The Vegan Option including Vegetarianism: The Story So Far
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Spillover Diseases: Covid-19 & Zoonoses, with Jonna Mazet and Aysha Akhtar
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does animal exploitation increase the emergence of new diseases? With the world fighting a vicious new pandemic, Ian asks a front-line physician, ...
VegHist Ep 15: Liberation. Veganism, hippies, and the animal rights movement
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How has western vegetarianism risen, within living memory, from fringe to mainstream choice? And how has veganism gone from nowhere to everywhere? Epi...
VegHist Ep 14: Diet Reform. Consumerism, Lebensreform, and Gandhi
29 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the nineteenth century, in America and Germany, new forms of vegetarianism emerge – from the individualistic consumer vegetarianism of America, t...
VegHist Ep 13: The Vegetarians. Abolitionism, colonialism, and Victorian reformers; with Julia Twigg and Bhaskar Chakraborty. In London
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the late nineteenth century, the new vegetarian movement is intertwined with other struggles – including Victorian reformers, the Indian reaction...
VegHist Ep 12: Radicals & Romantics. Bible Christians, Grahamites, and Transcendentalists
28 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1800s, overlapping circles of utopians, mystics, and romantics in both Europe and America develop arguments against meat until “vegetarianism...
VegHist Ep 11: Enlightenment. Colonial India, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Les Bardus
07 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The philosophers of Paris discuss reports of Indian vegetarianism, question the morality of eating animals, and inspire radicals who preach vegetarian...
VegHist Ep 10: Revolution. English civil war, diet gurus, and the poetry of Sensibility
03 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When printing lets ordinary people access a world of ideas, including Indian vegetarianism, some European radicals and diet gurus begin to oppose meat...
VegHist Ep 9: Renaissance. Descartes, Montaigne, Gassendi, and the “sparing diet”
08 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ancient philosophers inspire Renaissance thinkers to challenge the old hierarchy of man over beast. Episode 9: Renaissance Old medieval certainties ar...
VegHist Ep 8: Contacts. Indian Sufism, Bhakti, Akbar, Portuguese Christianity, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism
06 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When conquerors who profess Islam or Christianity rule over Indian vegetarians, the conversations about food ethics go both ways. Episode 8: Contacts ...
VegHist Ep 7: Heresies. On Chinese Buddhists, Cathars, Bogomils, Islam, and Manichaeans
06 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the Middle Ages, three very different monastic orders spread from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, surrounding themselves with lay believe...
VegHist Ep 6: Hinduism. On Indian Vegetarianism, Vaishnavism, Satvik, and Mahayana Buddhism
05 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the first millennium CE, Indian vegetarianism advances from an ascetic fringe to a mainstream high-status lifestyle. Episode 6: Hinduism How did ve...
Kerry McCarthy MP on Brexit
11 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As the British public make their biggest decision in a generation, Ian asks Kerry McCarthy MP about the potential impact of Brexit on animals. Vegan M...
VegHist Ep 5: Flesh and Spirit. On Egyptian monasticism, Early Christianity, Plutarch, Neoplatonism, and Manicheansim
07 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the eastern Roman Empire, several faiths and philosophies agree on one thing; that you need to eschew flesh to live a life of the spirit. Episode 5...
VegHist Ep 4: Ashoka
03 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the largest ancient Indian empire, at the height of its power, its Buddhist king advocates for animals in his edicts, and tries to change India for...
VegHist Ep 3: Pythagoreans
05 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In Ancient Greece, vegetarianism belongs to a secretive subculture – amongst the mystery religions of Orpheus and the musical mathematical cult ...
VegHist Ep 2: The Middle Path
01 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ian travels to the tree where the Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment, and explores the paradox of his early followers’ attitudes to v...
VegHist Episode 1: Ahimsa
22 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the Ganges plain in Northen India in the middle of the first millennium BCE, the idea of “ahimsa” – non violence – emerges. Episode 1: Ahim...
Digital Vegans: Picking up the Tab, with Stephanie Redcross of Vegan Mainstream
02 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Digital Vegans: The Tab As the internet transforms the media landscape, how can vegan organisations and businesses survive and thrive? In the midst of...
Palm Oil: with Catherine Laurence, Eric Lambin, Orangutan rescuer Daniek Hendarto, RSPO SG Darrel Webber
13 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Palm oil is everywhere - from cooking oil to soap to vegan margarine. Equatorial rainforest and peatland are cleared and replaced with serried ranks o...
Science Fiction and Animals: from Jonathan Swift and HG Wells to Star Trek and Doctor Who; with Sherryl Vint, Robert McKay, and Tara Lomax
05 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
From Jonathan Swift's talking horses to Star Trek's Vulcans, and from HG Wells to Doctor Who, science fiction has tackled the big questions about our ...
