Science is Gray

So why don’t politicians talk about meat consumption and animal agriculture? Is meat a “vote losing” topic and are governments and the elite actually “pushing veganism” on us?Or can animal ethics become a political issue too, and if so, what framing will work best at the political level?In today’s episode I speak with Sparsha Saha at Harvard university about her research studying meat politics from an empirical perspective! Sparsha Saha is a Lecturer at the Department of Government at Harvard University. She is the only (empirical) political scientist who studies meat politics. Her research is broadly situated in the field of political behavior. She uses experiments to understand how voters respond to political attention on meat, animal rights, and related issue areas. Her work has been or will be featured in Political Behavior, Journal of Social and Political Psychology (forthcoming), and Frontiers in Nutrition (accepted). She has been covered by New York Times, Fortune, Fast Company, Yahoo Finance, Harvard Gazette, among others. She was honored as Harvard’s South Asian Woman of the Year in 2022Get a FREE vegan living guide!Learn about my Vegan Van TourSupport the podcast on Patreon For more information or to contact Sarina visit www.bornvegan.org or send an email to info@bornvegan.org

Have you wondered if it’s actually possible to reverse chronic and autoimmune illnesses without drugs? Can diet and lifestyle really help people heal from their symptoms? If so, what diet and lifestyle? In today’s episode I speak with chiropractor and author Benjamin Benulis, about his personal experience healing himself, as well as what exactly “disease reversal” even means and how it works. Dr. Ben is a chiropractor and author of the book Create Health: Reverse Autoimmune Disease Without Drugs or their Side Effects, and has personal experience reclaiming his health from chronic illness using diet and lifestyle, and currently helps others do the same. If you or someone you know is struggling with a chronic illness, or just frustrated by the lack of help you’ve received from the medical establishment, this episode is a must listen. Learn more about Ben's Work here Get a FREE vegan living guide! Join the Vegan Earth Day March Learn about my Vegan Van Tour Support this podcast on Patreon

Have you heard about effective altruism? Do you know what it is and how it’s applied in animal advocacy of the plant-based foods movements?  In today’s episode the founder of the Plant Based Foods Association Michele Simon JD, MPH, and I get raw sharing our feelings about issues like discrimination, sexism, and the Effective Altruism ideology that is so present in many animal advocacy and “alternative protein” spaces.  If you like nuance and hearing some real honest thoughts on where our movement’s go wrong and how we can do better and be more effective, don’t miss this episode! Visit Michele's website here Michele's Twitter Page Get a FREE vegan living guide! Join the Vegan Climate March Learn about the Vegan Van Tour Support the podcast on Patreon For more information or to contact Sarina visit www.bornvegan.org or send an email to info@bornvegan.org

“If clinical research ran the world - we’d all be walking around with washboard abs” - Nivi Jaswal. Have you ever wondered why our food system is the way it is, and why so many people continue to struggle with their health even though we have cutting edge brilliant research and knowledge about health and nutrition? In today’s episode I speak with Nivi Jaswal MBA, NBC-HWC, who is the founder and president of the VIRSA Foundation about her background and journey from working for a corporate food and beverage company, to running an intersectional vegan research non-profit, and her view that clinical research alone doesn't take into account social, racial, political, and economic factors that impact how and why people make the food and lifestyle choices that they do. This conversation covers:  Nivi’s unique insights into why our food and health care systems are the way they are,  How and where mixed messaging around what is healthy and sustainable food spreads from What intersectionality green-washing is How human health and planetary health are deeply connected The importance of applying a social science and intersectional justice lens to health and nutrition research    Learn more about Nivi’s work with the VIRSA foundation here Follow Nivi’s work with the JIVINITI Coalition on Instagram Get a FREE vegan living guide! Join the Vegan Climate March Learn about my Vegan Van Tour Support this podcast on Patreon

Ready for some honest no-nonsense talk about animal rights, social justice, and identity politics? In today’s episode I speak with Aditya Prakash who goes by Soytheist on Youtube and social media. We discuss all things cultural relativism, what is and isn’t neo-colonization, and how identity politics can be toxic and illogical much of the time. Aditya and I don’t always agree, but we both value dialogue and open conversation and that’s what you’ll get with today’s episode! Follow Aditya (Soytheist) on Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter Get a FREE vegan living guide! Learn about the Vegan Van Tour Support the podcast on Patreon For more information or to contact Sarina visit www.bornvegan.org or send an email to info@bornvegan.org

