Tracey Winter Glover, JD, is an animal caretaker, activist, author, and filmmaker. She earned a BA in history and political philosophy from the University of Michigan, followed by a law degree (JD) in which she focused primarily on constitutional and international refugee law. In 2014, Tracey co-founded a non-profit intersectional pro-vegan animal rights group, Awakening Respect and Compassion for all Sentient Beings (“ARC”), of which she remains the Executive Director. In January 2019, she adopted eight chickens who had been rescued from a bankrupt chicken farm in Colorado that had turned off the heat and stopped feeding the 40,000 birds in its houses. This was the beginning of Sweet Peeps Microsanctuary, which occupies most of her time these days. She is the author of the book Lotus of the Heart: Living Yoga for Personal Wellness and Global Survival, published by Lantern Publishing & Media. She also released a short award-winning documentary entitled Until All Are Free, and her first children’s book, inspired by the chickens at Sweet Peeps, Chickens Are Animals Too! Fannie Goes to Washington, is scheduled to be published June 30th, 2024.

Ellie Laks is the founder of the Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and rehabilitates unwanted animals and heals people with histories of trauma. She is an animal communicator, energy healer, TEDx speaker, educator, and the author of My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal and Children Learn to Hope. Ellie founded the Gentle Barn in 1999 and has since hosted hundreds of thousands of people who have come there seeking hope. She is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy as well as her Gentle Healing method, which allows old, sick, injured, and terrified animals to recover using a mixture of Western medicine, holistic healing modalities, holding therapy, and lots of love. Ellie lives at the Gentle Barn’s California location with her partner, Jay Weiner, who runs the organization with her. They have three children, hundreds of animals, and much to be grateful for. Ellie wants to spend the rest of her life improving the lives of animals and opening the hearts of humanity toward them in any way she can.More at GentleBarn.org and EllieLaks.com.

Bill Crain, Animal Stories

“If you can’t solve the problem, eliminate the problem!” was a favorite expression by Harold Hartglass, Caryn Hartglass’ father. H5N1, known as Bird Flu is a problem, that is only getting worse, spreading to at least 42 cattle herds in nine states, and infecting over 200 mammals. The government answer is to bailout industrial chicken farmers allowing them to kill their infected chickens, start over with a new batch, and pay them for their losses. The government is also paying cattle farmers to test their herds. This is a waste of taxpayer money and will not solve the problem. Bird flu is a symptom. Industrial animal agriculture is the problem, and this problem must be eliminated. Industrial animal agriculture is bad for many reasons, but to prevent the spread and mutation of this virus, which can be lethal to humans, this industry must be eliminated.

Robert Grillo, End USDA’s Bird Flu Bailouts

Grillo is also the founder and director of Free from Harm, a non profit dedicated to advancing a plant-based food system and challenging the dominance of animal agriculture since 2009. He founded Slaughter Free Network in 2018 with the intent of building a powerful grassroots base and carrying out dramatic and innovative actions to capture the attention of media, public and food industry powerholders.

• American Journal of Lifestyle Magazine, Primary Pandemic Prevention, by Dr. Michael Greger

Hartglass & De Mattei, What’s The Question?

Links mentioned in the podcast:

• A Little Night Music performances in Brooklyn.

Luke Wilson, Canary Clean Products

In this show Caryn reviews the recent story regarding Matthew Kenney, the celebrity chef who along with his companies have been named in dozens of lawsuits in at least nine states. She discusses recent news about octopus farming. Gary De Mattei joins in to talk about their favorite NYC vegan establishments that they visited yesterday on Caryn’s birthday, Earth Day, highlighting vegan entrepreneurs who are motivated by kindness, community and compassion.

Links mentioned in this program.

• Angel Moreno, Caravan of Dreams

Read about Caryn’s birthday in Manhattan with all the food pics here.

Simon Lester, Pascha Chocolate, a REAL Favorite!

We created the The Chocolate Report in 2015. Some of the information has been updated since we made the report but all the issues highlighted in this program are important and things we all need to be aware of, including Child Slavery, Allergens, and Toxic Metals like Cadmium and Lead.

There are a number of class actions suits going on at the moment regarding Consumer Reports claims about toxic metals in chocolate. Recently, “a lawsuit accusing Trader Joe’s of failing to disclose that its dark chocolate products contain dangerous “heavy metals” was mostly dismissed by a judge. We will report on the cadmium and lead in chocolate issue once all these class action suits have ended.

Vlad Grinberg. Vlad opened Organic Grill in 2000, one of the first organic restaurants in New York City.

Rory Lutz. Rory is the founder and host of The Laughing Pad and cofounder and cohost of @laststopcomedy.

Comedy Kitchen at the Organic Grill, April 17, 8pm.

Mel Weinstein is a retired chemist currently living in Central Illinois. During the course of his professional career, he has taught chemistry at the community college level, spent 20 years as an analytical chemist in a research center for a multinational food ingredients manufacturer, studied food science, and pursued a lifelong interest in examining the ingredients in industrial foods and their impacts on human health.

In 2016, he started a podcast called “Food Labels Revealed” to share knowledge of the processed food industry and to highlight the ever-growing trend of artificial foods appearing in the American food supply. More at Food Labels Revealed.

Emma Schwarz, International Vegan Film Festival

In addition to her role at the International Vegan Film Festival, Emma is the Co-Founder of Veganography, a film production and media company dedicated to creating content which inspires the public to embrace a vegan lifestyle and empowers vegans in their own activism. Veganography specializes in 3D animation; their work synthesizes traditional filmmaking and 3D animation to create uniquely engaging content that advocates for a kinder world for all. Veganography’s films have been screened at dozens of international film festivals, and have garnered 10+ awards including “Best Documentary Short,” “Special Jury Changemaker,” and “Audience Choice.” Veganography’s work has also been featured on prominent streaming platforms and social media channels such as PBS, UnChainedTV, and Vegan FTA.

Previously, Emma served as the Director of Advancement for a large farmed animal sanctuary, where she oversaw the organization’s educational programming and contributed to fundraising strategy and donor stewardship. Before finding her true passion in vegan advocacy, Emma began her professional career as a classical cellist. In addition to advanced degrees in cello performance and pedagogy, Emma holds the Plant Based Nutrition Certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell University and has completed the Solutionary Micro-Credential Program from the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University.

Driven by a passion to amplify the voices advocating for change, Emma is honored to serve her fellow filmmakers and artists at IVFF. Her passion lies in supporting innovative, creative approaches to advocacy, firmly believing that all forms of activism work synergistically to effect meaningful, lasting change.

More at the International Vegan Film Festival.