Freedom of Species

Sometimes if we take a look at how animals were percieved in the past, it can give us new insight into our perceptions of animals today.  Join Meg and Trev to discuss how people in Medieval times in Europe perceived animals wild, domesticated and fantastical. We look at how the dominant paradigms of the times (Paganism and Christianity) affected how different animals were treated, the unique relationships peope of the time had with animals, how the different classes of people viewed animals, and take a look at human art from the Medieval period in the form of colourful depictions of animals in books known as Bestiaries, animals in music and also animals in stories and legends of the time.  Can we say for sure that Medieval times were more brutal for animals than they are now, or is this a myth? What unexpected animal was closely associated with Christain divinity in the Middle Ages? How did people's perceptions of animals change as Christianity became the dominant religion? What animal pulled the Norse goddess Freya's chariot? These questions and more will be answered in this history based show.  Gone Medieval podcast episode: Fantastic Beasts of the Middle Ages  https://shows.acast.com/gone-medieval/episodes/fantastic-beasts-of-the-middle-ages Exeter Riddle 15 (modern English translation by Dr Megan Cavell) https://theriddleages.com/riddles/post/exeter-riddle-15/ Aberdeen Bestiary https://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/ Music by Ensemble Dragma from their album Song of Beasts: Fantastic Creatures in Medieval Song https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/song-beasts-fantastic-creatures-medieval-song Un Pellegrin Uccel - a madrigal by Paolo da Firenze circa late 1300s/early 1400s Una Panthera - a three-voice Italian madrigal by Johannes Ciconia circa 1390s Fenice Fu - a madrigal by Jacopo da Bologna circa 1300s  Image from the Aberdeen Bestiary circa 1100s

Katie, Lottie and Nick go through common characteristics of cults and whether any of them apply to veganism. For those that do, we also discuss if they apply just to some vegans, or are inherent to veganism. Throughout the show, we draw on Katie’s childhood experiences in a cult, Amanda Montell’s book Cultish and the podcast episode ‘The Cult of Veganism’ by Sounds Like A Cult.  Links: Amanda Montell’s book Cultish: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780062993151/cultish/ The podcast episode ‘The Cult of Veganism’ by Sounds Like a Cult: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qpFLQnkE4uonawnCnmWcF?si=E9t7L658Q8ysJdWUMIYCbQ&t=2206 Our previous Freedom of Species show ‘Post-Veganism: Creating a Systemic and Inclusive Animal Liberation Movement’ covered somewhat related themes to this show: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode/post-veganism-creating-systemic-and-inclusive-animal-liberation-movement  Music: Animal Liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ Hillsong of the Damned by The Decline and Jay Whalley: https://thedeclinemusic.bandcamp.com/album/magical-misery-tour Melbourne by Mia June: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjQAc1VwIq0 Home Sweet Home by Eddie Ink: https://eddieink.bandcamp.com/album/daydream-at-nighttime

Julia, Lottie, Trev and Nick discuss effective altruism – donating to organisations that do the greatest good. We cover animals being sidelined in some EA resources and we evaluate the evaluations of the most effective animal charities.  Links: Animal Charity Evaluators: https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/recommended-charity-fund-update-july-2024/ Effective Altruism Australia: https://effectivealtruism.org.au/best-charities/ The Life You Can Save: https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au/ Give Well - https://www.givewell.org/ Giving What We Can - https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/ The Good It Promises, the Harm It Does – Critical Essays on Effective Altruism: https://academic.oup.com/book/45591 Plant The Land: https://www.planttheland.org/ Food Empowerment Project: https://foodispower.org/ A previous Freedom of Species show ‘Zane McNeill on animal rights advocacy and addressing anti-carceral veganism’ covered relevant themes of corporate/foundation funding of non-profits: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode/zane-mcneill-animal-rights-advocacy-and-addressing-anti-carceral-veganism Nick’s blog post summarising his PhD research on the financial aspects of social movements: https://faunalytics.org/little-effort-paradigm-asking-people-less-sustainably/  Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ Under the Garden by No Use For A Name: https://open.spotify.com/track/3H4YgNUdGSKFBCWnJYhwMP?si=8b0dc3b39c454b5a Invasion by Chumbawamba: https://open.spotify.com/track/4MkmrBfnm96reUnT0nJtnr?si=4e5f3f6909f44b80 How To Get Your Band On TV by Chumbawamba: https://open.spotify.com/track/28krH5U2ijrNVffWSuVIzY?si=9a7b9f0b5225485d

