The Animal Liberation Front is a fascinating study. The leaderless, amorphous group of mostly young people carrying out raids on laboratories and fur farms, rescuing animals and inflicting economic sabotage, was most active in the 80's and 90's. It's incredible to learn how desperately intense the struggle for animal liberation was since before I was even born. Around 50 years since it was formed, the founder of the ALF, Ronnie Lee, is still fighting for animals. And it was such a joy to speak with him.Ronnie comes across to me as incredibly gregarious, generous and thoughtful. I learned a huge amount from Jon Hochschartner's biography of Ronnie, and what stood out to me the most was his bravery and initiative. Ronnie wasn't waiting around for anyone to organize for the animals, he did it himself. And it was that DIY ethos that was the ALF. Ronnie paid the price of his struggle with 3 prison stints, but he has never let that stop him. Even as others have come and gone through the movement for the animals, Ronnie has stayed on. It was really fascinating to hear Ronnie recount some of those notable moments, and I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.This conversation is also available on YouTube.Links:Ronnie's FBRonnie's biography"The Animals Film"Ronnie's band Total Attack"Shake Some Action"Watch DominionWatch Earthlings

In a major development, Condé Nast announced they were no longer going to promote new fur in any of their publications, which includes Vogue Magazine. This came after a nearly year long campaign by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT). It could be a major turning point in the culture of fashion and another nail in the coffin of the fur industry.When news of this broke, I reached out to Lauren at CAFT to invite her on the podcast. Lauren and CAFT have been great partners over the last few years to myself and other groups I've been involved with. Something really beautiful has been happening lately in the animal rights movement. A movement that unfortunately is often beset by great divisons, there have been recent sparks of collaboration. One partnership has been especially fruitful: the one between CAFT and Animal Activism Collective, who have teamed up to boost each other's campaigns, and in so doing, scoring dramatic wins against the fur industry. That in turn has sparked collaborations with other groups, notably the International Council for Animal Welfare (ICAW). These collaborations are animal exploitation industry's worst nightmare. When we work together, there is nothing we cannot achieve.Fur is no longer in Vogue. It's because of activists like Lauren and the hundreds of others who took part. Next up: Berluti.

This conversation is also available on YouTube.

Links:

CAFT websiteCAFT newsletterCAFT IGCAFT YouTubeAAC LinktreeAAC YouTubeICAWWatch EarthlingsWatch Dominion

It was only recently that I even learned who Gail Eisnitz is. But I had known about her work for years. As the chief investigator at Humane Farming Association, Gail's investigations over more than four decades have been some of the most consequential for animals, leading to changes in law, closing factory farms, and garnering worldwide media attention. Her new memoir, "Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights & Her Own Survival" takes us behind those investigations, revealing the incredible struggles she had to endure to shine a light in some of the darkest places on earth.And as difficult as it is to investigate a slaughterhouse or factory farm, as difficult as it is get a recalcitrant media to care, as difficult as it is to work in conditions where your own boss is trying to stop you, it was Gail's persistent and undiagnosed health problems that are the drive of this book. We learn how Gail cannot see the world the way most people do. She sees the world in dots. She would become disoriented, overwhelmed and sick, all while visiting places that would disorient, overwhelm and sicken anyone who goes in them. This is a condition doctors couldn't understand. We eventually learn what it is, but we learn it only several years after Gail does, and so she spent her life wondering if she was crazy, or doing it to herself. I find it truly extraordinary that Gail persevered through this to do these harrowing investigations, some documented in her first book "Slaughterhouse" and others that find account now in her memoir. Gail is a true hero to the animals and it was an honor to have her on the podcast.This conversation is also available on YouTube.Links:Gail's website"Out of Sight""Slaughterhouse"Gail's IGGail's FBHumane Farming AssociationHFA IGHFA FBHFA YouTubeSuwanna Ranch"Death on a Factory Farm"Watch DominionWatch Earthlings