How I Learned to Love Shrimp

To mark our 50th episode, we're bringing you something special: Five movement leaders talking about some of the biggest developments for animals in the past two years as well as what advocates should focus on next for the next two years. 

Highlighting advancements in policy, corporate campaigns, alternative proteins, and investment in overlooked species, this is an information-packed episode so don't miss out! 

Our guests:

• David Coman-Hidy from The Navigation Fund
• Carolina Galvani from Sinergia Animal
• Alex Holst from The Good Food Institute Europe
• Carley Betts from The Open Wing Alliance
• Karolina Sarek from the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund

Please give the podcast a positive review on your podcast provider of choice. You can also find us on YouTube if you want to see these podcasts in beautiful color and video.

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

Kelvey Vander Hart from the Wilberforce Institute joins us to share her approach to animal advocacy from a politically right-of-center view and how her Christian faith guides her activism.

• The importance of bipartisan approaches to engage the masses in animal advocacy
• Why animal welfare should be a cross-cutting issue that transcends political affiliation
• How political coalitions can be built around specific animal welfare issues rather than comprehensive platforms
• Reforming government subsidies that prop up factory farming and removing barriers to innovation
• The connection between Christian values of mercy, compassion, and justice and animal welfare
• Ways to engage faith communities in animal advocacy through shared values
• The pragmatic necessity of working with people across the political spectrum to achieve progress
• The story of William Wilberforce, who helped abolish the slave trade and founded the world's first animal welfare organisation

Next week is our 50th episode where we'll be interviewing five guests and reflecting on the last two years since the podcast launched. Watch out for this special celebratory episode on April 15th.

Resources:

• The Wilberforce Institute’s website 
• The Wilberforce Institute’s newsletter sign-up page
• The Wilberforce Institute’s X account 
• Kelvey Vander Hart’s website 
• Kelvey Vander Hart’s LinkedIn 
• The Saltwater Chronicles
• Media recommendations 
  • How to Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery
  • Blackfish 
  • Fear Factories by Matthew Scully 
• Some articles I’ve written related to bipartisan animal advocacy, limited government animal advocacy
  • “Cut Government, Save Animals: Here Are 3 Awful Agencies and Programs DOGE Can Eliminate Entirely”
  • “Big Government Won’t Protect Animals” 

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

David Kay shares his experience as the first employee at Upside Foods, offering a deep dive into the cultivated meat industry's challenges, successes, and political landscape. As an animal advocate who entered the alternative protein space, he provides unique insights on depolarising the conversation around cultivated meat and building bipartisan support.›

• Difference between focusing on environmental/health versus animal welfare messaging
• David's journey from animal advocacy to becoming the first employee at Upside Foods
• How cultivated meat differs from plant-based products as "real meat" grown from cells
• Where hundreds of millions in investment funding goes in cultivated meat startups
• State-level bans on cultivated meat and fighting political polarisation
• How industry is organising through trade associations like AMPS Innovation
• Importance of elite institutions in normalising animal advocacy
• Recent FDA approval for Mission Barns' cultivated pork fat

Add David on LinkedIn to follow his work and learn more about his perspectives on the alternative protein industry.

Resources:

• Animal liberation book
• GFI website 
  • State of the industry reports 
• AgFunder – Elaine Watson
• Mission Barns FDA Approval
• David Kay LinkedIn

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

A critical look at the entwined relationship between parenthood and the animal advocacy movement. Julia Reinelt shares her insights on how organisations can become more supportive to parents in the advocacy space.

• Julia introduces herself and discusses her journey in the animal advocacy movement 
• The challenges of balancing advocacy work and parenting 
• Understanding the family-unfriendly aspects of the animal advocacy movement 
• Suggestions on creating more inclusive environments for parents within organisations 
• The impact of geographical location on parental support in advocacy 
• Insights on the necessity of normalising parenting conversations across the movement 
• How advocating for family-friendly policies can foster sustainability 
• The role of the AVA summits in promoting family-friendly initiatives 
• Calls for listeners to engage with these conversations and advocate for change 

www.avasummit.com

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With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

This episode discusses the intersection of mental health and animal advocacy, highlighting the critical need for self-care among advocates. Aarti Bhavana shares her experiences with emotional tolls from animal suffering, corporate accountability, and practical strategies for sustaining passion in the long term.

• Exploring the toxic mindset of 100% dedication in animal advocacy 
• Importance of addressing mental health in nonprofit sectors 
• Underlying emotions of advocates witnessing animal suffering 
• The role and growth of corporate accountability in animal welfare 
• Practical self-care strategies and boundaries for advocates 
• Insights into shifting perspectives on animal welfare legislation

Resources;

• Bharat Initiative for Accountability 
• Marconi Union - Weightless  
• Cupa Larrc Instagram 
• Our world in data – amount of suffering for cage-free based on welfare footprint 
• Jayasimha Podcast Episode - Cage-free credits 
• Heads Up - Creative campaigns newsletter

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

Haven King Nobles brings us a really refreshing topic this week as we explore high agency and the importance of this particular trait when it comes to entrepreneurship and continuous innovation. 

We talk through Haven’s experience of being a young entrepreneur, the mistakes he made in the early days of founding the Fish Welfare Initiative, and some advice on the skills to develop to really excel in entrepreneurship.

Whilst this week's topic was high-agency, we of course talk to Haven about his experiencing the first organisation dedicated to working on fish, talking about some of their programmes and the challenges of working in India on this topic.

