Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

What do animal rights and veganism have to do with hip hop? So much more than you might think! Keith Tucker of Hip Hop is Green joins us this week to discuss the organization’s extraordinary work spreading the word in the hip hop community. ABOUT OUR GUEST Keith Tucker founded the nonprofit Hip Hop is Green, the first hip hop organization to provide BIPOC families plant-based meals nationwide. A unique visionary and social entrepreneur for over 30 years, he has worked with hundreds of businesses, youth groups, community organizations, and icons in the entertainment industry as an ambassador for the culture of hip hop. In 2017, Keith was nominated for Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America “Catalyst for Change” award. He now focuses his nonprofit on fighting climate change and promoting holistic wellness in low-income communities across America with the global power of hip hop culture. RESOURCES Steven Wise, Coral Springs animal advocate of international renown, dies at 73 ‘A Damn Good Brain’: Pigeons Possess Problem-Solving Skills ‘Similar To AI’ Scarlet Spark workshops Hip Hop is Green website Hip Hop is Green on Instagram Hip Hop is Green on Facebook Hip Hop is Green on X (formerly Twitter) INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X (formerly Twitter). The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

Jessika Ava, CEO and founder of Thrive Philanthropy, discusses funding grassroots food justice initiatives and promoting global plant-based eating. She highlights the importance of empowering diverse leadership and supporting grassroots organizations, especially in the Global South. The conversation delves into the complexities of philanthropy in addressing animal welfare legislation, cultural sensitivities, and the environmental impacts of veganism. With over 150 advocates supported across Africa, Jessika's mission aims to dismantle accessibility barriers and ensure equitable funding for transformative projects.

Katie Cantrell and Ilana Braverman, co-founders of Greener by Default, discuss making plant-based choices the norm in foodservice. They share how their initiative has successfully implemented plant-based options in institutions like hospitals and universities, sparking a cultural shift. The challenges of maintaining vegan principles in social settings add humor and depth. They also critique the meat industry and advocate for community engagement, emphasizing inclusivity in fostering sustainable food choices.

Molly Elwood joins us to discuss how Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat has brilliantly channeled repulsion into activism that gets people thinking about who they might have on their plate. ABOUT OUR GUEST Molly Elwood is a writer, copywriter, storyteller, and creative strategist. Between creative agencies and in-house creative teams, she has spent more than ten years writing and humanizing for her clients. She is also the creator of Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat, a satirical, comprehensive, and wickedly effective social media phenomenon. What began as a grassroots movement designed to provoke a conversation about how we treat animals is now creating meaningful and tangible social change. Molly Elwood on X (formerly Twitter) Molly Elwood on Instagram RESOURCES WXXI Environmental Connections: The power of electrification to address climate change WXXI Environmental Connections: Environmental responsibility in the food sector Xoiiku on X (formerly Twitter) The power of positivity Special Feature: Oatly and Industry Figures Fight Back Against Widespread Anti Vegan Disinformation Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat website Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat on Instagram Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat on Facebook Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat on X (formerly Twitter) Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat on Youtube Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat on TikTok INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X (formerly Twitter). The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is sponsored in part by The Culture & Animals Foundation, which sponsors artists, scholars, and activists in our collective efforts to understand our fellow species more deeply and to further their rights. CAF provides annual grants, an arts prize, a lecture series, and a fellowship. Visit cultureandanimals.org for more information. The Culture & Animals Foundation: Think. Create. Explore. Celebrate.  __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

Billboards. They’re everywhere, whether you like it or not, so why not use them to help animals? Jane Casteline & Shannon Johnstone join us this week to discuss their project, Picturing Pigs, and the challenges they had to overcome to get their message onto billboards in the home of factory farming and why this is a form of activism that we can all get involved in. ABOUT OUR GUESTS Shannon Johnstone’s photographic work deals with themes that reclaim what has been discarded and make visible that which is hidden. Her project, “Landfill Dogs,” was featured on ABC World News and CNN. Her newest award-winning work is entitled “Roadside Zoo.” She is a three-time recipient of Creativity Grants from the Culture and Animals Foundation, most recently, along with Jane Casteline, for the billboard advocacy project  “Picturing Pigs.” She is also a tenured professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a PhD candidate in Human-Animal Studies at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Jane M. Casteline’s photography explores the nuances and unique qualities of the natural, human, and built environment through photography, including her current project, “Mushrooms in Raleigh,” and a documentary photography series currently in development on the journey of homeless Turkish dogs from abandonment to rescue to adoption. She is also a research administrator at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. RESOURCES We Asked Women If Vegan Men Give Them the Ick Scarlet Spark Workshops Picturing Pigs website Picturing Pigs on Facebook Picturing Pig on Instagram Jane C Photography on Instagram Shannon Johnstone on LinkedIn INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. Join us in the Our Hen House Community, or follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is sponsored in part by The Culture & Animals Foundation, which sponsors artists, scholars, and activists in our collective efforts to understand our fellow species more deeply and to further their rights. CAF provides annual grants, an arts prize, a lecture series, and a fellowship. Visit cultureandanimals.org for more information. The Culture & Animals Foundation: Think. Create. Explore. Celebrate.  __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

