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

This week, Jasmin and Mariann welcome back Dr. Liz Tyson, Director of Animal Welfare and Advocacy at Born Free USA, for a wide-ranging and eye-opening conversation about the reality of animal captivity in zoos — including the “best” ones. Using the recent death of Happy the Elephant at the Bronx Zoo as a launching point, they dig into Born Free’s ongoing…

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2026

In this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan cover a lively mix of animal advocacy news, pop culture, and vegan messaging. They discuss Sangamithra Iyer’s new memoir Governing Bodies and its LA Times review, celebrate vegan powerlifter Katya Gorbacheva’s post-partum championship win, and unpack Angela Davis’s shout-out to animal rights at a college commencement. The episode also digs into…

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2026

This week on Rising Anxieties, we’re covering the full spectrum of animal agriculture chaos — from the political circus surrounding James Talarico’s (alleged) veganism to the unsurprising news that living next to a factory farm might be slowly killing you. Plus, a meat industry columnist accidentally makes the case for abolishing animal agriculture, and the screw worm is getting uncomfortably close…

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2026

In this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, host Mariann Sullivan speaks with Amal Bouhabib, senior staff attorney at FarmSTAND, about a landmark federal lawsuit involving three young men from Guatemala who were recruited to the U.S. on J-1 cultural exchange visas and subjected to dangerous working conditions, fraudulent promises, substandard housing, and coercive threats at an industrial swine operation in…

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2026

On this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann cover a packed week of animal rights news, kicking off with a cringe-worthy DM urging a vegan to accept “happy” backyard eggs — and why you don’t owe anyone a debate. They explore the theory that the meat industry, like Big Oil, is seeing the writing on the wall and quietly trying to…

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2026

In this powerful episode, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Tim Woodward, Executive Director of Animal Rescue Corps (ARC), an organization founded the same year as Our Hen House — 2010 — that has since conducted over 200 large-scale rescue operations saving thousands of animals from neglect, abuse, and crisis situations across the country. Large-scale animal rescue operations: ARC…

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2026

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…

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2026

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…

Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2026

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…

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2026

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…

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2026

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…

Transcribed - Published: 12 May 2026

In this powerful episode, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Lindsey Soffes, Head of Programs at Rise for Animals, to explore the growing movement to end animal experimentation. From the explosive Ridglan Farms story to landmark federal legislation, Lindsey breaks down why this moment may be a turning point for animals in laboratories — and what advocates can do…

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by Matthew Dominguez, U.S. Director for Compassion in World Farming, for an urgent deep-dive into the Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act — dangerous preemption language hidden inside the Farm Bill that could strip states of their right to pass and enforce farm animal protection laws, wiping out…

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2026

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann digs into the uncomfortable gap between what institutions say and what they do — starting with Harvard Law School’s baffling decision to shutter its fully-enrolled Animal Law Clinic. From there: the industry’s coordinated PR campaign against plant-based alternatives (spoiler: they’re scared), the ongoing farce of in-ovo sexing technology being “not ready” for the US…

Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2026

In this week’s interview, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with filmmaker Ray Cruzzola, founder of World Change Media, to discuss his moving documentary I’m Trying — a tribute to Canadian animal rights activist Regan Russell, who was killed in 2020 while protesting outside a pig slaughterhouse. Ray shares how he uses cinematic storytelling as a tool for social change, why he…

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann cover a wide range of topics: Jasmin shares behind-the-scenes moments from her theater rehearsal, including an organic conversation about veganism, tallow lotion, and gelatin that unfolded among cast members without any agenda-pushing on her part. She also pays tribute to the legacy of Tommy Raskin, animal rights activist and son of…

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2026

The animal rights movement has found its big tent: everyone hates factory farming, right? In this solo rant, Mariann Sullivan ponders “anti-factory farming” as a unifying movement strategy — specifically, the inconvenient fact that being against something isn’t the same as having a plan to replace it. She also takes on a growing narrative that out-and-proud veganism is somehow the movement’s…

Transcribed - Published: 28 April 2026

In a landmark ruling, a federal court in the Northern District of California struck down four of six challenged Trump administration regulations that had significantly weakened the Endangered Species Act’s core enforcement mechanisms. Host Mariann Sullivan speaks with Noah Greenwald, Endangered Species Program Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, about the case — what was challenged, what the court decided,…

Transcribed - Published: 24 April 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, hosts Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan speak with Julia Reinelt, Executive Director of AVA International, about the upcoming Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit in Toronto (May 21–24). Julia walks listeners through what first-timers can expect, highlights the conference’s Whova app for networking and scheduling, and previews standout speakers — including documentary photographer Zed…

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2026

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann doesn’t let you look away — from the chaotic and heartbreaking Ridglan “rescue” that wasn’t, to a Yale study proving that just showing people a picture of a pig reduces meat orders by 22% (yes, really). Along the way, she covers a vegan vendor pushed out of Time Out Market for refusing to serve dairy,…

