In this episode, we explore the psychological aspects of living vegan on our social, emotional, and even spiritual psychology. Angela Crawford, the author of “The Vegan Transformation: A Journey to Heal Yourself and the World,” shares her research having interviewed hundreds of vegans to uncover common themes related to the benefits and challenges of living vegan. She talks about value alignment, the different stages of readiness for people to hear the vegan message, and the importance of including ourselves in our circle of compassion. 

Angela Crawford, Ph.D. is a psychologist, vegan educator, and author of The Vegan Transformation: A Journey to Heal Yourself and the World (Lantern, 2025). She holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and previously worked as a psychotherapist for 25 years, empowering clients toward greater holistic well-being. She is certified as a Master Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator (MSVA), licensed PCRM Food for Life instructor, and Transformational Coach. 

Resources:

Angela’s Website

Buy the Book from Lantern

Social media links:  @angelacrawfordphd on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn

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Fires, hurricanes, floods—animals are also victims of recent unprecedented natural disasters. Diana Hulet, an environmental writer and animal photojournalist, shares her experience documenting the destruction of the recent LA fires and its impact on animals. She witnessed distressed wildlife, people risking their lives to protect animals, and participated in animal rescues. Diana and Hope discuss the climate crisis and how all these recent “un-natural” disasters are fueled by human actions. Diana also shares her personal contemplative practice, which helps her navigate the difficult subject matter she encounters in her work.

Diana Hulet is a Pacific Northwest and Colorado-based environmental writer, animal photojournalist, and yoga teacher with over three decades of experience in yoga philosophy and contemplative traditions. After establishing her own Yoga studio and leading trainings and retreats internationally, Diana pivoted her attention and received a Bachelor of Science degree at Oregon State University in 2017, focusing on environmental ethics, ecology, and climate change. Diana's growing concern for the well-being of animals prompted her to pick up a camera and begin documenting the details of their lives. Her ongoing project, What if We Saw Them,  encourages reflection on our relationship with animals in various contexts, advocating for compassion as a catalyst for systemic change. She is a contributor to two animal photojournalist nonprofits We Animals and Sanctuary Doc, where she also serves as the Board Vice President. 

Resources:

Diana Hulet Website

Sanctuary Doc 

What If We Saw Them Project

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Erin Wing is currently serving as the Deputy Director of Investigations for Animal Outlook and previously worked as an undercover investigator. Erin completed four investigations in the dairy, chicken and aquaculture industries, including the first-ever undercover expose of salmon aquaculture in the U.S. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and The New York Times.

Erin’s investigations and her advocacy work shed light on the interconnection of human and animal exploitation that occurs on farms in the animal agriculture system. Erin shares personal accounts from her compelling investigations to illustrate the dangers speciesism poses to all sentient beings on the planet. She also shares what it’s like to live on a farmed animal sanctuary and the stark contrast of the animals’ experience from industry to freedom. Erin said, “When it comes to learning how to process trauma, my greatest teachers have been animals.” 

Resources:

Animal Outlook

Animal Partisan

Eugene VeganFest

Erin’s first episode on Hope for the Animals

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Today’s show is a replay of an earlier episode with the amazing lauren Ornelas, founder of Food Empowerment Project. Food Empowerment Project is a vegan food justice nonprofit that promotes veganism, works to bring attention to the rights of farm workers, highlights the lack of access to healthy foods in Black and Brown communities, and raise awareness about the worst forms of slavery, including child labor, in the chocolate industry. Lauren has been deeply involved in animal rights activism since 1987 and was the director of VivaUSA before founding Food Empowerment Project.

Lauren and Hope talk about the connections between food, veganism, and human rights with issues like child and slave labor chocolate production, food deserts and access to produce and healthy food, and Food Empowerment Project’s Fight for the Oceans campaign highlighting the struggles of the ocean and her sea creatures. Lauren will be speaking at Compassionate Living’s upcoming Eugene VeganFest on May 4, 2025. 

Resources:

Food Empowerment Project

Lauren’s TEDx Talk: The Power of our Food Choices

About child labor and slavery in chocolate production and the FEP’s recommended chocolate list

Eugene VeganFest, 5/4/25

We are honored to have a legend on the podcast today, Seth Tibbott founded Turtle Island Foods in 1980, now the “Tofurky Company.” For 15 years Seth pursued his dream as a pioneer of the early plant-based foods movement. In 1995, Seth introduced the first nationally marketed vegan holiday roast named “Tofurky” which soon became the most well-known meat alternative brand in the US. Tofurky is now a household word (even spell check knew what I was trying to type!) It has been mentioned on numerous TV shows, including The X-Files, The Tonight Show, and even as the answer to a $400 question on Jeopardy. Seth has chronicled his “40-year overnight success story” in a new book, In Search of the Wild Tofurky. 

