Michael Pellman Rowland: The Next Big Plant Based IPO

Are we being the best version of ourselves? That's a question that Beverly and Dereck Joubert asked quite often during this conversation and also one that they seem to live by. It's embedded into their work, their lives, their relationships - with each other, the wilderness, and the planet; as if the question floats above their heads as a gentle reminder of who they want to be in the world. And, the continual asking of that question shows in everything that they do, fight for, love, and are actively trying to save. They are award-winning filmmakers, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence, and wildlife conservationists who have made over 30 films while researching, exploring, and doing vital conservation work throughout Africa for nearly four decades. They also happen to have what could possibly be the best love story of our time. They have been together for nearly 40 years and the great majority of it has been spent living in the bush in Botswana, making films, doing research, and fighting to save what's left of the African wilderness and the large predators who inhabit it. For months and years at a time they've lived without electricity, without much human interaction, without many comforts, nor personal space – things that most couples have a difficult time managing over a week long glamping trip. They've been doing it for 38 years. Living in the bush for decades has included many death defying close calls, including what they simply refer to as the "incident" with a wounded (therefore angry) cape buffalo that nearly ended it all. Fortunately, everyone survived and after an 8 month stint in the hospital for Beverly, they returned to the bush and began filming again – at the exact place where the attack occurred. Did I mention that they are a little tougher than most of us? Their love story, like all of the good ones, is about something much bigger than themselves. It's a story about Africa, the wilderness, the wild animals who live there, and it's about fighting the biggest fight of our time, to save what's left of this majestic planet. In the last 50 years, Africa has lost 90 to 95 percent of its large predators. We could very well witness the end of wild lions, cheetahs and other big cats in a decade or two. It's that urgent and we are in that much trouble. If we want to live in a world with lions and leopards and elephants and rhinos, then we've got to get behind those who are out there on the front lines. Beverly and Dereck are not only out there, but they've documented it for decades, so that we can see and understand the African wilderness in all of its magnificent glory and so that we know exactly what's at stake, what we are about to lose. Their most recent film was released in October. It's a three part series called: Okavango, A River of Dreams. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful journey through the place they've called home since the beginning.

13 Nov 201943min

In the United States we still use millions of animals in laboratory experiments. It's a secretive industry and I think, many people are under the impression that it ended years ago. Not only is it still huge, but we test on just about every type of animal one can imagine, including dogs. 70,000 dogs a year are used in laboratory experiments and a great majority of them are beagles. The heartbreaking reason that beagles are so often the dog of choice is because they're docile, sweet, trusting, and they don't fight back. Like all laboratory animals, their lives are miserable from the time they are born until they're euthanized. They are taken from their mothers and are subjected to horrific cruelty, painful tests, torture, and then finally, when the experiment is over, they are killed. Shannon Keith is a superhuman. She's the founder of Beagle Freedom Project, an organization that rescues and advocates for beagles as well as for many other animals who are tested on in laboratory experiments. She's is also an animal rights lawyer, activist, and documentary director/producer. She has changed laws, rescued thousands of animals, brought enormous amounts of attention and awareness to issues that have been kept secret for decades, and in her spare time, she's made three documentaries that have exposed the hidden worlds of lab testing, the fur industry, and the lives of captive primates. I'm certain that future generations will look back on what we're currently doing to animals with shock and horror, but they'll also be able to see that there were indeed heroes amongst us: those who gave all to battle against the incredible injustices and atrocities that so many animals face every single day. Shannon is one of the heroes. Thousands of animals are alive, safe, and free because she refuses to give up the fight.

1 Aug 201938min

Elephants, great apes, dolphins, and whales are incredibly complex, social, and intelligent creatures, but our legal system considers them to be "things," meaning they have no more rights then a can of beans does. For too many years these animals have been taken from the wild, held captive, lived for decades in confinement, tested on, tortured, abused, isolated, or neglected. Kevin Schneider is Executive Director of the Nonhuman Rights Project, an organization that is fighting to secure actual legal rights for these animals. Their lawsuits demand recognition of the legal personhood and fundamental right to bodily liberty of great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales that are being held in captivity across the United States. Not out of concern for their welfare, but with respect to their individual rights. Since 2013, the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed lawsuits on behalf of four captive chimpanzees and four captive elephants, including Happy, the saddest looking elephant in the state of New York. Happy has spent the past 13 years living in isolation at the Bronx Zoo. The Nonhuman Rights Project is fighting for her freedom, so that she can be released to an elephant sanctuary where she'll have room to room and other elephants to spend her days with. In todays conversation Kevin shares why the Nonhuman Rights Project will not stop until these animals are considered persons in the eyes of the law and why it matters, not only for the animals, but for us humans too. Kevin Schneider is Executive Director of the Nonhuman Rights Project, an organization fighting to secure actual legal rights for these animals through a state by state, country by country, long term litigation campaign. What that means is that their lawsuits demand recognition of the legal personhood and fundamental right to bodily liberty of these animals – the great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales - that are being held in captivity across the United States. With the support of scientists, they argue that the common law courts must free these self-aware autonomous beings to appropriate sanctuaries, not out of concern for their welfare, but with respect to their individual rights. Since 2013, the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed lawsuits on behalf of four captive chimpanzees and four captive elephants, including Happy, the saddest looking elephant in the state of New York. Happy has spent the past 13 years living in isolation at the Bronx Zoo Lately, Happy's case has been receiving all sorts of attention from the public, the press, and politicians alike, with a recent statement by New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, urging the Bronx Zoo to release Happy and Patty (the other isolated elephant at the zoo) to a sanctuary. The Nonhuman Right's Project has just been assigned a judge in the Bronx to hear Happy's case. Kevin is a man who clearly loves his work and is incredibly passionate about the fight for rights for these magnificent beings. He shares why the Nonhuman Rights Project will not stop until these animals are considered persons in the eyes of the law and why it matters, not only for the animals that they are fighting for, but for us humans too.