Cats: Ethics. With Erin Red, Evolution Diet’s Eric Weisman, and vets Lorelei Wakefield, Andrew Knight, and Jean Hofve
13 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Erin Red joins Ian McDonald as they investigate what vegans should feed cats, respond to listener comments, and discuss the ethical conflict between o...
Cats: Can they be vegan? With vets Lorelei Wakefield, Andrew Knight, and Jean Hofve; and special guest Erin Red
01 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Three experienced veterinarians with experience of vegan cats say whether and why they think cats can thrive on a vegan diet. Jean Hovfe argues - out ...
Extended interviews on iTunes, starting with Dr Julia Minson
08 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Rough edits of extended interviews - such as this one with Dr Julia Minson - will now go into the podcast feed (used by iTunes and Stitcher) as well a...
South East Asia: Finding Vegan Food in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia
28 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Ian travels through South East Asia from equatorial island to the far north of Thailand, discovering the vegetarian threads running through the region...
Judgemental: with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Dr Julia Minson, and Marla Rose
06 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
What is "judgement"? How does it really affect the relationships between vegans and others? What can scientists say about it? And how do vegan activis...
London Olympics: Closing Update with Vx, Animals in the Opening Ceremony, and Vegan Food
13 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
London Olympics: Closing Update As the athletes celebrate their victories and defeats, and the Spice Girls rock the closing ceremony, we look back ove...
London Olympics: interview with Kara Lang, vegan Olympian, Canada soccer team
09 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Kara Lang holds the record as the youngest woman ever to score a goal in international soccer - but her passions also include vegan cupcakes. Now ret...
London Olympics
27 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Athletes from across the world are coming to East London - where we produce the show - but what are the vegan perspectives on the Olympic games? We ta...
Vegan Cheese: Casein, Casomorphins, and the Daiya Redwoods Vegusto Taste Test
04 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How do they make vegan cheese that stretches and melts? Why is cheese such a challenge for new vegans? Can Ian convince anyone who makes cheese to sha...
Born Vegan at Vegfest UK, with Ruby Roth, Mair Perkins, and a studio audience
31 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
We took the show on the road to VegfestUK to find out how vegan parents met the challenges of raising children vegan in a non-vegan world - such as wh...
Born Vegan: from 1976 UK TV to the Hebrew Israelites, three very different vegan childhoods
01 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
What is it like to grow up vegan in a non-vegan world? We hear three stories of vegan childhood: Rosemary- appeared as a baby on a BBC programme about...
Lab Meat: Can in vitro meat save the animals? With Nicholas Genovese, David Pearce, and Jordi Casamitjana
03 Apr 2012
Contributed by Lukas
A future with cheap lab meat could be drastically different - for humans and animals. How would it work? And is the development of this technology goo...
Rebel Poet: Benjamin Zephaniah discusses the life of Abul ʿala Al-Maʿarri (أبو العلاء المعري), the medieval Arab vegan philosopher poet
06 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
A thousand years ago, Al-Ma'arri was writing Arabic poems of extreme complexity, promoting a rational ideal and most remarkably, making an ethical cas...
Digital Vegans: with Happy Cow founder, iPhone apps, London Vegans, and Kerry McCarthy MP
30 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How has the digital revolution changed being vegan? We talk to Eric Brent, founder of leading vegetarian restaurant finder Happy Cow. Diana reviews sm...
Peace on Earth: will we ever have it? With Peter Singer and Gary Francione discussing Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of our Nature”
20 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
This season of peace and goodwill, in our special Christmas show, we ask whether there will ever be peace on Earth. Steven Pinker, author of "Better ...
Veganism in Politics: The British Parliament Debates World Vegan Day
13 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of our last episode, Kerry McCarthy MP said she'd asked for a debate in Parliament to mark World Vegan Day. She was successful, and at the ...
Veganism in Politics: Chris Williamson MP, Cathy Jamieson MP and Kerry McCarthy MP answer your questions
01 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The three vegan Members of the British Parliament (MPs) answer your questions. Are they afraid about how voters will react to their veganism? And what...
Veganism in Politics: Chris Williamson MP, Cathy Jamieson MP and Kerry McCarthy MP with questions from Dennis Kucinich and Maneka Gandhi
01 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
We profile the handful of people who combine veganism with politics at their country's national level. I went to the UK Parliament to meet Britain's t...
The Pledge: the London Vegan Campaigns challenge to go vegan for a month
11 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
We start our show at the beginning - when folk choose the vegan option. In this case, for a month, challenged and supported by London Vegan Campaigns...
A very small sneak peek.
11 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
This is a small introductory snippet to let folk who get our podcast in iTunes or other podcast readers check that it’s working – and the ...