WEBVTT

00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:03.500
Welcome to The Vegan Report. My name is Ryan

00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:07.120
and today I want to put on your map a few of

00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:10.800
my favorite vegan podcasters. Let me name them

00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.099
and read their podcast description. Victoria

00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:17.359
Moran is host of the Main Street Vegan Podcast.

00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:21.379
On her show, this best -selling author and vegan

00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:24.420
OG invites you into conversations with the best

00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:28.039
and brightest in the space of veganism and animal

00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:32.079
rights. I welcomed Victoria on my show for a

00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:35.259
special episode called Feeding the Vegan Soul.

00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.560
Jane Willis Mitchell is the founder and content

00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:42.859
editor of Unchained TV, a free global streaming

00:00:42.859 --> 00:00:45.539
network focused on the plant -based lifestyle.

00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:49.340
Unchained TV offers documentaries, cooking shows,

00:00:49.619 --> 00:00:52.380
talk shows and more, all aimed at benefiting

00:00:52.380 --> 00:00:56.079
animals, people and the planet. You can also

00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:59.159
access her content on the Truth Files podcast.

00:01:00.219 --> 00:01:03.679
Hope Bohanek is the host of the Hope for the

00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.560
Animals podcast. She is a longtime animal advocate

00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:11.939
and author who covers farmed animal issues, the

00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:15.099
ethical, environmental, spiritual, heartbreaking

00:01:15.099 --> 00:01:19.849
and heartwarming sides of living vegan. Glenn

00:01:19.849 --> 00:01:22.269
Merzer is the host of The Glenn Merzer Show.

00:01:22.790 --> 00:01:25.769
He's the author of books advocating the plant

00:01:25.769 --> 00:01:29.430
exclusive diet, hosts free willing discussions

00:01:29.430 --> 00:01:32.829
on nutrition, health, diet, medicine, whatever

00:01:32.829 --> 00:01:37.069
else of interest comes up. Glenn welcomed me

00:01:37.069 --> 00:01:41.010
on his show for a special episode on Buddhism

00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:45.790
and veganism. Anita Robinson is the host of The

00:01:45.790 --> 00:01:49.040
Kindness Is Everything podcast. This podcast

00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.379
features stories of people of all ages sharing

00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:56.439
their amazing acts of kindness. Each episode

00:01:56.439 --> 00:02:00.400
is truly inspiring, reminding us that there is

00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.540
no act of kindness that is too small for the

00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:07.260
person or animal receiving it. Anita also welcomed

00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:10.680
me on her show to discuss the vegan report. We

00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.340
discussed the complicity of mainstream media

00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:17.310
in supporting animal exploitation. everyone's

00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:21.090
favorite guests, important yet under the radar

00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:25.009
stories that deserve your attention, why most

00:02:25.009 --> 00:02:28.750
vegan podcasts don't last long, and so much more.

00:02:29.310 --> 00:02:31.750
Check out the episode notes to find links to

00:02:31.750 --> 00:02:34.810
their show, share this episode with the vegans

00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:37.969
you know, leave a five -star review, and follow

00:02:37.969 --> 00:02:41.310
the show for more original content. Thank you.

00:02:41.449 --> 00:02:44.349
Welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for having

00:02:44.349 --> 00:02:48.349
accepted my invitation. I guess as an icebreaker

00:02:48.349 --> 00:02:53.409
question, I like to ask, you know, in group conversation

00:02:53.409 --> 00:02:57.729
settings, my guests about their vegan hero. I

00:02:57.729 --> 00:03:00.689
think it's a great way to get to know a guest.

00:03:01.250 --> 00:03:06.969
So who is your vegan hero and why? Ingrid Newkirk.

00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:11.409
She never stops. Now she's officially a senior

00:03:11.409 --> 00:03:14.009
citizen, but she's going 100 miles an hour, that

00:03:14.009 --> 00:03:16.150
woman, and she has a great sense of humor with

00:03:16.150 --> 00:03:18.330
everything she's seen, the horrors that she's

00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:21.270
witnessed, and she created the most successful

00:03:21.270 --> 00:03:25.610
animal rights group in the world. Thank you,

00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:32.750
Jane. Victoria? Jane is, my God, one herself.

00:03:33.409 --> 00:03:36.569
I'm going to say the late Jay Dinshaw, because

00:03:36.569 --> 00:03:38.889
he always believed in me. And in the early days,

00:03:38.889 --> 00:03:41.430
I was slipping and sliding around with veganism,

00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:44.810
but he and his wife, Preah, still very much alive

00:03:44.810 --> 00:03:47.610
at the American Vegan Society, always saw me

00:03:47.610 --> 00:03:50.509
as vegan. And so I had to grow into what they

00:03:50.509 --> 00:03:57.830
saw. Thank you, Hope. So two of my heroes are

00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:01.280
here. Victoria Moran and Jane Velez Mitchell.

00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:07.460
I mean, they're just like long time amazing activists

00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:11.759
that been doing this work for decades. So I appreciate

00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:17.680
them. And I think I'll say that the unsung heroes

00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.379
of people that are vegan and are dedicated and

00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:24.819
are doing grassroots work, but are never talked

00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:28.120
about and no one knows their names. Those are

00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:33.600
really my heroes. Thank you. Yeah, I can go.

00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:38.720
Yeah, so my vegan hero would be actually my daughter.

00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:44.279
She became vegan when she was 16 and the rest

00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:47.000
of us were all vegetarian still. So at 16, she

00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:51.000
was, you know, making her own meals. And I think

00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.550
the reason she's my hero is I'm vegan because

00:04:54.550 --> 00:04:57.290
she got me to watch Cowspiracy, and she does,

00:04:57.509 --> 00:05:00.110
and the way she does it is in a very gentle way.

00:05:00.410 --> 00:05:03.350
She's not judgmental. There's never any kind

00:05:03.350 --> 00:05:07.610
of... Because I think some vegans, and I'm probably

00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:12.829
one myself, is... I don't mean to be judgmental

00:05:12.829 --> 00:05:14.750
about people who are vegan, but sometimes it

00:05:14.750 --> 00:05:17.810
does come across, but she's not that way. She's

00:05:17.810 --> 00:05:20.629
super gentle about it. She does her own thing,

00:05:20.629 --> 00:05:24.079
and I think... Yeah, she just sets a beautiful

00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:29.339
example. And yeah, so she's my hero. Thank you,

00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:34.220
Anita. Finally, Glenn. Yes. Well, my friend Howard

00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:38.480
Lyman, who today is I think about 86 years old,

00:05:39.139 --> 00:05:45.459
he was a fourth generation cattle rancher and

00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:50.889
had a feedlot in Montana. And he was raising

00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.589
animals in the modern way that he was taught

00:05:53.589 --> 00:05:57.870
to do in ag school using pesticides, got a tumor

00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:02.329
in his spine. And it was dawning on him that

00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:10.069
everything he was doing was wrong. And he. He

00:06:10.069 --> 00:06:14.490
had the guts to stop doing what he was doing

00:06:14.490 --> 00:06:17.269
and then to speak out about it and eventually

00:06:17.269 --> 00:06:20.449
became a. a vegan and an animal rights activist.

00:06:22.670 --> 00:06:25.670
Oh, and so he and I together wrote the book Mad

00:06:25.670 --> 00:06:28.850
Cowboy, and he's the one who brought me into

00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:32.389
this movement. And can I just add on to that?

00:06:32.509 --> 00:06:34.230
It seems like everybody who mentioned somebody,

00:06:34.370 --> 00:06:37.110
there's somebody tied to it. So one of my heroes

00:06:37.110 --> 00:06:40.490
was the agent for your book and several of mine

00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:42.769
and maybe some of the others who are here, and

00:06:42.769 --> 00:06:47.180
that's Patty Brightman. She was the voted New

00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:50.000
York magazine's most jaded New Yorker back in

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.600
the early eighties and then a manuscript for

00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.740
a book called Fit for Life came across her desk

00:06:56.740 --> 00:07:01.100
at Warner Books and it wasn't 100 % vegan but

00:07:01.100 --> 00:07:05.480
it was enough to both become a dazzling bestseller

00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:09.759
and inspire Patty to be vegan, move to California

00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.240
where they grow the fruit and eventually become

00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.410
literary agent to all kinds of vegans. You also,

00:07:15.529 --> 00:07:18.149
when Hope was speaking, she reminded me of Wayne

00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:21.430
Shung, who is to me just hero of the moment,

00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:24.930
so brave, so willing to go where angels fear

00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:28.029
to tread. And then Anita, he reminded me of my

00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:31.129
own daughter, who's been vegan from birth. And

00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:33.930
it's that same thing of, you know, they just,

00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:37.589
they don't push it. and yet they just kind of

00:07:37.589 --> 00:07:40.829
radiate it. And I'm very proud to say that my

00:07:40.829 --> 00:07:44.250
daughter works as a stunt performer and aerialist.

00:07:44.730 --> 00:07:46.829
So, you know, good to know she's doing it on

00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:52.209
plants. Yes, Jane. I would like to say there's

00:07:52.209 --> 00:07:55.269
a six degrees of separation here that I see.

00:07:55.790 --> 00:07:59.170
You mentioned Jay Dinshaw, who is considered

00:07:59.170 --> 00:08:03.149
the founder of the vegan movement in the United

00:08:03.149 --> 00:08:08.899
States by many. And he inspired Howard Lyman

00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:14.399
in moments where he had to go on the national

00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:17.879
stage. And Howard Lyman, of course, went on Oprah.

00:08:18.259 --> 00:08:22.040
And he and Glenn created that book. I interviewed

00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:25.959
them. And afterwards, Howard Lyman confronted

00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.199
me, then a vegetarian, about eating dairy. And

00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:33.919
I went vegan, thanks to Howard Lyman saying liquid

00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:36.600
meat. right at my nose, along with his publicist,

00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.419
Mark Nealon. So right there, you see the whole,

00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:45.919
like the connection, how every person influences

00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.220
another person. And that's why each person we

00:08:50.220 --> 00:08:53.480
reach is so important. I've set up a goal for

00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:57.519
myself for 2026, reach thousands and really look

00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.600
at everything I do to see how many people it

00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.519
reaches. But also, sometimes if you reach one,

00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:07.399
If you reach Jane Velez Mitchell, that's big.

00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:09.779
I did one of those ones. I'll just brag on myself

00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:13.179
for a second. Years and years ago, I'm sitting

00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:15.039
in my little house in Kansas City, the phone

00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.759
rings and it's this young man who says, I'm a

00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.279
student at Grinnell College. Okay. And I read

00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:22.399
an article you wrote about veganism that was

00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.639
in my college library and now I'm vegan. Okay.

