Our Hen House

Hakeem Jimo joins us this week for an insightful and inspiring conversation about Nigeria’s growing vegan movement and the meat alternative making a splash there: Vchunks. Hakeem tells us all about developing Vchunks specifically for the Nigerian palate. Not an imitation of meat substitutes commonly found in European and US markets, Vchunks—Hakeem shares—are designed to serve the needs of vegans in…

Jamie Woodhouse joins us this week for an intriguing, dare-we-say captivating, conversation about “sentientism,” a philosophical worldview that encompasses vegan values. First developed and named in the 1970s, sentientism, quite simply, grants moral consideration to all sentient beings. Jamie tells us what he believes are the two central pillars of sentientism and what sentientists think about compassion, consciousness and morality. He…

This week, plant-based pediatricians Dr. Reshma Shah and Dr. Yami Cazorla-Lancaster join Jasmin to share their thoughts on how both adults and children can best transition from a standard diet to a plant-based diet, and discuss how they each made that change themselves during their medical careers. Dr. Yami shares how she got lost in a plant-based rabbit hole on her…

Angela Grimes, the CEO of Born Free USA, joins us for this week’s episode on a very timely and crucially important subject — the highly problematic and cruel conditions within wildlife wet markets. She and Mariann discuss the connections between these hideous markets, which are found all over the world, and human disease outbreaks, including, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. Angela…

This week, we have such a powerhouse interview! Newly elected New York State Senator Jabari Brisport joins us to explain how he successfully showcased his strong support for animal rights and veganism (yup!) while running for election. In fact, he points out, it actually created a platform for discussing all of the social justice issues he is passionate about. He shares…

Kim Stallwood is truly one of the founders of the modern animal rights movement, and we are thrilled to have him join us this week on the podcast. He and Mariann discuss the long term history of the movement, the recent extraordinary acquisition of Kim’s collection of books and artifacts by the British Library, and what the Library selected to preserve…

Michelle Graham joins the podcast today and we love this conversation! Michelle is the Executive Director of Wild Animal Initiative (WAI), where she focuses encouraging and facilitating research on wild animal welfare. We talk to Michelle about why we must focus on wild animal welfare, even when so many domesticated animals continue to suffer at the hands of humans. She also…

The incredible Chef Cola joins the podcast from Zimbabwe this week and we couldn’t be more excited. Nicola “Chef Cola” Kagoro founded African Vegan On A Budget in 2016 to raise awareness about plant-based eating and to inspire people to incorporate vegan meals into their diet everyday. She teamed up with the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) to establish a vegan camp…

Caryn Ginsberg of Priority Visions joins us today to discuss her transition from the business sector into the animal protection arena and how she helps advocacy groups become more effective with their strategic planning to ensure they use their resources in the most effective way possible. She explains her new Corona to Collaboration, Innovation to Inclusion: Issues and Opportunities in Farmed Animal…

Becky Jenkins, who is the Executive Director of the Aquatic Life Institute, joins us on Our Hen House to explain why aquatic animals should be a primary focus of the animal protection movement and why the Institute decided to focus on the fish farming aspect of animal agriculture. She also provides a brief overview of this far-too-little-known but huge industry, including…

Amy Quichiz joins Our Hen House podcast co-host Jasmin Singer in this episode to tell us about an extraordinary collective she co-founded, Veggie Mijas, and how it started and how it has since grown. Amy was inspired to found this vibrant community, which has since expanded well beyond its original home on Instagram, because she wanted to show the Latinx community…

This week’s guest is Gina Lynn, founder of New Life Animal Sanctuary, and we couldn’t be more excited. Gina has dedicated her entire life to animal advocacy and activism. After years of organizing protests, conferences, marches, etc., co-producing an internationally distributed grassroots animal rights magazine, and enduring the stress of government harassment, Gina sought a gentler approach to getting the message out.…

This week’s episode features a riveting interview with Michelle Rojas-Soto that was originally recorded at the Farmed Animal Conference E-summit (FACES) earlier this year. Michelle is the managing director at Encompass, a non-profit that supports animal advocates of the global majority and provides diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting to farmed animal protection organizations. She is a long-time advocate for racial justice,…

Nathalie Bibeau, who joins us this week, is a director and producer who began her career at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with the landmark series, Canada: A People’s History. An award-winning director and producer, Nathalie has since produced documentary projects such as Africa on the Move, which won a Gemini Award—presented by the Academy for Canadian Cinema and Television—for Best Documentary…

We’re thrilled to have Nicole Rawling join us on the podcast. Nicole has worked with fashion companies, scientists, and investors worldwide to encourage the development of alternative materials with the aim of replacing animal products. She founded Material Innovation Initiative after identifying the potential of the next-gen materials market through her her work as the Good Food Institute’s Director of International Engagement.…

Welcome to this extraordinary holiday episode in which we present Sanctuary: A Radio Play, an annual Thanksgiving tradition at Our Hen House! This special performance marks the world premiere of John Yunker’s Sanctuary at New York City’s Symphony Space during the Culture & Animals Foundation’s 2017 Compassion Arts Festival. We were thrilled to have been a part of this fun, engaging,…

This week we’re pleased to feature Shawn Smith and Melissa Hoffman of LivingFuture Foundation. The two live on SHO Farm, a 1300-acre regenerative vegan farm in Vermont, where they farm and steward the land so that all occupants can coexist in harmony. Shawn and Melissa are passionate about the long-term viability of food-medicine agriculture and the ecosystems that support life on…

At just 19 years old, Haile Thomas is already an international speaker, wellness activist, vegan advocate, and the author of Living Lively: 80 Plant-Based Recipes to Activate Your Power and Feed Your Potential.  Needless to say, we are thrilled that she is joining us on Our Hen House this week. Haile is the founder and CEO of HAPPY (Healthy, Active, Positive,…

Juliet Gellatley joins the podcast today and we seriously couldn’t be more excited about this conversation. She’s the founder and director of Viva!, a campaigning charity that has been a foundational force for the advances for veganism and animal rights in the UK and elsewhere (and also kicked off Jasmin‘s career in animal rights!). Long before many others got on board,…

It’s Jasmin’s birthday and also the beginning of Our Hen House’s end of year fundraising! Between now and December 31 our Barnyard Benefactors will donate $20,000, IF (and it’s a big if) that amount is matched by our listeners. Also, this year we’re thrilled announce that there’s a separate anonymous donor who’s willing to match ANOTHER $20,000. This means that, if…