Main Street Vegan

Why do people who care deeply about compassion sometimes struggle to extend that compassion to one another?
In this thoughtful and timely conversation, I speak with psychologist, author and founder Dr. Melanie Joy about one of the most challenging issues facing advocacy movements today: infighting. Drawing on decades of research into psychology, communication, and social change, Melanie explores why passionate people can become divided and what we can do to foster greater understanding, effectiveness, and unity.
Together, myself and Melanie discuss the role of moral outrage in activism, the limits of shame as a tool for change, and the importance of creating what she calls a more "relational" world. While every justice movement has its own mission, Melanie argues that lasting progress depends on our ability to build healthy relationships, communicate across differences, and work toward shared goals.
This episode offers practical insights for vegans, activists, and anyone seeking to create positive change without sacrificing connection, kindness, or integrity.
✨ In This Episode
What infighting is and why it happens
Why passionate advocates sometimes become divided
The difference between righteous anger and effective advocacy
Why shame rarely creates lasting positive change
What it means to build a more relational world
How justice movements can work together while honoring their unique missions
Simple steps anyone can take to reduce conflict and strengthen community
Creating meaningful change through compassion and communication
👤 About Our Guest
Melanie is a Harvard-educated psychologist and author of 8 books, including Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. She is a recipient of the Institute of Jainology's Ahimsa Award, joining honorees that includes Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. She is the founding president of Beyond Carnism, dedicated to exposing and transforming the belief systems that shape our choices and relationships.
🔗 Connect with Melanie
Website: https://infighting.org/ &  https://carnism.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondcarnism
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondcarnism
📚 Also Mentioned
Melanie recently published A Half-Hearted Death Wish, a darkly humorous psychological mystery about a psychologist whose desire to live suddenly vanishes, sending her on a quest to solve the mystery before it's too late.
Subscribe, rate, and review the Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.
Sign up for the newsletter at www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive a FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.
Become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049
 
Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check our their new product Sulfora and enter 'MAINSTREET' in the discount box to save yourself 10%.

What does it really mean to live a life of kindness? Not simply kindness to the people we know, but to animals, the planet, ourselves, and future generations?
In this heartfelt conversation, Victoria Moran welcomes author, conservationist, and Kindness Is Everything podcast host Anitha Rao-Robinson. Together they explore the transformative power of what might be called "radical kindness"—a way of living that extends compassion beyond our immediate circle and into every aspect of our lives.
Anitha shares the story of her own vegan journey, inspired by her teenage daughter after watching Cowspiracy. The conversation also touches on her Indian heritage, her life in Canada, and how those experiences have shaped her understanding of compassion, conservation, and our responsibility to the natural world. Victoria and Anitha discuss the many meanings of the word "conservationist," the joys and challenges of eco-travel, and highlights from the AVA Conference in Toronto.
At its heart, this episode is an invitation to live more consciously, to embrace kindness as a daily practice, and to recognize that even small acts of compassion have the power to change the world.
✨ In This Episode
What "radical kindness" looks like in everyday life
Anitha's journey to veganism after watching Cowspiracy
Different perspectives on conservation and environmental stewardship
The influence of Anitha's Indian heritage and Canadian upbringing
The opportunities and challenges of eco-travel
Highlights from the AVA Conference in Toronto
How kindness benefits animals, people, and the planet alike
👤 About Our Guest
Anitha Rao-Robinson is an author, conservationist, and creator of the Kindness Is Everything podcast. A former accountant, she now devotes her life to helping animals and writing children's books, including A Family for Faru, Sari Sisters, and Music of the Bells. Anitha lives on a hobby farm with her family—both human and non-human—and continues to inspire compassionate living through her writing, podcast, and advocacy.
🔗 Connect with Anitha
Website: https://anitharobinson.com
Instagram: @anitharobinson4
Kindness Is Everything Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kindness_everythingpod/
Podcast: Kindness Is Everything (available on all major podcast platforms and through Anitha's website)
📚 Mentioned in This Episode
Cowspiracy
The Vegan Report with Rayane Laddi
Oblivious: A Vegan Memoir by Sande Nosonowitz
Anitha's books:
A Family for Faru
Sari Sisters
Music of the Bells
🌱 Also Mentioned
Main Street Vegan Academy — Cohort 39 begins this October via Zoom. If you've ever dreamed of becoming a vegan lifestyle coach or simply deepening your knowledge of plant-based living, we'd love to have you join us. Podcast listeners receive $250 off tuition with the code vegcoach250.
Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.
Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at https://www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.
And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049
 
Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check our their new product Sulfora and enter 'MAINSTREET' in the discount box to save yourself 10%.

