Have you ever heard of Palantir? Palantir builds data software that governments and corporations use to organize massive databases and... power mass surveillance. I won't go through every software they created, but you might know a few of them since their products always generate a backlash - like Operation Laser - which is a software that allows you to predict crimes. Yes, exactly like the movie Minority Report. I think it was dismantled after public pressure and lots of lawsuits...

Well, that same company has secured a 300 million dollars contract with the United Stated Department of Agriculture. The goal of that partnership is, and I quote: "empowering USDA with core capabilities that will enable it to secure American farmland, enhance supply chain resilience, and shield agricultural programs from fraud, abuse, and foreign adversary influence."

Now that is a lot of money, and that goal is very vague, and the company does not have the best of reputation. The USDA also does not have the best of reputation, siding again and again with private interests against the welfare of animals. All of that reeks, and it has lead my guest today, Robert Grillo, to raise concerns about the possibility of a mass surveillance operation against the animal rights movement.

Robert Grillo is an activist, author and speaker working to build grassroots momentum and popular support to advance a plant-based food system. He leverages major trigger events like rising food prices, bird flu and the farm bill debate to stage actions that capture the public and media’s attention.

Free from Harm, the organization he founded, is dedicated to advancing plant-based, animal-free food production for a safer, more humane and sustainable future.

Together, we discussed the place of money in the animal rights movement, but also its corrupting power in politics. How our movement lacks ambition. The promise of cultivated meat. And much more.

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