What should we do when science and spirituality conflict? Should we follow our intuition on what and how to eat, or should we only make evidence-based food choices? And can we truly make evidence based food choices when the science often seems to be contradictory or constantly changing?  In today’s episode I speak with best selling author and inspirational speaker Victoria Moran, about how she navigates making healthy and ethical food choices as both a spiritual yogi and ethical vegan. Victoria is the bestselling author of thirteen books, including Creating a Charmed Life, The Love-Powered Diet, and the iconic Main Street Vegan. She is also a holistic health counselor, the founder and director of  Main Street Vegan Academy, a podcast host, and film producer. She’s appeared twice on the Oprah Winfrey show and her articles and work have appeared in numerous publications including Yoga Journal, the Washington Post, Glamour, and Martha Stewart’s Whole Living.  Visit Victoria’s website here Get a FREE vegan living guide! Join the Vegan Climate March Learn about the Vegan Van Tour Support the podcast on Patreon For more information or to contact Sarina visit www.bornvegan.org or send an email to info@bornvegan.org

If you are curious about how our healthcare system operates with regards to nutrition and preventive medicine, or are confused by all the different diet trends like keto, paleo, and plant based, and want some clarity on how to navigate nutrition and the healthcare system as a patient, then this is the episode for you! Today Detroit native and 4th year medical student Lackshman (Lucky) Mulpuri and I discuss our skewed healthcare system, his experience helping to create the first-ever plant-based nutrition curriculum for first year med students, and what it will take for the medical establishment to fully recognize the importance and role that diet and nutrition can play in helping people. Dr. Lucky’s Instagram Page More about Lucky’s Plant-Based Nutrition Curriculum Get a FREE vegan living guide! HERE Purchase my vegan Ingredient learning flashcards My Youtube channel For more information or to contact sarina visit www.bornvegan.org or send an email to info@bornvegan.org

We really GO THERE in this conversation! Animal testing. Veganism and vaccines. Pharma corporations. Trusting the science. Individual choices and ethical decision making. All of it! This is a multilayered open and honest conversation exploring the nuances in veganism, published science, modern medicine, and the ethics of using animals for scientific research and testing. This episode is a friendly conversation with Lebanese animal rights activist and vegan lecturer Seb Alex, as we both share our personal experiences, biases, and perspectives on navigating ethical gray areas around these topics. Feel free to listen to us share our views and then make up your own mind on what you think and feel... doing your own critical thinking and seeing past the binary and labels is what this episode is all about! Learn more about Seb Alex and his work here: https://www.sebalex.org/ Download a FREE vegan living guide https://www.bornvegan.org/starter-guide-opt-in The study about vaccine rates being unrelated to the incidence of covid infections https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7?fbclid=IwAR26zkKstkAkFMqqdfsJDXxn6bb2ZD9KvwCGbbhhPGtVHYDlyklNnGNTfFU

Does veganism inherently rely on a corporate globalized food system? Is it wrong to advocate just for animals without also advocating for exploited human farm workers? Are animal liberation and indigenous rights/food sovereignty at odds with each other? There may not be a single easy answer to any of these questions, but I really loved discussing and hearing activist Nassim Nobari’s nuanced perspective on these issues and what she thinks a truly radical and progressive approach to creating a just and sustainable food system looks like. In today’s episode Nassim Nobari and I definitely go beyond all usual labels, “sides” and boxes that people are often forced into, as we discuss ethical dilemmas in the vegan and food justice movements, and how to navigate those tricky gray areas. Enjoy! —------- Nassim Nobari is a long-time human and animal rights activist who views the transformation of our food systems as foundational to redressing injustice, inequality and environmental degradation. She holds a master’s in psychology from the University of Lausanne, where she focused on the social representations of food and the ways in which social identity influences meat and milk consumption. After years involved in progressive causes, she became alarmed at the increased legitimization of animal exploitation by the food movement. In response, she co-founded Seed the Common, a grassroots organization dedicated to wresting food systems from corporate control and building just and sustainable alternatives that are independent of animal exploitation. Nassim has brought together a growing network of farmers, activists, academics, and writers to create a new food system that benefits the planet and everyone along the food chain, including non-human animals. Under her leadership, Seed the Commons was especially instrumental in popularizing veganic agriculture and building a movement for a transition to plant-based agriculture.On the heels of these successes, Nassim saw her work being appropriated by a pro-neoliberal animal rights industry that simultaneously excludes and exploits grassroots organizers and radical thinkers, so she recently stepped down from her role as director of Seed the Commons to spend some time writing, traveling and enjoying nature and her dog’s company. Visit Seed the Commons Website Seed the Commons YouTube channel Get a FREE vegan living guide! Purchase my Ingredient learning flashcards My Youtube channel For more information or to contact sarina visit www.bornvegan.org or send an email to info@bornvegan.org