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2026

In this interview episode of Our Hen House, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with vegan zoologist, author, and activist Jordi Casamitjana for a wide-ranging conversation about the philosophy, legal landscape, and long-term vision of the vegan movement. Ethical veganism as a protected belief: Jordi shares the full story behind the landmark 2020 UK legal case that held that ethical…

Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan cover a range of stories at the intersection of animal rights, activism, and culture. They dive deep into the ongoing Ridglan Farms beagle rescue situation — with a planned April 19th action drawing thousands — and the support from Congressman Mark Pocan, who pushed back on Ridglan’s request for…

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2026

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann runs through a lineup of stories that have the animal agriculture industry sweating — from a ballot initiative that could make killing animals for food illegal in Oregon, to the egg board spending a cool million to get scrambled eggs into school cafeterias, to bird flu quietly turning dairy cows into a mammalian petri dish.…

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2026

Rose Patterson, Director of Animal Rising in the UK, joins Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan for a deep dive into one of the most daring and legally complex animal rescue stories in recent UK history. Rose shares how Animal Rising evolved from a climate-focused Extinction Rebellion offshoot into a frontline animal rights organization, and what it really takes to challenge the…

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2026

In this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan mark Mariann’s 76th birthday with a wide-ranging conversation touching on animal rights, food trends, and the power of changing your mind. Mariann reflects on her Rising Anxieties episode, connecting the Declaration of Independence’s “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to animal rights, while Jasmin shares updates on her theater rehearsals…

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2026

It’s Mariann’s 76th birthday, and instead of cake, she’s serving up a surprisingly coherent framework for moving the animal rights movement forward — one that borrows from the Founding Fathers, sidesteps the usual vegan vs. welfarist cage match, and lands on a deceptively simple idea: animals deserve the right to pursue happiness, starting with the right to raise their own young.…

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2026

In this episode, Mariann sits down with Bruce Friedrich, Founder and President of The Good Food Institute and author of Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food and Our Future, for a wide-ranging conversation about why the plant-based and cultivated meat revolution isn’t dead — it’s just getting started. Alternative proteins are a global food security imperative,…

Transcribed - Published: 3 April 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan tackle three meaty topics: the psychological toll of watching graphic animal footage, the loaded politics of the word “vegan” (is it an identity, a type of food, a diet, or a moral theory?), and the bizarre cultural obsession with meat as a symbol of masculinity — from a Texas…

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2026

Mariann Sullivan returns with another serving of industry-grade anxiety, covering everything from animal rights extremism accusations and the Trump administration’s failed egg lawsuit to cultivated meat bans, dairy farmers who think new brushes make up for everything, and a New York Times writer who is absolutely certain her sled dogs are volunteers. It’s a lot — but that’s kind of the…

Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2026

When Canadian animal rights lawyer and Animal Justice Executive Director Camille Labchuk discovered that a Manitoba horse exporter had shipped 97 horses to Japan in December 2022 — on a rerouted flight projected to exceed Canada’s 28-hour transport limit and without a legally required contingency plan covering the full journey — she did something almost unheard of in Canadian animal law:…

Transcribed - Published: 27 March 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann are joined by open rescue pioneer Adam Durand to discuss the dramatic March 15th Ridglan Rescue — a coordinated action in which 100 activists descended on a Wisconsin beagle breeding facility supplying dogs to medical research labs, ultimately freeing 22 dogs despite reinforced doors, an aggressively blocking vehicle, and on-site arrests.…

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2026

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann digs into the messy, maddening world of animal agriculture — where trade economics trump bird lives, hunting bans aren’t actually hunting bans, a Wisconsin egg farm is trying to buy public wetlands to keep nature away from its chickens, and the dairy lobby is running a protein campaign that conveniently forgot soy milk exists. Avian…

Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2026

Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Penimah (Penny) Tehilah, Executive Director of the Animal Activism Collective (AAC), and Suzie Stork, Executive Director of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT), for a deep dive into the strategy, structure, and surprising effectiveness of grassroots animal rights campaigning — and why winnable, targeted pressure campaigns are one of the most…

Transcribed - Published: 20 March 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann dive into the emotional and political landscape of animal advocacy — from the dramatic DXE rescue operation at Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin to a surprising New York Times piece on MAGA figures warming up to animal rights. They also celebrate a major legal win for the long-stalled New York City foie…

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2026

Mariann Sullivan is in her feelings — and honestly, same. This week on Rising Anxieties, she unpacks the emotional rollercoaster of the Ridglan beagle rescue, where activists risked arrest to free dogs from a Wisconsin testing facility, and then pivots to the slower-motion disasters unfolding in legislatures and regulatory agencies across the country. Ridglan Farms rescue – 22 beagles freed, 8…