00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:31.220
My name is Bruce Friedrich. Amazing. What happened

00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:35.960
between then and now? That's incredible And it's

00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.659
a great segue to my next question, which is Why

00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:44.100
are you doing this podcast this media, you know?

00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:48.120
Enterprise initiative. Why is it so important?

00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:51.879
Jane there's 8 .3 billion humans on the planet

00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.440
and we do not have time to talk to each one individually

00:09:55.440 --> 00:10:00.039
and The clock is ticking. I just finished a documentary

00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.100
for our plant -based streaming network, Unchained

00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:05.960
TV, that's going to debut at LA Climate Week

00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:11.820
here in Los Angeles in April, 2026. And it talks

00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:15.120
about we are really either at the point of no

00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.740
return or approaching the point of no return.

00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:20.399
The UN has already admitted we're bashing through

00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:25.580
the 1 .5 degrees Celsius. goal and the planet

00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:28.940
obviously is showing signs of increased stress.

00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:33.159
Our house is on fire. We do not have the time

00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:36.960
to have leisurely conversations individually

00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:40.679
with 8 .3 billion humans. And the more people

00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:45.659
study human behavior, what most influences people

00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:47.580
is what their friends, neighbors, and relatives

00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:52.610
are doing. So we have to create this web of veganism

00:10:52.610 --> 00:10:55.629
across the planet. And it is happening. There's

00:10:55.629 --> 00:10:58.669
a war on veganism right now. The meat industry

00:10:58.669 --> 00:11:03.190
has a multi -million dollar campaign to associate

00:11:03.190 --> 00:11:06.629
veganism and particularly meat alternatives with

00:11:06.629 --> 00:11:10.330
hyper -processed, ultra -processed, and it's

00:11:10.330 --> 00:11:14.690
all garbage. And the media, unfortunately, is

00:11:14.690 --> 00:11:17.169
jumping in with both feet to write hit pieces.

00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:21.200
That's why a dear friend of mine had started

00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:25.740
something called Veg Media Watch. Go to vegmediawatch

00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:29.500
.org and sign up to be a Rapid Response Team

00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:32.759
member. Because having been a journalist for

00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:34.620
more than 30 years, I can tell you reporters

00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.059
don't like to be called out in public. But we

00:11:37.059 --> 00:11:40.539
have to call out these hit pieces. They are just

00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:42.340
the other day, somebody did a hit piece saying

00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:44.500
nobody wants to be vegan anymore. It seems like

00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:46.639
nobody wants to be vegan anymore. I had just

00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:48.960
come back from Expo West where there were so

00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.159
many vegan products. We couldn't even get to

00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.580
them all. So I wrote a story on Unchained TV

00:11:54.580 --> 00:12:01.139
and said why all your magazines. hit piece on

00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:03.720
veganism really hurt and then I embedded the

00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:07.419
video showing all these fantastic vegan products

00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:10.740
that are very successful. We have to fight back.

00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:17.080
And podcast is one way. And that article even

00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:19.720
said people don't want vegan beauty products

00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:22.860
anymore. I know a lot of people have been brainwashed

00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:24.879
on that and the health stuff and they're having

00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.230
beef tallow and Lord knows what. But when you

00:12:28.230 --> 00:12:31.730
say you don't want a vegan body care item, you're

00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:34.309
saying, I want something that tortures an animal.

00:12:34.590 --> 00:12:36.549
Most people, when they eat animal products, they

00:12:36.549 --> 00:12:39.289
don't think that far. But with the beauty products,

00:12:39.590 --> 00:12:42.950
that's as far as you can go. And that says something

00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:46.789
pretty scary about our national and global character.

00:12:47.970 --> 00:12:50.960
It's the media making that up. It's not true.

00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:54.379
That's what I'm saying. It could become a self

00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:57.379
-fulfilling prophecy if we repeat it. So I urge

00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:02.879
people, do not do stories like, is veganism dying

00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:07.500
or? No. We have to call these people to account.

00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.889
Some of them are actually, I think, Quite possibly

00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:13.730
being literally paid by the meat industry. Certainly

00:13:13.730 --> 00:13:15.970
social media influencers are. The Guardian has

00:13:15.970 --> 00:13:18.049
a great article about how they have something

00:13:18.049 --> 00:13:21.669
called Masters in Beef Advocacy. But I urge everybody

00:13:21.669 --> 00:13:25.110
just go to vegmediawatch .org and hit them where

00:13:25.110 --> 00:13:30.210
it hurts. Call them to account. Yes, I interviewed

00:13:30.210 --> 00:13:33.450
Tony, the founder of Veg Media Watch, and I love

00:13:33.450 --> 00:13:37.190
his initiative. It's genius. Anita, I saw you.

00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:43.200
wanting to intervene. Well, intervene. I don't

00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.700
want to intervene. No, when you just said what

00:13:47.700 --> 00:13:50.220
I think the question was, why do we have this

00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:53.919
podcast? So mine isn't strictly a vegan podcast

00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:55.700
because mine's called kindness is everything.

00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:59.580
So I share stories of people who are being kind

00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:04.279
to animals, the environment and people. And a

00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:07.519
lot of them are, of course, vegans, animal advocates.

00:14:07.789 --> 00:14:13.070
But the reason I did it was because there's so

00:14:13.070 --> 00:14:16.470
many bad things happening in the world, and we

00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:18.870
have to know about all of those. But I was getting

00:14:18.870 --> 00:14:21.730
in -dated, and it was just taking me to a very

00:14:21.730 --> 00:14:24.909
dark place because it was just too much of the

00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:27.509
bad news. And I wanted to counter it with people

00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:31.590
who are actually hearing about these injustices

00:14:31.590 --> 00:14:34.289
and making a difference to inspire others to

00:14:34.289 --> 00:14:38.899
hopefully want to to join that. And one other

00:14:38.899 --> 00:14:41.840
reason, you know, to speaking to to what you

00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.179
were talking about, you know, repeating the issue

00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:47.659
about what is happening. I heard that people

00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:49.860
need to hear something six times, I think, in

00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:53.759
order to sort of absorb it or take it in. And

00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:56.799
so, you know, I'll often have guests who are

00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.100
who are vegan or who are promoting veganism,

00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:04.340
promoting, you know, trying not trying to stop

00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:09.110
animal cruelty. And I feel that folks need to

00:15:09.110 --> 00:15:12.490
hear that because you know that because of the

00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:17.450
way society is and because of the way business

00:15:17.450 --> 00:15:20.309
is when we go to the grocery store and everything

00:15:20.309 --> 00:15:23.509
is so clean right you go to the you go and you

00:15:23.509 --> 00:15:26.389
you pick up that that meat section is all very

00:15:26.389 --> 00:15:28.769
clean and you don't really see the suffering

00:15:28.769 --> 00:15:34.309
that created that piece of meat and the value

00:15:34.309 --> 00:15:36.470
of it, it's so underpriced because of all the

00:15:36.470 --> 00:15:39.129
subsidies and everything, so it's not really

00:15:39.129 --> 00:15:43.929
reflecting the true cost. I try to raise that

00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:46.149
point over and over again because I know there

00:15:46.149 --> 00:15:50.669
are people who I have as friends and family who

00:15:50.669 --> 00:15:53.809
say they love animals, they mean it, but there's

00:15:53.809 --> 00:15:57.049
some kind of dichotomy about what animal it is

00:15:57.049 --> 00:16:02.299
that they love and because farm animals, the

00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:06.399
way they're killed. They don't want to talk about

00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.980
that. I think it's really important to keep bringing

00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:12.200
it up because I'm hoping that people will hear

00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:15.539
it over and over again and eventually will understand

00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:20.100
that they do have options, that there is a being

00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:24.029
in there, a sentient being. You know, like, why

00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:27.230
do we love some, wear some, eat some, like that

00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:29.889
kind of thing. And I really want to, I'm hoping

00:16:29.889 --> 00:16:33.710
that saying that over and over again, you know,

00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:37.470
it'll, it'll hit home one day. Thank you, Anita.

00:16:38.710 --> 00:16:43.590
I'll go next. Uh, that's all right. Um, so this

00:16:43.590 --> 00:16:46.370
is Hope Bohannic and, uh, my podcast is the hope

00:16:46.370 --> 00:16:50.870
for the animals podcast. And I, it was during

00:16:50.870 --> 00:16:55.799
the pandemic. If someone had told me 95 % of

00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.200
what you do is meeting people in person, I really

00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:01.320
didn't know that. I didn't think about it that

00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.220
way, the activism that I did. I would go to this

00:17:04.220 --> 00:17:06.099
VegFest and speak, and then I was organizing

00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:09.160
another VegFest, and then I was going to this

00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:12.299
event to give a presentation and tabling at some

00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:15.819
other event. And so I was very community -oriented

00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:18.819
and in -person oriented, and the pandemic hit.

00:17:19.150 --> 00:17:21.769
And I was suddenly sitting on my couch like,

00:17:22.009 --> 00:17:26.329
well, what do I do? How can I? The animals are

00:17:26.329 --> 00:17:28.750
still suffering. I don't want to just sit here.

00:17:28.769 --> 00:17:31.970
I have to do something to continue this work.

00:17:32.230 --> 00:17:35.930
And here I was, you know, kind of an, I would

00:17:35.930 --> 00:17:39.930
say an old dog, not very technical, not very

00:17:39.930 --> 00:17:44.650
technical, you know, having any technical knowledge.

