In this week’s edition of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan dives into the animal agriculture industry’s latest nightmares—which, unsurprisingly, include you. From hand-wringing about the movement’s supposed $865 million war chest to the Reddit whistleblower exposing paid anti-vegan trolls, we’re clearly living rent-free in Big Ag’s collective consciousness. Meanwhile, Iowa’s 110 billion pounds of untracked manure mysteriously “disappears,” Zoe Rosenberg faces jail time for saving four chickens, and ranchers demand a “level playing field” with wolves—as if predators who evolved over millennia should politely avoid the cattle grazing on their ancestral hunting grounds.

This episode explores:

• How animal agriculture industry leaders are tracking and fretting over the rising influence and funding of animal rights activism, particularly Open Philanthropy’s $168 million investment
• The disturbing case of activist Zoe Rosenberg, sentenced to 90 days in jail and $102,000 in restitution for rescuing four sick chickens from a slaughterhouse
• A Reddit whistleblower’s revelation about coordinated industry efforts to discredit veganism online through fake accounts and manufactured negative experiences
• Iowa’s catastrophic environmental crisis with 110 billion pounds of factory farm manure going untracked annually, coinciding with rising cancer rates
• The ongoing conflict between cattle ranchers and wolves, with producers demanding “management tools” while grazing their cows on the predators’ natural habitat

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.

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