19 Jul 201944min

On Sunday, June 23rd the winter racing season at Santa Anita racetrack in Southern California finally came to a close. And on Saturday June 22nd the 30th horse died in racing or training at Santa Anita this year. That's a lot of horse deaths. But there are a lot of horse deaths every year. In 2018, 493 thoroughbreds died in racing or training. And so, there's been a lot of talk about reforming horse racing. But the reforms that have been put in place aren't really working: horses are still dying every week. Patrick Battuello has been reporting on animal rights issues since he launched the Animal Rights blog for the Times Union (Albany, NY) in 2009. In 2013, he founded the organization, Horse Racing Wrongs. They aren't interested in reforms. Instead, they are dedicated to a a complete abolition of horse racing, period. And with all these deaths, I can't see how more people aren't going to get behind them.

11 Jul 201934min

Mike Wolf spent four years working undercover on factory farms. He has seen thousands of animals living in deplorable conditions and witnessed abuse that I think few of us can even imagine. He's now Director of Investigations for the animal protection organization, Compassion Over Killing. Mike has led investigative efforts into meat, dairy, and egg facilities. He has overseen multiple investigations that have gone viral, sparking a national conversation about the treatment of farmed animals, and ultimately, impacting meaningful change. Among the investigative efforts Mike has led are a 2015 investigation into Hormel supplier Quality Pork Processors, exposing the dangers of a cruel USDA high-speed slaughter pilot program; and a 2016 Tyson Foods investigation that offered the first hidden-camera look inside broiler breeder factory farms and provided hard-hitting evidence that drove unprecedented trials and convictions for cruelty to chickens. Mike also has a strong passion for vegan fitness, and hopes to show how easy it is to gain vegan muscle as a member of PlantBuilt's Powerlifting team. Since Mike and I met at his home in Arizona this spring, Compassion Over Killing has released another investigation. This time it was Martin Farms, a dairy farm in Pennsylvania that is a supplier for Nestle. The footage that they released is shocking to say the least. It's absolutely horrific and extremely difficult to watch but I beg you – watch it. Share it. It's the only way that change happens. As hard is it is for us to sit through and watch these videos – think about the animals that are actually living through this. Watch the video.

27 Jun 201936min

Delcianna Winders is an animal law attorney, scholar, and professor. She has recently joined the Lewis and Clark Law School for Animal Studies where she will lead the newly formed animal law litigation clinic focused on the legal protections and rights of farmed animals. This is the nation's first-ever clinic focused exclusively on animal law litigation, and with its creation, Lewis & Clark Law School becomes the first law school in the world to host two separate clinics devoted to animal law. (The existing animal law clinic, founded in 2008, focuses on policy.) Delcianna has practiced animal law for more than a decade in a variety of settings and has taught the subject for nearly as long. As Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at the PETA Foundation, Professor Winders led a team of lawyers, veterinarians, and scientists to successfully transfer over a hundred individual animals from appalling conditions to reputable sanctuaries. She originated the legal theory underpinning the recently filed first-ever lawsuit brought by a horse and also developed and brought litigation that successfully ended the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decades-long policy of secretly and illegally issuing Endangered Species Act permits to roadside zoos and circuses. She is leading a team of future lawyers in the fight to change a system that has perpetuated enormous amounts of unnecessary suffering toward animals throughout the US. Animals everywhere are very lucky to have Delcianna on their side.

20 Jun 201928min

Kathy Stevens is the founder of the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, or CAS. It's based in upstate New York and she founded it in 2001 with a mission to rescue farmed animals, ignite social change to end their exploitation, and to champion vegan living. CAS has rescued and been haven to more than 5000 animals over the past two decades and currently has over 300 incredibly happy residents. Kathy is also the author of 2 books: Where the Blind Horse Sings and Animal Camp: Lessons in Love and Hope from Rescued Farm Animals, and she is one of the best voices on veganism that I have ever had the pleasure to have listened to.

13 Jun 201936min

He has spent the past two decades fighting to create a better world for animals and it all started by accident. While he was in grad school in the 90s, he worked security at a hospital at night. One night he heard some horrible cries behind closed doors and he proceeded to investigate. And, what he saw changed his life forever – horrific experiments taking place on live kitten's brains. He took photos and contacted PETA, and thus began a seven-year stretch as an undercover investigator. He worked in fur farms, factory farms, circuses, primate labs - really in every industry where that terrible things are done to animals under massive secrecy. And in all of these industries, the only people who are really checking on anything are the animal undercover investigators. Matt's footage has created awareness and sparked huge change in many of these worlds. In order to get the footage, he like all other undercover investigators, had to work horrible jobs with long grueling hours and minimal pay all while having to perform jobs that harmed, exploited, or killed the very animals he has dedicated his life to protecting. He has witnessed the worst of humanity yet somehow he's positive, hopeful, and all love and light. Since his undercover days, he has worked for many organizations - all in the fight for animal rights, freedom, safety, and welfare. He's an advocate, an activist, and a hero. Animals everywhere are lucky to have this man on their side.

6 Jun 201950min