00:17:44.970 --> 00:17:48.170
And I loved podcasts. Like, I listened to a ton

00:17:48.170 --> 00:17:50.430
of podcasts back then. I think I'd listened to

00:17:50.430 --> 00:17:53.130
Victoria's podcast, probably Jane's. I loved

00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:56.910
podcasts back then. And I thought, well, huh,

00:17:57.210 --> 00:18:01.490
maybe I could start a podcast and, you know,

00:18:01.589 --> 00:18:04.470
have the time. And thank goodness for YouTube

00:18:04.470 --> 00:18:09.809
videos I taught myself to podcast. It was, you

00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:12.279
know, this is the... a very, very good example

00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:19.700
of how old dogs can learn new tricks. And I just

00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:24.319
got inspired to do it myself. And I think that

00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.759
one thing that I wanted to do with the Hope for

00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:31.039
the Animals podcast is I wanted it to be a little

00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:35.000
different in that I wanted to interview advocates

00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:37.259
and activists and academics that don't generally

00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:41.599
make the rounds on podcasts. I try to seek out

00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:45.359
voices that aren't heard a lot, grassroots level

00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.619
activists that we may not have heard from before,

00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:51.119
that have unique perspectives and stories to

00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.279
tell themselves. I mean, I have had well -known

00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:57.559
voices on as well. Jane, Victoria, and Glenn,

00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:01.220
who's also here with us. Glenn Merzer have all

00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:06.700
been on my podcast. So, you know, it's a wide

00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:09.380
range of amazing people doing incredible work

00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:14.539
with long form interviews. And, you know, people

00:19:14.539 --> 00:19:16.539
that are on the ground doing the work for animals

00:19:16.539 --> 00:19:18.700
on the grassroots level, I just, I kind of wanted

00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:22.339
to focus in on them and some specific topics

00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:25.809
as well that I don't think get covered. uh in

00:19:25.809 --> 00:19:30.549
other on other podcasts uh as much uh like the

00:19:30.549 --> 00:19:33.210
humane hoax which is something that is very important

00:19:33.210 --> 00:19:35.809
to me humane washing green washing and animal

00:19:35.809 --> 00:19:37.950
farming i feel this is incredibly important right

00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:41.190
now i've written two books on the subject uh

00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:43.970
one's an anthology with 18 contributing authors

00:19:43.970 --> 00:19:48.289
and so i have numerous shows on the humane hoax

00:19:48.619 --> 00:19:52.220
I also like to get into the spiritual, especially

00:19:52.220 --> 00:19:56.019
around Ahimsa, nonviolence, and the Dharma traditions.

00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.900
So I have some specific things that I talk about.

00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:07.099
And I'll just wrap up with something that Jane

00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:09.720
said that I think is really important around

00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:14.859
our... We're kind of like we've democratized

00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:17.799
media in a way, right? We're in this amazing

00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:24.359
time. where we can take control of our own media

00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:28.420
space and present something. I remember back

00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:31.140
in the 90s when I was involved with grassroots

00:20:31.140 --> 00:20:35.079
action, we did these amazing actions. We would

00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:37.319
shut down slaughterhouses for the day, these

00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:41.220
big actions, but nobody really knew about them

00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:43.700
other than the cops that were there that were

00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:47.839
called. We didn't have social media. I remember

00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:49.720
there were groups where we couldn't even afford

00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:55.680
a camera. So that has all changed now. Back then,

00:20:55.859 --> 00:20:59.220
if we didn't have one of the five big corporate

00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:04.200
media outlets cover, then nobody knew. But now

00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.819
everyone has a camera on their phone. Everyone

00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:12.079
can create media. And doing a podcast now, it's

00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:16.799
so exciting. to be able to reach so many more

00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:23.720
people now on this grassroots level. Media has

00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:28.680
now been democratized, and it's a great time,

00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:33.400
I think, for spreading the message. Thank you,

00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:39.240
Hope. Glenn? Yes, well, my podcast and YouTube

00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:42.339
show is cleverly called The Glenn Merzer Show.

00:21:42.730 --> 00:21:46.349
I was going to call it own your health. And then

00:21:46.349 --> 00:21:48.690
I discovered there was already a podcast called

00:21:48.690 --> 00:21:52.730
own your health. So I just gave up and used my

00:21:52.730 --> 00:21:58.849
own name. And as to why I did it, you know, I'm

00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:02.630
not always sure of my own motivations, I find.

00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:07.589
But there's the altruistic motivation, which

00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:11.029
Jane mentioned, which is that we need to affect.

00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:16.660
a vegan world by yesterday. And both because

00:22:16.660 --> 00:22:19.279
of the cruelty to the animals and because of

00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:23.759
the climate emergency, we're way behind the curve.

00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:27.059
So we need to get the word out to as many people

00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:30.819
as we can as quickly as we can using any means

00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:34.559
we can. So that's the altruistic reason. But

00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.779
there's also a selfish reason for me, which is

00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:39.680
just I enjoy it. I've met a lot of people doing

00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.779
this. I got a movie made doing this. I interviewed

00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:50.359
a guy on my show who has an animal sanctuary

00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:54.759
and he's also involved somehow in the world of

00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:57.859
finance. So I asked him, because I'm a desperate

00:22:57.859 --> 00:23:00.960
enough screenwriter, I asked him, does he happen

00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:05.359
to know any very wealthy people who instead of

00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:07.980
pissing away their money on Bitcoin might be

00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:11.019
interested in making a movie? And he said, well,

00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:13.460
I know one guy and I called that guy and it turned

00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:16.599
out he wasn't a wealthy movie producer, but he

00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:20.920
convinced me that it would be inexpensive to

00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:23.799
make a movie in St. Louis where he was based.

00:23:24.619 --> 00:23:27.819
And then I was able to find the financing and

00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:31.680
we just made a movie called Buddhist Blues in

00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:36.000
St. Louis, which has a vegan message. So it's

00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.930
at Buddhist Blues dot com. So, you know, I just

00:23:40.930 --> 00:23:43.769
enjoy doing the podcast and seeing I just interviewed

00:23:43.769 --> 00:23:47.609
yesterday who's a woman who's a musician and

00:23:47.609 --> 00:23:50.910
a vegan in Istanbul. You know, so I'm meeting

00:23:50.910 --> 00:23:54.150
a lot of people and I'm enjoying it. Thank you,

00:23:54.250 --> 00:23:57.990
Glenn Victoria. So I started the Main Street

00:23:57.990 --> 00:24:01.930
Vegan podcast in 2012 and I think it was the

00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:05.650
fifth vegan podcast something like that So it's

00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:10.339
really blossomed since then So it started for

00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:13.059
me from a book. I wrote a book called Main Street

00:24:13.059 --> 00:24:16.519
Vegan, which basically had the same idea as the

00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:20.599
podcast. I wanted it to be Main Street. I'm from

00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:23.559
Kansas City, Missouri, not so far from St. Louis,

00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:27.640
and grew up a block off Main Street, and had

00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:31.480
this understanding, I think, that if we got the

00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:37.750
regular people, we'd be home free. Publisher

00:24:37.750 --> 00:24:40.029
didn't like Main Street, wanted me to change

00:24:40.029 --> 00:24:43.990
the title. I had a vegan miracle, ran into Michael

00:24:43.990 --> 00:24:47.029
Moore on the street, and he said, it's a great

00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:50.430
title, let me talk to them. So there's this three

00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:53.190
-way call with my editor and an Academy Award

00:24:53.190 --> 00:24:55.529
winner and me. That's how I got the book title.

00:24:55.730 --> 00:24:58.309
And once we knew I had the book title, All these

00:24:58.309 --> 00:25:00.750
other ideas started popping, one of which was

00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:02.970
there ought to be a mainstream vegan radio show.

00:25:03.150 --> 00:25:06.089
I had heard a podcast, but I wasn't really thinking

00:25:06.089 --> 00:25:08.890
about them. And I had a little bit of a radio

00:25:08.890 --> 00:25:11.309
background. I had had a show on the Martha Stewart

00:25:11.309 --> 00:25:15.170
channel of Sirius for about a year and a half

00:25:15.170 --> 00:25:17.890
until there stopped being a Martha Stewart channel

00:25:17.890 --> 00:25:21.470
of Sirius. And so when I started with Main Street

00:25:21.470 --> 00:25:25.789
Vegan, it was on the Unity Radio Network, which

00:25:25.789 --> 00:25:30.250
was a radio arm of Unity Ministries, which is

00:25:30.250 --> 00:25:33.430
an interesting progressive Protestant denomination

00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:36.609
founded by vegans, kind of lost their way from

00:25:36.609 --> 00:25:40.250
the veganism somewhat, but were willing to have

00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:42.950
this show on their network. And that was so easy

00:25:42.950 --> 00:25:45.890
for me because unlike you hope, I'm not a good

00:25:45.890 --> 00:25:50.720
learner of technology. at all so those first

00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.920
eight nine years whatever it was of having an

00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:58.279
engineer and just getting great guests and reading

00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:01.279
their books and showing up was so wonderful and

00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:04.859
then when unity decided to not do radio anymore

00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:08.759
and it was independently a podcast i gotta say

00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:12.740
that so added to the part of the workload that's

00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:16.099
really, really difficult for me. So while I totally

00:26:16.099 --> 00:26:18.259
agree with everybody else about the wonderful

00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:21.819
guests and the interesting sort of juggling of

00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:25.680
I know I need to have some high profile guests

00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:28.519
to keep the listenership up. That's what people

00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:31.599
are looking for. But some of the best shows are

00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.059
these people nobody's ever heard of who do these

00:26:34.059 --> 00:26:37.599
just incredible, brave and amazing things. And

00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.119
that's all great. And then There is editing and

00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:44.299
posting and show notes. And that's real tough

00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:49.200
for me. Now, many of you have mentioned, you

00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.980
know, different experiences with guests. And

00:26:51.980 --> 00:26:54.700
I would love to dive into that. You know, who

00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:57.480
were the guests that impacted you the most that

00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:01.759
you remember to this day that left a positive

00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:08.349
impression or negative one on on you? Yeah. I

00:27:08.349 --> 00:27:10.670
think of an interview I did with a fellow whose

00:27:10.670 --> 00:27:13.529
name I'm not going to give because he didn't

00:27:13.529 --> 00:27:16.390
give his name. I know his name, but he didn't

00:27:16.390 --> 00:27:19.829
want to say it on the podcast. But he's a wonderful

00:27:19.829 --> 00:27:22.309
fellow and he's become a friend of mine. And

00:27:22.309 --> 00:27:25.730
I think soon he'll come back and use his name.

00:27:26.069 --> 00:27:31.029
But he was a cowboy and kind of like Howard Lyman.

00:27:31.349 --> 00:27:36.390
He had been in a. You know, in a field of endeavor

00:27:36.390 --> 00:27:42.119
that. he realized slowly was unnecessary and

00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:46.059
even harmful, and he was feeling bad about it.

00:27:46.619 --> 00:27:51.400
But his background was both doing cowboy work,

00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:54.880
you know, corralling the cows or whatever they

00:27:54.880 --> 00:28:00.839
do, and making leather saddles. And that was

00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:03.500
still what he was doing for a living, making

00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:07.279
leather saddles as he evolved to being a vegan.

00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:14.240
And he was trying to transition out of it because

00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:20.819
he needs to make his living. And now he's starting

00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:26.319
to make other products and giving up the saddles.

