This week we’re talking to Steven Dawson, LCSW, about burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma within vegan activism and veganism in general. We managed to touch on additional related topics, including how to deal with the guilt of feeling like you’re not doing enough and how to build a better vegan movement through trauma-informed community building.

In This Episode

Y’all. Y’all y’all y’all. We are so excited to release this episode!!! We had a long and fascinating conversation with Steven Dawson, LCSW about the ills that befall many an activist: burnout, compassion fatigue, feeling like you’re not doing enough. The conversation took many interesting twists and turns along related topics and even though our discussion clocked in at nearly two hours, we could’ve talked to Steven for the rest of the day.

Please see below for several resources that related to the discussion we had in this episode!

Favorite Quote from Episode

The opposite of anxiety is curiosity

The Four S’s

Safety, Security, being Seen and being Soothed

Joke in the Middle

Why are bananas never lonely?

Online Assessment Tools

Burnout Self-Test (MindTools)

Compassion Fatigue Self-Assessment (Healthy Place)

Checklists and Measures – Vicarious Trama (Social Work Buffalo)

Help lines

In Defense of Animals

IDA’s Animal Activist Helpline

Operation Hours

Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time (11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

For support from fellow activists, please join our Animal Activist Online Support Group.

Helpline Contacts

Phone: (800) 705-0425

Email: [email protected].

The Helpline is available to activists in the United States and Canada

National Suicide Prevention Line

Phone: 1-800-273-8255

Available 24 hours everyday

For emergency support

1-800-LIFENET

Books

Trauma and Recovery

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence–From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

by Judith L. Herman, M.D.

Creating Sanctuary: Toward the Evolution of Sane Societies, Revised Edition

by Dr. Sandra L. Bloom

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496585757&sr=1-1&keywords=the+body+keeps+the+score

Mindfulness Resources

Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness Paperback

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Online Mindfulness Tools

Stop Breathe Think

Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY)

Links and Information

News

* Impossible Foods’ CEO Speaks Out About Animal Testing (VegNews)

* USC Gets New “Hogwarts” Ve...

Inspired by an article on Online Read about a bride’s refusal to offer animal products at her wedding after guests threatened to not attend upon finding out it was an all-vegan reception, today we’re talking about vegan weddings and responding to haters.

In This Episode

Fair warning: the girls met a friend for breakfast at a bakery and taped this episode in throws of a sugar and high and then resultant crash. Hilarity and hot-messiness ensued. Proceed at your own risk ;)

Article: This Vegan Bride’s Family Won’t Attend Her Reception Because She Plans On Serving Only Plant-Based Cuisine

The princesses are responding to the anti-vegan comments included in the above article this week. We talk about if it’s ok to have a vegan wedding (answer: YES), tackle the inevitable carnist protests, and give our general thoughts on wedding traditions.

Joke in the Middle

Did you hear about the two satellites that got married?

Links and Information

News

* Judge Overturns Utah’s Ag-Gag Ban on Undercover Filming at Farms (NPR)

* Impossible Foods Reveals it Tests on Animals (VegNews)

* Hampton Creek Ready to Debut “Just Scramble” (VegNews)

Today we’re being super vulnerable and talking about, gulp…Impostor Syndrome! Something we both suffer from, which means we feel really weird talking about it! So, buckle up and get ready to hear us get real real about feeling like frauds!

In This Episode

Impostor Syndrome (actually known as Imposter Phenomenon in the industry – see, we’re already fucking up!) was first described by psychologists Suzanne Imes, Ph.D., and Pauline Rose Clance, Ph.D., in the 1970s. It is not an actual diagnosis in the DSM but is recognized by psychologists as a legitimate form of self-doubt that impacts many, many people, marginalized folks especially. Today, we talk about:

* What is it, what are the signs/symptoms?

* Why are we talking about it?

* Who does it impact?

* Tips to overcome it

* How we see it tie into veganism, policing, perfection and consumption

Definition (from Wikipedia)

Impostor syndrome is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.

