South East Asia: Finding Vegan Food in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia

Travelling Vegan in SE Asia
In 2009, I travelled through South East Asia from equatorial island to the far north of Thailand, discovering the vegetarian threads running through the region. Hear Diana and I banter about my trials and triumphs on everything from missing passports to cheeky elephants.
(25 min) Play or download (MP3 26MB) (other formats) (via iTunes)
Judgemental: social attitudes towards vegetarians
As you may remember from our Judgemental episode we interviewed Dr. Julia Minson at the Wharton School about her research on “Do Gooder Derogation” – the phenomenon of people thinking worse of those who are behaving morally or prosocially (PDF of the Minson and Monin paper).
Listen to my full extended interview with her (she laughs endearingly like Marge Simpson doesn’t she?):
(23min) (download or play MP3 24MB) (other formats)
Some of you might be questioning the whole premise saying to yourself “hey, do people really think that vegetarians are doing good?”. But that is what Julia found.
Even though people tend to rate themselves as better than others, and (Dr Minson found) more moral than others, even meat-eaters rated vegetarians as more moral than average (i.e. other) meat-eaters.
LOLCat

A plaintive message from our cat, Mazzy, who snuck into our “studio” as we were taking it down.
Judgemental: with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Dr Julia Minson, and Marla Rose

Judgemental!
Those judgemental vegans. A charge you’ve probably heard (or perhaps even uttered).
But what is “judgement”? How does it really affect the relationships between vegans and others? What can scientists say about it? And how do vegan activists react to the charge?
Dr Julia Minson explains the science.
Marla Rose explains exactly how Bacon Loving Hipsters Can Kiss Her Vegan Ass.
And Colleen Patrick-Goudreau discusses the psychology and experience of “judgemental vegans”.
(30 min) Play or download (29 MB MP3) (other formats) (via iTunes)
Ask The Vegan Option?
Last World Vegan Day we brought the world’s vegan lawmakers together – putting questions from Dennis Kucinich and Maneka Gandhi to the three vegan members of the UK Parliament.
So what shall we do on WVD 2012?
Let’s give you the chance to ask us some questions. We’re considering doing a call-in show.
Statements on Olympics Opening Ceremony Animals
In the Olympics shows, we talked about the use of animals in the opening ceremony and when the decision to use them was made.
I promised to blog about the responses I’ve had from both LOCOG (the London Games organisers) and the RSPCA (a venerable animal welfare group whose consultancy advised LOCOG on the use of animals).
London2012.com: vegan athlete Sarah Stewart
She’s competing in her third Paralympics with the Australian Gliders, has already won bronze and silver, is doing a PhD in philosophy, and is vegan.
Aussie listener Lisa Green commented on the Vegan Option Facebook page that she was watching Sarah’s team with a roomful of cheering vegans. The Gliders soundly defeated TeamGM, and the next game is this evening, at 18:30 UK time, 17:30 GMT. Whereever you are in the world, you can watch the games at Paralympic.org. Sarah is number 13.
Ian McDonald and Mandeville
We thought better of using this picture to illustrate a show, but it’s too funny not to share. (The statue is Mandeville).
London Olympics: Closing Update with Vx, Animals in the Opening Ceremony, and Vegan Food

London Olympics: Closing Update
As the athletes celebrate their victories and defeats, and the Spice Girls rock the closing ceremony, we look back over the Olympics and update you on the vegan stories behind the games.
This show:
- We catch up with the vegan stories behind the Olympics, like Sandra Hood, Pogocafe, and Frys
- Ian updates you on the use of animals in the Opening Ceremony
- Rudy tells us who’s been coming to Vx, the little vegan shop that was braced for a difficult Olympics
- We sum up the experience of vegans looking for food at the Olympic Venues
(15 min) Play or download (14MB MP3) (other formats) (via iTunes)