The newest fad diet on the block combines all the trends of the day: "low-carb," "gluten-free," and "low glycemic index," instilling fears about healthful foods and waxing poetic about animal flesh and fluids. You might call this a "retro" diet in that in doesn't look forward; it looks backwards. Way backwards! Not backwards 10 years or 100 years but 20,000 years! Join me as I discuss the The Paleo Diet: why it's not sustainable, why it's a just fad, why its claims cannot be substantiated, and why it appeals to people who Pasturbate.

As we say goodbye to 2011, I wanted to share with you a number of wonderful ways we'll enter 2012 together. Consider this my Happy New Year message to you filled with special announcements and gratitude for all your support.

Traveling to towns large and small, host Colleen Patrick-Goudreau focuses on the vegan abundance in places whose population is between 2,000 and 3,000, including Murphys, CA and New Hope, PA. She shares her experiences from a recent trip to Animal Place, a sanctuary for farmed animals in Grass Valley, CA, whose population is only 200, when you factor in the human and non-human residents. :) In advance, she thanks Earth Balance and Vegan Essentials for their support and asks listeners to forgive her incessant use of the word "amazing" in this episode.

Navigating through Yellowstone National Park is at once awe-inspiring and thought-provoking. While it is a privilege to experience the natural wonders, the wildlife, and the breathtaking landscape, it's also difficult to see the bison and wolves and not think of the challenges they once faced (both brought to near-extinction) and continue to face now. Join me on a journey through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for some politics and pleasure (including favorite hikes and favorite vegan eats)!

Manifesting your values of compassion and wellness in your everyday behavior (i.e. becoming vegan) is a profound and powerful way to live. It's quite literally life-changing, and for some people, just making this change is enough to be part of contributing to a compassionate and nonviolent world But you may want to do even more. So today, I talk about an easy and effective form of advocacy that has countless ripple effects: reaching out to restaurants to encourage them to offer more vegan options or to at least acknowledge on their menus vegan dishes they already have or non-vegan dishes that can be easily veganized.

I first introduced B.R. Myers to listeners in an early podcast episode called The Fall of the Excuse-itarians in which I praised him for being one of the few writers for a prominent publication to openly take Michael Pollan and his fellow Excuse-itarians to task for romanticizing, ritualizing, rationalizing, fetishizing, and sexualizing the consumption of animals and their secretions. They're dominating the discourse, and it's not the vegans who are losing. It's the animals who are losing. Join me as I read B.R. Myers' article from the March 2011 issue of The Atlantic.

WARNING: Radical ideas fill this episode, centering around the suggestion that we try to have compassion for people with whom we disagree or who participate in behavior we find abhorrent. That’s the thing about compassion: it’s gotta be equal opportunity or it’s just inauthentic. It’s easy to be compassionate towards like-minded people; the challenge is choosing to have compassion towards those with whom we disagree. Check out this episode for tips and suggestions on communicating with compassion - but only if you want to create change in the world.

Whether you're traveling for work or pleasure, finding abundance and sustenance while on the road is easy once you know where to look and if you plan ahead (which I argue should be done even when you're NOT traveling). With loads of general tips for finding vegan food in airports, preparing for airplanes, choosing veg-friendly hotels, and traveling internationally, I end this episode with details of my recent travels to Ireland, interpersing food tales with some of our favorite things to do - related to literature (Yeats and more), history (particularly in Dublin and Kilkenny), nature (hikes in Connemara), and animal protection (Donkey Sanctuary and Ballynahinch Castle).

All of us have been in a situation where a dog or cat (or other animal) crosses our path and potentially needs our intervention, and we have to decide what to do at that moment - animals who are homeless, lost, in distress, being abused, being neglected, or animals who are dead. Although it would be easier and more convenient to turn away, I can't just write it off as being someone else's problem. Because if it's not my problem, whose is it? By virtue of being part of a larger community, I can’t help but feel a responsibility to care for all its members, particularly those who are the most vulnerable.

What if I had my own hens and ate her eggs? What if I had my own cow or goat and drank her milk? What about honey? Is it considered "vegan"? These are some of the questions people ask as they begin to consider the ethical issues of consuming animal products. Though I don't pretend to have the one definitive answer, I am happy to share my thoughts.