30,000 Monkeys in Our Backyard
This week, we're doing something a little different. Instead of a conversation, we're sharing something we've been working on for the past year — our new short documentary, 30,000 Monkeys in Our Backyard. It tells the unbelievable true story of how a small town in Georgia became ground zero for a proposed facility that would have housed 30,000 monkeys for laboratory testing — and how a group of everyday people stood up, fought back, and changed the course of their town's future. The film is a story about courage, community, and what happens when people refuse to stay silent. 30,000 Monkeys in Our Backyard premieres November 1st on YouTube — and you can watch it, share it, and take action at speciesunite.com/30000monkeys
29 Okt 2min
Melanie Kaplan: Lab Dog
"Maybe when we started doing this with animals, researching on them and studying them for human benefit hundreds of years ago, we didn't know about their sentience. We didn't know that they had emotions and feelings and felt pain. And we know all that now. We can't ignore that." – Melanie Kaplan When journalist Melanie Kaplan agreed to foster a beagle named Hammy, she knew he'd just been released from a research lab. What she didn't know was how profoundly his story — and the world he came from — would change her own. In her new book, Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research, Melanie takes readers deep inside the hidden world of animal testing — one that quietly breeds and experiments on tens of thousands of dogs each year, mostly beagles, chosen for their size and gentle nature. Through her journey with Hammy, she unravels how these animals end up in labs, what happens to them there, and what it takes to help them heal once they're free. Our conversation explores the long and often secretive history of animal testing in the U.S., the shocking revelations behind the Envigo case — where 4,000 beagles were rescued from a breeding facility in Virginia — and the growing movement toward humane, non-animal alternatives. Links: Melanie Kaplan: https://melaniedgkaplan.com/index.html Lab Dog: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/melanie-d-g-kaplan/lab-dog/9781541604988/
22 Okt 40min
Annick Ireland: The Future is Immaculate
"All those kinds of brands in food and in fashion helped pave the way for where we are now. So, on the one hand, it's crushing that they no longer exist, but on the other hand, part of the reason they don't exist is because it has also become a bit more mainstream, you know? So, you know where we are right now in East London, there used to be an amazing vegan food market, and it went on for a number of years and then it died. But actually the founder of that vegan market said, 'guys, it's not a bad thing. The reason we don't exist anymore is because it's easy to find vegan food everywhere now. And it wasn't when we started, right?' That need is being met by way more people. It's becoming mainstream." – Annick Ireland Today's conversation is with Annick Ireland, founder of Immaculate Vegan—the world's leading destination for ethical, sustainable, and cruelty-free fashion. What started in 2019 with women's shoes and handbags has grown into a global platform featuring over 140 brands across categories from clothing to kids, pets, and even homeware. Annick and her team are proving that style and ethics not only can go hand in hand—they're reshaping the mainstream fashion industry itself. In this episode, we talk about the rise of vegan fashion, the power of conscious consumers, the exciting new wave of bio-based materials, and how inclusivity—not perfection—is what drives real change.
15 Okt 33min
Suzanne Lee: Grown, not Extracted
"You know, you walk through a forest. Every leaf on every tree is unique. And that's what biology does. We are all unique, right? Everything about us that biology does, it's so magical. It's so special. And we now have the ability to harness biology in the way that nature does." – Suzanne Lee Suzanne Lee is the founder of Biofabricate and for more than two decades she's been uniting scientists, designers, artists, and dreamers to prove that biology isn't just inspiration — it's the next frontier of design. She's leading a movement to replace plastics, leather, and petrochemicals with materials born from life itself — brewed, cultivated, and created in harmony with nature. I just spent a few days in London at Biofabricate's Biofab Fair, a celebration of biology-based technologies and the innovators behind them. These weren't the usual alternatives to leather or plastic. Imagine a world where textiles aren't manufactured from fossil fuels, animal skins, or even plants — but grown from microbes, mycelium, algae, and engineered proteins. There were fabrics brewed in vats, colors grown by living microbes, perfumes made with the DNA of extinct flowers, and leather-like sheets made from banana waste and mycelium. Each innovation not only reimagines what we wear and use, but also reshapes how we think about design, beauty, and even culture. After the fair, Suzanne and I sat down to debrief — to talk about how far this movement has come, what's next for biofabrication, and how growing the materials of the future might just change everything. Links: Biofab Fair Website https://www.biofab.world/ Biofabricate Website https://www.biofabricate.co/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/biofabricate/ Materials and brands mentioned in episode: Ephea https://ephea.bio/ Polybion https://www.polybion.bio/ Uncaged Innovations: https://uncagedinnovations.com/ Spyber: https://spiber.inc/en Holon Bionics https://holonbionics.com/ Banofee https://www.banofileather.com/ AB In Bev https://www.ab-inbev.com/ MM Limited https://www.mm-greentech.com/aboutus
8 Okt 39min
Alex Woodard: Ordinary Soil
"Now more than ever, a lot of farmers are caught in between this kind of industrial complex that that is difficult to pay the bills with - so you got to get subsidies, and the very real problem of being exposed to all the chemicals that they have to use to make anything grow in soil that's been hammered and depleted." - Alex Woodard This episode isn't about animals. It's about the ground beneath our feet — and what happens when we forget that our own health, our food, and our future are all rooted in the soil. In his novel Ordinary Soil, Alex Woodard tells the multigenerational story of a farming family in the Oklahoma Panhandle, tracing how decades of industrial agriculture and chemical dependence have unraveled both the land and the people living on it. The result is a sweeping and deeply human narrative that blends science, history, and fiction to show just how interconnected we are with the earth that feeds us. This conversation is about more than farming. It's about resilience, healing, and the choices we still have to turn things around — for ourselves, our communities, and the planet.