Tips for Overcoming Imposter Feelings

* Decentralize Yourself

* Focus on providing value

* Accept that you have had some role in your successes

* Keep a file of people saying nice things about you

* Stop comparing yourself to that person

* Remember: being wrong doesn’t make you a fake

* Nobody belongs here more than you

* Realize that when you hold back you’re robbing the world

* You’re going to die

* Stream-of-conscious writing

* Be honest about what you do and don’t know

* Realize that nobody knows what they’re doing

* Take action

* Realize that you are never you

* Authenticity is a hoax

* Realize that this problem is only getting worse as more of us rely on our online presences

* See credentials for what they are

* Find one person you can say, “I feel like a fraud” to

* Faking things actually does work

* Talk to your mentors

* Recognize your expertise

* Remember what you do well, see where you could improve, in an honest way

* Develop and implement rewards for success

* Chip away at supersticious thinking

* Talk to a professional

Joke in the Middle

What do you call a fake noodle?

Links and Information

News

* Tinder Urges Users to Ditch Tiger Selfies (VegNews)

* Goat Cheese Dairy Farm Turns into Vegan Sanctuary (VegNews)

Researched for this Episode

* Feel Like a Fraud? (American Psychological Association)

* Is imposter syndrome a sign of greatness? (Quartz)

* Clance IP Scale – Impostor Phenomenon Scoring Test (PaulineRoseClance.com)

* 21 Ways to Overcome Imposter Syndrome (Startup Bros)

* When Women Feel Like Frauds They Fuel Their Own Failures (Forbes)

What’s up, kids?! Callie and Nichole are back together in the studio, this week having a little fun critiquing Beauty & the Patriarchy, I mean, er, cough, Beauty & the Beast – Disney’s live action version of their timeless classic Stockholm Syndrome manual!

In This Episode

We break down how NOT feminist the new Beauty and the Beast live action remake is, despite Emma Watson’s claims to the contrary. Plus, a small announcement about the show!

Joke in the Middle

Why won’t anyone let Elsa hold the balloon?

Links and Information

News

* Cows Milk Can Now Be Advertised as Inhumane (Live Kindly)

* Plant-based Food Firm Daiya Bought for $325.97 Million by Pharma Company Otsuka (Food Dive)

Articles Researched for this Episode

* Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser (Counseling Resource)

* Beauty and the Beast is a Pretty Film Disguising the Ugly Beast of Misogyny (QZ)

* Beauty and the Beast: Feminist or Fraud? (The Guardian)

* A Feminist Criticism Of Beauty And The Beast (Odyssey Online)

* Beauty and the Beast, Toxic Masculinity and Fake Feminism (Paste Magazine)

* Coming To Terms With ‘Beauty And The Beast’ And The Imperfect Feminism Of Disney (HuffPost)

This week, guest host Marine from the YouTube Channel ‘A Privileged Vegan’, fills in for Nichole to discuss the history and present day criticisms of Pride with Callie.

In This Episode

This week, Callie and guest host Marine discuss Pride! We start by giving a little background on the Stonewall riots, and then move into a few of the major criticisms of what Pride has become. We start by discussing how much space corporations have taken over in Pride Parades, and how they brand themselves as allies while still having oppressive and violent business practices.

Then we move onto the police, definitely not an ally in justice and progressiveness! We discuss why having police at, and participating in, Pride is incredibly insensitive to those whose lives are threatened by police… Because waving a rainbow flag doesn’t even come close to making up for the violence they are actively perpetuating against members in and out of the LGBTQ community.

We also discuss Homonationalism and Pinkwashing (with a little veganwashing thrown in for fun). Both of which help explain how even individuals that are part of oppressed communities, can still participate in, or at the very least ignore, the oppression of other less privileged members of their community.

