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What does a night out at the theater (or theatre, in this case) have to do with activism? A whole lot if it’s up to Anastasia Bunce & Grace Howarth, who join us this week to discuss Patch Plays, the vegan troupe that is producing theater that pays attention to the lives, and deaths, of animals. 



Grace Joy Howarth is a playwright, author, and composer from London. She is one of Patch Plays’ Associate Writers and has been vegan since birth. Theatrical writing credits include ‘Blood on Your Hands’ (Southwark Playhouse, The Cockpit Theatre, BBC Writers Room Longlist, Masterclass Pitch Your Play Longlist), ‘Birdie’s Adventures in the Animal Kingdom’ (The Greenhouse Theatre, Harrow Arts Centre, Polka Theatre R&D) and ‘She is Taken Lightly’ (Hope Mill Theatre). Her work has been produced in scratch nights across the UK, and she self-produced a radio play, ‘Until We Can’t See the Sky,’ on Resonance FM and Chapel FM. Grace has been shortlisted for the New York New Plays for Young Audiences showcase and longlisted for the British Youth Music Theatre Award. She has over a dozen short stories published in publications such as the H.G. Wells Short Story Award Collection, The National Archives Writing War, Writing Peace anthology, and Miniskirt Magazine. She holds a First Class degree in Songwriting and works as a freelance sustainability writer and editor.



Anastasia Bunce is a theatre and film director based in London who specializes in directing new writing with a political heart. She is the Artistic Director of Patch Plays, a company devoted to staging work that explores animal ethics and the environment. Stylistically, she is interested in utilizing expressionistic devices that enable the poetry of a piece to become its focal point, as this for her, is where stories start to shape into art. Anastasia trained in MA Theatre Directing at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2020. Recently she directed the critically acclaimed Offest finalist one-woman show 'Meat Cute' by Bibi Lucille (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gilded Balloon 2023), 'D****e Armo Girl' by Karine Bedrossian (Finborough Theatre 2022), 'Birdie's Adventures in the Animal Kingdom' by Grace Joy Howarth (Harrow Arts Centre 2022/Greenhouse Theatre 2023), 'Blood On Your Hands' by Grace Joy Howarth (Southwark Playhouse 2024, Cockpit Theatre 2022). Short films include 'Meat Cute' by Bibi Lucille, 'Push' by Julia Melinek, 'Swipe Left' by Bella Glanville and 'Yoghurt is Not Sexy' by Jessica Friend.



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/ep744/

Everyone who lives with an animal would think it rather obvious that they dream, but believe it or not, this is not an accepted fact in the scientific community. This week, we speak with David Peña-Guzmán about his book When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness.



David M. Peña-Guzmán is associate professor of humanities at SF State and co-host of the podcast Overthink. He specializes in animal studies, the history and philosophy of science, theories of consciousness, and 20th century French philosophy. He is the author ofWhen Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness, and co-author of Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief.



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/ep743/

Horseracing’s popularity has declined over the years, so how is this industry still alive? This week we are joined by Patrick Battuello of Horseracing Wrongs, who sheds light on the brutality and corruption that is the horseracing industry.



Patrick Battuello has been writing on animal-rights issues since 2009 when he launched the Animal Rights blog for the Albany Times Union, one of the first of its kind in the nation. His work from this period appeared in a high-school text book, "The Case for Animal Rights." Patrick launched Horseracing Wrongs in 2013 and incorporated as a non-profit in 2017. Patrick has had racing op-eds published in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, MSNBC, Katie Couric Media, among many others. He has appeared on CNN and ESPN multiple times, and in 2019 was featured on a groundbreaking segment of HBO's "Real Sports." Patrick has also testified before the New York State Senate.



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/ep742/

Have you ever thought, “Animals are suffering, I have to DO something!!! But what?” Kimberly Carroll of Animal Justice Academy joins us to discuss the amazing, free, online program designed to help people who care about animals turn themselves into people who are doing something about it.



Kimberly Carroll is a coach for changemakers, campaigns strategist with Animal Justice, director of Animal Justice Academy, and a director with the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank.

With over 13 years as a coach and 18 years as an activist, Kimberly works with mission-driven leaders, social entrepreneurs, and activists on the inner shifts, high-performance habits, and strategies to make them unstoppable. She’s helped empower thousands of activists and counseled those in high-stress positions like undercover investigators.



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/ep741/

The work of activists brought the use of ventilation shutdown as a “depopulation” method during avian flu and COVID slowdowns to light, but what is the status of this cruel method of killing? Dr. Crystal Heath joins us once again to discuss the use of heat stroke in factory farms and the campaigns to combat this cruelty.



Dr. Crystal Heath is a graduate of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and currently works as a shelter veterinarian for several shelters and non-profits throughout Northern California. She won a Jefferson Award for her volunteer work providing medical services to animals in Fiji. Dr. Heath became involved in the Animal Rights movement just three years ago while volunteering for the Fur Ban campaign (AB-44) in California and just recently worked on the campaign to get the City of Berkeley to set a goal of shifting its food purchases to 100% plant-based. She is on the founding committee of Veterinarians Against Ventilation Shutdown and founder of Our Honor, an organization committed to supporting animal professionals who want to speak their conscience, work to create more ethical systems and foster connections between like-minded professionals to create real systemic changes. She owns Vet Harmony, a veterinary practice committed to providing access to care and public education.



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/ep740/

Every once in a while, someone comes up with a brand new idea for getting people to try and love delicious vegan food. Nil Zacharias joins us to talk about how he is making his brilliant idea a reality with Plantega, a ready-to-launch vegan menu that has been adopted by bodegas across New York City and is getting ready to take over the world.



Nil Zacharias is an entrepreneur, author, and strategic advisor with a passion for food systems change. He is the Founder and CEO of Plantega, a company that's on a mission to make plant-based food easier to access everywhere. He also hosts the Eat For The Planet Podcast and co-authored the Eat For the Planet books. Nil has previously co-founded a number of startups and continues to advise several organizations in the climate solutions space.



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/ep739/