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2026

In this timely conversation, Dr. Michael Klaper and Dr. Zach Burns join Jasmin and Mariann to discuss the growing movement to integrate nutrition education into medical school curricula, and why plant-based medicine is more urgently needed — and more achievable — than ever. The episode covers: RFK Jr. secured commitments from 53 U.S. medical schools to add nutrition curriculum, opening the…

Transcribed - Published: 13 March 2026

Join Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan in this engaging episode of The Hen Report as they delve into the latest in animal rights. From a review of the new Pixar film Hoppers to exploring the idea of existential welfare campaigns, this episode is packed with activism insight. They also discuss whether it’s actually true that vegans are widely disliked and the…

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2026

Mariann Sullivan dives into the latest animal rights news, exploring why activists’ maps, while totally legal, have the industry up in arms in California and beyond. This episode of Rising Anxieties tackles the ever-evolving strategies of animal activists and the nervous industry responses. This episode explores: The launch of an interactive map by DXE of California’s livestock sector. The impact of…

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2026

Join us this week for an engaging conversation with Sarah Levy and Captain Paul Watson as they discuss their groundbreaking book, The Only Flag Worth Flying: Direct Action and The Enforcement of International Marine Conservation Law. This episode dives into the critical challenges facing marine life and how the Captain Paul Watson Foundation is stepping in to fill enforcement gaps. This…

Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2026

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan delve into the psychological barriers to activism and the importance of community action for animal rights. They discuss a thought-provoking YouTube video that explores feelings of powerlessness and how to overcome them. The conversation highlights the role of community and small actions in creating significant change for animals. This…

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2026

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan delves into the shifting landscape of the meat industry, where giants in the animal-abuse industry are quietly investing in plant-protein startups while publicly supporting beef. Join us for a witty yet insightful examination of the meat industry’s latest moves. This episode explores: Investment in plant-based startups amidst their beef promotions. The changing politics…

Transcribed - Published: 3 March 2026

In this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, Mariann Sullivan sits down with Dr. Neil Dullaghan, political scientist and author of The Compassion Mandate: Remaking the European Union’s Leadership on Farmed Animal Welfare. Together, they explore the complexities and challenges of EU farmed animal policies. This episode explores: The historical progress and current state of farmed animal welfare in the EU.…

Transcribed - Published: 27 February 2026

Join Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan as they dive into thought-provoking discussions on activism and communication strategies. This episode explores the importance of listening and asking questions to foster change, drawing from insights in Adam Grant’s Think Again. Mariann shares her thoughts on building a big tent for animal lovers, emphasizing the need to connect on shared values. Tune in for…

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2026

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan dives into the tangled web of meat industry self-love, dubious animal welfare claims, and the ever-pressing need for more protein (or is it fiber?). Join us as we unravel the contradictions and complexities that plague the world of animal agriculture. This episode explores: The meat industry’s self-aggrandizing narratives and how they obscure the…

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2026

The pet bird industry conceals shocking cruelty behind closed doors, with millions of birds suffering in commercial breeding facilities that supply major pet store chains. In this powerful interview, Cameron Harsh, Interim US Executive Director at World Animal Protection US, reveals the disturbing findings of their recent investigation into bird mills and discusses efforts to end this exploitative trade through legislative…

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2026

This episode of The Hen Report explores how to navigate a world filled with animal exploitation. Jasmin and Mariann discuss finding balance between ethical living and practical engagement with mainstream culture—from mentally veganizing cooking shows to exploring local towns with a vegan eye. They share encouraging news about Indonesia banning elephant rides and the USDA’s pause on methane digesters that have…

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2026

In this eye-opening episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan exposes the dairy and animal agriculture industry’s latest manipulation tactics with her signature wit and clarity. From the misleading rhetoric attempting to justify livestock mistreatment, to the dairy industry’s aggressive push to get whole milk back into schools, to the disturbing “Beef on Dairy Revolution” that commodifies cows’ reproductive systems, this episode…

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2026

Animal Outlook‘s recent investigation into six New York “family farms” selling raw milk reveals these operations subject cows to the same cruel practices found in industrial dairy, despite marketing based on pastoral imagery and claims of superior animal welfare. Executive Director Ben Williamson shares how their undercover work exposed filthy living conditions, painful health issues, and public health risks that led…

Transcribed - Published: 13 February 2026

This week’s Hen Report explores the complex intersection of animal rights with technology, research, and activism. Hosts Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan dive into the ethical implications of AI on animal welfare, highlighting how AI systems reflect human biases against animals while potentially offering both setbacks and opportunities for animal advocacy. The episode also covers groundbreaking developments in primate research, ongoing…

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2026

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann Sullivan dives into how the animal agriculture industry is getting increasingly nervous about the accelerating momentum of animal rights activism. From Wyoming rodeo defenders panicking over a proposed NYC rodeo ban to Oregon’s groundbreaking ballot initiative that would remove exemptions from animal cruelty laws, the industry’s anxieties are on full display. Meanwhile, dairy farmers’…

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2026