Links and Information

News

* Grubhub Names Vegan Food As Hottest Delivery Trend (VegNews)

* Brazil Will Serve 5 Million Vegan School Lunches (VegNews)

* Vegan Film About Race, Class, and Gender Debuts in LA (VegNews)

Links

* The Stonewall Riots (History)

* Meet The Trans Women of Color Who Helped Put Stonewall on the Map (Mic)

* Coming Out As Bisexual / Story of My Existential Confusion (A Privileged Vegan)

* Bi People Have Issues (The Not Adam) – Where the Stats came from

* Understanding Homonationalism (Huffpost)

* The Myth of Vegan Progress in Israel (Dylan Powell)

* Palestine’s Only Locally Run Animal Protection Org (Palestinian Animal League)

* What is Queer BDS? Pinkwashing,Intersections,Struggles,Politics (Angela Davis)

* Israel and Palestine: An Overview, Veganwashing, Gary Yourofsky, BDS & More (A Privileged Vegan)

We’re talking about boundaries again, our favorite subject! Today, guest host Aja fills in for Callie to talk about recognizing when we have weak boundaries, and ways we can strengthen them.

In This Episode

Today we’re talking all about boundaries. Nichole has been in therapy and doing this work for herself, so she wanted to share with all of you! Our dear friend Aja joins us to give Callie a break, and we have a blast talking about what weak boundaries look like, how to make them stronger, and our personal experiences with each side of that equation.

Weak Boundaries

* Pretending to agree when you don’t or hiding your true feelings

* Going along with an activity you don’t want to do

* Declining an activity that you want to do

* Pushing yourself beyond your limits, working too hard, not resting when tired

* Doing too much for other people, not enough for yourself

* Ignoring your own needs

* Bad self care: not eating regular healthy meals, not getting enough sleep, too much or too little exercise, denying leisure activities

* Too little or too much alone time

* Not enough contact with caring people

* Using chemicals (nicotine, alcohol, sugar, pills, drugs) to feel better

* Giving into compulsions (shopping, TV, sex, eating, starving, exercise, sports)

Ways to Strengthen

* Clearly identify your boundary

* Understand why that boundary is important to you, why you need it

* Be straight forward with your needs

* Don’t apologize for your needs or give long explanations for them

* Use a calm and polite tone (but it’s ok if you mess this up the first few times!)

* Start with stricter boundaries and then loosen them over time if appropriate and as people earn the privilege

* Adress boundary violations early

* Have repurcussions for boundary violations – enforce them and stick to them!

* Don’t make it personal

* Have and use a support system – friends, family, therapist, etc.

* Trust your intuition

* Additional amazing tips on this Captain Awkward article about learning to say no

Joke in the Middle

How many tickles does it take to make a squid laugh?

Links and Information

News

* BurgerFi to Offer Vegan Beyond Burger (NYTimes)

* 6% of Americans Identify as Vegan (One Green Planet)

Therapy Resources Discussed on the Show

* Open Path Collective: resource for therapists in your area for $30-50 including remote sessions.

* TalkSpace: online therapy at a lower rate than most in-person services.

Callie had a burning passion in her heart to talk about hate, and how it’s not all created equal: equating anger of the oppressed to that of the opposing view is simply another tool of oppression.

In This Episode

We give a quick Okja update after reading some interviews with Bong Joon-ho about his vision for the messages behind Okja, announce that we will be having a couple guest hosts over the next few weeks, and then jump into our main topic already on 10 about it – a rant-y episode if there ever was one!

We discuss how people who claim both sides of an argument are to blame for fighting or hatred are being oppressive by tone policing those that are the oppressed party. “Agreeing to disagree” only works when you are not arguing over people’s basic rights to life and safety.

Links and Information

News

* Factory Farms Cause Lung Damage to Nearby Residents (VegNews)

* Vegan Brand Named First Zero-Waste Facility of Its Kind (VegNews)

Interviews with Bong Joon-ho Mentioned in this Episode

* ‘Okja’: How One Visit to a Slaughterhouse Turned Bong Joon Ho Into a Vegan (Indie Wire)

* Okja interview: Bong Joon-ho on GM foods, his chaotic mindscape, and the Netflix controversy (Independent)

Our final episode in our media review series is Okja, a Netflix original movie directed by Bong Joon Ho. A weird, violent disappointment.

