Palm Oil: being part of the solution
Catherine Laurence has worked as a lawyer and environmental planner, most recently as a part time project adviser with a London-based charity working to reduce the ecological footprint of city-regions. She has been active with the volunteer advocacy group, London Vegan Campaigns since 2010, and co-ordinated the 2013 London Vegan Pledge, a free programme supporting participants to go vegan for a month, with a high proportion remaining vegan afterwards. (Hear the first episode of The Vegan Option, about the 2011 Vegan Pledge). She is now starting a new chapter in Brisbane, Australia, where she intends to continue working in the cause of a more just and gentle world.
The research I did for the Palm Oil show confirmed for me that if we care about the forests then (as well as being vegan, with our much-reduced forest footprint) there are some important steps we can take as individuals to make sure we’re part of the solution.
Notes on: Palm Oil
What do you think of Palm Oil?
It’s a cheap vegetable oil, from the fruit of a tree that grows at the equator. Demand is now the main driver of deforestation, with massive impact on wildlife.
Doctor Who, carnist monsters, and vegan advocacy: the full extended skit
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On the day that the BBC announces a new star of Doctor Who, here is the full extended edit of the Doctor Who sketch from the episode “Science Fiction and Animals”.
And now I shall get back to work on the Palm Oil episode.
Science Fiction and Animals: from Jonathan Swift and HG Wells to Star Trek and Doctor Who; with Sherryl Vint, Robert McKay, and Tara Lomax
Science Fiction and Animals
From Jonathan Swift’s talking horses to Star Trek’s Vulcans, from HG Wells to the Wachowskis, science fiction tackles the big questions about our relationship with other animals.
Join the experts who investigate where animal studies meets media theory. Discover the themes in famous books, film, and TV – as well as the cult sci-fi stories that examine food ethics, the boundaries of humanity, and alternative ways of living.
Discover what the experts really think of Planet of the Apes; what Soylent Green used to made from before they started using people; and hear everyone’s favourite Time Lord try to talk a monster out of eating humanity in our Doctor Who sketch.
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Play or download (18.5MB MP3) (via iTunes)
Farewell, Diana
After fifteen great shows, Diana is leaving The Vegan Option. She’s continuing to talk about evolution, animals and ethics – blogging at Sentientist.org and tweeting as @Sentientist. (“Sentience” means the capacity for feeling and consciousness, so the name captures both her academic interests and ethical principles.)
Extended interviews on iTunes, starting with Dr Julia Minson
If you’re like most of our listeners, you get The Vegan Option show via the podcast feed – an automatic index of shows that’s read by iTunes, Stitcher and other “podcatchers”. (If you haven’t heard any of the shows – what are you waiting for? Use the “Listen” menu at the top, pick a show that piques your interest, and press play. That’s the other way of hearing episodes.)
The shows usually focus on topics rather than individual interviewees – talking to a range of people to get a full picture. This can mean that only a few minutes out of an hour-long interview gets into the show. (This isn’t unusual for public radio documentaries.)
Some full interviews are posted on the website – such as our conversations with Peter Singer and Gary Francione for the episode “Peace on Earth”. But should they go in the podcast feed as well? Diana asked on the Facebook page and “yes” not only won the vote, but for some people it was the only way to get the extended interviews.
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)