What is really the biggest cause of green house gas emissions? How much does animal agriculture actually contribute to climate change? What can we do to successfully  solve the environmental crisis ASAP? All these questions and more are discussed in today’s episode with Sailesh Rao of Climate Healers where we cover: - How climate science is politicized - UN IPCC Conventions and bias - The killing machine vs. the burning machine - How to really solve climate change- The role of colonization - Overturning consumerism and supremacism - An environmental crisis bigger than climate change - Building a system based on peace and nonviolenceSailesh Rao is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Climate Healers, and a systems engineer with over 3 decades of professional experience. Dr. Rao earned his PhD in electrical engineering from Standford University and has authored more than 20 technical peer reviewed papers, 13 patents, two books, and is the executive producer of 5 documentaries. Since 2006 he has made solving the climate crisis and healing the planet his full time work. Learn more at his website: https://climatehealers.org/ Take the climate bathtub challenge: https://climatehealers.org/transform/the-climate-bathtub-problem/ 

You've probably heard of the Effective Altruism (AE) movement before, and the effort to apply effective altruism to animal advocacy work and reducing suffering of animals. But do you know what it actually is? And is effective altruism all it's really cracked up to be?? I have seen countless debates within the animal advocacy movement about what the "best" type of activism is, with many people pushing everyone to do one single thing. In the last few years things like animal welfare legislation (focused on bigger cages, and "humane slaughter") and reducitarianism have been pushed on the movement by several well-known AE philanthropists and non profits as the end-all-be-all of evidence based "effective activism". But can we even measure the effects of our vegan and animal rights activism in the first place? How do we know what will really end speciesism, save animals, and turn the world vegan in the future? And what role should science and data actually play in social justice movements and especially animal rights work? I discuss all that and more in this episode with Casey Taft who wrote the brilliant book 'Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy: A Clinical Psychology Perspective'. Casey Taft is the co-founder and manager of Vegan Publishers and is a Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. He is an internationally recognized researcher in the areas of trauma and the family, winning prestigious awards for his work from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has published over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and scientific reports, and has consulted with the United Nations on preventing violence and abuse globally. He sees the prevention of violence towards animals as a natural extension of this work.

Do you have questions about lab-grown meat? Wondering if it's really as sustainable and great for animals as great as many proponents claim?  Will it solve the ethical and environmental problems with our current food system and factory farming? Today Dr. Vasile Stanescu joins me to take a holistic deep dive into the benefits and downside of lab-grown meat (AKA in vitro meat, cell-based meat, cultured meat, or clean meat)  and who this novel technology will really benefit! We cover: - what lab meat is/how its made- what proponents claim this miracle product can do- Will it help end animal exploitation and factory farming? - Fetal bovine serum and animal inputs - the sustainability of lab meat- The validity of using the free market/technology to solve moral issues in society - What do we really need to end speciesism? - Corporate control of our food supply------ Dr. Vasile Stanescu is associate professor of Communication Studies at Mercer University. Stanescu is co-editor of the Critical Animal Studies book series published by Rodopi/Brill, the co-founder of the North American Association for Critical Animal Studies (NAACAS), the former co-editor of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies, and former co-organizer of the Stanford Environmental Humanities Project. Dr. Stanescu is the author of over 20 peer-reviewed publications on the critical study of animals and the environment. Dr. Stanescu’s research has been recognized by The Woods Institute for the Environment, Minding Animals International, The Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Culture and Animals Foundation, the Institute for Critical Animal Studies, and the Institutul Cultural Român (Institute for Romanian Culture), among others.------ For more information and vegan perspectives on lab-grown meat, check out these others videos about lab-grown meat on my youtube channel and the brilliant, detailed, and fully referenced website: Clean Meat Hoax  ---- Want to be the first to be notified every time I release a new episode? Sign up HERE for my email list or visit my website for more information: https://bornvegan.org