We all know that China is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to vegan advocacy, but what is the status of advocacy there? Join us as Jian Yi sheds light on his work with The Good Food Fund and China Vegan Society. ABOUT OUR GUEST JIAN Yi (简艺/簡藝) is an independent filmmaker and food activist. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Animal Law and Policy Program (2022-24) and the founder and president of Good Food Fund, a leading initiative in China’s food systems transformation, whose Mama’s Kitchen project was named one of the ten global Top Visionaries by the Rockefeller Foundation’s 2050 Food Systems Prize. In 2021, Jian served on the Core Leadership Team of Action Track 2 of the United Nations Food Systems Summit and led its Work-stream on Food Environments. He founded the China Vegan Society in 2021 and is at the forefront of the nation’s plant-based movement. RESOURCES I’m Being Forced to Wear a GPS Ankle Monitor Because I Rescued a Duck NYC Will Soon Be Home to 15 Robot-Run Vegetarian Restaurants From Chipotle’s Founder Jian Yi on LinkedIn Jian Yi on Facebook Jian Yi on Twitter Zodiac 12 Film Website Good Food Fund Website Good Food Fund on Facebook Good Food Fund on X China Vegan Society Website China Vegan Society on X China Vegan Society on Facebook INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. Join us in the Our Hen House Community, or follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is sponsored in part by The Culture & Animals Foundation, which sponsors artists, scholars, and activists in our collective efforts to understand our fellow species more deeply and to further their rights. CAF provides annual grants, an arts prize, a lecture series, and a fellowship. Visit cultureandanimals.org for more information. The Culture & Animals Foundation: Think. Create. Explore. Celebrate.  __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

Factory farms destroy lives, both animal and human. Jamie Berger joins us this week to discuss the making of the documentary The Smell of Money and the devastation caused to eastern North Carolina and its residents by this evil industry. ABOUT OUR GUEST Jamie Berger is a writer and filmmaker born and raised in North Carolina. Her writing has been featured in Vox, The Guardian, USA Today, NowThis, The News & Observer, and more. Throughout her career, she has used writing and visual storytelling to draw attention to issues ranging from environmental racism to the climate crisis to other injustices wrought against people, animals, and the planet. Jamie Berger on Instagram Jamie Berger on X RESOURCES Continued Decline in US Meat Consumption is “Long-Term Industry Disruption” Creating Significant Opportunity Meat Consumption Is Rising — But Not in the Way You Think The Smell of Money website watch The Smell of Money trailer The Smell of Money on Instagram The Smell of Money on TikTok The Smell of Money on X INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. Join us in the Our Hen House Community, or follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is sponsored in part by The Culture & Animals Foundation, which sponsors artists, scholars, and activists in our collective efforts to understand our fellow species more deeply and to further their rights. CAF provides annual grants, an arts prize, a lecture series, and a fellowship. Visit cultureandanimals.org for more information. The Culture & Animals Foundation: Think. Create. Explore. Celebrate.  __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

Tom Conger, Executive Director at Stray Dog Institute, dives into the role of AI in animal activism. He explains how generative AI, like ChatGPT, can revolutionize activism by helping draft letters and strategize campaigns. The potential risks of AI, including bias and misinformation, are discussed alongside its ethical implications. Tom emphasizes the importance of using AI as a tool rather than a crutch and outlines practical daily workflows for activists. He also shares insights on the future of philanthropy in the context of farmed-animal welfare.

