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

Award-winning undercover investigator Lindsay Oliver joins Jasmin and Mariann to discuss her groundbreaking work inside a national primate research center and her new memoir, Marshmallows Are Their Favorite: Undercover at a Primate Lab. Over a two-decade career spanning more than 100 investigations across factory farms, research labs, zoos, and circuses, Lindsay shares what it’s really like to go undercover in facilities where animals are used for experimentation — the psychological toll on investigators, the surprising emotional lives of the monkeys she came to know, and the complicated reality of the lab workers who care for them but feel trapped inside a system they can’t question. Inside a primate research lab: Lindsay describes what she witnessed working undercover at a facility confining over 5,000 monkeys — from the routine procedures like blood draws and TB testing to the devastating effects of lifelong solitary cage confinement on intelligent, emotional beings. The workers’ story: A major focus of the book and the conversation is the lab workers themselves — people who often took jobs as animal caretakers without fully understanding the reality of animal testing, and who experience moral injury, trauma, and fear of speaking out while working inside a system that discourages dissent. Justify — supporting lab workers: Lindsay explains why she founded Justify, an organization that provides a safe space for current and former lab workers to process their experiences, share their stories, and bridge the gap between the scientific community and animal advocacy movement. Animals International US and Toxicity.inc: Lindsay discusses her role as executive director of Animals International US, including the recent Toxicity.inc whistleblower exposé revealing what goes on inside UK labs owned by a US company — and why animal testing is a global problem, not someone else’s problem. Reasons for optimism: Lindsay shares why she feels more hopeful than ever about the movement to end animal research, citing shifts at the FDA, NIH investments in non-animal science, and a growing willingness within government agencies to question the status quo — plus what listeners can do to help, starting with leading with empathy instead of judgment. ABOUT OUR GUEST Lindsay Oliver is an award-winning undercover investigator and the author of the new book, Marshmallows Are Their Favorite: Undercover at a Primate Lab. Over the past two decades, she has personally conducted or overseen more than 100 investigations inside research labs, animal agriculture, zoos, circuses, and other industries that exploit animals. She is the Executive Director of Animals International US and the founder and CEO of Justify. _____________________________________________ 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 and Mariann sit down with Gretchen Primack and Ella Magers to debrief the historic March to Abolish Animal Testing (MAAT) — a 207-mile trek from Albany to Marshall Bioresources, the country’s largest breeder of dogs for animal experimentation. The organizers share what it took to mobilize over 1,000 people in just three and a half months, how they made animal activism accessible to everyday animal lovers, the media breakthroughs, including New York Times and CBS National coverage, and what comes next as the movement prepares for MAAT 2.0. Inside the March to Abolish Animal Testing: How Gretchen Primack and Ella Magers organized a 207-mile march from Albany to Marshall Bioresources in North Rose, NY — a facility holding over 42,000 animals, including 16,000 dogs, mostly beagles, bred for experimentation Building an accessible activist movement: How the march empowered everyday people to show up on their own terms — whether for a few hours or the full route — with community care infrastructure like daily route guides, WhatsApp groups, evening events with live speakers and vegan food, and partnerships with local shelters and rescues Media breakthroughs for the anti-animal-testing movement: Coverage from The New York Times and CBS National, the flaws in the NYT reporting (including undercounting marchers by hundreds), and why mainstream press attention marks a turning point for the movement The “Until Every Cage Is Empty” tattoo story: How a free afternoon during the march led to a group of marchers getting matching tattoos at the country’s oldest vegan tattoo shop in Syracuse, and how Jasmin and Mariann got inked the same week What’s next — MAAT 2.0 and beyond: The COMPACT Act, introduced during the march, momentum building for future actions, and how listeners can get involved or support the movement through Our Hen House’s flock membership RESOURCES March to Abolish Animal Testing _____________________________________________ 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.