In this episode I speak with award-winning author and investigative journalist Carey Gillam about the story of Monsanto's notorious weedkiller Roundup, and the ongoing litigation around it's cancer-causing potential. We discuss: - Carey's latest book The Monsanto Papers- The importance of lawsuits against Monsanto- The lengths Monsanto went to to cover up evidence of cancer risk- What internal documents showed about corruption and how Monsanto biased science- The state of science journalism in mainstream media - How corporate corruption impacts media reportingCarey Gillam is a veteran investigative journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering corporate news, including 17 years as a senior correspondent for Reuters international.  She is the author of “Whitewash- The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer and the Corruption of Science,” an expose of corporate corruption in agriculture. The book won the coveted Rachel Carson Book Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists in 2018. Gillam works now as Research Director for the non-profit US Right to Know and as a columnist for The Guardian. Her second book, a narrative legal thriller titled The Monsanto Papers, was released March 2. 2021. She also has contributed chapters for a text book about environmental journalism and another about pesticide use in Africa. Gillam was asked to testify before the European Parliament in 2017 about her findings and was an invited speaker at the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, France in 2019. She also has been a keynote and/or panel speaker at events and universities throughout North America, Australia, The Netherlands, Brussels, and France. Corporate powers have attempted to silence and harass Gillam. Monsanto even created a secret project aimed at discrediting Gillam, according to internal corporate documents uncovered through litigation. Learn more about Carey's work here: https://careygillam.com/ and here https://usrtk.org/carey-gillam/ 

Is progress and technological innovation always good? Is technology inherently unsustainable and incompatible with nature and human life on earth? In today's episode I speak with Semih Oguzcan and environmental engineer and advocate trying to stop our 6th mass extinction on this planet. We take a deep dive in this episode into the nuance around technological innovation, evolution, science, and the unintended consequences are actions are having on human life. Semih Oguzcan has an undergraduate degree in physics, masters degree in Nuclear Waste Management and Decommissioning, a PhD in Environmental Engineering. Semih has been involved in studies and projects about finding chemical alternatives to hazardous chemicals used in the industry and for commercial use.  He is a frequent lecturer at universities on environmental impact assessment.  Semih is also vegan, loves playing the guitar and talking with like minded and sensitive people, and his heart lies in nature. Semih's youtube channel and film "Connections": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8IzdoMuYFM Want to be notified every time another episode comes out? Sign up for my email list to stay in the loop :) 

In this episode I speak with my friend Robert Schooler about his personal experience as a student at Cornell University observing first-hand how corporations like Monsanto seek to push propaganda on students and bias science curriculum in favor of corporate profits and agendas. "The GMO Debate course, which ran in the fall of 2015, was a blatant display of unscientific propaganda in an academic setting" - Robert Schooler Robert wrote an article about his experience back in 2016 which went viral at the time. You can read his article here: https://truthout.org/articles/the-gmo-debate-one-student-s-experience-of-pro-gmo-propaganda-at-cornell-university/   Today I am honored to share more of his story with you as an example of just how deep corporate influence runs in the science world, and how hard it is even in academic settings, to have open and honest scientific dialogue and debate, whether as a student or even as a professor. 2015 NYT article revealing Monsanto's influence over professors: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/us/food-industry-enlisted-academics-in-gmo-lobbying-war-emails-show.html 

