Ryuji Chua is an animal activist and filmmaker who is currently working as a video producer at Surge Activism, an advisor for the Vegan Hacktivists, and was recently featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to talk about animal rights and his latest independent documentary "How Conscious Can A Fish Be?" Hope and Ryuji talk about the importance of including fish in our advocacy and discuss fish pain, fish sentience, and fish farms. Ryuji offers advice about effective communication as a vegan, how focusing on the animals is critical for our messaging, and  how protecting wild animals is often seen as preserving the species or ecosystem, without consideration to the individual animals. 

Resources:

Ryuji’s YouTube Channel

Ryuji on The Daily Show

Video: How Conscious Can a Fish Be?

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

 Today Hope starts us off with some interesting information about lobsters, crabs, oysters, and other marine life. Then we have Kathy Stevens joining us. Kathy is the founder & director of Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a 150-acre refuge in New York’s Hudson Valley for 11 different species of farmed animals. She was an educator for many years and in 2001, she co-founded Catskill Animal Sanctuary, where her love of teaching, her belief that education has the power to transform, and her love of animals come together. One of the world’s leading sanctuaries for farmed animals, Catskill has saved more than 5,000 non-human individuals through direct rescue — and even more through programming that encourages humans to adopt veganism.

Hope and Kathy talk about Kathy’s journey starting Catskill Animal Sanctuary, how elderly farmed animals are so rare and only found on sanctuaries, and how Tucker the cow has changed thousands of lives with his love of people. 

Resources:

Catskill Animal Sanctuary

Kathy’s books: 

Where the Blind Horse Sings

Animal Camp

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Happy New Year! Today on the podcast we have Sangita Iyer joining us. She is a journalist, biologist, award-winning filmmaker, National Geographic Explorer, and founder of Voice for Asian Elephants Society. Sangita was born and raised in Kerala, India, home to captive elephants used in temple ceremonies, documented in her award-winning film Gods in Shackles and now her new book called Gods in Shackels: What Elephants Can Teach Us About Empathy, Resilience, and Freedom.  Considered the “Blackfish for elephants,” the film exposes the heartbreaking plight of these amazing gentle giants in India. From her home in Canada, Sangita now oversees teams on the ground in India who combat elephant poaching, illegal trade, habitat loss and more. Hope and Sangita discuss the precarious situation for elephants in India, for both the wild population and for the captured elephants used in rituals.  

“Elephants are the largest animals on earth, and they are literally designed to play a vital role in the ecosystem. Climate change has no borders, so what happens to elephants in India and Africa reverberates and impacts other countries at a devastating pace.”   -Sangita Iyer

Resources: 

Gods in Shackles (website)

Gods in Shackles (film)

Gods in Shackles (book) 

Voice for Asian Elephants Society

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Happy Holidays! In this episode, Hope is flying solo and  wanted to share with you some exciting things coming up in the new year for Compassionate Living and our signature projects, the Humane Hoax Project and the Ahimsa Living Project. She also talks about the mixed message of the holidays with tidings of love and peace wrapped up with overconsumption and meat eating.  

“If we haven’t changed our hearts and we just change our habits, then any progress is built on a flawed foundation” -Hope Bohanec 

DONATE TO COMPASSIONATE LIVING’S MATCHING CHALLENGE

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Elly Nakajima is the founder and director of Animal Alliance Asia – a movement building organization dedicated to empowering and training animal justice activists across Asia. Born in Japan and currently based in the UK, Elly is passionate about building a more inclusive, culturally relevant, and effective movement across Asia. She was one of the first Japanese language educational content providers for vegan advocates in Japan. 

Hope and Elly discuss the need for vegan advocacy to adapt and change for different cultures and different audiences in Asia. Elly explains why truly local leadership across Asia is critical for the ideas of veganism and animal rights to thrive. Elly is on a mission to empower woman and people of the global majority to embrace leadership roles in animal rights and to feel confident advocating for animals in their countries and regions. 

Resources: 

Animal Alliance Asia

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

This episode is a rebroadcast of a solo show from last year at this time where Hope explores the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, the malleability of tradition, and the plight of the millions of turkeys that suffer and are killed for the holidays. We hope you enjoy this episode replay. Happy ThanksLiving! 

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Dr. Jason Hannan is Associate Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, & Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the editor of Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial. Jason and Hope talk about this edited volume and about “meatsplaining” as a PR tactic of the animal agriculture industry. They talk about how animal exploiters use the law, social media, anti-vegan trolling, and the humane hoax to justify and sanitize atrocities in animal farming. They also talk about Jason’s current book project, New White Saviors: The Colonial Mythology of Meat, which examines the meat industry as a form of cultural and ecological imperialism. He is also the Chair of the Winnipeg VegFest, the largest vegan and animal rights festival in central Canada.

Resources:

Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial 

Episode 48: Love and Rescue with Hope and Cogen Bohanec

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Welcome to our spooky and fun episode where Hope explores the connection between Halloween, horror movies, and veganism. Then we have Marla Rose joining us. Marla and her husband, John Beske, own Vegan Street Media,  a full-service marketing, design, and communications company for vegan businesses and nonprofits. Marla also co-founded Chicago VeganMania, a popular festival that ran for ten years, and the author of several books including Fun, Festive and Fabulous: Vegan Holidays for Everyone and Humane Halloween: 22 Quirky, Fun and Bewitching Vegan Recipes for the Spirit of the Season. 

Hope and Marla talk about being vegan around the holidays, explore why it seems that so many vegans love Halloween, and overcoming the feeling of isolation during the holidays and the joy of finding like-minded community to celebrate with! 

Resources:

Vegan Street 

Vegan Street Media

Humane Halloween: 22 Quirky, Fun and Bewitching Vegan Recipes for the Spirit of the Season

Humane Halloween FaceBook Page

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Vegan Festival Season is here! Today Hope chats with Erika Hazel. Erika is a popular social media influencer and food blogger known as the Bizerkeley Vegan. Erika became The Bizerkeley Vegan after she transitioned to the vegan lifestyle and the name comes from her love of everything others see as bizarre or unique about Berkeley, California. Erika organizes the Bizerkeley Food Fest and she and Hope talk about the importance of vegan food fests for building community, supporting small businesses, and showing pre-vegans how good plant-based food can be.  

“Going through the stomach is my form of activism.” -Erika Hazel, The Bizerkeley Vegan

Resources:

Instagram: The Bizerkeley Vegan

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Today on the podcast it’s all about leather-free materials—fabrics that mimic leather, but are animal-free and more ecological. We have two guests with us to talk about their businesses that focus on innovations in non-leather goods. First up is Paras Doshi, founder of Doshi, that offers fashionable and durable non-leather items like belts, wallets, and purses. Then we have Troy Akin, founder of the company EcoSports. Troy makes footballs, basketballs and more using a material that is vegan, chemical free, biodegradable and that retains the feel and bounce that you would expect from a high-quality ball. Join us to hear about the future of vegan products beyond food and how these fabrics are helping to revolutionizes eco and ethical living.

Hope also reminds listeners about her upcoming 6-week course on nonviolence and vegan ethics called Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy, and Veganism starting on Saturday, September 24. 

Resources:

Hope’s Course: Ahimsa, Animal Advocacy, and Veganism

Doshi

EcoSports

More about the leather industry from BiteSizeVegan

Sonoma County VegFest

Learn More and Support this Podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast