Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by poet, activist, and friend Gretchen Primack for a raw and deeply personal conversation about how animal advocates sustain themselves emotionally in a world that can feel overwhelmingly bleak. From the ground-level account of the Ridglan Farms beagle rescue to the growing momentum around Marshall BioResources in upstate New York, the episode weaves together urgent activism news with a candid discussion of despair, “respair,” and what it actually takes to keep going. Ridglan Farms & Marshall BioResources – Gretchen shares a firsthand account of the Ridglan beagle rescue that freed 1,500 dogs, and the hosts discuss why Marshall BioResources—home to an estimated 20,000–23,000 animals near Rochester, NY—is a next major target, with a public vigil planned for May 28–30. Hope vs. “Respair” – The conversation challenges the idea that activists need hope to keep going, introducing the 16th-century term “respair”—the joy that can emerge from despair—as a more honest and sustainable framework for long-term advocacy. Three pillars for surviving – Gretchen outlines the personal strategies that keep her going: prioritizing deep relationships (with humans and animals), staying immersed in activism, and actively seizing joy—without requiring happiness. Culture, not ethics, is the real battleground – Drawing on a Washington Post piece, the trio argues that plant-based food and animal advocacy won’t go mainstream until they feel culturally cool and cross-political, pointing to the bipartisan appeal of the Ridglan rescue as a model. Poetry as activism – Gretchen highlights her book Kind and the new anthology The New Sentience: Reimagining Animal Poetry, making the case that art and literature are powerful, underutilized tools for shifting how people relate to animals. RESOURCES The missing ingredient in plant-based food isn’t taste or nutrition Gretchen Primack’s website 3 day vigil at Marshall Bioresources The New Sentience  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. _____________________________________________ 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. 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 Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

The animal agriculture industry had a busy week proving it can always find new depths to plumb. From North Carolina State University researchers congratulating themselves on shaving four minutes off the time it takes to suffocate chickens, to the beef-on-dairy pipeline quietly turning male calves into a supply chain “opportunity,” to a USDA food safety apparatus held together with 9% fewer staff and apparently a prayer — there’s a lot to unpack. Oh, and plant-based food is quietly staging a comeback, which is the best reason to keep listening. Ventilation shutdown with humidity gets an endorsement — researchers found it kills broiler chickens about four minutes faster than heat alone, because apparently “slightly less horrific” is now a publishable finding Beef-on-dairy cattle are booming — and with them, a spike in bovine respiratory disease, because confining newborn calves in plastic hutches within days of birth has predictable consequences that take studies to notice USDA food safety complaints jumped nearly 40% after the Trump administration cut 9% of FSIS staff and shelved new salmonella standards for raw poultry — turns out fewer inspectors means more things slip through The Animal Agriculture Alliance is sounding the alarm about animal activists “posing as farmers” by supporting laws like Prop 12, a concern so elaborate it includes outrage over a goat yoga practitioner being counted in a farm coalition Plant-based food is returning to growth — a new Systemiq/ProVeg report says UK plant-based protein share could double by 2040, and retailers (not consumers) are the key lever; Tesco’s plant-based meat is already 33% cheaper than minced beef 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. _____________________________________________ 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.  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.

In this episode of The Our Hen House Interview, Mariann Sullivan speaks with Andrea Diaz, Executive Director of Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA), the only international Buddhist animal advocacy organization. Andrea shares how DVA is working across Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States to align Buddhist teachings of compassion and non-harming with the dietary choices of the world’s nearly 360 million Buddhists — and why that work looks radically different in each country. Buddhism’s core teachings explicitly oppose harming animals — the Pali Canon’s first precept calls for abstaining from taking the lives of living creatures, and the Buddha specifically named trading in meat as one of five unethical trades DVA’s global programs meet Buddhists where they are, from distributing Sri Lanka’s first vegan cookbook and hosting youth Dharma retreats in Vietnam, to securing formal plant-based meal agreements at Thai temples through the Mindful Meals program The US is DVA’s most resistant market, where promoting veganism in Buddhist centers is often taboo — leading DVA to launch the Sustainable Sangha Collective to normalize plant-based options and the All Beings Coalition to unite influential Buddhist voices against factory farming The Bodhi Project offers a uniquely Buddhist approach to bearing witness, inviting practitioners to voluntarily reveal images of animal suffering in alignment with the Buddha’s own practice of opening himself to the reality of suffering Meditation and Buddhist practice can be a lifeline for animal advocates, helping activists move from burnout and anger toward sustainable, effective advocacy — and DVA’s monthly online meditation sangha is open to all, Buddhist or not The next 100 people to join DVA’s Dāna (giving) Circle as a monthly donor of $20 or more will receive a wildlife art print donated by artist Carl Brenders (retail value of $100+). ABOUT OUR GUEST Andrea Diaz is an animal rights advocate raised on a farm in South Phoenix, Arizona, who holds a Master of Global Animal Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Bachelor of Criminal Justice from Arizona State University. After going vegan overnight in 2016 following exposure to slaughterhouse footage, she channeled her lifelong passion for justice into organizing hundreds of campaigns and working as a factory farm and slaughterhouse investigator across three countries. Drawn to the teachings of the Buddha and a dedicated meditation practitioner, she now serves as Executive Director of Dharma Voices for Animals. 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. _____________________________________________ 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. Contributions of any amount 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.

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by Amber Canavan of PETA — and her rescued hen, Rosemary — to discuss PETA’s newly released white paper on the failures of cage-free egg labeling. Amber breaks down the gap between consumer perception and the grim reality of cage-free facilities and offers her conclusion that humane-washing labels are actively deterring people from going vegan. She also outlines how activists can take action on the Farm Bill’s dangerous Save Our Bacon Act and a hidden provision that would use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the fur industry. Cage-free isn’t cruelty-free: PETA’s white paper, based on peer-reviewed studies and government reports, reveals that cage-free hens still face overcrowding, poor air quality, higher rates of pecking, and barn fires — conditions Rosemary herself survived before being rescued. Humane washing may be blocking veganism: Labels like “cage-free,” “free-range,” and “certified humane” are among the most common reasons people give for not going vegan, making label accountability a critical front in animal advocacy. Legal pressure is growing: PETA is pursuing FTC complaints, cease-and-desist letters, and consumer protection litigation over deceptive egg and animal product labels — and is actively seeking people who feel misled at peta.org. Oppose the Save Our Bacon Act: Already passed in the House, this Farm Bill provision would strip states of the ability to ban the sale of pork derived from gestation crates and foie gras — contact your senators now by calling them at 202 224-3121 and by using PETA’s action alert at peta.org. Stop taxpayer subsidies for fur: A tucked-in provision (Section 3201[d]) would allow the struggling fur industry to use federal funds for foreign advertising — call your senators and oppose this section. RESOURCES Save Our Bacon Act on Congress.gov The 2026 Farm Bill PETA Action Alert  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. _____________________________________________ 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. 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 Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky. The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

The latest episode of Rising Anxieties covers a week of predictable chaos in the animal agriculture world. Billie Eilish said what many of us were thinking — eating meat is inherently wrong — and the left proceeded to embarrass itself with a barrage of bad-faith counterarguments. Meanwhile, the federal government is finally going after Big Beef and Big Egg for antitrust violations (yes, really), industry insiders are losing sleep over animal advocates infiltrating their coalition, and one dairy farmer found cosmic meaning in a calf encountering a butterfly. Truly a week that had everything. Billie Eilish vs. The Left — Eilish said the quiet part out loud, and her own fanbase responded with “colonialism” and “no ethical consumption under capitalism.” The Vox article by Kenny Torella that broke it all down is required reading. The Meat Industry’s PR Problem — A poultry trade publication gently suggested that calling potential customers “city folk” might not be a winning strategy. The response was profanity-laced outrage. Checks out. Wolves in Farmer’s Clothing — Industry insider is very upset that animal advocates are forming alliances with farmers who practice slightly less horrific methods. The fact that it’s bothering her is, frankly, encouraging. DOJ and USDA Go After Big Beef and Big Egg — Antitrust investigations into the Big Four beef packers and major egg producers are underway, with a whistleblower program offering up to 30% of recoveries. The Herd Is Down, and It’s Your Fault — USDA Secretary blames the “radical left’s ongoing assault on ranching” for declining cattle numbers — not, say, droughts and wildfires, which she mentions separately as if climate change and its consequences are unrelated phenomena. 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. _____________________________________________ 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.  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.