Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!

This week we were tired from traveling for the show and for work so we talk about a bunch of random shit (haha, get it!?) including bathrooms.

In This Episode

Mm, not even sure how to summarize this one, tbh. Callie has wanted to talk about bathrooms for a while, inspired by the recent Starbucks incident that got national attention where two black men had the police called on them for asking to use the bathroom, using that example of racism to also highlight how absurd it is that bathroom access is not openly provided to citizens. Nichole has to poop a lot, so she was down to add her two cents (get it?! TWO cents!? Like #2, like poop, get it!? Gah, I’m a fucking GENIUS #SelfConfidence #KnowYourStrengths #PunsGIRL). Enjoy!

Joke in the Middle

What is green and sings?

Upcoming Events

We’ve got a lot going on this year! You can find us at the following 2018 events:

* June 16: Calgary VegFest (speaking)

* June 28-July 1: Animal Rights Conference (attending)

* October 13: Chicago VeganMania (live podcast with The Bearded Vegans)

Links and Information

News

* Residents to Sue Iowa Over Hog Factory Farm Emissions (VegNews)

* Vegan Campaign Encourages Dairy Drinkers to ‘De-Calf’ Their Coffee (Live Kindly)

This week we have another rantisode for you: this time, we go off vegans veganing all over the internet. We weigh in on the recent kerfuffle around a woman giving a crying child money for ice cream, health veganism, and our culture of solutionizing.

In This Episode

This week, we’re fired up right out of the gate! The theme is Vegans be Veganing, and everything we cover today is on-theme, from the news to the joke to the main topic.

We decided to weigh in on the somewhat recent Twitter scandal where a vegan woman posted about giving a crying child money to buy ice cream from an ice cream truck and then was attacked for it.

Then we talk about a recent post in the VWPA Society group on Facebook around eating disorders and eating a plant-based diet, tying this into our growing hate for health veganism activism as well as the dangers of trying to force people who aren’t ready into a plant-based way of eating while not giving them non-food options for participating in a vegan practice.

Lastly, and relatedly, we talk about the rampant problem of “solutionizing” that we have in our culture at large, but also specifically in the vegan community.

Joke in the Middle

What do you call it when a vegan throws a fit? (thanks, Avery!)

Links and Information

News

* Kat Von D Accused of No Long Being Vegan Because of Pregnancy (Plant Based News)

* YouTube Star Logan Paul: “I’m Still Vegan, Dude” (VegNews)

#IceCreamGate2018 Articles

* Vegan Man Doxxes Vegan Woman for Giving Dairy Ice Cream to Crying Child (Vice – Munchies)

* A Vegan Woman was Shamed on Twitter After Buying Ice Cream for a Crying Child (Thrillist)

* Anothy Dagher’s Twitter Thread

Steven Dawson is back, this time to talk about, as requested, borderline personality disorder. Steven, as always, graced us with his kind and radical view of mental illness and treatment. This is part two of a two-part series.

In This Episode

In part 2 of our interview with Steven Dawson about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Steven answers questions submitted by our listeners, including:

* How can someone get accurately diagnosed with and treated for BPD when it’s so often misunderstood and maligned, even by professionals and especially general physicians?

* Does BPD ever go into “remission” or is it a persistent condition?

* How can I be a good ally to those with BPD?

And more!

About Our Guest

Steven is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He graduated from NYU with a Masters Degree in Social Work and is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. Steven is a professor of Social Work at NYU and Rutgers University. He uses an eclectic style of therapy based on the ideas of Attachment Theory and Interpersonal Neurobiology. He believes that therapy is the act of making known the unknown and learning how to cope with the challenges of life.

You can find Steven on: Website | LinkedIn | YouTube

Joke in the Middle

What do you call a fish with no eyes?

Links and Information

News

* Startup Develops Method to Grow Slaughter-Free Steak (VegNews)

* Smithfield Fined $50 Million for Toxic Waste (VegNews)

Steven Dawson is back, this time to talk about, as requested, borderline personality disorder. Steven, as always, graced us with his kind and radical view of mental illness and treatment. This is part one of a two-part series.

In This Episode

In part 1 of our interview with Steven Dawson about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Steven talks about the BPD diagnosis – the meaning of it, the history of it, the implications of it; as well as diagnoses in general and how he approaching diagnosis with his patients.

