Episode 100: Reconnecting with the work of Marti Kheel, author of Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective and co-founder of Feminists for Animal Rights

Over the past several months, I've been exploring the old newsletters of Feminists for Animal Rights, a group that was active in the United States from the early 1980's to the 2000's. As they stated in their literature, Feminists for Animal Rights sought to "raise the consciousness of the feminist community, the animal rights community, and the general public regarding the connections between the objectification, exploitation, and abuse of both women and animals in patriarchal society." In addition to producing a newsletter, members of Feminists for Animal Rights tabled at events and conferences; gave presentations and workshops; created opportunities for like-minded women to connect, study, and learn from one another; and participated in a variety of other activist initiatives. The group was quite influential within the animal rights movement at the time.

One of the co-founders of Feminists for Animal Rights was the vegan ecofeminist scholar and activist Marti Kheel, who developed the FAR slide show and wrote a number of important essays about ecofeminism. She was the author of the 2008 book, Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective. Sadly, Marti passed away in 2011.

On the show this week, we'll be listening to an abridged version of an interview with Marti that was originally broadcast in 2009 on the show Hear Me Raw, based at Joy Radio in Australia. In this episode, the interviewer, Sue, asked Marti to describe the key principles of ecofeminist philosophy. They also discuss the limitations of mainstream environmentalist theory, why feminists should embrace veganism, how vegaphobia is related to homophobia, and what’s wrong with using sexist tactics in animal advocacy.

Marti's insights are very much worth listening to and considering. I hope you'll listen in!

At the end of the show is the song, "Vegan World", by the vegan musician Katie Veg.

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 75: Interview with Katina Czyczelis about why veganism is essential for the animals, human health, the environment, and world peace

Social media poster by Katina Czyczelis.
Artwork by the vegan artist Lynda Bell.

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with Katina Czyczelis, who is a vegan advocate, business manager, and musician living in Australia. An essay that Katina wrote about veganism was included in an anthology titled Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, edited by Joanne Kong, which was published in 2021.

In this interview, Katina tells me her story of becoming vegan, makes the case for ethical veganism, and responds to many of the excuses that people commonly make against going vegan. We also discuss why veganism is essential in order to achieve a peaceful, healthy, and fair world.

At the end of the show, we'll listen to the piano song, "Into the Sunrise", by Will Tuttle.

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/553/55522.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-march-9-2022.
   

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 73: Interview with Bob Linden, host of Go Vegan Radio

This week, I am very happy to present my interview with Bob Linden, the host of Go Vegan Radio. Bob has been a vegan for 38 years. Since he started Go Vegan Radio in 2001, the show has been broadcast on a variety of radio networks and stations in the United States. Bob is also an event organizer who has put together a number of highly successful vegan festivals and summits. He is unequivocal in his advocacy of veganism as a necessary solution to many of the problems afflicting today’s world.

In this interview, Bob tells me about the mission of Go Vegan Radio and shares his story of becoming vegan and starting the show. He speaks about the feedback he has received from listeners, the importance of incorporating vegan advocacy into our everyday lives, and why veganism is essential for the animals, the environment, human health, and world peace. He also explains why non-vegan vegetarianism doesn’t make sense, why he does not support welfarist animal charities, and why KFC’s Beyond Meat so-called “plant-based” chicken nuggets are not vegan.

I recommend that you listen to some of the episodes from Go Vegan Radio's archives after tuning in to this 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/553/55035.html.
   
2.  Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-january-26-2022.
   

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 68: Singer-songwriter Vegan Queen V speaks about her vegan Christmas music and her upcoming animal rights album

This week, I am pleased to present my second interview with the vegan singer-songwriter Vegan Queen V, also known as Jen Armstrong. The first time I interviewed Queen V was in 2019, for Episode 10 of my show. Queen V, who lives in the UK, creates songs that advocate for veganism and against animal exploitation.

In this interview, Queen V and I discuss her vegan Christmas songs, “Cruel World” and “Have Yourself a Merry Vegan Christmas”, as well as a song about ethics titled “Who Made You God”. Queen V also tells me about her upcoming animal rights music album and how being vegan has changed her life.

We'll hear all of the aforementioned songs on this episode, and we'll close the show with the song "Just Like Us".

It was fantastic to speak with Queen V again 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/553/54399.html.
   
2.  Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-december-1-2021.
   

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 55: Interview with Professor Gary Steiner about the history of animal ethics in the West, whether Christianity can lead to veganism, and why postmodernism cannot protect animal rights

This week, I am pleased to present my interview with Dr. Gary Steiner, professor of philosophy at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. Much of Gary Steiner’s work has focused on the moral status of animals in Western philosophy. He is the author of many academic papers and four published books, including Anthropocentrism and its Discontents, Animals and the Moral Community, and Animals and the Limits of Postmodernism. His fifth book, which will be published later this year, will be titled Felt Kinship: The Historical Pretensions of Reason and the Moral Status of Nonhuman Animals.

In this interview, Gary speaks about the history of the moral status of animals in the Western world, and we discuss whether Christianity can lead to animal rights and veganism. After that, Gary tells me about his book Animals and the Limits of Postmodernism, explaining why the philosophy of postmodernism fails to establish the clear moral principles that are necessary in order to achieve justice for nonhuman animals. Then he outlines a philosophy of animal ethics that we could embrace instead. Finally, we discuss whether there is hope that we could achieve a vegan world.

During the interview, I read an excerpt from Volume 1 of The Keys to Freedom by Leo Tolstoy, translated into English by Walter Richmond. Gary told me about Pope Francis's 2015 papal encyclical, Laudato Si', which can be read here. The Christian scholar I mentioned in the show was Rynn Berry, who said on an episode of Go Vegan Radio with Bob Linden that the word "fish" was a mistranslation of what could more accurately be described as "relish".

It was a fascinating discussion. I hope you can tune in!

At the end of the show is the song "Sixth Commandment" by Dr. Aryan Tavakkoli.

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/553/52321.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-june-9-2021.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. 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!