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 89: Interview with sociologist Corey Lee Wrenn about vegan feminism, sexism in the animal movement, and the intersections of social justice issues

This week, I am pleased to present my third interview with Corey Lee Wrenn, PhD, Lecturer of Sociology and co-director of the Centre for the Study of Social and Political Movements at the University of Kent. Corey is the author of A Rational Approach to Animal Rights: Extensions in Abolitionist Theory (published in 2016), Piecemeal Protest: Animal Rights in the Age of Nonprofits (published in 2019), and Animals in Irish Society: Interspecies Oppression and Vegan Liberation in Britain’s First Colony (published in 2021). She is the founder of the Vegan Feminist Network and co-founder of the International Association of Vegan Sociologists.

In this interview, Corey speaks about how she started making connections between veganism and feminism in her work, and we discuss why it’s harmful and ineffective to use sexist tactics in animal advocacy campaigns. Corey also gives other examples of how sexism, racism, and ableism show up in the animal movement; she describes the history of the vegan feminist group, Feminists for Animal Rights; and she gives her reading recommendations for those who wish to learn more about vegan feminism and the interconnectedness of speciesism with other forms of oppression in society.

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/553/59205.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-january-24-2023.
   

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 88: Interview with sociologist Roger Yates about vegan values and history, problematic advocacy campaigns, and the joy of animal liberation

This week, I am pleased to present my fifth interview with the sociologist and animal rights advocate Roger Yates, who has been a vegan since 1979. I previously interviewed Roger for Episode 19, Episode 21, Episode 29, Episode 50, and Episode 79 of my show.

In this interview, Roger speaks about the values held by the founders of the vegan social movement. Additionally, he describes how people obtained information about veganism and animal rights prior to the widespread use of the Internet, how the language that vegan advocates use has changed over the years, and what he imagines a vegan world would be like. We also discuss our views on the Million Dollar Vegan campaign and Veganuary, and Roger tells the story of the time when he witnessed rescued rabbits touching the grass for the first time in their lives.

This was a great 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/553/59042.html.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-january-11-2023.
   

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!

Gary Francione's Abolitionist Approach Commentary podcast #9, discussing what's wrong with using sexist tactics to promote animal rights

Here is an excellent podcast episode by Professor Gary Francione of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights. Gary Francione recorded this podcast episode in 2009, but it is still entirely relevant today.

"Commentary #9: Using Sexism to Promote Animal Rights": https://www.abolitionistapproach.com/commentary-using-sexism-to-promote-animal-rights/

Painting by the vegan artist, Lynda Bell.

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 86: Interview with John Sanbonmatsu about his forthcoming book, the connections between speciesism and other forms of oppression, and the myth of "humane" and "sustainable" animal agriculture

This week, I am pleased to present my third interview with John Sanbonmatsu, Associate Professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. John is the editor of the book Critical Theory and Animal Liberation and the author of The Postmodern Prince: Critical Theory, Left Strategy, And The Making Of A New Political Subject. His forthcoming book will be titled The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong About Meat, Animals, and the Nature of Moral Life. He is the founder and main designer of CleanMeat-Hoax.com.

In this interview, John tells me about what inspired him to write his new book. We discuss a number of the themes he explores in the book, including the myth of “humane” animal exploitation and slaughter, the impact that the locavore movement has had on the “meat” economy, the relationship between capitalism and speciesism, why violence against other animals has been falsely viewed as a form of women’s empowerment, how the oppression of humans is connected to the oppression of other animals, and what we can do to work towards a just and peaceful world.

John's work on these topics is insightful, well-informed, and thought-provoking. You won't want to miss out on this discussion!

At the end of the episode, we'll hear the song "Hold On" from Vegan Queen V's music album Freedom Warrior.

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/553/58311.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-november-10-2022.
   

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!