00:28:28.469 --> 00:28:32.109
He is he has i think at this point just about

00:28:32.109 --> 00:28:35.109
finished transitioning out of that career but

00:28:35.109 --> 00:28:38.529
he came on my show and talked about. What was

00:28:38.529 --> 00:28:41.289
wrong with it and how bad he felt and how he

00:28:41.289 --> 00:28:47.589
felt stuck. You know because he needed to provide

00:28:47.589 --> 00:28:52.490
for himself and his wife and you know it was

00:28:52.490 --> 00:28:57.140
it was powerful. That's a beautiful story. That

00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:01.720
reminds me of those support groups for Catholic

00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:04.759
priests who have lost their faith. That's a real

00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:09.440
thing. And they are stuck in more than a job.

00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:12.079
It's a vocation. It's all of their life. And

00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:16.579
they have to deal with that. Someone else? Jane?

00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:21.640
It's not an individual per se as much as a format.

00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:26.240
We've done several My podcast on Unchained TV

00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:28.700
is Truth Files with Jane Velez Mitchell, but

00:29:28.700 --> 00:29:31.099
a lot of times we just change it to whatever's

00:29:31.099 --> 00:29:33.460
happening, breaking news. For example, we were

00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:38.660
live when Wayne Chung and his team of up to 100

00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:41.980
activists stormed Ridgeland Farms just the other

00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:46.460
day, rescuing 31 beagles, and that was live.

00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:50.960
And it was extremely exciting where you see the

00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.480
people holding the beagles come over the hill.

00:29:54.190 --> 00:29:58.809
And then police confiscated eight of the 31 And

00:29:58.809 --> 00:30:02.829
we had it live with the tug of war between the

00:30:02.829 --> 00:30:06.210
activists and the sheriff's Deputies with this

00:30:06.210 --> 00:30:08.829
one beagle. It was heartbreaking, but that was

00:30:08.829 --> 00:30:12.589
very exciting and then we did a one of the first

00:30:12.589 --> 00:30:14.589
interviews or I think the first interview with

00:30:14.589 --> 00:30:17.569
Wayne shung after he was released from jail and

00:30:17.569 --> 00:30:21.950
Also what we do on unshade TV during that podcast

00:30:21.950 --> 00:30:25.569
is sometimes switch it to an emergency town hall.

00:30:26.170 --> 00:30:29.210
I work a lot with In Defense of Animals and various

00:30:29.210 --> 00:30:31.750
other groups, plant -based treaty, animal -saved

00:30:31.750 --> 00:30:34.009
movement, but In Defense of Animals was trying

00:30:34.009 --> 00:30:39.190
to save turkeys' dogs. The government decided,

00:30:39.190 --> 00:30:41.589
oh, we're going to modernize and we're going

00:30:41.589 --> 00:30:43.750
to kill all the dogs and cats in the street by

00:30:43.750 --> 00:30:45.289
poisoning them and beating them to death. It

00:30:45.289 --> 00:30:47.960
was horrible. We did an emergency town hall.

00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.440
We had people in Turkey talking about what was

00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:54.180
happening on the ground. We also did an emergency

00:30:54.180 --> 00:30:57.319
town hall after the LA fires because so many

00:30:57.319 --> 00:30:59.319
people were having a hard time getting back in

00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:01.859
there to find their cats and dogs and other pets.

00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:06.000
And so, you know, it's like a dozen people gathered

00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.980
something like this. But we use StreamYard. We

00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:13.380
don't use Zoom. And that allows you to do a lot

00:31:13.380 --> 00:31:17.500
of bells and whistles like graphics, still photos,

00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:20.359
video, video with sound, video without sound,

00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:23.119
intro videos, outro videos. It's like a studio

00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.900
in a box. I would highly recommend it. And then

00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:31.059
we also did an emergency town hall to end fireworks.

00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:35.500
Fireworks are absolutely an instrument of terror

00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:38.339
on wildlife and pets, not to mention veterans

00:31:38.339 --> 00:31:41.799
and other people with PTSD. And so we did an

00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:44.559
emergency town hall on that. And the list goes

00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.960
on and on. So when it's a subject that involves

00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:51.200
a lot of different groups, different organizations,

00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:54.380
we have just scheduled a new emergency town hall

00:31:54.380 --> 00:31:57.839
for the pet overpopulation crisis in Southern

00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:02.579
California because our shelter system is in shambles.

00:32:03.019 --> 00:32:06.859
Um, even though there's many, many wonderful

00:32:06.859 --> 00:32:10.220
ideas that have been suggested, the bureaucrats,

00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:13.559
the hacks want to do it the same old way and

00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.460
dogs are dying. And so we're doing an emergency

00:32:16.460 --> 00:32:24.420
town hall on that. Thank you, Jane. I just want

00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:27.279
to say such amazing work that Jane does. I mean

00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.839
the The the level I've been having the video

00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:36.099
and the you know, the kind of like Media like

00:32:36.099 --> 00:32:39.339
a channel. I mean you you are CNN for animals,

00:32:39.339 --> 00:32:43.180
you know, I just love that. It's incredible Yeah,

00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:46.599
thank you so much Jane for all that amazing work

00:32:46.599 --> 00:32:49.900
so I think the question was what are my favorite

00:32:49.900 --> 00:32:54.000
podcasts or guests that I've had and You know,

00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:58.160
I do actually, on our website, HopeForTheAnimals

00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:00.619
.org, it's actually HopeForTheAnimalsPodcast

00:33:00.619 --> 00:33:04.180
.org, there's a drop -down menu, like a button

00:33:04.180 --> 00:33:06.099
at the top that has a drop -down menu, and I

00:33:06.099 --> 00:33:10.400
have categorized the podcasts so you can find

00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:14.799
ones around. If they have a theme, like chickens,

00:33:15.019 --> 00:33:17.480
or the environment, or anti -oppression, things

00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:20.240
like that. And I do have one that's called Hope's

00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:22.759
Favorites. So I do actually have my favorite

00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:25.299
podcast there and I went to look and see what

00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:30.980
I had put in that category. And I guess the ones

00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:34.299
that I'll mention are my favorite personally

00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:37.400
are when my husband Kojen is able to come on

00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:40.599
and co -host. We've been married 26 years and

00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:43.099
he's assisted me with vegan education for all

00:33:43.099 --> 00:33:47.109
that time. And I've had him on the podcast numerous

00:33:47.109 --> 00:33:49.529
times, and we've talked about various things.

00:33:50.049 --> 00:33:53.670
On episode 48, we talked about several animal

00:33:53.670 --> 00:33:56.029
rescues that we've done over the years. We seem

00:33:56.029 --> 00:34:01.630
to encounter animals in need in the world on

00:34:01.630 --> 00:34:04.049
occasion, but it's happened numerous times over

00:34:04.049 --> 00:34:08.179
the years. And so we talk about how we rescued

00:34:08.179 --> 00:34:10.559
this rabbit on the freeway and a bear family

00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:14.219
in Tahoe and got them to safety. I mean, we've

00:34:14.219 --> 00:34:17.179
had a lot of these really interesting rescues.

00:34:17.340 --> 00:34:21.579
So we talked about that on episode 48. Several

00:34:21.579 --> 00:34:25.079
episodes we've talked about our own personal

00:34:25.079 --> 00:34:28.320
philosophies that we've kind of evolved over

00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:32.119
the years. around veganism. We've talked about

00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:36.139
Kojen's work in the Dharma religions, Jainism

00:34:36.139 --> 00:34:40.059
in particular. He works for a Jain research institute,

00:34:40.219 --> 00:34:42.820
Arihanta, and he teaches Sanskrit and Dharma

00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:46.500
traditions and ethics classes. And then our latest

00:34:46.500 --> 00:34:50.940
one, that was fairly recently, episode 127, was

00:34:50.940 --> 00:34:55.449
called From Teddy Bears to Talking Fish. and

00:34:55.449 --> 00:34:58.590
we talk about our love of animated films and

00:34:58.590 --> 00:35:02.989
the depiction of animals as people, like the

00:35:02.989 --> 00:35:06.869
personhood of animals from back, you know, from

00:35:06.869 --> 00:35:10.250
Bambi all the way through now to, you know, Pixar

00:35:10.250 --> 00:35:15.469
and Disney doing these popular children's entertainment

00:35:15.469 --> 00:35:20.250
and how animals are personalized, have personhood.

00:35:20.789 --> 00:35:24.929
So anyway, I cover a lot. in the on the podcast.

00:35:25.329 --> 00:35:27.449
But the ones with Kojen are kind of special to

00:35:27.449 --> 00:35:30.269
me and and they get a lot of views. So I think

00:35:30.269 --> 00:35:33.570
other other people like them as well. Thank you.

00:35:33.670 --> 00:35:36.449
Personally, my favorite one is Nemo, Finding

00:35:36.449 --> 00:35:40.750
Nemo, the first one. So many vegan themes in

00:35:40.750 --> 00:35:43.110
Finding Nemo. It's amazing. We talk about Finding

00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:47.289
Nemo in that podcast. It's it's yeah. And and

00:35:47.289 --> 00:35:50.309
then then Dory, the next one, the second one.

00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:53.460
Finding Dory was kind of it's interesting. They

00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:55.519
it's almost like they pushed back a little because

00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:58.519
it was all around an aquarium and they you know,

00:35:58.780 --> 00:36:02.320
or you know kind of like oh It's not as I think

00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:05.780
that Nemo went almost too far for the you know,

00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:08.239
the funders or producers or somebody Because

00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:10.880
there was pushback on it. It's interesting. Anyway,

00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:14.699
you should listen our podcast about it Victoria

00:36:14.699 --> 00:36:18.599
I think for me having been doing this for such

00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:22.989
a long time now what's really special about podcasting

00:36:22.989 --> 00:36:27.130
as a medium is that it lasts forever and Several

00:36:27.130 --> 00:36:29.349
guests who've been on my show and you guys may

00:36:29.349 --> 00:36:31.989
have had the same experience They're not with

00:36:31.989 --> 00:36:35.530
us anymore. So I can think back to interviews

00:36:35.530 --> 00:36:41.650
with John Robbins Dr. John McDougal Sherry Kolb

00:36:41.650 --> 00:36:47.849
and Stephen Wise and All of that power and man

00:36:47.849 --> 00:36:51.030
presence and focus exists in those interviews,

00:36:51.269 --> 00:36:55.789
even though they're no longer on Earth. And since

00:36:55.789 --> 00:36:58.409
I kind of talked about something somber, I'll

00:36:58.409 --> 00:37:02.369
talk about something funny. I had Nimai Delgado,

00:37:03.070 --> 00:37:06.980
the really gorgeous vegan bodybuilder on my show,

00:37:07.420 --> 00:37:10.480
just after he had been on the front cover of

00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:12.719
Muscle and Fitness magazine. And it happened

00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:15.019
that I was at Penn Station and the newsstand

00:37:15.019 --> 00:37:16.579
and there was the magazine. It's like, well,

00:37:16.579 --> 00:37:18.300
I should buy this magazine, read the article

00:37:18.300 --> 00:37:20.599
since I'm going to be interviewing him next week.