In This Episode

Netflix original Okja had a trailer that made us excited and hopeful. It seemed like it was going to be a scathing criticism of capitalism, animal agriculture, and animal consumption. Instead, it was a weird and violent ride into an ending that acheived none of these goals. While beautifully filmed and mostly well-acted, our search for a modern pro-animal liberation movie with a clear message continues.

Jokes in the middle

What do you call a pig with three eyes?

What did the pig write it’s secret message with?

Links and Information

News

* Häagen-Dazs Debuts Four Vegan Ice Creams (VegNews)

* Wisconsin Dairy Industry Taps Prisons for Workers (VegNews)

Interviews with Bong Joon-ho Mentioned about Okja

* ‘Okja’: How One Visit to a Slaughterhouse Turned Bong Joon Ho Into a Vegan (Indie Wire)

* Okja interview: Bong Joon-ho on GM foods, his chaotic mindscape, and the Netflix controversy (Independent)

Our fourth installment of our pro-intersectional media analysis series is Interstellar, a quaint tale of U.S. and human and white cis-male exceptionalism, set in space!

In This Episode

Ah, Interstellar. A movie Nichole loves to hate. So much so that’s she’s seen it five times. In this episode, she finally gets to vent about everything wrong with this gorgeous, entertaining film. Although, maybe she’s just letting her silly girl-emotions get the best of her.

We discuss how Matthew McConaughey rubs his dick all over the stars, thereby saving everyone with his aggressive white cis-maleness; we learn why boy emotions are more logical than those that come from hysterical girl scientists; and we see that the human race should for sure kept alive at all costs, even if it means hatching people with uteruses for the sole purpose of breeding…cause, that’s not at all creepy or fucking awful.

Joke in the middle

Why are mansplainers never thirsty?

Links and Information

News

* NOT MILK? Soy milk and tofu butter have to change their names after European court rules they don’t count as dairy products (The Sun)

* Seven Percent of Americans Think Chocolate Milk Comes from Brown Cows and that’s not even the Scary Part (Washington Post)

* NYC Bans Use of Wild Animals in Circuses (VegNews)

* Target Removing Just Mayo and Other Hampton Creek Products From Shelves (Fortune)

Related Articles We Love

* Interstellar is a dangerous fantasy of US colonialism (The Conversation)

* The Women of ‘Interstellar’ (Bitch Flicks)

* Interstellar Has Great Visuals and a Bad Case of Christopher Nolan Disease (In These Times): ok y’all. All of the above articles are funny and insightful, but this one damn near killed us both dead. It’s pure genius and so on point – a must read!

The third installment of our media review series is season 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale, a cautionary tale about white feminism that ends up, well, replicating white feminism.

In This Episode

In this giant episode, we do our best to cover themes brought up in the ten episodes of season 1 of the Hulu original, The Handmaid’s Tale. We loved the first three episodes and found the show entertaining overall, but were disappointed to find later episodes devolving into racist and sexist issues.

Joke in the Middle

Why can’t you hear pterodactyls when they go to the bathroom?

Links and Information

News

* Trump Administration Scraps New Protection For Endangered Whales, Sea Turtles (Huffington Post)

* Lawmaker Breaks Chicken’s Neck On Camera To Announce Anti-Abortion Bill (Huffington Post)

* Amazon to Buy Whole Foods for 13.7 Billion (Wallstreet Journal)

Articles Referenced for Episode Research

* Moira Deserved Better in The Handmaid’s Tale’s Penultimate Episode (The MarySue)

* In Its First Season, The Handmaid’s Tale’s Greatest Failing Is How It Handles Race (Vulture)

* It’s even harder to watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ when you know Black women’s history (Water Cooler Conversations)

Mentioned in this Episode

* #ARTooWhite: The Animal Rights Conference 2017 speaker’s list has been published and it’s like real real white.