is the author of On Their Own Terms: Animal Liberation for the 21st Century, the creator of the blog Vegan Place, and a writer for CounterPunch. Lee previously taught immigration and animal law at Rutgers University in New Jersey and now holds a Master of Laws in environmental law with a focus on climate change.

In this interview, Lee speaks about vegan ethics, the history of the Vegan Society in the UK, the connections between animal liberation and environmentalism, ethical concerns with using violent imagery in our advocacy, and why domestication is inherently unfair. We also discuss the importance of integrity in our activism and the issue of whether chocolate is truly vegan-friendly. (You can learn more about cocoa production here.)

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/59365.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-february-8-2023.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 87: Interview with Kate Stewart and Matthew Cole about vegan sociology, the ethical focus of veganism, and the Donald Watson Archive Research Project

 

This week, I am pleased to present my third interview with the vegan sociologists Dr. Kate Stewart and Dr. Matthew Cole, who are the authors of the 2014 book, Our Children and Other Animals: The Cultural Construction of Human-Animal Relations in Childhood.

In this interview, Matthew and Kate describe how they incorporate the topics of veganism and speciesism into their teaching at the universities where they work. Then they tell me about speciesism as a systemic social problem; veganism as a challenge to speciesism; what vegaphobia is and how it involves ignoring the exploitation of nonhuman animals; the current state of the vegan movement; their reading recommendations; and how sociology can help inform our work as vegan advocates. We also discuss the Donald Watson Archive Research Project, which looks at the early history of the Vegan Society in the UK by focusing on one of the Vegan Society's co-founders.

At the end of the episode, we'll hear the song, "Vegan World", by Katie Veg.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/58445.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-november-23-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 85: Interview with Wendy McGovern about respecting other animals' rights and creating a vegan world

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with the animal rights activist Wendy McGovern. Wendy has been a vegan since about 1997. She has been involved in a variety of vegan and animal advocacy initiatives over the years, including hosting the London Animal Rights March in 2021. She is the host of the Thrive Vegan World podcast and a co-panelist on the Animal Rights Show on YouTube.

In this interview, Wendy shares her story of becoming vegan, and she tells me about her motivation and experiences as a vegan podcast host. We also discuss the “Why Love One But Eat The Other?” argument for going vegan; why vivisection (like all other forms of animal exploitation) is fundamentally unethical; how the animal rights movement has changed over the years; and how we can work towards a vegan world. Wendy also shares her reading recommendations and describes the best thing about being vegan.

The song, "Vegan World", by the vegan musician Katie Veg, can be heard after the interview.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/57777.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-september-28-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 82: Discussing the necessity and power of veganism with Marlene Narrow

Painting by the vegan artist Lynda Bell

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with Marlene Narrow. Marlene is the host of a radio show called Vegan Nation, which is broadcast weekly on WCUW 91.3 FM in Worcester, Massachusetts. She is a long-time vegan activist and a World Peace Diet Facilitator.

In this interview, Marlene outlines her approach to vegan philosophy, and we discuss why it’s important for vegans to be opposed to all forms of animal exploitation, including vivisection and pet ownership. We explore what’s wrong with promoting lab-grown “meat”, and Marlene explains why veganism and animal liberation are necessary in order to achieve freedom and peace for human beings as well as nonhuman beings. Finally, Marlene debunks some common anti-vegan arguments, and she describes the best thing about being vegan.

By the way, during the interview I said that promoting lab meat is a waste of vegan advocates' time. This is true, but I actually think that promoting lab meat is worse than a waste of time, as lab meat involves animal exploitation and perpetuates speciesist attitudes in society.

It was an interesting discussion!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/57344.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-august-17-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 81: Interview with Camila Perussello about veganism, her new book, and the real reason why "animal welfare" regulations exist

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with the food engineer and researcher Dr. Camila Perussello. Camila is the author of Food For Thought: Planetary Healing Begins on Our Plate, which was published by Lantern Publishing & Media earlier this year. In 2020, she left her job as a food scientist at an Irish university in order to focus her efforts on independent research and vegan activism.

In this interview, Camila tells her story of becoming vegan and outlines what we can expect to find in her book. She explains how “animal welfare” measures are designed to maximize financial gain for animal-exploiting industries. (Veganism, of course, is about animal rights and animal liberation rather than animal welfare.) Camila also describes how being vegan makes a positive difference for nonhuman animals and the environment, and she speaks about how we can work towards the abolition of animal exploitation.