00:37:20.619 --> 00:37:22.920
So I went up, you know, to pay my money and put

00:37:22.920 --> 00:37:25.980
the magazine down. And here is this absolutely

00:37:25.980 --> 00:37:28.780
extraordinarily bigger than life, literally,

00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:32.760
beautiful young man just in his little, you know,

00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:35.739
boxing briefs or whatever they call them for

00:37:35.739 --> 00:37:38.699
bodybuilders. And the woman behind the counter

00:37:38.699 --> 00:37:42.639
says, yeah, I'd buy that one too. Thank you,

00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:49.559
Victoria. Anita. Yeah. So there's a specific

00:37:49.559 --> 00:37:52.139
answer I want to first talk about. So his name

00:37:52.139 --> 00:37:59.300
is Val Gruner. So in Africa and probably a lot

00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:03.400
of places, there are conflicts between wildlife

00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:07.860
and farmers. And so there were these lions, I

00:38:07.860 --> 00:38:11.039
guess, who were eating livestock. So they were

00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:15.320
held in captivity. And one of the lions gave

00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:18.880
birth. And in the wild, the lions, when they

00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:22.599
have the babies, they go off by themselves. The

00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:24.300
mom takes care of the babies and then brings

00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:26.380
them back. But because she was in captivity,

00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:30.920
very stressed, two of the babies died, and then

00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:36.210
there was one baby left. And so Val took this

00:38:36.210 --> 00:38:39.090
baby, named her Surga. And what is so cool about

00:38:39.090 --> 00:38:42.750
it is he decided right away that he was not going

00:38:42.750 --> 00:38:46.369
to raise her, keep her as a pet. He wanted her

00:38:46.369 --> 00:38:51.010
to live the life as a wild lion. So he slept

00:38:51.010 --> 00:38:53.989
outside with her. She's unfamiliar with being

00:38:53.989 --> 00:39:00.010
inside. She's 13 years now. He has built Like

00:39:00.010 --> 00:39:02.809
it's called the Kalahari. She has, I don't know

00:39:02.809 --> 00:39:05.130
how many heck deers of land. So she's a wild

00:39:05.130 --> 00:39:08.090
lion, but the two of them go off hunting together.

00:39:08.170 --> 00:39:11.789
She loves him. She also has like a protected

00:39:11.789 --> 00:39:14.730
area where she can go to if she wants, you know,

00:39:14.789 --> 00:39:17.369
wants to feel safe. Doesn't want to be around

00:39:17.369 --> 00:39:19.650
other wild lions. Cause there were sometimes

00:39:19.650 --> 00:39:22.090
the wild lions do come into that area. It's,

00:39:22.090 --> 00:39:25.469
it's, it's a wild place. So, but to me, that

00:39:25.469 --> 00:39:27.889
is one of the greatest love stories I have ever.

00:39:28.110 --> 00:39:31.409
um scene because he's just dedicated his life

00:39:31.409 --> 00:39:34.510
to ensuring that she gets to live the life of

00:39:34.510 --> 00:39:37.869
a lioness which I just I just thought was so

00:39:37.869 --> 00:39:41.530
beautiful um and because it's called kindness

00:39:41.530 --> 00:39:43.489
is everything and I you know have all different

00:39:43.489 --> 00:39:46.030
kinds of people on I love it when I have young

00:39:46.030 --> 00:39:49.829
people on I've had young people who have advocated

00:39:49.829 --> 00:39:52.570
for sharks against shark finning I've had young

00:39:52.570 --> 00:39:58.230
people um you know climate activists um and You

00:39:58.230 --> 00:40:02.690
know, often when someone's homeless, they don't

00:40:02.690 --> 00:40:05.250
want to go to a shelter because they're not allowed

00:40:05.250 --> 00:40:08.409
to take their companion animal. And so they're

00:40:08.409 --> 00:40:11.530
advocating for places that allow people who are

00:40:11.530 --> 00:40:14.050
unhoused to be allowed to bring their companion

00:40:14.050 --> 00:40:18.730
animal, which I think is just incredible. Yeah,

00:40:18.869 --> 00:40:21.650
so I don't know. I think the young people, like

00:40:21.650 --> 00:40:24.670
climate activists, all of them, they have so

00:40:24.670 --> 00:40:27.559
much energy. They're doing such great work and

00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:30.659
and I love love chatting with them. Beautiful.

00:40:30.900 --> 00:40:33.880
Thank you, Anita Glenn. Yeah, I think it was

00:40:33.880 --> 00:40:36.300
Jane who mentioned Finding Nemo, so I wanted

00:40:36.300 --> 00:40:41.900
to tell my Finding Nemo story. I became a vegetarian

00:40:41.900 --> 00:40:45.750
at the age of 17. I've been thinking about doing

00:40:45.750 --> 00:40:48.250
it. I decided I would do it the first day of

00:40:48.250 --> 00:40:52.210
summer vacation after high school. So I got up

00:40:52.210 --> 00:40:54.309
in the morning and I had an English breakfast

00:40:54.309 --> 00:40:59.570
with jam for breakfast and phone rang. It was

00:40:59.570 --> 00:41:02.849
my old buddy Dave. And I said, Dave, congratulate

00:41:02.849 --> 00:41:05.750
me. I became a vegetarian. And he said, that's

00:41:05.750 --> 00:41:08.889
great. Since when? And I said, well, you know,

00:41:08.889 --> 00:41:14.079
since breakfast. And he laughed at me. And I

00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:19.860
haven't had any flesh foods for the last 53 years

00:41:19.860 --> 00:41:27.099
or so because he laughed at me. So then Dave

00:41:27.099 --> 00:41:30.539
along the way stopped eating red meat, but he

00:41:30.539 --> 00:41:34.380
still ate chicken and fish. And then he saw the

00:41:34.380 --> 00:41:39.920
movie Chicken Run. And he was just morally outraged

00:41:39.920 --> 00:41:42.420
by the treatment of those claymation figures.

00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:46.559
So he gave up eating chicken and he became a

00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:53.019
pescatarian. And then he saw Finding Nemo. And

00:41:53.019 --> 00:41:56.920
he gave up the fish. He still eats dairy. So

00:41:56.920 --> 00:41:59.300
I just want to ask everyone, if you happen to

00:41:59.300 --> 00:42:02.199
know anyone who could make an animated film about

00:42:02.199 --> 00:42:07.239
cheese, please. That's what we need. Nothing

00:42:07.239 --> 00:42:10.539
comes to mind. I am thinking, you know, animated

00:42:10.539 --> 00:42:15.320
movie with cows. That needs to be the next one.

00:42:16.099 --> 00:42:19.159
The next big Pixar film would be around the dairy

00:42:19.159 --> 00:42:23.840
industry. What about Wicked? Wicked is an outright

00:42:23.840 --> 00:42:27.760
animal rights movie. And so that was just really,

00:42:27.860 --> 00:42:31.519
I haven't seen the second movie. I don't know

00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:33.880
if it's as heavily animal rights themed, but

00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:37.619
that was very exciting. Yeah. The books, the

00:42:37.619 --> 00:42:40.719
books have a strong animal rights theme through

00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:47.710
them. Yeah. So I was wondering, you know, I've

00:42:47.710 --> 00:42:51.530
seen so many vegan podcasters or vegan podcasts

00:42:51.530 --> 00:42:56.050
just disappearing after about eight episodes,

00:42:56.130 --> 00:42:59.489
10 episodes. There are so many of them out there.

00:43:00.449 --> 00:43:06.329
Why do you think they're not succeeding at persevering

00:43:06.329 --> 00:43:10.690
as podcasters? And do you have any advice for

00:43:11.230 --> 00:43:13.349
the vegans out there, the animal rights activists

00:43:13.349 --> 00:43:18.269
out there who want to launch a podcast and keep

00:43:18.269 --> 00:43:22.349
it going for more than eight episodes. Well,

00:43:22.530 --> 00:43:25.670
I'll just I'll say it because it's hard. It's

00:43:25.670 --> 00:43:29.530
it's a lot of work. You don't realize going in

00:43:29.530 --> 00:43:32.809
like how much work and how many aspects there

00:43:32.809 --> 00:43:35.469
are to it from trying to find the guests, setting

00:43:35.469 --> 00:43:38.389
up an interview, doing the recording, editing

00:43:38.389 --> 00:43:40.909
and then promotion. You have to be able to put

00:43:41.179 --> 00:43:44.260
energy into promoting as well. You can't just

00:43:44.260 --> 00:43:47.119
let it sit there. So it's a lot of work. There's

00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:51.059
a lot of steps and a lot of aspects to it. And

00:43:51.059 --> 00:43:55.639
I would say when I started, I wanted to do weekly.

00:43:56.840 --> 00:44:01.179
And I quickly realized that that was just too

00:44:01.179 --> 00:44:03.699
much. They're just, I didn't have the time. I

00:44:03.699 --> 00:44:06.380
had so many other things to do. So I thought,

00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:09.860
okay, twice a month. And I set, you know, the

00:44:09.860 --> 00:44:12.119
first and 15th of the month, right, that I was

00:44:12.119 --> 00:44:14.460
going to get them out. And that worked for a

00:44:14.460 --> 00:44:17.199
little while, but there are times, I mean, my

00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:20.079
work is very seasonal. I organize two vegan fasts.

00:44:20.099 --> 00:44:24.019
You know, there's a lot going on. And so I would

00:44:24.019 --> 00:44:27.940
allow myself, if I just couldn't get to that

00:44:27.940 --> 00:44:30.889
podcast, I wasn't gonna stay up all night. And

00:44:30.889 --> 00:44:33.070
try, you know, I wasn't going to kill myself

00:44:33.070 --> 00:44:35.969
to get it out. If I skipped one of those times,

00:44:36.250 --> 00:44:39.170
oh, well, you know, I just I had to forgive myself

00:44:39.170 --> 00:44:41.329
and say, you know, I'm going to get it out as

00:44:41.329 --> 00:44:43.809
soon as I can. And maybe it's a week late. Maybe

00:44:43.809 --> 00:44:47.969
it's two weeks late, but it's OK. And and I think

00:44:47.969 --> 00:44:50.670
that, you know, just allowing myself a little

00:44:50.670 --> 00:44:54.989
leeway and not to get so overwhelmed that that

00:44:54.989 --> 00:44:57.269
it was just killing me to get get a bod gassed

00:44:57.269 --> 00:45:00.840
out, get the episode out. So yeah, I guess that's

00:45:00.840 --> 00:45:06.079
some advice is just to set a timer or set a schedule,

00:45:06.340 --> 00:45:10.940
have a schedule that you want to adhere to, but

00:45:10.940 --> 00:45:15.639
also allow yourself that leeway and that leniency

00:45:15.639 --> 00:45:19.360
to be able to do what you need to do, take care

00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:22.199
of yourself and get everything else done as well.

