Our Hen House Our Hen House Podcasts

What started with the question, “Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal?” has become the newest investigative documentary from Kip Anderson, of Cowspiracy fame, and Kam Waters. Join the journey to discover why so many religions who hold compassion as a sacred tenet turn a blind eye to animal suffering.



Kip Andersen has changed the way the world looks at eating animals. After producing some of Netflix’s most-watched documentaries, Cowspiracy, What The Health, and Seaspiracy, working alongside the likes of Joaquin Phoenix and Leonardo DiCaprio as executive producers, Christspiracy is his biggest chapter yet.



Kam Waters is a former gospel songwriter and musician for Sony and Interscope Records turned filmmaker. After growing up in the bible belt with a family lineage of gospel singers and a minister, Kam was entrenched in the church from the day he was born. It wasn’t until he realized how people use Christianity to justify animal abuse that he started this journey and, eventually, co-created this revolutionary documentary.



Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoy the Our Hen House podcast, please leave us a positive review! To view the show notes with resources, visit the website at https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep724/

We are thrilled to present this very special holiday episode of Sanctuary: A Radio Play, an annual Thanksgiving tradition at Our Hen House! This special performance marks the world premiere of John Yunker’s Sanctuary at New York City’s Symphony Space during the Culture & Animals Foundation’s Compassion Arts Festival.



A dark comedy, Sanctuary tells the story of Richard (John Frusciante) and Lisa (Mariann Sullivan), a happily married couple whose blissful retirement to small-town Oregon is thrown into disarray when Lisa suddenly decides to go vegan and insists on celebrating Thanksgiving without a turkey AND alongside her new friend and animal activist, Meg (Jasmin Singer). Husband Richard invites his unsuspecting buddy Charley (Michael Harren), who also happens to be the local exterminator, in the hopes of forcing Lisa to stick with the traditional meal. The resulting tensions soon push relationships over the edge. Sanctuary tells the story behind the struggles and joys of navigating vegan ethics around loved ones who don’t quite understand. (Sound effects are by Emmy winner Eric Milano.)



Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoy the Our Hen House podcast, please leave us a positive review! To view the show notes with resources, visit the website at https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep723.5/

Vegan SoulFest, the Black Veg Society, Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month, plus fabulous vegan soul food restaurant, The Land Of Kush. What do all of these things (and more) have in common? Naijha Wright-Brown, that’s what. Join us to find out how Naijha does it all, and how she keeps it all edu-taining (education and entertaining) for her audience.



Plus, we have a quick update from Almira Tanner, lead organizer of Direct Action Everywhere, about the recent trial and conviction of activist Wayne Hsiung.



Naijha Wright-Brown is on the Baltimore Sun's list of 25 Black Marylanders to Watch in 2023 and a 2021 Baltimore Business Journal Enterprising Women of Excellence Honoree. A native New Yorker, raised in the South Bronx, Naijha has an MBA in Business from the University of Phoenix and is a serial entrepreneur and co-owner of The Land of Kush, a multi-award-winning vegan soul food restaurant, co-founder of Vegan SoulFest and Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month and Vice Chair of the Board of the Restaurant Association of Maryland. She is also the Executive Director of the Black Veg Society, a non-profit organization that is on a mission to help Black, Indigenous, and People of Color close the gap in health disparities by educating on holistic health, veganism, and plant-based lifestyles. Her digital talk show, Naijha Speaks, helps others find their vegan soul through food, people, events, and culture.



Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoy the Our Hen House podcast, please leave us a positive review! To view the show notes with resources, visit the website at https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep723/

Ever wondered where the movement would be if we could just stop infighting? Melanie Joy joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her most recent work that aims to tackle the issue of infighting and to get activists communicating more compassionately.



Dr. Melanie Joy (she/her) is an award-winning psychologist and educator and she’s the author of seven books, including the bestselling Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows; Beyond Beliefs; and How To End Injustice Everywhere. Her work has been featured in major media outlets around the world, and she has received a number of awards, including the Ahimsa Award – previously given to the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela – for her work on global nonviolence. Melanie has given talks and trainings in over 50 countries, and she is also the founding president of the international NGO Beyond Carnism. You can learn more about her work at carnism.org.



Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoy the Our Hen House podcast, please leave us a positive review! To view the show notes with resources, visit the website at https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep722/

Factory farming octopuses? Hell, no! Laura Lee Cascada joins us to tell us what happened when she found out about a planned octopus farm in Hawaii and how she got to work putting an end to it.



Laura Lee Cascada (she/her) has led environmental and animal protection campaigns for 15 years, overseeing victories like the protection of Virginia's decades-long ban on uranium mining with the Sierra Club and putting vegan options on the menus of major chains including Starbucks and Subway with Animal Outlook. In her current role as Sr. Director of Campaigns at the Better Food Foundation, she spearheads campaigns like DefaultVeg, which is making plant-based food the norm at universities, coffee shops, events, and more. Laura is the founder of The Every Animal Project, a powerful storytelling blog with an upcoming print anthology series, showcasing powerful, true animal stories that help transform readers' relationships with animals. Her investigation of Kanaloa Octopus Farm in Hawaii exposed it as a petting zoo propping up the factory farming industry and led to its eventual shutdown. Laura is also the author of Dellie's Run, a novel, and her writing has been featured by outlets like One Green Planet, The Dodo, and The Ecologist. She has a master's degree in Environmental Policy from Johns Hopkins University.



Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoy the Our Hen House podcast, please leave us a positive review! To view the show notes with resources, visit the website at https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep721/

Do you ever wonder where all of the vegan veterinarians are? This week, we talk to one of the few, Daniela Castillo, about animal rights, wildlife conservation, environmentalism, and medicine for farmed animal rescues.



Daniela Castillo is a veterinarian born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico. She earned her Veterinary Medicine degree from Universidad Veracruzana and Master's degree in Wildlife Conservation at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. In 2011, Daniela began volunteering at St. Francis Wildlife Association, a wildlife rehabilitation which led her to become the Director and licensed wildlife rehabilitator in charge for nine months.

​Currently, in addition to her practice, she dedicates her efforts to performing High-Quality High-Volume Spay and Neuter surgeries and practicing shelter medicine for several non-profit organizations. In addition, she has gained valuable experience working with sanctuary farmed animal and sits on the boards of The Paw Project, Our Honor, Veterinarians Against Ventilation Shutdown, International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council and The Hailey Foundation.



Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoy the Our Hen House podcast, please leave us a positive review! To view the show notes with resources, visit the website at https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep720/