At the end of the show, we'll listen to the song "Barbecue Protest", by the all-vegan punk band Scarlet Rescue.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/57024.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-july-19-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Artwork by the vegan artist, Jo Frederiks.

Episode 80: Interview with Ronnie Lee about the history of the animal liberation movement, the importance of vegan advocacy, and the concept of vegan "journeys"

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with the vegan animal liberation activist Ronnie Lee. Ronnie Lee is best known for being one of the founders of the Animal Liberation Front, which began in the 1970s. Currently he works to educate the public about the importance of becoming vegan. His 50th veganniversary took place earlier this year.

In this interview, Ronnie reflects on how the animal liberation movement has evolved over the years, and he describes the impact that social media has had on the movement. He also explains why doing vegan advocacy is essential in order to achieve animal liberation, and he offers his views on consumerism and vegan “journeys”.

At the end of the episode, we'll listen to Laura Nyro's "Lite a Flame (The Animal Rights Song)", which was released in 1993.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/56989.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-july-16-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 79: Interview with the vegan sociologist Roger Yates about vegan advocacy, the impact of banning fur farms, and the future of the vegan movement

Vegan Information Project in Dublin, Ireland

This week, I am pleased to present my fourth interview with the sociologist and long-time vegan activist Dr. Roger Yates. I previously interviewed Roger on Episodes 19 and 21, Episode 29, and Episode 50 of my show.

In this interview, Roger tells me about the approach that he takes to vegan advocacy, focusing on animal rights instead of animal welfare. He speaks about the implications of the recent fur farm ban in Ireland, gives his review of Earthling Ed’s new book about veganism (This is Vegan Propaganda (And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You)), and tells me about his experiences advocating for veganism on TikTok and on the Irish television program Eating with the Enemy. Finally, we discuss where the vegan movement is headed and how it might evolve in the future.

It was a very interesting discussion!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/56869.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-july-6-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 78: Discussing anti-speciesist language, vegan advocacy, farming subsidies, and the Liberation Pledge with Jeremy Hess

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with the vegan animal rights activist Jeremy Hess. I previously interviewed Jeremy last year, on Episode 62 of my show.

In this episode, Jeremy and I continue our discussion about anti-speciesist language from our last interview. We also discuss vegan advocacy, the Liberation Pledge, and whether it’s useful to advocate for political and legislative change to try to help nonhuman animals, such as redirecting government subsidies away from animal agriculture.

Thanks to Jeremy for being a guest on the show again!

At the end of the episode we'll listen to the song "Sides" from Vegan Queen V's new music album.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/56510.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-june-4-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

Episode 76: Interview with veganic farmer, researcher, and activist Jimmy Videle of La Ferme de l'Aube, Québec

This week, I am very happy to present my interview with the veganic farmer and activist Jimmy Videle. In 2014, Jimmy and his wife, Mélanie Bernier, started a vegan organic market farm, La Ferme de l’Aube, in Boileau, Québec, where they now live with their five rescued cats. In the past, Jimmy worked and consulted on eleven vegan, organic, and permaculture farms in Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, South America and Québec. He is currently a consultant and volunteer with A.U.M. Films & Media (the producers of the documentaries Cowspiracy, What the Health, and others) and the Animal Protection Party of Canada.

In this interview, Jimmy speaks about veganic farming and the practices that he and Mélanie use at La Ferme de l’Aube. He tells his story of becoming vegan, describes the importance of farming veganically, and discusses what needs to be done to help spread veganic farming methods across North America and around the world.

In research that Jimmy conducted for the Humane Party of the United States in 2018, he found that vegan organic farming was 2.2% more productive per acre when compared to growing crops using conventional methods. However, in a study published in 2019, Jimmy wrote that vegan organic agriculture can be 4198% more productive per acre than animal agriculture. This is due to the fact that animal agriculture uses a vast amount of land for grazing and growing feed crops to feed the animals who are exploited and killed by that industry. With a global shift to veganic farming, we could rewild much of the land that is currently used for agriculture.

This was such an inspiring interview. Thanks to Jimmy for being a guest on the show!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/55876.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-april-13-2022.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!