About Our Guest

Steven is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He graduated from NYU with a Masters Degree in Social Work and is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. Steven is a professor of Social Work at NYU and Rutgers University. He uses an eclectic style of therapy based on the ideas of Attachment Theory and Interpersonal Neurobiology. He believes that therapy is the act of making known the unknown and learning how to cope with the challenges of life.

You can find Steven on: Website | LinkedIn | YouTube

Joke in the Middle

What is it called when one chickpea murders another chickpea?

Links and Information

News

* Tyson Leads $2 Million Investment in Cultured-Meat Brand (VegNews)

* 150 Republicans Recommend Dr. Neal Barnard’s Proposals For ‘Food Assistance’ Reform (Plant Based News)

We are thrilled about our interview today with Raffi Ciavatta and Lili Trenkova of Collectively Free about direct action: what it is, what it should be, ways to make sure you’re doing it right.

In This Episode

We have historically only talked about direct actions gone wrong which may have given the impression that we don’t support direct action as a valid and effective form of activism, which is certainly not true. So, we are very happy to be joined by Raffi Ciavatta and Lili Trenkova today, the founders of Collectively Free, an intersectional organization that does badass direct actions the right way.

Raffi and Lili start off by defining what direct action really is – it’s a much broader definition than you might think! – and then talk about the common objections to and criticisms of this type of activism. They then follow all this up with a great list of ways that they have made sure their organization does direct actions in the safest and most respectful way possible for their members.

One of our favorite quotes from the interview is a Rea Carey quote:

Leadership for me is tied to this question of vision…and a desire for wholeness…We can’t ask someone to be an undocumented immigrant one day, a lesbian the next, and a mom the third day…Our vision is about…transforming society so she can be all of those things every single day and that there would be a connectedness among social justice workers and among the organizations, and agendas, if you will, to make her life whole.

Another favorite quote was from Raffi:

If we are not treating our activists as whole people, we are failing them and failing the animals.

Raffi and Lili had many great tips for creating an intersectional activist space – a “brave space,” as they call it. Some highlights that they expand upon in the interview:

* Have community agreements & policies, as well as a plan in place for when these are broken.

* Debrief after each action to see how each participant feels & make sure they have the space to feel safe being honest.

* Have a buddy system in place for all actions.

* Be prepared! Actions shouldn’t be done in a rushed or impulsive manner; to be done right, they need to be carefully planned.

* Assign a person with privilege to be in charge of talking to the cops, but not someone who will antagonize the police.

There is so much great content in this episode, we can’t wait for y’all to listen!

About the Organization

Collectively Free is an activist community for total animal liberation through anti-speciesist messaging, creative actions, pro-intersectionality & community building.

You can follow Collectively Free on: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Website

Joke in the Middle

A woman is sitting at a funeral for her wife. A man leans in and asks, “Do you mind if a say a word?”…

Links and Information

News

* Costco Sells 1 Million Vegan Burgers in 60 Days (VegNews)

* Chef Gordon Ramsay: ‘I’m Going To Give This Vegan Thing A Try’ (Plant Based News)

Related Articles

*

Today we are thrilled to publish our fascinating interview with Tyler Lobdell of the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) about the current state of animal law, and about what he (and the ALDF) have been doing in the world of food law as it relates to animal rights!

In This Episode

Tyler Lobdell, food law fellow for the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), joins us today to talk about animal law, particularly as it relates to the work he and the ALDF are doing to improve the welfare of animals used for the production of food products, increase transparency in the food industry, and ensure that consumers have access to cruelty-free and plant-based alternatives.

We talk about the current state of animal law in the United States, talk a bit about the fight against deceptive advertising, and then dig more deeply into food access issues and the work Tyler is doing in this area, especially around the campaign to get plant-based foods into schools:

Plant-Based Food in Schools

Currently, the FNS does not allow schools serving plant-based alternatives like tempeh, seitan and some non-dairy milk and yogurt to be reimbursed for the meals they serve to students under the National School Lunch Program and other Child Nutrition Programs, leading many to simply not offer them at all. Among the reasons listed in the comments for offering more plant-based alternatives to students are:

* The growing public interest in plant-based diets and animal welfare

In the U.S., research found a 600% increase in the number of people that identify as vegan since 2014, and found more people are making an effort to avoid buying factory farmed products out of concern for how animals are treated and how they impact the environment.

 

* The health benefits of a plant-based diet

People following a plant-based diet have a lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and some forms of cancer.