00:45:23.099 --> 00:45:27.320
So, yeah. Thank you, Hope. Victoria? I would

00:45:27.320 --> 00:45:29.920
just follow up on something that I heard an actor

00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:32.920
say once to young people who wanted to go into

00:45:32.920 --> 00:45:37.699
theater, only do it if you absolutely must, if

00:45:37.699 --> 00:45:40.340
there's nothing else that you can possibly do.

00:45:40.679 --> 00:45:43.300
And I think that just because the technology

00:45:43.300 --> 00:45:46.119
is available, oh, let's have a podcast. I don't

00:45:46.119 --> 00:45:48.300
think lots of times that people whose podcasts

00:45:48.300 --> 00:45:51.239
don't last very long have really thought it through,

00:45:51.340 --> 00:45:53.920
you know, what kind of theme, what kind of frequency.

00:45:54.280 --> 00:45:57.699
Where are they going to get these guests? And

00:45:57.699 --> 00:46:01.280
what are they going to do when publicists and

00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:04.719
people like that contact them about somebody

00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:07.800
who may turn out to not even be vegan? There's

00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:12.019
just a lot to it. So I think if you are really

00:46:12.019 --> 00:46:14.559
just like, what can I do to help animals just

00:46:14.559 --> 00:46:16.840
sit down with a good friend who knows you well

00:46:16.840 --> 00:46:19.320
and can sometimes reflect back maybe more than

00:46:19.320 --> 00:46:22.130
we know of ourselves oftentimes. What should

00:46:22.130 --> 00:46:24.909
i be doing is it a podcast is it something else

00:46:24.909 --> 00:46:28.670
because maybe not or maybe it is eight episodes

00:46:28.670 --> 00:46:32.030
maybe it's i just if i can speak to these eight

00:46:32.030 --> 00:46:36.469
vegan authorities and get that out there my work

00:46:36.469 --> 00:46:39.230
in this aspect would be done so there's lots

00:46:39.230 --> 00:46:42.090
of ways to do it and i'd also say to people who

00:46:42.090 --> 00:46:44.530
tried it and it didn't work out as long as you're

00:46:44.530 --> 00:46:47.010
still working for animals and for the veganism

00:46:47.010 --> 00:46:49.809
it's a success it's all a success as long as

00:46:49.809 --> 00:46:54.840
you're in the game. I so agree. What I always

00:46:54.840 --> 00:46:57.280
say is whatever your skill is, you can apply

00:46:57.280 --> 00:47:02.000
that to helping animals. We have a friend, Sheena

00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:04.880
Gao, who's an incredible violinist, and she plays

00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:07.619
at all sorts of galas. She's played at unchained

00:47:07.619 --> 00:47:10.519
TV fundraisers. She's brilliant. So she's doing

00:47:10.519 --> 00:47:13.059
her activism, helping us raise money by playing

00:47:13.059 --> 00:47:16.260
violin. She might not be the person to have a

00:47:16.260 --> 00:47:22.039
podcast. I think that people should do what they're

00:47:22.039 --> 00:47:25.460
normally good at. I mean, you mentioned we called

00:47:25.460 --> 00:47:28.840
Unchained TV the vegan Netflix CNN. Well, I worked

00:47:28.840 --> 00:47:32.440
at CNN. I had a show on CNN Headline News. I

00:47:32.440 --> 00:47:35.699
worked at Disney. I worked at CBS. I worked at

00:47:35.699 --> 00:47:38.800
telepictures. So I've seen how newsrooms work.

00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:42.539
And so it's something that seemed obvious to

00:47:42.539 --> 00:47:45.019
me to try to replicate. Obviously, I would like

00:47:45.019 --> 00:47:48.679
to have the views of a CNN or Netflix, but We're

00:47:48.679 --> 00:47:52.460
getting there. We had 50 million views in 2025

00:47:52.460 --> 00:47:55.360
across all platforms. And I want to break that

00:47:55.360 --> 00:47:58.840
down. That was up from 20 million in 2024. Now,

00:47:58.900 --> 00:48:03.179
just to put it in context, that includes social

00:48:03.179 --> 00:48:07.539
media. So it includes Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn,

00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:12.420
YouTube, and some other platforms. And it also

00:48:12.420 --> 00:48:15.480
includes collaborations, which means that when

00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:18.610
we all collaborate, with other groups on post,

00:48:18.690 --> 00:48:23.230
but still we feel like we're growing. And there

00:48:23.230 --> 00:48:26.289
are many times when I'm batting my head against

00:48:26.289 --> 00:48:29.150
the wall going, oh, you know, I wish this was

00:48:29.150 --> 00:48:31.789
more successful. I wish that was more successful,

00:48:31.789 --> 00:48:34.110
but you just keep plotting forward. And then

00:48:34.110 --> 00:48:38.150
sometimes there's this breakthrough. Like with

00:48:38.150 --> 00:48:42.789
the whole situation with the Ridgeland dog rescue,

00:48:43.309 --> 00:48:48.639
we ended up going on live like an hour 38 minutes

00:48:48.639 --> 00:48:51.260
prior because you never know when exactly a rescue

00:48:51.260 --> 00:48:53.739
is going to happen. But then we were able to

00:48:53.739 --> 00:48:56.340
take that live and then put it out there and

00:48:56.340 --> 00:48:58.420
it was picked up by mainstream media. I just

00:48:58.420 --> 00:49:01.579
saw this morning that mainstream media was quoting

00:49:01.579 --> 00:49:03.679
some of the things that the rescues were saying

00:49:03.679 --> 00:49:07.760
and gave us an attribution mention. So you just

00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:10.639
have to keep plugging away for that breakthrough.

00:49:11.460 --> 00:49:14.139
It's not going to land in your lap and you need

00:49:14.139 --> 00:49:17.809
to do what you're good at. Um, you know, Glenn's

00:49:17.809 --> 00:49:22.769
an incredible writer, so he's helped, uh, create

00:49:22.769 --> 00:49:24.869
some of the most important books in the movement.

00:49:26.170 --> 00:49:30.389
So right there is a perfect example. Thank you,

00:49:30.449 --> 00:49:35.610
Jane. Anita. So I remember I asked you this question

00:49:35.610 --> 00:49:39.239
on the podcast when you came on. And I remember

00:49:39.239 --> 00:49:42.559
your answer was, you would dissuade people from

00:49:42.559 --> 00:49:45.420
doing it. You would try to convince them not

00:49:45.420 --> 00:49:51.400
to do it, which was very funny. So for me, it's

00:49:51.400 --> 00:49:54.000
therapy, really having these conversations with

00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:57.059
folks who are just doing lovely things. And it's

00:49:57.059 --> 00:49:59.639
also building a community. I mean, obviously,

00:49:59.860 --> 00:50:03.880
yeah, I would love for it to grow and reach millions

00:50:03.880 --> 00:50:06.469
of people. That would be amazing because then

00:50:06.469 --> 00:50:09.889
it could do more good work. But yeah, it's that

00:50:09.889 --> 00:50:12.869
community, because then you don't feel like you're

00:50:12.869 --> 00:50:16.989
alone. And so if you find people that you want

00:50:16.989 --> 00:50:18.630
to chat with, that you have an interest with,

00:50:19.409 --> 00:50:24.670
I think that can be great too. Thank you, Anita.

00:50:24.969 --> 00:50:29.389
Glenn? Excuse me. First, thank you, Jane, for

00:50:29.389 --> 00:50:35.320
the kind words. I think the question is why Why

00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:38.119
do some people give up after eight podcasts?

00:50:39.099 --> 00:50:42.579
And it's just very difficult, you know, and it's

00:50:42.579 --> 00:50:45.559
not lucrative unless you're wildly successful.

00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:50.599
So it's a lot of work for really no or very little

00:50:50.599 --> 00:50:57.820
money. And so it's not surprising to me that

00:50:57.820 --> 00:51:00.380
people give up. You might not think it's that

00:51:00.380 --> 00:51:04.349
hard to book guests and. set up interviews and

00:51:04.349 --> 00:51:08.650
then edit and publicize it and so forth. But

00:51:08.650 --> 00:51:13.750
it is it is all a lot of work that that takes

00:51:13.750 --> 00:51:18.309
time. Very true. Thank you, Glenn. And I guess

00:51:18.309 --> 00:51:22.329
my last question for all of you is about, you

00:51:22.329 --> 00:51:26.449
know, stories that you're covering or have covered

00:51:26.449 --> 00:51:30.630
and that are not on people's radar right now.

00:51:31.150 --> 00:51:34.610
I would love if you could shed light on some

00:51:34.610 --> 00:51:37.869
of those stories. Oh, I'll give you a story.

00:51:38.230 --> 00:51:40.650
We just recently did a story about Direct Action

00:51:40.650 --> 00:51:45.389
Everywhere putting out a map of California's

00:51:45.389 --> 00:51:50.409
1 ,300 factory farms. This is a major breakthrough

00:51:50.409 --> 00:51:55.630
because California is considered the humane capital.

00:51:55.889 --> 00:51:58.309
We passed Proposition 12, we passed Proposition

00:51:58.309 --> 00:52:05.159
2, but This factory farm map is so extraordinary

00:52:05.159 --> 00:52:08.139
because then you can use a Google map. It literally

00:52:08.139 --> 00:52:10.300
points out every single factory farm, and then

00:52:10.300 --> 00:52:13.940
you can go right in there and see what's going

00:52:13.940 --> 00:52:18.239
on. And already they've uncovered one really

00:52:18.239 --> 00:52:22.219
horrific situation. Vox recently did a story

00:52:22.219 --> 00:52:28.840
on it. It involves a dairy, a dairy farm and

00:52:28.840 --> 00:52:32.059
the just the monstrosity that the size of it

00:52:32.059 --> 00:52:35.920
is so overwhelming. And so there you're shattering

00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:38.519
stereotypes. People don't realize California

00:52:38.519 --> 00:52:41.280
is the largest dairy state in the nation. It

00:52:41.280 --> 00:52:44.000
totally eclipses Vermont or Wisconsin, you know,

00:52:44.059 --> 00:52:47.219
the cheese state. No, it's California with millions

00:52:47.219 --> 00:52:53.340
of cows. And so I think that is a breakthrough.

