This week on The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan navigate challenging political times while delivering animal rights news with their signature blend of insight and humor. They cover everything from labor issues in animal agriculture to exciting vegan product launches before welcoming psychologist and author Dr. Melanie Joy to discuss her surprising pivot from non-fiction to fiction with her new psychological suspense novel “A Half-Hearted Death Wish.”

• Kraft Heinz and NotCo partnership brings vegan mac & cheese cups to market, with hosts noting “convenience foods like these are part of how we shift the culture”
• Switzerland becomes first European country to ban imports of “cruelly produced” fur, as “worldwide fur production declined by 85% between 2013 and 2023”
• Judge blocks gag order against animal activist Zoe Rosenberg ahead of her trial for chicken rescue, calling it “overbroad and vague by any constitutional standard”
• Colorado Parks and Wildlife refuses permit for elephants at Renaissance festival, reflecting a growing trend with 12 states now banning wild animal performances
• Dr. Melanie Joy discusses her fiction debut “A Half-Hearted Death Wish,” revealing she discovered “I don’t hate writing, I just hate writing non-fiction”
• Conversation about normalizing vegan characters in fiction without making veganism their defining trait

RESOURCES

• • • buy A Half-Hearted Death Wish
    • Melanie Joy’s website
    • Trump reportedly open to changing farm worker visa rules
    • Kraft Heinz Unveils Vegan Instant Mac And Cheese Cups
    • FIRST COUNTRY IN EUROPE: SWITZERLAND IMPOSES IMPORT BAN ON ‘CRUELLY PRODUCED’ FUR
    • The Elephant at the Ren Fest: Colorado Denies Permit For Elephants at Event
    • Animal Rising on Bluesky
    • You’re being lied to about protein

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