Since it's a hockey day for Jon, this episode features The Tofu Trio minus one. Joey and Vanessa discuss a topic suggested by a listener: Is it actually okay for vegans to wear second-hand leather or other used animal-derived clothing? Before diving in, Vanessa reviews the new Beyond Immerse protein drinks from Beyond Meat. Joey then explains why he would never wear leather under any circumstances, while Vanessa offers a more nuanced take, including the fate of the leather handbag collection she owned prior to going vegan. In a true podcast miracle, Joey stays on topic the entire time. Instead, it's Vanessa who veers off to discuss what happens to iguanas in Florida. The discussion quickly shifts from lizards to the macabre, as Joey details the horrors of the fur industry and the footage shown in the harrowing documentary "Earthlings," followed by Vanessa's account of a visit to an animal sanctuary that functioned more like a prison for the animals in its care. To lighten the mood, Vanessa suggests returning to the topic of Florida iguanas, but you'll have to tune in next week to hear that conversation.

Today is the last day to vote for Vegans Talking Shit for Best Vegan Podcast in the 2026 VegNews Veggie Awards! Visit https://vegnews.com/veggie-awards-2026/survey to cast your vote. The show is listed in the 37th category, so you'll have to click "Next Page" a few times to get there. Voting ends today, March 10.

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

In a very special episode of Vegans Talking Shit, The Tofu Trio welcomes Denis Soukhanov, who co-owns Zen Mystery—an organic lounge, café, and cultural center—with his wife. Denis shares his personal journey to veganism, the vision behind his strictly organic mission, and how his business survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the conversation continues, Joey asks Denis if he would ever consider adding meat to the menu to stay afloat—a move some struggling vegan restaurants have made—while Jon and Denis discuss the broader future of plant-based dining. For her part, Vanessa can't stop talking about the awesomeness of the Zen Mystery potato salad. To wrap up the show, Denis reveals the origin of the Zen Mystery name and highlights several new menu items. Just as the episode concludes, Jon and Vanessa's cat, Bob, makes his presence known by causing a glitch in the video. At least it wasn't Khaleesi messing up the recording this time!

All dishes at Zen Mystery are organic, vegan, and gluten-free, and prepared on-site daily. To learn more, visit zenmystery.com. Follow @ZenMystery on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Help The Tofu Trio win their first award! To vote for Vegans Talking Shit for Best Vegan Podcast in the 2026 VegNews Veggie Awards, visit https://vegnews.com/veggie-awards-2026/survey. The show is listed in the 37th category, which requires clicking "Next Page" several times. Every vote counts, and voting ends March 10.

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

The boys sit out this bonus episode as Vanessa is joined by artist, musician, and author Nancy Illman. Returning for her second appearance (previously appearing in Episode 45, Voices from the Vegan Cruise: Holly & Nancy), Nancy joins Vanessa for a conversation about their lives and the shared experience of being vegan in a non-vegan world.

The highlight of this episode is the personal tour of Nancy's vibrant, creative home, which is an art piece in its own right. We strongly recommend watching the video version, as her home has to be seen to be believed. Nancy also shares how she weaves veganism into her artwork. Afterward, the two friends dive into the reality of family dynamics as a vegan, the addictive nature of cheese, and why Medjool dates are the ultimate transition food for cutting out processed sugars and baked goods. To close, Vanessa shares her dream of spending more time in Brazil and the steps she and Jon are taking to make that happen.

To book a tour of Nancy's local public-facing murals in Takoma Park, Maryland, visit https://nancyillman.com/ or email [email protected].

The Tofu Trio is proud to announce that Vegans Talking Shit has been nominated for Best Vegan Podcast in the VegNews Veggie Awards! Head over to https://vegnews.com/veggie-awards-2026/survey right now to cast your vote and help them bring home the trophy. Every vote counts! Voting ends March 10.

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

In an episode that's devoid of a real topic, The Tofu Trio drops all pretenses to shamelessly beg for listener support. The big news? Vegans Talking Shit has been nominated for Best Vegan Podcast in the VegNews Veggie Awards! WOO-HOO! After speculating on how the show actually landed a nomination, the conversation predictably veers off the rails. Joey gushes over the brilliant TV series "Kevin Can F*ck Himself," Vanessa explains why she's wearing a vintage Brazil soccer jersey, and Jon pivots to a heartfelt plea for cat adoption. The wheels come off entirely as the trio inexplicably dives into the Imperial vs. Metric system, the audacity of using "America" to describe just the United States, and the ridiculousness of the "Gulf of America." As the show concludes, Joey tries to talk to Jon about "The Smashing Machine," but Vanessa mercifully pulls the plug before things get too heavy.

Help The Tofu Trio take home the trophy! Head over to https://vegnews.com/veggie-awards-2026/survey to vote for Vegans Talking Shit for Best Vegan Podcast. The show is listed in the 37th category, so it requires clicking "Next Page" a few times. Think of it as a finger workout for a good cause. Well, a fairly good cause. Okay, it isn't a BAD cause!