 

* Consideration of non-white cultures and health needs

For the most part, only culturally white foods (including meat and dairy) are credited by the FNS, even though many other plant-based alternatives have been served as dietary staples in non-white cultures for millennia. Research shows that approximately 63-98% of all people of African, Indigenous American, and Southeast and East Asian decent are not able to consume milk or lactose-rich dairy products without experiencing significant physical discomfort. By crediting plant-based milk and yogurt products, FNS can allow schools to more easily provide versions of these foods that are agreeable to students of all races.

Joke in the Middle

How many men’s rights activists does it take to change a lightbulb?

Links and Information

* University Develops Virtual Rats to End Animal Testing (VegNews)

* Big Dairy Concerned As Canada Proposes Food Warning Labels (Plant Based News)

* Tech Startup Helps Dairy Industry Make Vegan Products (VegNews)

This week we’re talking about the Roseanne and Will & Grace reboots are getting political discussions so wrong, and why that doesn’t fly in this Trump-pocalypse we’re living in.

In This Episode

We were cautiously excited for the Roseanne and Will & Grace reboots, curious to see how they were going to change and evolve after such a long time off air, and if they were going to step into political commentary given the contentious political environment they were returning to.

Sadly, both shows have botched important political discussions. Episode 1 of the new season of Roseanne, titled “Twenty Years to Life,” tries to “show both sides” of voting Trump vs Hillary and fails spectacularly. Nuanced conversation is scrapped in favor of both sides repeating party lines at each other and then the discussion is basically dropped completely.

Episode 14 of the new season of Will & Grace, titled “The Beefcake and the Cake Beef,” irresponsibly misses the mark of the gay wedding cake debate. In a terribly misinformed move, the show tries to argue that a bakery should be forced to print a pro-Trump sentiment on a cake, otherwise risk violating the First Amendment. What the situation posed in the episode actually related to was compelled, vs free, speech. Additionally, anti-discrimination laws do not protect political beliefs, so the whole conversation is a non-starter. Instead of adding to the conversation, Will & Grace is just another piece of media adding to the confusion around our laws and how they apply to these contentious situations.

We would have forgiven these shows for coming back to simply be funny, as long as they could have updated their language and jokes to fix issues with the shows content in the past. But to reenter the scene during a Trump presidency deciding to get into the politcal dialogue and then be irresponsible about it is something we can’t get past.

Joke

Why are the melons getting married in a church?

Links and Information

News

* Chloe Coscarelli Files Lawsuit to Reclaim by CHLOE Name (VegNews)

* Meat Eater Claims Oral Sex Is Not Vegan (Plant Based News)

* Applebee’s and IHOPs Close Due to Lack of Millennials (VegNews)

Related Resources

* The ‘Roseanne’ Reboot Is Funny. I’m Not Going to Keep Watching. | Roxanne Gay | NY Times

* Mark Lamont Facebook Post

* ‘Roseanne’ reboot is damn good. The star deserves none of the credit | Clay Cane | CNN

* ‘Will & Grace’ episode reinforces anti-gay talking points on wedding cake discrimination | Zack Ford | Think Progress

* Will and Grace Botches the Gay Wedding Cake Fight | Scott Shackford | Reason

* Legal for Colorado bakery to refuse to write anti-gay message on cake | Eugene Volokh | Reason

* Compelled Speech | Enc...

We are so stoked to finally do an episode on body positivity! This week, we’re joined by the lovely Jaime Karpovich to talk the basics of body positivity: what it is, what it isn’t (or shouldn’t be), how it’s been commercialized in the mainstream, and what the vegan movement should learn from it.

In This Episode

We talk to Jaime Karpovich of Save the Kales! this week about body positivity as it is today. Jaime breaks down for us what the movement looked like 20 years ago vs today, ways that it has been commercialized and misunderstood, and the difference between body positivity vs body neutrality vs body autonomy, all while giving helpful tips along the way!

Content Warning: Mention of clothing size; mention of suicidal thoughts. At one point, Jaime mentions her clothing size. We kept it in because it’s relevant to her experience and to what she was saying at the time. There are no other mentions of weight or size throughout. Nichole briefly discusses how those who live with chronic pain also often live with suicidal thoughts.

Joke in the Middle

Why was the carrot embarrassed?

