Episode 7: Interview with Angel Flinn, Communications Manager of Be Fair Be Vegan (Part Two); and the animal rights music of Stephanie Valentin

This week's episode of Always for Animal Rights features Part Two of my interview with Angel Flinn, Communications Manager of Be Fair Be Vegan. As previously mentioned, Be Fair Be Vegan is an animal justice campaign that uses outdoor advertising to promote an uncompromising vegan message. Currently Be Fair Be Vegan is running two Canadian campaigns: one in Toronto and one in Montreal.

In Part One of the interview, Angel had told me why Be Fair Be Vegan's advertisements are designed the way they are, how people have reacted to the campaign, and how she explains to people who are not yet vegan why they should go vegan.

In Part Two, Angel tells me the fascinating story of how she became a vegan and an activist, how vegan activists can get involved with the campaign, and why Be Fair Be Vegan takes an uncompromising approach to their vegan message.

For more information about Be Fair Be Vegan, please visit BeFairBeVegan.com.

Today's episode also includes two of the vegan animal rights songs of French artist and musician Stephanie Valentin.

One of these songs, "Chair Amie", is told from the perspective of a non-human animal who is imprisoned in an animal exploitation industry. On Youtube you can also find the music video for this song, which includes Stephanie's remarkable artwork and the English translations of the lyrics. The video tells the tragic story of a calf who was taken away from his mother and is facing imminent death.

(As I mentioned on the show, in the dairy industry, male calves are routinely torn from their mothers so that humans can drink the mother cow’s milk. Meanwhile, the male calves are killed and their remains are sold as so-called “veal”.)

The second song, "Animal", expresses many of the feelings that we vegan activists have on a regular basis. Here is the English translation of the lyrics of the song's chorus:

Animal, I am like you
From my soul rises the same voice
Marginal, that's how they see me
But the evil will not pass by me anymore

You can see the videos for "Chair Amie" and "Animal" on Stephanie's YouTube channel (I apologize if you encounter any advertisements on YouTube).

Thanks so much to Stephanie for granting me permission to include your amazing songs in my podcast!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/44933.html.

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afarseptember252019.

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will air on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, October 9th, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.

Episode 6: Interview with Angel Flinn, Communications Manager of Be Fair Be Vegan (Part One)

This week on Always For Animal Rights, I aired Part One of my interview with Angel Flinn, Communications Manager of Be Fair Be Vegan. Be Fair Be Vegan is an animal justice campaign that uses outdoor advertising to promote an uncompromising vegan message. In Part One of the interview, Angel spoke to me about why Be Fair Be Vegan's advertisements are designed the way they are, how people have reacted to the campaign, and how she explains to people who are not yet vegan why they should go vegan.

Recently Be Fair Be Vegan has launched two new Canadian campaigns: one in Toronto and one in Montreal. Here is some information from Be Fair Be Vegan's press releases about these campaigns, along with some images from each.

In Toronto, “The media takeover will run from September 2nd through October 27th and focus on three transit stops: St. George Station, and the interiors of the Yonge Eglinton Centre and the Yonge Sheppard Centre. 

“The BeFairBeVegan message will be broadcast across a broad range of media, including Flexity streetcar wraps, 20 bus murals and 10 transit center posters. Digital and online media images will also play a significant role in the campaign.” 

Stairs at St. George Station, Toronto

Flexity Streetcar in Toronto

Three of Be Fair Be Vegan's messages

Meanwhile, the Montreal campaign “is an advertising takeover of Montreal's Berri-UQAM station along with 99 digital screens located in other key stations and hubs around the city, and will run until September 29th.

“In addition to the official outdoor ads, BeFairBeVegan materials will be on display at a public vigil held by local activists on September 14th at Jardins Gamelin. The event begins at 2:00.” 

Here are three examples of Be Fair Be Vegan's French-language advertisements for the Montreal campaign:

Part Two of the interview will be aired on the next episode of this show, on September 25, 2019.

For more information about Be Fair Be Vegan, please visit BeFairBeVegan.com.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/44729.html. This version also includes the song "Wake Up Now" by Claudia Robbens. Please also read the notices in the description on the episode's page before listening. Thank you.

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afarseptember112019.

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will air on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, September 25, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.

Episode 5: Interview with Sandra Higgins of the Go Vegan World campaign; announcement about the Liberation Pledge; and Queen V's song "Just Like Us"

This week's show features an interview with Sandra Higgins, the founder and director of Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary and the Go Vegan World campaign.

Go Vegan World is an animal rights advocacy organization that educates the public about animal rights and promotes veganism. The advertisements have appeared on billboards and other places in Ireland, the UK, and Toronto. As stated on Go Vegan World's website, the campaign "is animal focused in nature and seeks complete cessation of animal use by humans." It is a truly excellent campaign.