1 Okt 27min
Amber Canavan: The Labels That Lie
"That is no life for these birds and it is definitely not what the consumer is thinking or assuming. When they see these nice labels and they think, 'oh, I'm paying so much more for this, that change must be going for the animals, right?' No, it's lining the pockets and it's keeping that status quo of that factory farm going." Amber Canavan Most of us want to make choices that are kinder—to animals, to the planet, to ourselves. But in today's food system, kindness is often buried under labels like "cage free," "humane certified," or even "climate-friendly beef." These terms are designed to make us feel good, but as PETA's Amber Canavan reveals, they hide the same suffering and environmental destruction. For more than a decade, Amber has led campaigns that expose this "humane washing" and push companies—from Starbucks to Whole Foods—to do better. This conversation is about pulling back the curtain on the myths we've been sold, and about the power each of us has to choose differently. One of the simplest, most impactful ways to take action is with what's on our plate. That's why, this October, we're inviting you to join Species Unite's Plant-Powered Challenge—a 30-day adventure to try delicious, cruelty-free food, reduce your climate footprint, and stand with the animals. Because real change doesn't come from labels. It comes from us.
17 Sep 30min
Christine Mott: Free Bird
"How could this owl, who was born in captivity, lived his whole life in a cage, how could he possibly survive? He's going to be dead in a few days. That's what everybody thought." – Christine Mott In February 2023, a Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco made headlines—and captured hearts—when he escaped from his small enclosure at the Central Park Zoo. Born in captivity and unable to fly or hunt, Flaco defied every expectation. In just weeks, he taught himself to soar across the Manhattan skyline, hunt for his own food, and live as freely as an owl could in a city of concrete and glass. For more than a year, New Yorkers spotted him perched in Central Park, on high-rises, even outside apartment windows—cheering him on as a symbol of resilience and freedom. Today's guest, attorney and lifelong animal advocate Christine Mott, has immortalized Flaco's story in her new children's book, Free Bird: Flaco the Owl's Dreams Take Flight. Told from Flaco's perspective, the book celebrates courage, hope, and the right of all animals to live free—without cages or confinement—while gently encouraging young readers to see captivity through an animal's eyes. This conversation is about Flaco's extraordinary journey, the lessons he left behind, and how one small owl sparked big changes for animals in New York and beyond. Links: https://lanternpm.org/book/free-bird/
19 Aug 29min
Edita Birnkrant and Tracy Winston: The Horse Who Collapsed in the Street
"I could be walking in Central Park and come up on one of these horse and buggies. I don't think twice about it because I see it as part of the New York attraction. You know, you have the Statue of Liberty, you have Times Square, and you have these romantic horse and buggy things where people get married in the park and they ride these carriages. And tourists, they take these rides in Central Park. It's romantic, it's something beautiful to see. But I never thought for one second that these horses are abused." – Tracy Winston, juror from Ryder's trial New York City has a big, visible animal cruelty issue: horses forced to pull carriages, carrying heavy loads for long hours in all types of weather in the middle of chaotic traffic. Three years ago, a carriage horse named Ryder was a victim of this cruelty. He collapsed on a Manhattan street after being worked for hours in the summer heat. Two months later, he was euthanized. His story sparked global outrage. Ryder's driver, Ian McKeever, was charged with animal cruelty The trial took place a few weeks ago, but McKeever was ultimately acquitted. This conversation is with Edita Birnkrant, the Executive Director of NYCLASS and Tracy Winston, one of the jurors from Ryder's trial. New York's weak and outdated animal protection laws have not changed since Ryder died— and because of this, another avoidable death that occurred just a week after we recorded this interview. On August 5th, a horse named Lady died while pulling a carriage in Manhattan. This conversation is about accountability, about corruption and about what happens when justice fails the most vulnerable. It's too late for Ryder and Lady. But it is not too late to act. If you live in New York, please call your City Council members and tell them it's time to bring Ryder's Law, Intro 967, up for a vote and pass this vital bill to protect carriage horses from suffering and death on the city's streets. To find your council member, go to: https://www.speciesunite.com/ny-horse-carriage-petition NYCLASS: https://nyclass.org/
13 Aug 37min