On this episode, Seth talks about the history of plant based foods in the US (going back farther then you think!) as well as the history of the iconic Tofurky. He then takes us into the future as well with innovations in mock meats with advances like alt protein fermentation and 3D printed steak!  

Resources:  

Book: In Search of the Wild Tofurky by Seth Tibbott

Eugene VeganFest

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 On today's show, author and host Hope Bohanec is flying solo and offering a new analysis of the Humane Hoax. She will break down humane meat marketing jargon, unpack and categorize the harms of the humane hoax, and talk about language, labeling, speciesism, and more. 

Resources:

BOOK:
The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs by Hope Bohanec

The Humane Hoax Project

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Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast 

Can you use some positive news for the new year? We’ve got you covered with this interview!  Matthew Halteman has written a book called Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan and it is full of positive vegan vibes. Matthew is a professor of philosophy at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and fellow in the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, UK. He is the author of Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation and coeditor of Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments About the Ethics of Eating. 

Matthew puts a hopeful spin on going vegan in his new book and helps us to frame the issue with positivity and joy. Hope and Matt explore veganism as a philosophy and how we can deepen the vegan conversation to apply to every aspect of life. Matt shares how he feels that love is a crucial component to a vegan life, both self-love and love for others. They also get into the psychological aspects of vegan arguments and confrontations and effective communication.

Resources:

Book: 

Hungry, Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan by Matt Halteman

Ahimsa Living Circle
Second Saturday of the Month
Next Circle: Saturday, February 8, Register here

Lantern Voices: Lantern Publishing and Media's new podcast

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Hope for the Animals Podcast
Compassionate Living 

Welcome to 2025! For our first podcast of the year, we dive into spiritual veganism with Hope and her husband Cogen Bohanec. They start with their genesis stories of their spiritual journeys and how they have evolved in their 25-year marriage. Then they introduce a new project, the Ahimsa Living Circle, an ongoing monthly virtual gathering to support the community of veg-curious, pre-vegans, and vegans focused on the Dharma traditions and in particular Jain Dharma, in a circle of encouragement and compassion. The Ahimsa Living Circle is a collaborative event co-hosted by Arihanta Institute and Compassionate Living. 

Hope and Cogen also talk about the importance of changing our culture and evolving our fundamental nature of who we are, and not just changing what we do. They also explore veganism beyond the boycott and talk about philosophical and spiritual veganism. 

Ahimsa Living Circle

Second Saturday of the Month

First Circle Starts on Saturday, January 11, 2025

10:00 – 11:30am PT / 1 – 2:30pm ET

Register here for this free virtual event


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Isabella La Rocca González is an award-winning artist, author, and activist. Her work is part of a long tradition in art and photography: to bring to light and find beauty in the hidden, unconscious, or disregarded. As the daughter of emigrants from Mexico and Italy, she strives to reconcile values from her Indigenous roots with her European heritage. 

Her photographs have been exhibited internationally including a solo show at the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY. Awards for her work include the Ferguson Grant from the Friends of Photography in San Francisco, CA for excellence and commitment to the field of photography. She received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MFA in Photography from Indiana University. 

Isabella’s new book, Censored Landscapes: The Hidden Reality of Farming Animals, is a photographic exploration that tells a story in which the central characters are innocent of any crime and yet are condemned to imprisonment, torture, and death. It’s a true story of ecological destruction, of worker exploitation—mostly people of color—and of secretive corporations protected by laws and enriched by government subsidies and lobbies. It is also a story that offers insight and healing. 

Isabella discusses how the photographs she took after a rescue of thousands of hens in Turlock, California became the inspiration for this project. She and Hope discuss how farming animals is a colonial import, the myth of grass-fed and other humane hoax labels, and the importance of photography to tell a story in a vivid and authentic way. 

Resources:

Buy the Book-
Censored Landscapes: The Hidden Reality of Farming Animals 

Support this podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

 Do you love Halloween? Do you like to dig deep into philosophical discussions of life and death? This episode might just be for you. Today’s show is a Halloween special with something a little different. In the first half, Hope explores the theme of cannibalism in zombie, vampire, and other fantasy and horror movies and shows how these stories actually underscore our speciesist tendencies. Then, in the second half of the show, Hope and her husband Cogen, have a conversation about why people love horror movies and ask the question, could it be that our society likes to eat meat because it’s a socially sanctioned murder? Or can horror movies help us to empathize with farmed animals that are experiencing the same horrors as the victims in the movies?