00:52:54.170 --> 00:52:56.789
Typically, it didn't get the kind of media coverage

00:52:56.789 --> 00:53:00.570
that, for example, when DXC goes in and does

00:53:00.570 --> 00:53:03.150
an open rescue and everybody gets arrested, they

00:53:03.150 --> 00:53:06.530
get coverage on that. And I always say it's a

00:53:06.530 --> 00:53:09.630
crying shame that people have to risk going to

00:53:09.630 --> 00:53:14.170
prison to get these stories out there. This is

00:53:14.170 --> 00:53:18.110
a very legitimate story. It's scientific. It's

00:53:18.110 --> 00:53:21.690
an extraordinary breakthrough interactive map.

00:53:21.869 --> 00:53:25.650
using the very latest technology. And while Vox,

00:53:25.829 --> 00:53:29.010
which is an independent media, did an incredible

00:53:29.010 --> 00:53:31.889
story related to what they found when they used

00:53:31.889 --> 00:53:36.010
that map, it wasn't picked up by mainstream media.

00:53:37.210 --> 00:53:40.289
So mainstream media is completely, in my opinion,

00:53:40.650 --> 00:53:43.309
co -opted by the meat and dairy industry. And

00:53:43.309 --> 00:53:45.590
that's another reason why these podcasts are

00:53:45.590 --> 00:53:48.340
so important. We're the equivalent of people

00:53:48.340 --> 00:53:51.699
back in the days of like the 19th century, you

00:53:51.699 --> 00:53:53.840
know, printing out little pieces of paper and

00:53:53.840 --> 00:53:55.599
handing them to people in the middle of the night.

00:53:55.880 --> 00:53:58.719
We're not reaching the numbers that mainstream

00:53:58.719 --> 00:54:02.760
media reaches, but I'm sorry, insanity is doing

00:54:02.760 --> 00:54:04.860
the same thing over and over again and expecting

00:54:04.860 --> 00:54:07.360
a different result. We keep begging and praying

00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:09.239
for mainstream media to give this issue fair

00:54:09.239 --> 00:54:11.980
coverage. It's not going to happen because look

00:54:11.980 --> 00:54:15.809
at the advertisers. primarily meat, dairy and

00:54:15.809 --> 00:54:18.630
pharmaceuticals, fast food and pharmaceuticals,

00:54:18.750 --> 00:54:22.510
the two industries that would collapse if people

00:54:22.510 --> 00:54:24.449
woke up to the fact that they don't need to eat

00:54:24.449 --> 00:54:29.050
animals. So we are doing something extremely

00:54:29.050 --> 00:54:32.610
important and we're not reaching the obviously

00:54:32.610 --> 00:54:36.329
mainstream numbers in most cases, although hats

00:54:36.329 --> 00:54:39.329
off to DxE when they get mainstream coverage

00:54:39.329 --> 00:54:44.469
by risking going to jail. and doing time, but

00:54:44.469 --> 00:54:49.090
every podcast is super important because we could

00:54:49.090 --> 00:54:53.849
make up with numbers of podcasts. If we had 10

00:54:53.849 --> 00:54:57.949
,000 podcasters, again, the meat industry had

00:54:57.949 --> 00:55:00.570
something called masters and beef advocacy where

00:55:00.570 --> 00:55:03.630
they're churning out social media influencers.

00:55:04.289 --> 00:55:08.489
I say every social, every vegan create an Instagram

00:55:08.489 --> 00:55:11.659
page. post your recipes, talk into the camera,

00:55:12.380 --> 00:55:16.820
be a citizen journalist for animals. Yeah, that

00:55:16.820 --> 00:55:20.280
resonates with me so much, Jane, and shout out

00:55:20.280 --> 00:55:25.599
to Changing Markets. They are an environmental

00:55:25.599 --> 00:55:29.199
organization foundation that investigates that

00:55:29.199 --> 00:55:32.619
very bias in social media and mainstream media.

00:55:33.000 --> 00:55:36.139
They have published a few reports, you know,

00:55:36.280 --> 00:55:39.639
showing how many of those influencers, including,

00:55:39.639 --> 00:55:42.280
you know, scientists, medical doctors, and so

00:55:42.280 --> 00:55:46.400
on are on the payroll of this big industry. So

00:55:46.400 --> 00:55:50.320
really great work, Victoria. Yeah. I'll just

00:55:50.320 --> 00:55:56.190
tell one story. This was from 2016 and Miraculously,

00:55:56.590 --> 00:56:00.750
this woman did get a coverage of mainstream media

00:56:00.750 --> 00:56:02.530
coverage. She was like one of those, you know,

00:56:02.570 --> 00:56:05.289
she got her 15 minutes. But when it happened,

00:56:05.409 --> 00:56:08.130
her name was Christine Loghead. She lived in

00:56:08.130 --> 00:56:13.570
a small city in Canada and did what we all have

00:56:13.570 --> 00:56:16.909
wanted to do, get one of those lobsters out of

00:56:16.909 --> 00:56:19.829
the tank. So one lobster was left, you know,

00:56:19.909 --> 00:56:22.949
the end of the day. And she kind of went back

00:56:22.949 --> 00:56:26.110
and forth because most of us as vegans don't

00:56:26.110 --> 00:56:28.769
want to support the industry. So even to save

00:56:28.769 --> 00:56:32.550
an animal, we're shy about buying it. So she

00:56:32.550 --> 00:56:35.889
was talking to the department guy. She actually

00:56:35.889 --> 00:56:39.210
went back to the store and he said he would just

00:56:39.210 --> 00:56:42.800
give this being to her. So then she needed to

00:56:42.800 --> 00:56:45.800
know how to get the lobster back to where he

00:56:45.800 --> 00:56:49.199
or she came from. So she did some research. She

00:56:49.199 --> 00:56:52.380
found a vegan in that place that would accept

00:56:52.380 --> 00:56:56.219
the lobster. And then she went to UPS, having

00:56:56.219 --> 00:56:59.280
studied up on how to get a lobster transported.

00:56:59.840 --> 00:57:03.449
And all the UPS people, as we so often see, Even

00:57:03.449 --> 00:57:06.110
an animal that people would otherwise eat when

00:57:06.110 --> 00:57:08.429
they have the opportunity to help that actual

00:57:08.429 --> 00:57:10.570
living animal that they can see everybody wants

00:57:10.570 --> 00:57:14.010
to do it. So the whole UPS team got very excited

00:57:14.010 --> 00:57:17.789
about doing everything perfectly. So the lobster

00:57:17.789 --> 00:57:22.289
was sent back to his or her homeland and the

00:57:22.289 --> 00:57:25.789
person that released the lobster said that the

00:57:25.789 --> 00:57:29.449
lobster stood at the edge of the sea like, huh?

00:57:29.869 --> 00:57:32.949
Where am I? What's going on? And then it was

00:57:32.949 --> 00:57:37.750
like, oh, wow, I am home and leapt as a lobster

00:57:37.750 --> 00:57:42.269
might leap into the sea. Beautiful story. Thank

00:57:42.269 --> 00:57:47.289
you, Victoria Anita. Oh, yeah. I love that story.

00:57:47.389 --> 00:57:52.420
Oh my gosh. Um, yeah. So I recently had this

00:57:52.420 --> 00:57:54.760
group on, they're called Transformation Project,

00:57:54.860 --> 00:57:57.119
because this is one thing I've always wondered

00:57:57.119 --> 00:58:02.000
about is what would it take to transform these

00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:06.519
animal agriculture farms into farms that produce

00:58:06.519 --> 00:58:10.219
plants and vegetables. And I just loved having

00:58:10.219 --> 00:58:12.920
these people on. It was just such a great conversation.

00:58:13.699 --> 00:58:16.280
And the fact that they're doing that work and

00:58:16.280 --> 00:58:18.420
there's such a demand for it. And what was really

00:58:18.420 --> 00:58:22.659
interesting to me was that Because I always come

00:58:22.659 --> 00:58:26.340
at it from, you know, feeling empathy for the

00:58:26.340 --> 00:58:29.579
animals, right? Like what a horrible situation

00:58:29.579 --> 00:58:32.280
they're in and how awful but she also brought

00:58:32.280 --> 00:58:35.659
up the fact that yes, the obviously the animals

00:58:35.659 --> 00:58:37.860
are the ones who suffer the most but also the

00:58:37.860 --> 00:58:42.429
farmers who are raising these animals for slaughter,

00:58:42.869 --> 00:58:44.869
apparently, and I didn't realize this, they really

00:58:44.869 --> 00:58:47.530
have no control. It's the big corporations that

00:58:47.530 --> 00:58:50.769
control everything that they do. They decide,

00:58:50.769 --> 00:58:53.869
you know, how the animal's gonna be kept, how

00:58:53.869 --> 00:58:56.469
they're transported, and all of that, and the

00:58:56.469 --> 00:58:59.289
amount of death that these folks get themselves

00:58:59.289 --> 00:59:01.809
into, and the amount of hours they work, and

00:59:01.809 --> 00:59:06.559
how they're so willing to... find another alternative,

00:59:07.019 --> 00:59:09.059
you know, a viable alternative and how much more

00:59:09.059 --> 00:59:12.039
money they can actually make, um, growing mushrooms

00:59:12.039 --> 00:59:15.239
or plants as opposed to, uh, raising animals

00:59:15.239 --> 00:59:18.159
for slaughter. So I really enjoyed that conversation

00:59:18.159 --> 00:59:20.519
and I would love for something like that to hit

00:59:20.519 --> 00:59:25.980
mainstream media. Thank you Anita Glenn. Well,

00:59:26.139 --> 00:59:29.559
first let me, uh, lower expectations. I'm not

00:59:29.559 --> 00:59:32.760
going to be able to top the lobster story. So

00:59:33.449 --> 00:59:36.309
Please understand that but of course, I don't

00:59:36.309 --> 00:59:41.030
really do stories the way Jane does on her network

00:59:41.030 --> 00:59:48.190
I mainly interview individuals and Sometimes

00:59:48.190 --> 00:59:51.210
it's about animal rights. Sometimes it's about

00:59:51.210 --> 00:59:56.309
the planet and sometimes it's about health You

00:59:56.309 --> 00:59:58.849
remember that I was initially gonna call the

00:59:58.849 --> 01:00:03.639
the podcast on your health so the theme of Taking

01:00:03.639 --> 01:00:07.599
your health into your own hands is important

01:00:07.599 --> 01:00:10.900
to me. And I've interviewed a couple of guys

01:00:10.900 --> 01:00:15.000
who have their own brands of supplements. My

01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:19.199
good friend, Jeff Palmer, who's a bodybuilder

