Animal Voices

Too often we see the mainstream framing of black veganism or indigenous veganism as an assimilation into white veganism. Veganism is painted as a white person thing, when it isn’t and never has been. That is why creating spaces for the narratives of black vegans to grow and flourish is extremely important. I hope with this … Continue reading →

In February 2015 we interviewed No New Animal Lab about their campaign to stop the expansion of the University of Washington’s research lab while pressuring the private construction firm, SKANSKA into terminating their contract with the university. U of W has been a long time animal research facility, using thousands of animals as research tools. Activists, … Continue reading →

Our current age called the Anthropocene – climate change, super-diverse societies, and other expressions that are occurring at such magnitude – “change” permeates our contemporary societies, public opinion and our scientific and political imagination. For thousands of years most species, including homosapiens have been migrating. Nowadays, it happens so much faster and it’s causes are often … Continue reading →

Bif Naked, Canadian singer-songwriter, writer and motivational speaker has been quite active in speaking out against poverty. Partnering with Vancouver Raise the Rates, she recently participated in The Welfare Food Challenge, which aims to demonstrate the reality of living on $610 of social assistance a month. She wanted to get involved to raise awareness about the plight of our poor, to … Continue reading →

It’s scary to put yourself out there, and the world isn’t that welcoming to bright eyed anti-capitalist creatives, but there are safe spaces you can find yourself in with the help of good folks. It’s a huge privilege to be able to travel without restrictions and have your voice heard as an artist. It’s important … Continue reading →

The internet exploded earlier this year with outrage from Western vegans, animal lovers, and dog owners in response to the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival held in Yulin, China. Graphic images inflamed sensibilities and a conflict began to mount that was clearly producing racial tension between the (typically) white animal rights protestors and the people … Continue reading →

On this show we talk to Hope Bohanec, who has been active in animal protection and environmental activism for over 20 years and is a nationally recognized leader and speaker in the animal protection movement. She is currently serving as Projects Manager for United Poultry Concerns as well as the Executive Director of Compassionate Living, a Sonoma County, … Continue reading →

In this episode, you’ll hear us talk with Jeremy and Jordan, both long time vegan anarchists who are behind Which Side, a podcast by activists, for activists, that gives a platform for folks who are passionate about fighting animal, human and environmental oppression. We talk about producing DIY media projects, what it was like growing … Continue reading →

This week we host a discussion with Cornell University sociology PhD student, Loredana Loy, on how representations of nonhuman animals and advocacy issues in cinema provide opportunities for social change and create an auspicious momentum for advocacy on behalf of nonhuman animals. Loredana;s blog series “Cinema for Social Change” provides a glimpse into her research … Continue reading →

Have you ever imagined what our world would look like in a post-meat society? This episode we chat with Marc Pierschel and Jeff Wirth who are filmmakers working on the documentary, The End of Meat. This film project is seeking to explore what our world would look like in a post-meat world, where animals are … Continue reading →

Anastasia Yarbrough, writer, naturalist, and activist, shares her reflections doing grounded grassroots community work that is inclusive to human and non-human animals. We talk about her experiences living in a small rural community as an activist, interspecies relationships, the powerful connections between afro-animal struggles, and the importance of radical self-care. Anastasia works as individual, following … Continue reading →

Claudia Serrato from Decolonial Food for Thought teaches about indigenous veganism from a Xicana Indigena perspective, sharing ways she has approached decolonizing her diet and creating spaces to hear how others are doing so too which ultimately, is a process of remembering ancestral cuisines through food storytelling. We talk about the impact colonization has had … Continue reading →

Animal Voices is thrilled to welcome back to the show one of its co-founders, Susan Hargreaves! Now that the show has been on the air for approximately two decades, we reflect on how Animal Voices began, along with the importance of alternative media and community radio. Grounded in her work as an undercover investigator and … Continue reading →

Narwhals and unicorns are two animal species known for the distinct horn on top of their head. However, what some people may not know, is that if oil exploration continues down its current path, they may share another feature in common – not existing on planet Earth. Ian Rowan refuses to let that happen, and … Continue reading →

Firoz Alam, President of the WE Foundation Bangladesh, and Macy Tollefson, project director, joined us in discussing the connection they are making between childhood literacy programs and animal advocacy in Bangladesh. The WE Foundation Bangladesh is a non-profit, youth based organization, providing support to poor families and children in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The WEF’s mission is … Continue reading →

From Minneapolis to Toronto, urban dwellers are on the hunt for local, sustainable food. While backyard and community gardens offer real opportunity, some take it a step further and attempt to keep a flock of laying hens. But is urban chicken keeping truly sustainable? And, more importantly, sustainable for who? This is the question that … Continue reading →

Many of us are aware that research on non-consenting animals takes place behind the closed doors of universities all over the world. Animals are subject to captivity, restraint, and invasive procedures in the name of science, but the explicit details of these experiments are often well-hidden, both physically out of the public’s eye, but also … Continue reading →

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson joins Animal Voices to discuss his new book “Beasts”, exploring the origins of morality and what animals can teach us about the nature of good and evil. The disparity between the apex predator of the sea, orcas, and the apex predator on land, humans, in relation to violence is staggering. Humans are … Continue reading →

Despite the close relation between domesticated dogs and coyotes, there is a stark difference in the way that humans treat individuals of each species. While the former are beloved members of many human families, the latter are much maligned and vilified. Lesley Sampson of Coyote Watch Canada hopes that we can rethink the way we … Continue reading →

In this interview we are diving into cyborg politics with Dr. Sherryl Vint, whose work called Animal Alterity inspired us to pursue this subject further. We explore the realm of science fiction which brings up wide ranging questions of what it means to be animal and how to reconfigure the historically constructed human and animal … Continue reading →

We discuss how the University of Washington’s research lab currently operates and why the campaign is pressuring the private construction firm, SKANSKA. “If they decide that they’re going to ignore public pressure and concern over animals, and start building the lab, we’re going to be there every step of the way, to try to make … Continue reading →

If you’ve envisioned a world where animals are no longer raised to be killed and eaten as food, you may have also wondered about finding alternative means of producing real food to feed the world. Nicole Vosper brings her experience with liberation permaculture and agroecology as a potential solution. These practices incorporate an ethic of … Continue reading →

Many of us have heard of the term “trickle-down economics”, but Hana Low wants to introduce us to “trickle-up social justice”. Coined by Dean Spade, this term is the jumping off point of a talk Hana gives about the connections between fighting oppression for LGBTQ communities and non-human animals. Hana alludes to a few common … Continue reading →

  Veganism is often marketed by proponents of the mainstream animal activism movement, as a sure-fire way to shed some pounds. This approach has led to a lot of fatphobic campaigns that have been created by animal rights groups, which have led to the shaming of fat-identified folx and in particular fat identified vegans. In … Continue reading →

The wolves of Alberta and British Columbia are in dire need. With numbers already being reduced by environmental factors such as habitat loss and pollution, this keystone species now faces threats from hunting. Caribou in the region are dying from oil, mineral, timber, and other resource extraction, but governments and industries have taken to scapegoating … Continue reading →