On this show we discuss Disrupt Land Forces, the coalition of community groups who created a week long festival of resistance bringing diverse actionists and tactics into the joined struggle against the arms trade.   Land Forces is the largest land based weapons expo in the Southern Hemisphere, and it was held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre in Naarm/Melbourne in September 2024. Protestors were met with excessive use of force by police including the use of OC spray, rubber bullets, flash-bangs, physical violence and riding horses into the crowd resulting in injuries.    Links to the event and media discussed on the show:  Disrupt Land Forces website https://disruptlandforces.org/  3CR's coverage of Disrupt Land Forces 2024 https://www.3cr.org.au/dlf2024  Channel 7 news coverage https://www.youtube.com/watch/UIJ_Dpjv3S4  Melbourne Activiist Legal Support (MALS) Media Statement: Grossly excessive policing of protestors likely infringed on human rights https://mals.au/2024/09/11/media-statement-grossly-excessive-policing-of-protesters-likely-infringed-on-human-rights/    Other topics and links:  Wild Country Farm Sanctuary (Texas, USA) Instagram's post: Gaza and the Price of Silience: Selective Compassion Exposing the Colonizer Mindset in Animal Rights Advocacy  https://www.instagram.com/p/C_y7GafJ1X3/?igsh=MWhxb3h2MW0yOGJpZw== Total Liberation Records Nights Out: Standing up to Slaughterhouses (contains info on the 269 Liberation Animale benefit compilation and some Bandcamp codes) https://www.instagram.com/p/C_2YoESCGRI/?igsh=MW5vaTExbTZyM3F5bQ== Banksy's animal series removed by London zoo https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/aug/18/final-artwork-in-banksy-animal-series-removed-by-london-zoo  New research on vegan diets for dogs and the associated benefits from an Australian study by Dr Andrew Knight https://www.9news.com.au/national/vegan-diets-actually-good-for-dogs-australian-study-finds/e8255b5d-fb4d-40c0-a86b-5dff32d29f12   Veterinarian Andrew Knight’s website on vegan pets: https://sustainablepetfood.info/     Music:     Verdalet and Crowns of Esper from Suldusk's album Anthesis.     Animal in Man by Dead Prez.        Thank you for listening to Freedom of Species. We welcome your feedback. Please email us at freedomofspecies@gmail.com

In today’s show Betty and Trev take us through the diverse ecosystems of Palestine, the meeting point of three continents. We discuss the agricultural history and the impact of Zionist occupation and land use changes on the landscapes and animals of Palestine.  Music played:Rasha Nahas 'Desert' - https://rashanahas.bandcamp.com/album/desertDaniel Kahn 'Oy, Ir Narishe Tsienistn' - https://aurismedia.bandcamp.com/album/the-unternationale-the-first-unternationalDAM 'Min Imhabi' - https://open.spotify.com/album/6gBrqhOboMpHdfc2dIAFCw  DAM - Min Imhabi English Lyrics Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcHRW14K2SM  Support Mutual Aid in Gaza: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mutual-aid-in-gaza?utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet_ai&utm_content=amp1v3&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=whatsapp  Disrupt Land Forces 2024: https://disruptlandforces.org/  References and further reading:  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/06/palestine-gaza-west-bank-nature-birds-birdwatching-aoe  https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-israel-questions-are-raised-about-a-forest-that-rises-from-the-desert  https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/jerusalem-forest-fire-kindle-Palestinian-dreams-return  https://marcus.uib.no/exhibition/mer-enn-det-humanitare-blikket/no/eucalyptus-in-gaza-a-tragedy-in-hula-valley  https://q.sustainability.illinois.edu/the-dead-sea-palestine-connection/#:~:text=Dead%20Sea%20water%20levels%20have,and%20will%20continue%20to%20be.  https://www.leftvoice.org/a-brief-history-of-anti-zionist-jews/  Finkelstein, Aria Ritz, “Nature of the Nagev: Assessing a National Experiment in Drylands Afforestation.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2014).  Isaac, Jad, and Stephen Gasteyer. "The issue of biodiversity in Palestine." Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, Palestine 1 (1995): 1-15.  Rotem, Guy, Amos Bouskila, and Alon Rothschild. "Ecological effects of afforestation in the northern Negev." Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel (2014).  Schiller, Gabriel. "The case of Yatir forest." Forest Management and the Water Cycle: An Ecosystem-Based Approach (2011): 163-186.  Temper, Leah. "Creating facts on the ground: Agriculture in Israel and Palestine (1882-2000)." Historia agraria: Revista de agricultura e historia rural 48 (2009): 75-110.  Ghattas, Roubina, Nader Hrimat, and Jad Isaac. Forests in Palestine. Applied research Institute, 2002.

On this show we welcome back Zane McNeill to discuss their new edited collection: Building Multispecies Resistance Against Exploitation: Stories from the Frontline of Labor and Animal Rights (published by Peter Lang, 2024). This incredible collection of contributions from activists and scholars about the structures of violence and oppression that are shared by human and non-human labourers working and dying in necropolitical facilities. The book also asks readers to consider the intersection between class and species, race, gender and other categories of oppression, and the ways that the contemporary Animal Activist Non-profit Sector (AANS) upholds hierarchies in its mission towards animal liberation. There are some powerful examples of successful social and political campaigns that we can draw from and that can help us to build strategic alliances and coalitions between social movements and political subjects.    Zane McNeill is a scholar-activist, 15-year vegan, and National Lawyers Guild’s Animal Liberation Committee chair. They have worked closely with the Institute of Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) and have published chapters in ICAS collections, including Vegans on Speciesism and Ableism: Ecoability Voices for Disability and Animal Justice and Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination: Essays on Solidarity and Total Liberation. He has also edited Queer and Trans Voices: Achieving Liberation Through Consistent Anti-Oppression, Vegan Entanglements: Dismantling Racial and Carceral Capitalism, and Building Multispecies Resistance Against Exploitation: Stories from the Frontlines of Labor and Animal Rights.     The music we played on the show:  Álmatlanság by Magashegyi Underground L by Laveda I exist, I exist, I exist by Flatsound

