In this week’s episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan unpacks the absurdity of a Brazilian chef throwing a culinary hissy fit over preparing an all-vegan menu for Prince William’s sustainability event (comparing it to Iron Maiden playing jazz, which honestly sounds amazing). She also dives into the poultry industry’s shocking revelation that factory farming might gasp breed disease, explores Iowa officials’ late-Friday-afternoon sneaky settlement with a water-polluting meatpacker, and highlights Burger King Austria’s brief flirtation with dairy alternatives before caving to the “but my coffee!” crowd. Plus, discover the Orwellian euphemism of the week: dairy cows don’t get slaughtered—they “change careers”!

This episode explores:

• How a sustainability-focused event finally hired an actual vegan chef after another chef dramatically quit rather than cook vegetables (despite 14% of Brazilians identifying as vegetarian or vegan)
• The poultry industry’s desperate plea to researchers to solve their disease problems while maintaining the conditions that create those diseases
• Iowa officials’ behind-closed-doors $50,000 “sweetheart deal” with a meat company responsible for 60 water pollution violations
• YouTube’s temporary removal of an award-winning documentary exposing India’s dairy industry
• The linguistic gymnastics of the dairy industry, which now refers to slaughter as cows “changing careers”

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.

_____________________________________________

The Veganic Summit is a free online event from November 7th-9th, 2025. You’ll learn how plant foods can be grown using techniques that are both vegan and organic, without any chemical fertilizers or any animal byproducts like manure or bonemeal. If you’d like to start your own veganic garden or learn about sustainable plant-based farming, sign up for the Veganic Summit today at https://veganicsummit.com/

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Between now and December 31, every donation up to $20,000 will be tripled! Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

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.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.