Marshall BioResources is big mad about Our Hen House, the Animal Agriculture Alliance thinks animal activists are secretly swimming in a billion dollars, and a UK newspaper is very upset that PETA has the audacity to care about sheep. Meanwhile, a Smithfield plant worker becomes the fourth death on the job, a rancher writes a whole essay pretending climate change isn’t why the beef herd is shrinking, and scientists are scrambling to prove animal testing can never end. Plus, Republicans are quietly making animal rights a winning political issue while Democrats are apparently too busy to notice. Marshall BioResources vs. Our Hen House: The animal testing company left a comment accusing the show of “dangerous disinformation” and name-dropped the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act to sound scary — which, as Mariann notes, conveniently ignores the statute’s own First Amendment protection clause. The “Billion-Dollar Activist Network” myth: The Animal Agriculture Alliance tallied up every penny donated to every animal cause ever and arrived at $1.07 billion, which sounds amazing until you realize most of it is money that no grassroots activist has ever seen. New Scientist says animal testing “cannot and will not” end: The scientific establishment is getting nervous that governments are actually talking about phasing it out, so they’re recycling the argument that curiosity justifies cruelty — an argument that would also, technically, justify experimenting on humans. Fourth worker death at Smithfield: Management told employees to just keep working after a colleague was killed on the job, prompting a walkout. Slaughterhouses see roughly two amputations per week in the U.S., because the danger isn’t limited to the animals. Animal rights as the last bipartisan issue: A Current Affairs discussion explores how Republicans are claiming animal rights as their own while Democrats haven’t caught up, making this arguably the only issue in Washington where both sides could actually agree — if anyone bothered to try. 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 Animal Law Podcast, Mariann Sullivan speaks with Eric Glitzenstein, Director of Litigation at the Center for Biological Diversity, about what he calls the most extreme attack on the Endangered Species Act in its history. They break down two unprecedented actions by the Trump administration: the elimination of the long-standing regulatory definition of “harm” that protected endangered species’ habitat from destruction, and the invocation of the so-called “God Squad” — a cabinet-level committee that can exempt entire industries from the ESA — to shield all oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico from endangered species protections. Both moves target the core mechanisms of the law and could hasten the extinction of species like the Rice’s whale, of which only about 50 remain. In this episode, we cover: The rescission of the “harm” definition — how the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service eliminated decades of regulatory protection for habitat, adopting Justice Scalia’s dissenting opinion from the 1995 Sweet Home case and using the Loper Bright decision as justification The God Squad’s first invocation in 40 years — how Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared a “national security” exemption for all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities, based not on any actual operational curtailment but on the mere prospect of future citizen lawsuits The legal challenges underway — five cases challenging the harm definition rescission across federal courts, plus the Center for Biological Diversity’s suit over the God Squad’s rubber-stamp exemption, including a key jurisdictional fight over whether cases belong in district court or the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals How the two actions intersect — the shell game of claiming habitat is protected under other ESA provisions while simultaneously gutting those same provisions through national security exemptions What concerned citizens can do — how to educate yourself, raise public awareness during an election year, advocate for state and local protections as federal safeguards erode, and support the organizations fighting these rollbacks in court ABOUT OUR GUEST Eric Glitzenstein is the Director of Litigation at the Center for Biological Diversity, a national conservation organization dedicated to preventing human-caused extinctions and protecting life on Earth. The Center has more than 80 attorneys nationwide who litigate in federal and state courts on a wide variety of wildlife protection and other issues. Mr. Glitzenstein oversees and coordinates the Center’s litigation of cases brought under the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and many other statutes on which the Center’s attorneys rely to further the protection of wildlife and imperiled ecosystems. Prior to working with the Center, Eric was the co-founder (with Katherine Meyer) and Managing Partner of the D.C.-based firm Meyer & Glitzenstein, one of the nation’s leading public-interest law firms. On behalf of both national and grassroots non-profit organizations, the firm specialized in the protection of wildlife and captive animals, environmental and natural resource conservation, and open government cases, among other issues. In addition to managing the firm and mentoring the firm’s new attorneys, Mr. Glitzenstein was lead counsel in many wildlife cases in federal courts throughout the country, including in various U.S. Courts of Appeals and in the U.S. Supreme Court. 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. ********** You can listen to the Animal Law Podcast directly on our website (at the top of this page) or you can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on Apple Podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). 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! Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning, weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its fifteenth glorious year!

In this episode of The Hen Report from Our Hen House, hosts Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan unpack the growing differences in approaches within the animal protection movement between some large organizations and some grassroots activists. They examine how some major groups are currently framing their “end factory farming” missions — often without naming a clear end state or using the word “vegan” — and whether big-donor funding is quietly steering the movement’s strategy. The conversation also covers inspiring grassroots actions, from a 207-mile march targeting Marshall Bioresources to vegan advocacy reaching over a million viewers on YouTube. Inside the “two movements” of animal protection: Why the gap between approaches of top-down organizations and grassroots activists may be wider than ever — and whether that’s a problem or an opportunity. “End factory farming” — A closer look at how groups like The Humane League, Mercy For Animals, Compassion in World Farming, and Farm Forward state (or elide) their ultimate goals, and why the word “vegan” is often missing. Follow the money: How a small number of funders may be shaping the movement’s theory of change, and what that means for activists who don’t fit the big-tent agenda. Grassroots wins worth celebrating: Mariel’s appearance on The Financial Diet sparks real dietary change among viewers, a 207-mile march demands a criminal investigation of Marshall Bioresources, and Florida activists use the bear hunt lottery system to save lives. Tools and events for activists: Alison Argo’s new film Forever Home (streaming Sept 26–Oct 3), Vegan Creator Con’s new training challenge, and a study showing how social support makes reducing meat consumption easier. RESOURCES Marshall BioResources Faces Call for Criminal Investigation Vegan Creator Con NEW CHALLENGE LAUNCHING! Hunters and activists vie for permits for controversial Florida black bear hunt Study Reveals That Social Support Could Make Eating Less Meat Easier Forever Home film Rally at the Gates March to Abolish Animal Testing 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.