01:00:19.199 --> 01:00:23.760
and a vegan and a brilliant, brilliant guy just

01:00:23.760 --> 01:00:27.400
knows more about nutrition than I'd say just

01:00:27.400 --> 01:00:31.789
about any nutritionist in the country. And so

01:00:31.789 --> 01:00:36.710
I've talked to him about nutritional subjects,

01:00:36.750 --> 01:00:40.210
and also he's got a wonderful new supplement

01:00:40.210 --> 01:00:43.969
that's made from mycelium, which is really a

01:00:43.969 --> 01:00:48.130
way that we could help feed the world and end

01:00:48.130 --> 01:00:52.010
hunger in the world, because it's such a powerful

01:00:52.010 --> 01:00:57.159
protein -packed powder. I also interviewed a

01:00:57.159 --> 01:00:59.920
guy who's got a supplement company. He's not

01:00:59.920 --> 01:01:02.159
a vegan, so I've had a couple of opportunities

01:01:02.159 --> 01:01:06.519
to argue with him about nutrition. But he's got

01:01:06.519 --> 01:01:09.519
a supplement that seems to work for people. Even

01:01:09.519 --> 01:01:12.599
people have said they've overcome cancer. We

01:01:12.599 --> 01:01:16.659
can't say cure, but people have said that they've

01:01:16.659 --> 01:01:20.079
overcome cancer. And he claims that he overcame

01:01:20.079 --> 01:01:25.920
a rare blood cancer with this with astaxanthin,

01:01:25.980 --> 01:01:29.940
which is made from red algae and his particular

01:01:29.940 --> 01:01:35.460
formulation of astaxanthin. So for me, getting

01:01:35.460 --> 01:01:38.199
these kinds of stories out, if you could call

01:01:38.199 --> 01:01:41.840
them stories about health and taking health into

01:01:41.840 --> 01:01:46.739
your own hands, I myself had a couple of hernias.

01:01:47.210 --> 01:01:50.369
And I discovered when I got hernias that I thought

01:01:50.369 --> 01:01:52.150
it would just be a simple operation. I could

01:01:52.150 --> 01:01:54.989
go to a local surgeon. But no, it turns out they

01:01:54.989 --> 01:01:58.489
all do hernias wrong and they hernia repairs

01:01:58.489 --> 01:02:01.289
wrong. They put in some piece of plastic mesh

01:02:01.289 --> 01:02:07.010
that you don't need. And I found a surgeon in

01:02:07.010 --> 01:02:09.710
Florida who does it correctly. Went to him twice.

01:02:10.210 --> 01:02:13.170
No problems. I didn't have to take an aspirin.

01:02:14.849 --> 01:02:19.469
And so I interviewed him on my show about essentially

01:02:19.469 --> 01:02:23.769
why is it that only three or four hernias surgeons

01:02:23.769 --> 01:02:27.190
in America are doing this correctly? And to me,

01:02:27.309 --> 01:02:30.489
it's outrageous. And I think it has something

01:02:30.489 --> 01:02:33.690
to do with monetary incentives. And I think it

01:02:33.690 --> 01:02:35.590
also has to do with the fact that the country

01:02:35.590 --> 01:02:39.409
is so overweight that if you are very overweight,

01:02:39.550 --> 01:02:42.579
you need that plastic mesh. So if they're going

01:02:42.579 --> 01:02:45.300
to teach one method they'll teach the method

01:02:45.300 --> 01:02:51.199
mesh method But it's not the optimal method So

01:02:51.199 --> 01:02:54.559
for me that's as close to doing stories as I've

01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:58.260
done is is interviewing people about health subjects

01:02:58.260 --> 01:03:05.199
Thank You Glenn and finally hope yeah, so the

01:03:05.199 --> 01:03:07.840
question was what interesting stories we've done

01:03:08.460 --> 01:03:12.219
I've been so inspired by so many of my guests

01:03:12.219 --> 01:03:16.719
and my podcast, The Hope for the Animals podcast,

01:03:16.900 --> 01:03:21.300
we get into kind of unique areas, unique stories.

01:03:22.340 --> 01:03:25.079
Some of the things that come to mind are around

01:03:25.079 --> 01:03:27.900
the humane hoax that I've talked about and written

01:03:27.900 --> 01:03:31.010
books about. but also around anti -oppression

01:03:31.010 --> 01:03:34.989
and social justice issues. We've had some amazing

01:03:34.989 --> 01:03:37.530
voices on Lorne and Alice, a food empowerment

01:03:37.530 --> 01:03:42.809
project. I had Honey LeBronx on, who is a vegan

01:03:42.809 --> 01:03:46.989
drag queen. And that episode was so funny, but

01:03:46.989 --> 01:03:51.030
also very moving. So I loved that episode. We've

01:03:51.030 --> 01:03:56.309
had two episodes. on anti -fat bias in the vegan

01:03:56.309 --> 01:04:01.750
movement and our kind of disdain around seeing

01:04:01.750 --> 01:04:07.050
and around vegans that are overweight and how

01:04:07.050 --> 01:04:10.130
we really need to be more inclusive of anyone

01:04:10.130 --> 01:04:13.539
and everyone. Going vegan and being careful of

01:04:13.539 --> 01:04:15.920
things like that So some really unique stories

01:04:15.920 --> 01:04:18.920
and my latest episode actually is called men

01:04:18.920 --> 01:04:22.519
and meat and it is about that the what we're

01:04:22.519 --> 01:04:26.880
seeing now the kind of the rise of the manosphere

01:04:26.880 --> 01:04:32.599
and how high protein and meat and Saturated fat

01:04:32.599 --> 01:04:34.639
and all of that coming back with our current

01:04:34.639 --> 01:04:38.369
administration and the maha movement and how

01:04:38.369 --> 01:04:41.690
men are very susceptible to all that and how,

01:04:41.909 --> 01:04:46.289
you know, I came away from that episode with

01:04:46.289 --> 01:04:50.570
really kind of a more empathetic feeling towards

01:04:50.570 --> 01:04:55.739
men and going vegan or wanting to go vegan. because

01:04:55.739 --> 01:05:00.280
there's a lot of psychological and cultural things

01:05:00.280 --> 01:05:05.099
working against them wanting to be more compassionate

01:05:05.099 --> 01:05:10.099
and eat a more compassionate diet. So really

01:05:10.099 --> 01:05:14.059
some amazing episodes. And I'll just, last thing

01:05:14.059 --> 01:05:18.340
I want to say is I think it's so amazing where

01:05:18.340 --> 01:05:21.920
my podcasts are being listened to. And I'm sure

01:05:21.920 --> 01:05:25.320
others, uh as well probably have this experience

01:05:25.320 --> 01:05:29.619
when you look at the statistics uh the the places

01:05:29.619 --> 01:05:32.280
that the hope for the animals podcast is being

01:05:32.280 --> 01:05:35.139
downloaded it's amazing i just checked before

01:05:35.139 --> 01:05:38.699
coming on to this interview and the last 10 episodes

01:05:38.699 --> 01:05:43.539
were downloaded in 54 countries i just it's so

01:05:43.539 --> 01:05:48.030
amazing to me that we have such a wide breath

01:05:48.030 --> 01:05:52.889
a wide range all over the world with podcasting,

01:05:52.889 --> 01:05:56.789
right? I have listeners in Canada and Australia

01:05:56.789 --> 01:05:59.809
and Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, India.

01:05:59.949 --> 01:06:03.610
I mean, it's wild to me that we can just reach

01:06:03.610 --> 01:06:07.250
all around the world with podcasting. And I think

01:06:07.250 --> 01:06:09.909
I mentioned something about, you know, my activism

01:06:09.909 --> 01:06:13.329
in the 90s being so different. I remember I would

01:06:13.329 --> 01:06:17.099
give vegan talks, you know, with like a hand

01:06:17.099 --> 01:06:19.719
-drawn flyer where I'd just actually written

01:06:19.719 --> 01:06:22.960
the information down and take it to Kinko's and

01:06:22.960 --> 01:06:26.199
made copies. And you'd get like six people that

01:06:26.199 --> 01:06:28.760
would come to my vegan talks and I'd be so happy

01:06:28.760 --> 01:06:32.239
with having six people show up, you know? And

01:06:32.239 --> 01:06:35.219
comparing that now to the thousands of downloads

01:06:35.219 --> 01:06:38.539
that I'm able to get on these episodes, I just

01:06:38.539 --> 01:06:42.679
feel very blessed to have this platform of podcasting

01:06:42.679 --> 01:06:46.559
and to be able to have the reach. that we do

01:06:46.559 --> 01:06:50.699
now with this new world of podcasting. Beautiful.

01:06:50.920 --> 01:06:53.820
Thank you, Hope. And thank you, everyone, for

01:06:53.820 --> 01:06:56.860
all of your great insights and answers. This

01:06:56.860 --> 01:07:01.039
has been such a pleasant conversation. And yeah,

01:07:01.039 --> 01:07:04.340
I'm a fan of all of your podcasts. And so being

01:07:04.340 --> 01:07:08.119
able to promote them with my audience and celebrate

01:07:08.119 --> 01:07:10.539
podcasting in the vegan space, animal rights

01:07:10.539 --> 01:07:14.599
space, kindness space. more broadly with you,

01:07:14.659 --> 01:07:19.280
Anita. It's truly an honor, and I value that

01:07:19.280 --> 01:07:23.619
so much. So thank you for having made that happen.

01:07:24.699 --> 01:07:27.980
Thank you. Thank you, Ryan. So great to see everybody

01:07:27.980 --> 01:07:30.780
and to meet you, Anita. Thank you, everybody.

01:07:31.460 --> 01:07:35.159
It was really fun. Thank you. Thank you, everyone,

01:07:35.239 --> 01:07:38.289
for listening. I kindly invite you to share this

01:07:38.289 --> 01:07:41.170
podcast with the vegans you know. Let's encourage

01:07:41.170 --> 01:07:45.130
more people to take action. Again, thank you

01:07:45.130 --> 01:07:48.130
so much for caring and I will see you next Tuesday

01:07:48.130 --> 01:07:49.590
for a new episode.