Recently, we had a very special excursion that we cannot wait to share with you. Land that used to be a farm is now overflowing with native plants, which, of course, draw in native insects. So then the native birds move in, and suddenly, it’s heaven! And did we mention the beavers??? Join us for this guided tour with Matt Perry, our guest this week, and find out what the world should look like. ABOUT OUR GUEST Matt Perry is the Conservation Director and Resident Naturalist at Spring Farm CARES in Clinton, New York. Since 1999, he has overseen a rewilding project that is converting 260 acres of former agricultural fields into biodiverse wildlife habitat. In Central New York, Matt is recognized as an authority on wild birds, their behavior, and their habitat. He is the President and Co-founder of the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project, a long-time board member of Beavers Wetlands & Wildlife – an organization that advocates for wild Beavers and is dedicated to solving Beaver/Human conflicts and has written hundreds of nature-themed articles for “Mohawk Valley Living Magazine” (a publication circulated throughout Central New York and available on the web). He is also a former regional editor of “The Kingbird,” which is a quarterly journal published by The New York State Ornithological Association. Matt is an ethical vegan, and vegan principles play a major role in all the ecological projects he is involved in. RESOURCES ASPCA Commends Gov. Hochul for Signing Bill to Protect New York Horses from Slaughter Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! We will soon be kicking off our end-of-year matching campaign, meaning that between October 30 and December 31, your donations will be MATCHED, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000! That means, with your donation, we are hoping to raise $50k in total. We can’t do it without you! The only way we’ll receive the matching funds is if we successfully reach our goal of raising $25k from our loyal supporters by the end of the year.  So, if you like Our Hen House, if you believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, if you find community and solace in our shows and resources, and if you believe in the change-making power of indie media, please make a donation today. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on Apple Podcasts! Don’t forget to check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is sponsored in part by The Culture & Animals Foundation, which sponsors artists, scholars, and activists in our collective efforts to understand our fellow species more deeply and to further their rights. CAF provides annual grants, an arts prize, a lecture series, and a fellowship. Visit cultureandanimals.org for more information. The Culture & Animals Foundation: Think. Create. Explore. Celebrate.  __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

It isn’t easy to write about animals, especially if the goal is to actually portray them as they are and not just use them, as so often happens, as symbols, metaphors, and mirrors. In order to confront these difficulties, Sangamithra Iyer recently launched The Literary Animal Project to bring writers and readers into conversation to explore the many quandaries in writing about animals and try to find effective, and literary, ways forward. ABOUT OUR GUEST Sangamithra Iyer is a writer, engineer, environmental planner, and literary animal. Her first book, Governing Bodies, a lyrical reckoning of the ways bodies—human, animal, and water— are controlled and liberated, is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions. She served as an editor of Satya magazine, and her work has been published in numerous outlets and anthologies, including our very own Hen Press, which published “The Lines We Draw.” Most recently, she is the founder of The Literary Animal project, a habitat for conversations and writings about the ways animal lives are portrayed on the page and how we forge a more just and compassionate multi-species world, for which she was awarded a Culture and Animals Foundation grant. RESOURCES Eat Differently Theatrical Commercial The Lines We Draw ebook Sangamithra Iyer’s Website Literary Animal Substack Invisible Cities Writing for Animals (w/ Are You Willing Essay) Satya Magazine archive Small Days and Nights The Carrying: Poems Next of Kin Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals What We Fed to the Manticore Fathoms: The World in the Whale Experimental Animals: (A Reality Fiction) On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous The Ethics of Diet; A Catena of Authorities Deprecatory of the Practice of Flesh Eating For the Birds: From Exploitation to Liberation The First Step: An Essay On the Morals of Diet, to Which Are Added Two Stories INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! We will soon be kicking off our end-of-year matching campaign, meaning that between October 30 and December 31, your donations will be MATCHED, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000! That means, with your donation, we are hoping to raise $50k in total. We can’t do it without you! The only way we’ll receive the matching funds is if we successfully reach our goal of raising $25k from our loyal supporters by the end of the year.  So, if you like Our Hen House, if you believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, if you find community and solace in our shows and resources, and if you believe in the change-making power of indie media, please make a donation today. You can listen to our podcast directly on our website or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher! Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it and leave us a comment on Apple Podcasts! Don’t forget to check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. __________________________ This episode is sponsored in part by The Culture & Animals Foundation, which sponsors artists, scholars, and activists in our collective efforts to understand our fellow species more deeply and to further their rights. CAF provides annual grants, an arts prize, a lecture series, and a fellowship. Visit cultureandanimals.org for more information. The Culture & Animals Foundation: Think. Create. Explore. Celebrate.  __________________________ This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision-makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.