In this episode I speak with author and social change advocate Laila Kassam (PhD) about reductionist vs. holistic paradigms of food, agriculture, and international development, including: - reductionism in the global development industry- agricultural and development myths- what does "feeding the world" really mean- is organic food based on a "naturalistic fallacy"? - Can veganic/sustainable/organic agriculture really work? - origins of veganic and agroecological farming- what materialistic science in agriculture looks likeLearn about Laila's work here: www.inclusiveresponsibility.earth -----------Laila has been involved in social change for most of her career having worked in the international development sector for 15 years, conducting research on poverty and food security for rural development projects in the Global South. She has an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and a PhD in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Laila is a co-founder of Animal Think Tank, a grassroots organisation building a social movement for animal freedom in the UK.  She is co-editor of a new book called "Rethinking Food and Agriculture: New Ways Forward" which envisions a truly just and sustainable food system based on a framework of ‘inclusive responsibility’. Find our more and read chapter extracts at:  www.inclusiveresponsibility.earth

In this episode I speak with virologist Jonathan Latham about the origins of the COVID19 Pandemic and whether it originated from a wet market or was really a lab-release! This includes answering the following: Is there a precedent for lab-releases? What is the evidence for a lab leak?What is the evidence for a natural zoonotic origin? Why doesn’t the wet market theory hold up?  Why has mainstream media censored discussions of a lab leak? You can read Jonathan’s detailed and evidence based articles on the topic here: https://www.independentsciencenews.org/commentaries/a-chinese-phd-thesis-sheds-important-new-light-on-the-origin-of-the-covid-19-coronavirus/ https://www.independentsciencenews.org/commentaries/a-proposed-origin-for-sars-cov-2-and-the-covid-19-pandemic/ Jonathan R Latham, PhD is co-founder and Executive Director of the Bioscience Resource Project and the Editor of Independent Science News. Dr Latham is also the Director of the Poison Papers project which publicizes documents of the chemical industry and its regulators. Dr. Latham holds a Masters degree in Crop Genetics and a PhD in Virology. He was subsequently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has published scientific papers in disciplines as diverse as plant ecology, plant virology, genetics and genetic engineering. Dr Latham has written for Truthout, MIT Technology Review, the Guardian, Resilience, Salon.com, and many other magazines and websites. Visit his website here: https://www.independentsciencenews.org/ 

In this episode I speak with Dr. Milton Mills, a critical care physician in the Washington DC area, and a long time plant-based nutrition advocate and expert. We discuss the history, impact, and biases of the federal dietary and nutrition guidelines and how they might not be as objective as many assume. This episode includes: - what the USDA federal dietary guideline are- the history of the dietary guidelines - Who/what influences the guidelines- How the federal nutrition guidelines are racially biased - how  lack of diversity and racial bias can harm health care outcomesMilton Mills, MD practices medicine in the Washington DC area, and has served previously as Associate Director of Preventive Medicine and as a member of the National Advisory Board, for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). He has been a major contributor to position papers presented by PCRM to the United States Department of Agriculture regarding Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and has been the lead plaintiff in PCRM’s class action lawsuit that asks for warning labels on milk.Dr. Mills earned his medical degree at Stanford University School of Medicine, and completed an Internal Medicine residency at Georgetown University Hospital. He has published several research journal articles dealing with racial bias in federal nutrition policy.Visit Dr. Mills's website to learn more: https://drmiltonmillsplantbasednation.com/ 

In this episode I speak with my longtime hero Dr. T Colin Campbell about the current state of nutrition science, what a holistic vs. reductionist approach to nutrition and scientific research looks like, and how reductionist thinking is harming public health. This includes: - What is reductionist science and why it's harmful- how reductionist science and thinking is hindering our public health approach to the COVID19 Pandemic- How and why holistic science and nutrition research is being suppressed - How to deal with conflicting research- whether specific nutrient pathways/theoretical mechanisms or real world data matter moreDr. Colin Campbell is a Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University and has spent more than 60 years studying the connection between diet and disease. He is best known for the China Study -  one of the most comprehensive studies of health and nutrition ever conducted. He has written several best selling books, and is the founder of the T. Colin Campbell center for Nutrition studies and the Plant Based Nutrition Certification Program in partnership with eCornell.Learn more here: https://nutritionstudies.org/ 

Science isn’t as black and white as the media and memes often portrays it. Join science educator and justice advocate Sarina Farb for nuanced, open, and holistic conversations exploring the intricacies and gray areas of science in society. If you like doing your own critical thinking and are tired of censorship, corporate bias, and politicized science, this is the podcast for you.