Vedge Your Best, Vegan Ideas for Everyone At Any Age
Michele Olender
There has never been a more important time to be Vegan. Vedge Your Best is the only podcast aimed at teaching midlife women how to limit and eliminate the consumption of animal products without feeling deprived, overwhelmed or unsupported, even if no one you know is Vegan. Life Coach Michele Olender will show you how living Vegan is the superpower that will unlock your possibilities and give you the confidence to take on your next impossible goal, by doing it YOUR way. Vedge YOUR Best and there’s nothing you can’t do.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 12, 2026 • 15min
297: The Olender Test - for Vegan Representation in Popular Culture
A thought experiment about how vegan characters are shown in movies, TV, and books and why those portrayals matter. Introduction of the Olender Test to check whether vegans are full human characters rather than jokes or plot devices. Discussion of familiar examples that pass or fail, links to behavioral science ideas, and an invitation to try the test on what you watch or read.
May 5, 2026 • 20min
296: Uncomfortable Conversations and Happy Cow
A candid take on when loyalty to vegan spots becomes lowered standards. The host wrestles with staying quiet about underwhelming meals and unreliable review platforms. Stories from a Paris trip show the gap between expectation and reality. A call for clear, respectful feedback to help vegan restaurants improve.
Apr 28, 2026 • 53min
295: Plant Based With Kids: Erin Stanczyk from EatMoveRest.com
Erin Stanczyk, co‑founder of EatMoveRest and author of The Happy Healthy Plant‑Based Cookbook, shares her health‑to‑healing journey and family‑focused approach to food. She talks about discovering food as medicine, building simple, colorful plant‑based meals, raising kids by example not pressure, bite‑size habits, redefining rest beyond sleep, and immersive retreats and community support.
Apr 21, 2026 • 41min
294: The Human Cost of Farming Animals - The Transfarmation Project.org
Megan Hunter, Senior Program Specialist at TheTransfarmationProject.org who helps farmers leave industrial pig, chicken, and some dairy systems and pivot to specialty crops. She discusses how contracts trap farmers in debt and loss of control. Listens to stories of barns turned into mushroom, hydroponic, and microgreen businesses. Talks about environmental burdens and how buying local and diversifying diets can support transitions.
Apr 14, 2026 • 19min
293: Your "Vegan Muscle” Powers Your Whole Life
A conversation about resilience as a skill you can build, not a fixed trait. The host compares vegan change to strength training and urges smaller, sustainable steps. Practical tips cover lowering the bar without quitting, treating setbacks as data, and using social support and simple habits to keep momentum. The focus is on showing up again after wobble and making progress from where you are.
Apr 7, 2026 • 48min
292: Vegan Made Easy - A Practical Guide to Plant-Based Living with Joanne Kong
Joanne Kong, internationally known vegan advocate and classical musician with a Doctor of Musical Arts, explains why veganism can be a return to basics. She discusses plant-based vs vegan language, simplifying meal prep, reading labels, navigating non-vegan family, and using music and art to reach people emotionally. Practical, positive approaches replace perfectionism with joyful modeling.
4 snips
Mar 31, 2026 • 19min
291: What Am I Not Noticing? A Tool for Getting Unstuck
A practical coaching tool that interrupts rumination with a single question: What am I not noticing? Short science-backed explanations show how worry and doomscrolling narrow attention. Concrete steps teach naming the story, sensing its hold, softening your gaze, and choosing one small, not-that move to get unstuck.
Mar 24, 2026 • 48min
290: Out of Sight - An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival with Gail Eisnitz
Gail Eisnitz, investigative author and chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association, is known for undercover work exposing slaughterhouse and factory farm abuses. She talks about media pushback to exposés, powerful investigations that spurred policy responses, depopulation methods and disease risks in intensive farming, worker safety and industry lobbying, and practical ways people can push for change.
Mar 17, 2026 • 53min
289: "Plant Based People Are Hiding" - Nancy Albertson, Virtual Assistant
Nancy Albertson, a virtual assistant and plant-based organizer from Rockport, Maine, who shifted after watching Forks Over Knives. She describes surprising health improvements, why many plant-based people stay quiet, and the social hurdles around gatherings. Nancy also shares how community, local classes, and simple starter swaps make it easier to stick with plant-based living.
4 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 24min
288: The V Word - The Psychology of Saying “Vegan”
They unpack why saying the V word often feels awkward and socially risky. Behavioral science concepts like the spotlight effect and do-gooder derogation get clear explanations. You hear practical, label-light language tactics to stay calm in social situations. The conversation highlights what helps change stick: autonomy, competence, and relatedness, plus simple scripts to practice in the real world.