Resources

• Fish Welfare Initiative Website 
• FWI Stunning project
• How to Launch a High Impact Nonprofit
• The FWI newsletter
• The Lean Startup - Eric Ries
• Who Is a Good Fit for a Career in Nonprofit Entrepreneurship? Charity Entrepreneurship Blog

00:00:00:00 | Intro
00:05:41:13 | High agency
00:09:11:20 | Charity Entrepreneurship funding
00:12:49:12 | Fish Welfare Initiative
00:19:01:21 | Is there issue in movement with high agency?
00:25:37:17 | Cultivation of high agency
00:33:59:01 | FWI and India
00:39:19:23 | How to react to negative feedback
00:46:12:07 | Changing the world without qualifications
00:49:20:05 | Expanding to different countries
00:59:29:21 | Where else would high agency be useful
01:15:03:15 | Closing questions

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

Ben Newman has had a colourful past few years, being one of Animal Rising’s co-directors and being arrested multiple times for various bits of direct action and disruptive protest. 

Now, Animal Rising has turned its attention to campaign against the RSPCA, the world’s largest animal charity, for running the RSPCA Assured scheme. This has been quite a divisive campaign within the animal advocacy movement, with some, including both co-hosts, having fairly big questions about the effectiveness of this campaign.

00:00:00:00 | Intro
00:04:55:02 | Direct Action Rescues
00:10:01:20 | Mass Arrests Strategy
00:13:40:07 | RSPCA Assured
00:19:19:10 | End of Animal Farming?
00:28:24:12 | RSPCA Scheme Shutdown
00:35:19:01 | Public Opinion on RSPCA
00:45:41:18 | Slaughterhouse Investigations
00:50:24:08 | Social Media Controversy
00:55:36:06 | Animal Rising in 2025
01:02:29:10 | Closing Questions

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Aidan from Pro Animal Future and Almira from Direct Action Everywhere. 

A really interesting episode about their recent US ballot initiatives which actually has a lot of cross applicable learnings about fighting strong opposition to campaigns, the benefits of loosing forward, and how frequently narrative outperforms spend when it comes to campaigns. 

Almira and Aidan share insights on collaboration, leadership, and the courage to experiment with new strategies in the face of fierce opposition. Their stories underscore the importance of perseverance and adaptability in the fight against well-funded adversaries.

For a more in-depth deep dive on ballot initiatives, head to the episode with Josh Balk as he gave a really thorough run down of these measures and how we can use them to push pro animal issues in the US.

Resources:

Aidan:

• narrative.paxfauna.org
• Media recs
  • The Engagement, Sasha Issenberg
  • Get Political for Animals, Julie Lewin https://www.getpoliticalforanimals.com/

Almira

• directactioneverywhere.com
• This Is An Uprising (chiché, I know)
• Waging Nonviolence
• Read fiction!

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

Jesse Marks is the newly appointed Farm Animal Welfare Program Officer for The Navigation Fund, a new major funder in the anti-factory farming space. 

We spoke with him about his experience becoming a grant-maker, interpersonal dynamics in funding, new areas he is excited about, how the movement can improve corporate campaigning and much more. 

• www.navigation.org 
• Navigation Fund Farm Animal Welfare Strategy
• Good Strategy Bad Strategy
• This is an uprising
• How to survive a plague
• www.digital-advocacy.com 
• Beautiful Trouble’s “toolbox”
• Link Paul Engler talk at Animal Liberation Conference / DxE
• Rules for Radicals 
• James blog on winning 

00:00:00:00 | Intro
00:05:37:16 | First shrimp welfare campaign ever?
00:08:48:21 | Transition to a grantmaker role
00:15:58:10 | New insights on applying for funding
00:26:40:20 | Priorities in TNF funding and why
00:35:59:13 | Youth organizing
00:48:30:21 | How to reach out to TNF for funding
00:50:23:21 | Where the movement can improve in corporate campaigns
00:55:06:08 | The importance of focus in programs
01:07:07:10 | Closing questions

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!

Known affectionately as the mother of animal law, this weeks guest Joyce Tischler has over 45 years of experience advocating for animal rights through the law in the US. Starting off in 1979 by co-founding the Animal Legal Defense Fund where Joyce would serve as executive director for 25 years, we hear about the first cases Joyce worked on as well as her bold decision to take on the US Navy. 

Joyce now lectures at the Lewis and Clark Law School in the Centre for Animal Law, specialising in Industrial animal agriculture law teaching students both locally and internationally. We hear from Joyce on some great case study examples of effective campaigning and her decision to switch from circumstantial cases to prioritising cases to develop legal theory.

00:00:00:00 | Intro
00:06:18:06 | Animal Rights in the 1970s
00:10:51:11 | Animal Law and CAFO's
00:13:20:18 | Significance of the meeting in 1981
00:17:38:12 | Early cases
00:27:23:20 | How were the cases picked?
00:34:54:17 | Feelings on leading an organization as a woman in that time
00:38:53:16 | Evolution of Animal Law
00:48:12:12 | Shifting focus over the years
01:01:36:07 | Main goals in Animal Law
01:10:22:10 | Personal preference versus effectiveness
01:23:17:08 | Closing questions

With thanks to Tom Felbar (Ambedo Media) for amazing video and audio editing!

Note: My (James') views here are my personal opinions and don't represent those of Coefficient Giving.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating and review us - it means a lot to us!