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To start the show, we welcome back former guest co-host Darren Chang, who is visiting from his new home in Toronto. When he was living in Vancouver until last year, he served as part of the backbone of the local animal rights community, and we hear what he is up to these days!
Zack Embree, filmmaker of “Directly Affected: Pipeline Under Pressure”
Our first interview is with Zack Embree, director of the highly lauded new film called “Directly Affected: Pipeline Under Pressure”. 5 years ago, Zack set out on a mission: to understand the impacts of the Kinder Morgan pipeline on local communities and give a voice back to those who had been ignored by the National Energy Board process.
On today’s show, he gives us his thoughts about the latest actions in this story, with Kinder Morgan having announced just last week that it will stop all ‘non-essential’ funding to the project until further notice in May, due to the opposition of citizens like him who are taking a stand. The pipeline project violates both the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the UN Paris Climate Accord, and he speaks to these offenses, as well as the offenses towards animals and the environment that projects like this impact.
The next Vancouver screening of the film “Directly Affected” will take place on Earth Day, April 22nd. You can find out more about it here.
Darren Chang, MA in Political Philosophy, on the Politics of Farmed Animal Sanctuaries
For our second interview, we have former Animal Voices guest co-host Darren Chang to speak with us on his past research studies. He is visiting Vancouver from Toronto, and recently completed his Masters degree in Political Philosophy with a focus on animal liberation theory and critical animal studies.
As part of his studies, Darren has written a paper entitled “Organize and Resist with Farmed Animals: Prefiguring Anti-Speciesist/Anti-Anthropocentric Cities”, which is an essay that discusses the politics of farmed animal sanctuaries, and proposes an idea in which we can progress their implementation in the animal liberation movement.
In this interview, Darren speaks with us about the origins of sanctuaries, the war that exists between animals and humans and why animals need refuge, The Microsanctuary Movement, and his proposal to incorporate farmed animals into our suburban society as a further progression of the animal liberation movement.
Lots of interesting ideas here to be discussed that have had little convergence before!
Jodi Monelle, founder and CEO of LIVEKINDLY
For our final interview, we have local and international media notable Jodi Monelle on the show. Jodi is the founder and CEO of an online community called LIVEKINDLY, which you no doubt have heard of if you enjoy social media on veganism, as they are a leading source of content in that area!
LIVEKINDLY is an online community of vegan and plant-based news, recipes and resources, and in this interview, Jodi speaks with us about her vision of veganism in today’s world.
We talk about making the vegan lifestyle accessible to all walks of life, using food as a gateway into peoples’ consciousnesses on reducing harm, and about the importance of educating the public on intersectional issues – such as health, the environment and world hunger – that affect all beings.
A great quote from Jodi:
“To livekindly means to live in a way which shows appreciation to our humanity, our home and those who share it with us.
Inspired by the notion that Mother Nature’s intricate design is arguably flawless, the LK community have come together to build a home for informative and thought-provoking content, focusing on sustainable and compassionate living.
Our values are in alignment with the social responsibility we all have to empower others, to be honest with the information we share and to be strong even when the odds may feel as though they’re stacked against us.”
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