Ep. 80: Animal Rights as Media and Pop Culture Punchline

In countless pop culture and media depictions, animal rights advocates and vegetarians in general, are viewed as effete weirdos, dirty hippies and humorless busybodies. Pop culture staples from "South Park" to "How I Met Your Mother" to "Six Feet Under" have used animal rights and those concerned for animal welfare as a go-to, faux populist target.   

Content-wise, mocking vegans is the lowest hanging fruit. They’re difficult and self-righteous, a ready-made punching bag. Additionally, the press––including leading left-of-center media MSNBC, The Nation, and Jacobin––ignore the issue entirely.  

But what if the subject is worth a second look? And, what if our general cultural dislike of vegans is based not on objective experience but a cheap stereotype that allows for in-group signaling, permitting us, above all, to not ask or answer uncomfortable questions about where animals fit on the left. 

We are joined by author and professor Dr. Lori Gruen and decolonial theorist Aph Ko.

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Guests

Dr. Lori Gruen is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Science in Society at Wesleyan University, where she also coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies. Her work lies at the intersection of ethical and political theory and practice, with a particular focus on issues that impact those often overlooked in traditional ethical investigations, e.g. women, people of color, incarcerated people, non-human animals. She is the author and editor of numerous books, including Animaladies, Entangled Empathy and Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth.

Aph Ko is a decolonial theorist and independent digital media producer. She is the co-author of the book Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters. She is also the founder of  Black Vegans Rock. 

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Show Notes

Why Animal Rights Is The Next Frontier for the Left

Emily Atkin | March 14, 2019 | The New Republic

Animals and 2020

Nathan J. Robinson | April 11, 2019 | Current Affairs

PETA Is Right And All Of You Need To Stop Revving A Dead Porsche

Summer Anne Burton | December 7, 2018 | BuzzFeed News

Meat and the H-Word

Nathan J. Robinson | January 17, 2018 | Current Affairs

Black Vegans Step Out, for Their Health and Other Causes

Kim Severson | November 28, 2017 | The New York Times

#BlackVegansRock: 100 Black Vegans to Check Out 

Aph Ko | June 11, 2015 | Striving With Systems

Should Animals Have Rights?

Lori Gruen | January 20, 2014 | The Dodo

The Dark Lady of Six Feet Under

Virigina Heffernan | June 2, 2003 | Slate

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Transcript

The transcript can be viewed here.

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