This episode of The Hen Report explores how to navigate a world filled with animal exploitation. Jasmin and Mariann discuss finding balance between ethical living and practical engagement with mainstream culture—from mentally veganizing cooking shows to exploring local towns with a vegan eye. They share encouraging news about Indonesia banning elephant rides and the USDA’s pause on methane digesters that have been falsely promoted as climate solutions for the dairy industry.

This episode explores:

• How vegans can manage to watch mainstream entertainment by mentally “veganizing” non-vegan content
• The USDA’s 90-day pause on funding manure-to-energy digesters, signaling potential scrutiny of these dairy industry climate claims
• Indonesia’s new ban on elephant rides in zoos, though enforcement remains a concern
• Factory Farm Watch’s new interactive map documenting over 1,300 factory farms across California
• Faunalytics’ revealing study on how “voluntary compliance” fails birds at US slaughterhouses

RESOURCES

• • • • • Manure-to-Energy Digesters Were Sold as a Climate Fix. Now the USDA Is Hitting Pause.
        • Indonesia Just Banned Elephant Rides In Zoos Nationwide
        • Factory Farm Watch
        • Voluntary Compliance Fails Birds At U.S. Slaughterhouses
        • 2026 Coexistence Documentary Fund
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

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Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

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