Our Hen House

Jasmin and Mariann kick the show off with a discussion of Jasmin’s trip to the Catskill Animal Sanctuary and her visit with her namesake pig. They also chat about My Octopus Teacher, the Netflix documentary, what Jasmin got out of watching it, her reservations about it, and why Mariann is reluctant to give it a try. Mariann delves into a quick…

Jasmin and Mariann start off the show with a report from Jasmin on her disturbing discovery from a Facebook group that a local dairy farm is endorsing The Three Percenters, a far right militia group. Yikes! She also tells us about her efforts to educate folks about the enthusiasm of white supremacists for the dairy industry. In this week’s featured vegan…

“Sustainability” is the word of the week, as Jasmin takes a trip to Vermont to check out a few Net Zero homes and consider her next move. Although Vermont was as lovely and progressive as expected, sadly the dairy industry is alive and well, striking a discordant note. Speaking of self-sustained living reminds Mariann of The Good Life, by Helen and…

Jasmin and Mariann are all fired up about a recent New York Times article that discusses the new book, The Secret Life of Groceries, by Benjamin Lorr. In exploring the ethical dilemmas regarding the food we buy at grocery stores, it not only comes to some pretty weak conclusions regarding animal agriculture, but conveniently fails to come up with satisfactory (or…

Before we get to the interview, we have a few things to chat about. Our big news is that Jasmin recently recorded her audiobook for her forthcoming (in December) book, The Veg News Guide To Being a Fabulous Vegan, which she wrote in conjunction with VegNews Magazine. Although the book is fun and colorful and full of recipes, she was reminded…

First, we hear how Jasmin’s dogs and cat are adapting to upstate New York after life in LA.  The chihuahuas may or may not hate the rain, but at least they perked up when they were included on a trip to the local drive-in theater, where they met up with Mariann and some friends to watch Slap Shot. Everyone had a…

Jasmin has landed safely at her new home in the Catskills and is bubbling over about the hiking trails and her new neighbors, who include woodchucks and bunnies. While she’s waiting for her things to arrive, she has caught up in person with Mariann and, most important, with Rose. They have been putting in place the social distancing rules of their…

Jasmin is still driving cross-country in the RV(egan), but will finally be getting to her new home in a few days. Surprisingly, she’s been able to do more curbside vegan shopping while on the road than she thought was possible. Along the way she stopped at Nooch in Denver, 10th Street Diner in Indianapolis, and was greeted with a latte and…

In the opening of the show, Mariann touches base with Jasmin, who is currently on the road on her way to New York in an RV(egan). Jasmin tells us how her 3 dogs and cat are handling the trip, the ups and downs of cooking and eating all the occasionally weird food she packed in case Covid made buying food too…

Jasmin and Mariann open the show with a review of the National Geographic mini-documentary, Akashinga: The Brave Ones, which follows a group of women fighting poachers in Zimbabwe and why they are so committed to the cause of protecting and preserving elephants from extinction. They also discuss the hot-button issue of mask-wearing and how navigating the conversation around this new norm…

Jasmin and Mariann open the show discussing a recent article Jasmin edited for Kinder Beauty’s blog about how China is updating its regulations regarding testing cosmetics on animals, which could have enormous impact worldwide on the number of animals suffering in testing labs.  Mariann then talks about dealing with the chaos of today’s political climate and the pandemic and how it is…

Jasmin starts off the show with how excited she is about a new article, Using Research and Data to Create an Inclusive Animal Rights Movement, which is part of Encompass Essays, the new collaboration among Our Hen House, Encompass and Sentient Media that Jasmin is editing. Then, putting on her actor hat, she’s tickled pink about booking a national commercial and…

In the intro to the show, Mariann and Jasmin discuss the huge coronavirus outbreaks at slaughterhouses and talk about some Bloomberg reporting regarding how the meat industry is just not going to do anything about it. They also reflect on how they both recently watched Christopher Robin to cheer themselves up during this challenging time and to feel not quite so…

In the intro to the show Mariann talks to Jasmin about her new favorite book, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk and what a pleasure it is to read a book that really gets it about animals. Jasmin announces that she’ll likely be participating in The Goat Games, a virtual event that challenges participants to finish a 5-kilometer run, walk, bike, hike, or swim at a location of their choosing between August 8 and 16 to raise funds for Catskill Animal Sanctuary. Recently, Catskill, like many other sanctuaries, has lost 30% of it’s funding due to COVID-19. Then, in our continued effort to support vegan-owned businesses, we’re shouting out Charlie Fyffe and his  amazing guide to 70+ Black owned vegan businesses in Los Angeles. Over 70!  Then, Jasmin talks to Zach Skow. Zach is the founder of Marley’s Mutts, an animal shelter with a difference in Kern County, California. He turned to his dogs to help him when his diagnosis with end-stage liver disease meant that he had t

In the intro to the show Jasmin announces that she’s moving back to New York, so start spreading the news! Jasmin and Mariann also announce their new Director of Operations, Jen Riley. Jen is a long time animal rights activist and organizer and has long been the mastermind behind the Animal Rights Conference. In other exciting news, Jasmin will be speaking at the Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit. This year the summit will be happening virtually. We also continue our Supporting Vegan Businesses program by shouting out the LA Food Truck, Lettuce Feast.  Then, Jasmin speaks with Kelly Holt and Dan McKernan, stars of Animal Planet’s Saved by the Barn and founders of Barn Sanctuary, in Chelsea, MI, which has rescued around 400 farmed animals from abuse and neglect. They launched Barn Sanctuary from Dan’s family farm after the decision to go vegan inspired them to look into the treatment of farmed animals across the world. Their mission is to give their rescued animals a safe place to live out the rest of their li