In this episode I am joined by Jonathan Balcombe, an expert in animal behaviour. We discuss his work exploring how intellectually and emotionally complex fish actually are, and dispel many of the hugely prevalent myths surrounding fish, and fish sentience. We also discuss some of their most interesting behaviours, whether or not it is ethical to eat mussels and oysters, and whether or not we should have home aquariums.

Listen to find out:

- Are fish self aware?
- Are fish intelligent?
- What does the science actually say about fish?
- What about mussels and oysters, do they feel pain?
- Is it ethical to eat mussels and oysters?
- What about flies, and insects in terms of sentience?
- What about pleasure for animals, can the world be a joyful place for them?
- Can fish feel pride?
- What about the pet industry,  should people have aquariums?

✺ Jonathan's website:  https://jonathan-balcombe.com/
✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what I do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

I was once disappointed that I wasn't able to see an orca performing at an aquarium I was visiting, I once bet on horses with friends, and I once ate animal products every single day. But once I went vegan, everything changed. Your perspective on the world radically shifts, as if a blindfold has been removed. Suddenly everything looks different, and suddenly, there seems to be suffering everywhere you look. Perhaps the most difficult, and most challenging part of this is the sudden realisation that your friends and family are taking part in this suffering, and are in fact paying for it to continue.

But although the reality of the truth can be harder than the comfort of the lie, it is through this realisation that we can actually create a kind of world where we don't need to hide behind a lie to feel comfortable.

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

Welcome to Season 3 of The Disclosure Podcast! In today's episode I take a look at how the dairy industry lied to the world, and almost got away with it. From 'government cheese' to government collusion, I break down how the industry worked with the US government to up the populations' intake of dairy products - ultimately leading to more breast and prostate cancer, more environmental destruction, and of course, more animal suffering. How is it possible that one industry managed to get away with this for so long? 

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

"Look, I hunt my own animals. I'm connected to nature, and I'm helping the environment. Haven't you heard about overpopulation and the importance of hunting for conservation?"

In this episode I expand fully on my recent YouTube upload, where I debunked Joe Rogan's arguments for hunting. In today's episode I expand on the morality of hunting, the environmental arguments that hunters use, as well as offering advice on what to say if you're faced with a discussion with a hunter who presents you with these claims.

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

On June 19th 2020, Regan Russell was killed. ⁣⁣An activist since the 1970s, she was at Fearman’s Pork slaughterhouse with Toronto Pig Save for a regular vigil. During these vigils the activists have an agreement with the slaughterhouse where the trucks stop outside for 2 minutes, so the activists can approach and give the pigs water and show them some comfort.

However, on that day, one of the truck drivers ran Regan over and killed her. ⁣⁣

In today's episode, I discuss how the new Bill 156, which was passed just a few days before, could have potentially pushed the truck driver to act in a way that ultimately ended a human life.

Bill 156 exists to prevent activists from filming animal suffering on farms and during transport, making it illegal to do so.⁣⁣

Today I talk to America's leading undercover investigator Pete Paxton, who has spent the past couple of decades exposing what happens to animals in a huge range of animal exploitation facilities - including farms, fishing vessels and in more than 700 puppy mills. His work has been featured in both HBO and National Geographic documentaries, and he has not only raised a huge amount of mass awareness to what happens to animals, but his work has been instrumental in holding owners and workers in these industries accountable, taking them to court and securing prosecutions. We talk in depth about some of his experiences, and also what lessons he has learnt from his time as an undercover investigator.

✺ Pete's book - Rescue Dogs: Where They Come From, Why They Act the Way They Do, and How to Love Them Well: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/599676/rescue-dogs-by-pete-paxton-with-gene-stone/

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

In this highly requested episode, I discuss the many questions surrounding vegan pets. Should dogs and cats be vegan? And are you any less vegan if you feed your pets meat? And should we even have pets in the first place?

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://bit.ly/22veganed
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

This week I discuss the $19 billion bail out that the Trump administration has given to US farmers, and the wider issue of subsidising animal agriculture in general. I also discuss the UK government’s new plan for subsiding agriculture in the wake of leaving the EU, and how their new system could actually pave the way for a complete reform that would incentivise the shift to a plant-based food system.

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

In this episode I delve into the current slaughterhouse situation in the US, talking not only about the outbreaks of COVID-19 in US facilities and the effect that is having on slaughterhouse workers, but also how slaughterhouses foster an environment where workers suffer from mental health problems such as PTSD, drug and alcohol dependency, social isolation and emotional repression. I reflect on some of my personal experiences with slaughterhouses and slaughterhouse workers, and I also discuss how the current pandemic is driving people towards vegan options.

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support 

Today I speak with Mic the Vegan, a highly influential vegan educator and YouTuber, about what’s happening right now in slaughterhouses in relation to COVID-19, as well as the possibility of the coronavirus also being able to be spread through animals such as pigs. 

We also discuss whether or not a whole foods plant-based diet can help us in the fight against the pandemic, and how our diets could be making us more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

✺ To support the show & get access to exclusive monthly podcast episodes: http://www.patreon.com/earthlinged
✺ Find out more about what i do & join my mailing list: http://www.earthlinged.org
✺ Download my free 122 page e-book: http://www.earthlinged.org/ebook
✺ Take a 22 day free vegan challenge: http://switchtovegan.co.uk
✺ Become a supporter of my activism (thank you!): http://www.earthlinged.org/support