Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) is an important and serious resource for people committed to making a difference for animals. It is outstanding project that I have recommended in the past and continue to do so. One of ARZone’s features is its podcasts in which the organisers and guests discuss philosophy, strategy, history and much more about animal rights and the animal rights movement. Previous guests include political scientist Robert Garner, vegan author Will Tuttle, sociologist David Nibert and campaigners Sharon Nunez, Katrina Fox and Lynne Yates.

Recently, ARZone invited me to be a guest in their podcast series. The recording was arranged to take place at 10pm on a Sunday evening. Not the best day and time for me! But the only time available given those involved live in the UK, Ireland, the United States and Australia. So, it had to be convenient for everyone involved. Praise the Lord for Skype!

The ARZone folks you will hear in this podcast include Carolyn Bailey, Barbara DeGrande, Tim Gier, Ronnie Lee and Roger Yates. Ronnie and Roger are old friends and colleagues of mine. Please forgive the silly banter between us.

Anyway, my podcast on ARZone is published here and I invite you to take the time out to listen to it. I need to tell you though it is a two-hour conversation! So, you will need, at least, a pot of tea or coffee beside you and some vegan sandwiches or biscuits. Here’s a list of some of the topics we discussed in no particular order:

• Vegan campaigning
• Political organising for animals
• Vegan public educational campaigns vs. political animal rights campaigns
• The radicalisation of British animal welfare organisations in the 1980s, including the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection
• The cultural history of veganism from post-World War Two stoic asceticism to current trends in urban vegan chic
• A sense of community among animal rights people or lack of
• Personal transformative moments, including mine
• The importance of studying other social movements
• Why are there not more vegans today?
• Why ‘animal lovers’ are a potential source of animal rights supporters
• How I got involved with animal rights, including working in a chicken slaughterhouse
• The European Union ban on the battery cage
• Steve Wise and his legal strategy
• Are vegans special people?
• Why meat, eggs and dairy are the new tobacco
• Traps to avoid and not let yourself fall into, including psychological trauma
• Is the British animal welfare/rights movement making progress?
• Buddhism and animal rights
• The Hastings Vegan Dining Club
• Professionalising the animal advocate
• Animal rights 75 years from now
• And why I’m guardedly optimistic……..

But be prepared for the odd outbreak of cheap, vulgar British humour!