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

With Jon and Vanessa in Brazil, Joey unleashes another Non-Vegan Voices episode, this time with his Gen Z friend Shain, a walking and talking comic book encyclopedia. After an origin story of their friendship, Joey attempts to dive right into the world of superheroes, but Shain effectively pulls a "Vanessa," keeping the show anchored to its plant-based roots. Shain has to do this several times throughout the episode, as Joey seems hellbent on focusing primarily on comic books. As they continue, Shain discusses being the son of Jamaican immigrants and the grandson of a Rastafarian, prompting Joey to take a sharp left turn into his dating history with a Chinese-Jamaican woman and the "delicacy" known as Goat Head Soup. The banter continues as Shain describes the short documentary he made at the comic book store and why Joey isn't in it. They then geek out over comic books written by filmmaker and noted vegan Kevin Smith, DC's hugely successful Absolute Universe, and the burning question of whether or not Absolute Batman kills people. Before heading to a feast at Vegan Tierra, the two close out the show discussing "cupcake vegans," vegan cupcakes, and chocolate. Clearly, they were hungry!

Watch Shain's short documentary, "Comics Are Cool: Please Read Them":
https://youtu.be/ZxUmBstrE6o?si=95CN9-ohveN7Pl-C

Read Shain's debut as a comic book writer, "Meat":
https://globalcomix.com/read/17b132e9-01b8-417f-b479-ad2ee7b1bd8d/1

Trigger Warning: Shain's comic book is extremely graphic and contains animal cruelty, child abuse, gratuitous violence, and gore. I love it, but it's very dark, so the trigger warning is well-earned!

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

After clumsily handling the topic in part one, The Tofu Trio spends the second half of this two-part episode practically ignoring it altogether. Instead, they dive into niche religions like Jainism, the Hare Krishna movement, and Satanism. Eventually, Jon brings up the movie "Time Bandits," only to then confuse "The Time Machine" with "Time After Time." Vanessa then previews an upcoming trip to Brazil, and Joey reminisces about his time volunteering at farm sanctuaries, which includes his revelation that he found joy in shoveling poop. It was only a matter of time before someone on this show literally talked shit again!

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

With all the subtlety and sensitivity of a drunk ape wielding a sledgehammer, The Tofu Trio tackles the provocative (and, let's be honest, shamelessly clickbaity) question posed in today's title. In part one of a two-part episode, the group discusses the common outsider perception that a disproportionate number of vegans are gay, and the various reasons why that stereotype exists. Their clunky conversation covers, among other things, the demographics of Wilton Manors, the unsubstantiated fear that soy makes men feminine, and some of the other classic plant-based misconceptions. True to form, about half the episode is a complete detour: Vanessa unlocks the secrets of "Blue Zones" like Loma Linda, CA, Jon defends his preference for cats over dogs, and Joey launches into a passionate, slightly tragic deep dive on why his favorite dog breed, the English Bulldog, should no longer be bred.

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

The Tofu Trio continues their discussion about whether or not it's possible to be 100% vegan in the finale of their two-part episode. Having already established in part one that being 100% vegan is virtually impossible in the modern world, they provide a few more sobering examples of why that is. Once they finish crushing vegan dreams of purity, they dive into the greasy world of beef tallow before Jon drops a real party-killer: a statistic claiming vegans are more prone to depression. Vanessa and Joey play armchair psychologist to figure out why, and Jon offers his own theories. Finally, Joey recounts the time he spent 50 minutes preaching the plant-based gospel to a roomful of people, most of whom were police officers. Did his presentation change any minds? Tune in to find out!

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

Many fellow herbivores claim to be 100% vegan, but is that really possible? Between the hidden animal byproducts in your wallpaper, tires, and computer screens, achieving vegan perfection is a lot harder than you might think. In part one of a two-part episode, The Tofu Trio discusses whether or not striving for a 100% vegan lifestyle is realistic. Spoiler alert: They admit that it's nearly impossible almost immediately. As usual, they veer off topic quite a bit. In fact, the show kicks off with Joey presenting a comic book that, while lacking market significance, holds great sentimental value for him. Vanessa then debuts her latest knitting project, which somehow managed to make Jon sick, before Jon responds to a listener email questioning his frequent use of ChatGPT. Don't worry. They do eventually get to the topic at hand. They just don't spend a lot of time on it. Maybe they'll do better in part two next week. Another spoiler alert: They don't.

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.

The Tofu Trio began the new year by looking back at their goals and hopes for 2025, but in today's episode of Vegans Talking Shit, they're officially setting their sights on 2026. Among the many topics covered in this episode, they discuss the plight of stray dogs and cats, the elusive importance of sleep, the complexities of starting a vegan travel company, and the questionable ethics of naming a pig "Bacon." Will Joey, Jon, and Vanessa actually meet their respective goals this time? Will their hopes come to fruition? Probably not, but they'll be reviewing the footage at the end of the year regardless. Tune in now to hear the goals and hopes, then check back in a year to see if they're celebrating or making excuses!

Vegans Talking Shit is hosted by Joey Di Girolamo, Jon Missirlian, and Vanessa Silva. Main podcast image artwork by Diego Orellana. Theme song "Flying" by TrackTribe. Visit @veganstalkingshit on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and @vegans.talking.sh on TikTok. Send questions, comments, and topic ideas to [email protected], and you may get your email read during the show.