Would aliens treat us the way we treat animals? If aliens landed today and we made first contact, what would be the outcome for us? Could we justify expecting compassionate treatment from a technologically superior civilisation when we ourselves cannot show this compassion for those we see as inferior?  Meg delves into the idea of first contact in all its manifestations, how this might go for us, and how the knowledge we are not alone might change our ideas of all life on earth and how we treat that life.  Music by Remains to be Seen https://remainstobeseen.bandcamp.com/album/touchless https://deathforms.com/df-artists/remains-to-be-seen/ Songs 1. Take the time https://remainstobeseen.bandcamp.com/track/take-the-time 2. Darkroom https://remainstobeseen.bandcamp.com/track/darkroom3. Locket https://remainstobeseen.bandcamp.com/track/locket-2  Artwork by vegan artist Wren

Trigger warning: this show includes discussion about violence, drugs, and suicide.  On this show we discuss prison abolition, the links to animal rights, and abolitionist alternatives.   Links: Angela Y. Davis's book: Are Prisons Obsolete? https://www.akpress.org/areprisonsobsolete.html Clementine Morrigan substack blog: https://www.clementinemorrigan.com/ Clementine Morrigan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clementinemorrigan?igsh=Y2VpM3c3b2QxY2N0 For Harriet interview with Professor Leigh Goldmark. What should happen to abusers if we don't lock them up? https://youtu.be/vmZqyYFudVg?si=mL6j_FiZ1mAIX0kf Leigh Goodmark's book: Decriminalizing Domestic Violence: A Balanced Policy Approach to Intimate Partner Violence https://leighgoodmark.com/product/decriminalizing-domestic-violence Blog post 'The Parallels Between Zoos And Prisons' summarising the work of Kelly Struthers Montford: https://faunalytics.org/parallels-zoos-prisons/ Blog post 'Why Vegans should care about Prison Abolition' by Alyse Toulouse https://www.peacefuldumpling.com/opinion-why-vegans-should-care-about-prison-abolition Blog post 'Prison treates me like an animal. I write to reclaim my humanity' by Tony D. Vick https://truthout.org/articles/prison-treats-me-like-an-animal-i-write-to-reclaim-my-humanity/    Previous related Freedom of Species show on prisons and animals, featuring Jess Ison: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode-201806031300/jess-ison-%E2%80%93-prisons-and-animals   Music we played: The Ungovernable Farce by Conflict. Letter to the Free by Common featuring Bilal. Me time by Stic.   If the themes of today's show cause distress, please consider accessing support via Lifeline Australia https://www.lifeline.org.au/  Thank you for listening to Freedom of Species. Please contact us with any feedback on our shows at freedomofspecies@gmail.com

In light of the recent legislation to end Australia's live sheep trade by May 2028, Nick and Adam reflect on the history of the stop live export campaign. More specifically, the show covers: alliances between animal activists and slaughterhouse workers, “animal nationalism” and debates about the campaign within the movement. We discuss what animal activists can learn from this history, regardless of which campaign/s they’re focused on.   When we discuss the history of the campaign, we primarily draw on Gonzalo Villanueva’s book – A Transnational History of the Australian Animal Movement, 1970–2015: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319625867  Additional links: Corey Wrenn’s essay – Banning Live Export in Australia: https://www.coreyleewrenn.com/banning-live-export-in-australia/ Colin Salter’s talk – Normativity, Intersectionality and States of Exception: https://archive.org/details/ColinSalter Check out Adam’s Spotify playlist – Animal Lib & Vegan Songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5hVygGomw9zax38quC6mhi?si=c14b3a19ccf74d67   Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ Pig by Weezer: https://weezer.lnk.to/music Seoul by Shoreline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCxBdmVVlt8&pp=ygUQc2hvcmVsaW5lIHNlb3VsIA%3D%3D Dirty work by Ruby Gill: https://rubygill.bandcamp.com/track/dirty-work

In this discussion, Dr. Eileen Crist, a professor emerita in Science, Technology and Society at Virginia Tech, delves into the troubling concept of anthropocentrism, which positions humans as the planet's paramount species. She traces its historical roots and explores its dire consequences, from ecological destruction to mass extinction. The conversation shifts towards alternatives like ecocentrism, emphasizing the intrinsic value of nature and the need for a shift in worldview. Dr. Crist inspires hope for collective action to dismantle human supremacy.