Sandra spoke to me about the experience that led her to decide to go vegan, the animals who inspired the Go Vegan World campaign, the impact the campaign has had so far, and importance of remembering that veganism is about animal rights. Please visit GoVeganWorld.com to learn more about veganism, and EdenFarmedAnimalSanctuary.com to read the stories of the animals who live at the sanctuary.

Here are some photographs of Go Vegan World's advertisements:

As usual, the animal rights news is at the beginning of the show.

After the interview, I also announced my decision to take the Liberation Pledge. To learn more about the Liberation Pledge, you can visit https://www.liberationpledge.com/.

At the end of the show is Queen V's song "Just Like Us", which was inspired by the chants that are sung in animal rights marches.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/44526.html. In this version, the song "Just Like Us" was faded out about half-way through the song.

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afaraugust282019. This podcast version contains the song "Just Like Us" in its entirety.

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will air on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, September 11, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.

Episode 4: Animal Liberation Toronto Conference, Queen V's music, and Anti-Speciesist Language

Hello everyone!

For this week's show, I interviewed Johanna Nikoletos of Liberation T.O. about the Animal Liberation Toronto Conference, which will take place in Toronto from August 16th to 19th, 2019. Johanna told me about some of the things that will be happening at the conference and about what she hopes the conference will contribute to the Canadian animal rights community.

After the interview is the song "What Hell is Like" by the vegan singer/songwriter Queen V. The song is very powerful.

Then, I discuss some of the ways that we can use anti-speciesist language in everyday life. Afterwards I realized that there were some important points that I forgot to mention in this segment, so I look forward to having a "Part 2" to this topic in a future episode!

And, as always, we have the animal rights news at the beginning of the show.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/44299.html. The version on CKCU's website also includes most of the song called "Meat is Murder" (by the Smiths) at the end.

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afaraugust142019.

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will air on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, August 28, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.

Episode 3: Interview with Ruth and Marcus of The Species Barrier radio show and podcast

In this week's episode of Always for Animal Rights, I interviewed Ruth and Marcus, who are vegan activists and co-hosts of The Species Barrier, a UK-based radio show and podcast. Marcus and Ruth spoke to me about how human overpopulation is relevant to animal rights issues.

This episode also includes an animal rights news segment.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE:

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/44040.html. There were a few technical difficulties on this week's show, but we still managed to make the show happen. If you don't want to hear any mistakes then you can download the edited version of this episode from Archive.org (see Option #2 below). 

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afarjuly312019.

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will air on CKCU 93.1 FM on Wednesday, August 14, 2019, from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards as well.

Episode 2: Interview with Gad Hakimi, lead designer of the International Vegan Flag

In this week's show, I interviewed Gad Hakimi, the lead designer of the International Vegan Flag. In our interview, we spoke about the story of the flag, the need for vegans to be activists, and the reasons why veganism has become much more popular in Israel in recent years. For more information about the vegan flag, please visit VeganFlag.org.

This episode also includes an animal rights news segment. The theme song is "I am Vegan Hear Me Roar" by Vegan Smythe. Today's episode also includes "Groovy Vegan Song" by Vegan Smythe.

HOW TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE:

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/43852.html

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afarjuly172019

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will air on CKCU 93.1 FM on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards as well.

Episode 1: Interview with Sorin Ionescu and Alyssa Berris of Vegan Option Canada

Welcome to the first episode of Always for Animal Rights! In Episode 1, I interviewed Alyssa Berris and Sorin Ionescu, two of the co-founders of Vegan Option Canada. I volunteer with Vegan Option Canada, so I already knew Sorin and Alyssa before interviewing them.

As mentioned on Vegan Option Canada’s website, “Vegan Option Canada (VOC) is a nationwide grassroots political activism organization that aims to ensure vegan options are available in a variety of areas, particularly vegan food options. Its founding principles are horizontality, decentralization of power, and a pragmatic approach based on the values of compassion and non-violence.” 

One of Vegan Option Canada's main projects is a petition calling on the Canadian government to require all canteens at government-run institutions (including schools, hospitals, prisons, etc.) to include a vegan option on the menu.


You can learn more about Vegan Option Canada and get involved by visiting VOC’s website. This episode also includes an animal rights news segment.

AFAR’s theme song comes from the song “I am Vegan Hear Me Roar” by Vegan Smythe. You can listen to the whole song on YouTube. Thanks so much to Vegan Smythe for letting me use your music on my show!

HOW TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE:

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on the radio station’s website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/43648.html

2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the “Download Options” sidebar, do a right-mouse click on “VBR MP3” and click “Save Link As…” or “Save Target As…”) at https://archive.org/details/afarjuly3rd2019

Please note that there will be a new episode of Always for Animal Rights once every two weeks. I look forward to hosting the next episode on July 17th, 2019!