Find Jaime K at:

Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Links and Information

News

* Cultured Meat To Hit India By 2025 (VegNews)

* CA Chain Refuses to Serve a Vegan Beyond Burger (VegNews)

* Open Trio Plant-based restaurant in Minneapolis (KickStarter)

Related Recommended Resources

* On Being a Bad Vegan Fatty | Jenny Marie | The Veginning, Issue 4 (Vegan Labs)

* Change your world, not your body–the social impact of body love | Jes Baker | TEDxTucsonSalon (YouTube)

* The Fragility of Body Positivity | Evette Dionne (Bitch Media)

This week we discuss bodily autonomy. Our culture shows us in many ways that we don’t have true control over our bodies, so it’s no wonder that we can’t imagine a culture based on affirmative consent when we’ve been taught since childhood that there are times our autonomy can be violated or ‘overruled.’

In This Episode

Bodily autonomy is something that we feel is often overlooked in so many ways in our culture. The public, of course, has a lot of discourse around abortion, and we’re starting to talk about rape and consent culture, but there are so many other ways in which our bodily autonomy is violated, especially as children. We thought it would be beneficial to tease out some of these more subtle topics to explore how we are taught that our bodies are not our own since birth, and how this relates to the way in which we deny animals their bodily autonomy as well. Topics discussed include:

* Prevalence of sexual assault

* Actors/actresses expected to do anything the director tells them; ex: Al Franken/Leann Tweeden situation

* Spanking or hitting children; assigning good/bad traits to their behavior

* Prisons

* Circumcision (description of foreskin here)

* Abortion debate

* How we “atta boy” men/boys who are sexually assaulted by women; ex: Katie Perry kissing 19 year old on American Idol, teachers who sleep with their students

* Vaccines, medication, birth control – it is difficult to make informed decisions about these things as they are pushed so hard with little to no information given by medical professionals, even upon request

* Organ donation – oddly, dead bodies seem to have more rights than those with female reproductive organs

In animals (particularly “pets” or companion animals):

* Spay/neuter

* Leashes, shock collars

* Restrict/control food

* Clip tails, balls, ears

* Restrict vocalizations

* Control play time, where to go when

* Control socialization and environment (leave home all day, tell to go lay down)

* Take away their family

* Breed without consent

Joke in the Middle

What kind of fungi loves hot goss (gossip)? (A Nichole Dinato original joke!)

Bitchy Shitshow Ranty-Recaps!

Nichole hilariously recaps the martial arts movie, The Protector

Links and Information

News

* Starbucks to Release Plant-Based Food Line This Year (VegNews)

* San Francisco Bans Fur Sales (VegNews)

We sit down with Andy Tabar from The Bearded Vegans and Compassion Co today to talk about what it looks like to be practice anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist veganism.

In This Episode

Andy Tabar, from The Bearded Vegans and Compassion Co, asked us to have a discussion about our anti-capitalist stance on veganism where we say veganism should not be defined by consumption, to talk about what that actually looks like in practice. We had a GREAT conversation, it was so nice to be able to have such an open, back-and-forth dialog with Andy about this important and uncomfortable topic.

We start off with talking again about what capitalism is, why vegans should consider being anti-capitalist, and how a veganism defined by consumption is inherently pro-capitalist and therefore ineffective and oppressive. Then we give tips and guidance around how you can practice veganism in an anti-consumerist way. While some of this is a review of things we’ve covered before, this conversation also covered a lot of new ground and took us on a journey that we think y’all will really enjoy!

Some of our top tips:

* Stop saying “vote with your dollar” immediately

* Find ways to connect with your local community

* Practice anti-capitalist/consumerist activities in your community (ex: Buying Nothing)

* Support policies like Universal Basic Income that can give relief to those who need it NOW

* Practice restorative justice in your daily life

* …and more!

This biggest thing we can do is create a sense of support for all citizens. Capitalism only works when we are ok with some people being treated poorly for arbitrary reasons, so connect, give a shit, be kind, share, support, and empathize.

Joke in the Middle

What do you call an everyday potato? (Thanks to listener Tina for this one!)

Book Club Reminder!

Ishmael & My Ishmael on March 30th at 11:00 am PT (Eventbrite)

Links and Information

News

* Billionaires Made So Much Money Last Year They Could End Extreme Poverty Seven Times (Time)

* Five myths about America’s homeless (Washington post)

* Inequality in America National Town Hall – Live Stream Recording (Facebook)