Can a person raised in ranching culture have a change of heart so profound that it transforms not only their life, but the lives of countless animals?
In this inspiring and deeply personal conversation, Victoria Moran speaks with Renee King-Sonnen, founder of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary and author of the memoir Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher. Renee shares the remarkable story of how she went from life on a Texas cattle ranch to becoming one of the most recognized voices in the animal rights movement.
What began with a growing awareness of the individuality and emotional lives of the cattle in her care led Renee and her husband to make an extraordinary decision: save their herd from slaughter and transform their ranch into a sanctuary. Their story captured national attention when it aired on CBS Evening News and continues to inspire people around the world to rethink their relationship with animals.
Renee reflects on the challenges of questioning long-held beliefs, the power of compassion to create unexpected change, and the movement she has helped build through Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. This episode is a testament to the fact that no matter where we begin, it is never too late to align our lives with our deepest values.
✨ In This Episode
How Renee's life changed from cattle ranching to animal rescue
The pivotal moments that led her to embrace veganism
Saving a Texas cattle herd from slaughter
The national attention that followed their transformation
What ranching culture taught her—and what she had to unlearn
The mission and impact of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary
The story behind her new memoir, Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher
Why compassion has the power to change hearts, families, and communities
👤 About Our Guest
Renee King-Sonnen is the founder and executive director of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary. She became an international voice for animal protection after helping transform her family's Texas cattle ranch into a sanctuary for farmed animals. Her story gained widespread attention following a CBS Evening News feature in 2016 and helped propel Rowdy Girl Sanctuary into the forefront of the animal rights movement. A sought-after speaker and activist, Renee shares her journey in her memoir, Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher, published by Bloomsbury in June 2026.
🔗 Connect with Renee
Website: https://rowdygirlsanctuary.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rowdygirlsanctuary
Instagram: instagram.com/rowdygirlsanctuary
TikTok: tiktok.com/@rowdygirlsanctuary
📖 Also Mentioned
Renee is currently traveling on a nationwide book tour for Rowdy Girl: Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher. Watch for appearances at VegFests, conferences, bookstores, and special events across the country.
Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.

Has modern wellness lost touch with one of its most important truths? In this thought-provoking conversation, Victoria Moran welcomes two respected voices in complementary and integrative health: Dr. Frank Sabatino and Jayney Goddard.
Together, they explore a perspective that was once central to the natural-health movement and remains deeply relevant today: the body is fundamentally a self-healing organism. When we provide the conditions for health — nourishing food, rest, movement, emotional balance, and connection with nature — the body often possesses a remarkable capacity to restore itself.
Victoria reflects on her long friendship with Dr. Frank, whom she has known since the mid-1980s and trusted for decades as her personal health-consultant go-to. The discussion examines how the plant-based movement became increasingly medicalized over time and why complementary approaches to health, once closely aligned with plant-based living, have increasingly been embraced by communities promoting very different dietary philosophies.
Grounded in science, experience, and a profound respect for the body's innate wisdom, this episode offers a refreshing perspective on health, healing, and human potential.
✨ In This Episode
Why the body is designed to heal and regenerate
The roots of complementary healthcare and lifestyle medicine
How plant-based nutrition supports the body's natural healing processes
The difference between treating disease and creating health
Why complementary medicine is attracting new audiences today
The role of personal responsibility in lifelong wellness
How to cultivate vitality through everyday choices
👤 About Our Guests
Dr. Frank Sabatino is a chiropractor, educator, and internationally respected authority on health science, therapeutic fasting, and plant-based nutrition. For decades he has helped individuals understand the body's remarkable capacity for healing through evidence-based lifestyle practices. A longtime educator with the National Health Association and Main Street Vegan Academy, Dr. Frank is widely admired for his clear, compassionate, and deeply informed approach to health.
Jayney Goddard, MSc, PG Dip Ed, FCMA, FRSM, is the Founder and President of The Complementary Medical Association (CMA), one of the world's leading standards-setting organizations for complementary and integrative medicine. An internationally recognized speaker, author, and educator, she has spent more than three decades advancing evidence-based approaches to healthy aging, neuroplasticity, lifestyle medicine, and plant-based nutrition. She is the author of Rewind Your Body Clock.
🔗 Connect with Our Guests
Dr. Frank Sabatino
Website: https://healthscience.org
Jayney Goddard
Website: https://www.JayneyGoddard.org
The Complementary Medical Association: https://www.the-cma.org.uk
Facebook: Complementary Medical Association
Instagram: Complementary.Med.Association
YouTube: The Complementary Medical Association
LinkedIn: Complementary Medical Association
🌱 Also Mentioned in This Episode
Main Street Vegan Academy — Our 39th cohort begins in October via Zoom. Dr. Frank Sabatino is one of our beloved instructors. Podcast listeners can receive a tuition discount using code Vegcoach250. Questions? Reach out through the Contact page at MainStreetVegan.com.
National Health Association Conference — Learn more about the upcoming conference, available both live in Cleveland, Ohio, and online via Zoom. Both Dr. Frank Sabatino and Jayney Goddard will be presenting. Visit: https://healthscience.org
Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.
Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at https://www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.
And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049

The conversation explores the remarkable success of The Habit Healers, now one of the leading health publications on Substack, and Laurie's mission to make scientific research accessible, actionable, and life-changing.
This episode is packed with evidence-based insights and encouragement for anyone seeking better health through informed choices and daily habits.

✨ In This Episode
How Laurie discovered the power of plant-based and lifestyle medicine
The turning point that changed her approach to healthcare
Common metabolic health mistakes even vegans can make
Simple adjustments that can improve long-term wellness
The inspiration behind The Habit Healers community
Making science accessible and actionable for everyday life
Why habits matter more than quick fixes

👤 About Our Guest
Laurie Marbas, MD, MBA, is a double board-certified family and lifestyle medicine physician, U.S. Air Force veteran, author, and speaker. She co-founded The Habit Healers community with Chef Martin Oswald to help people reclaim their health through evidence-based lifestyle strategies. Through her Substack publications, podcast, and concierge medical practice, Dr. Marbas empowers people to make lasting changes that support lifelong well-being.

🔗 Connect with Laurie
Website: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrLaurieMarbas/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlauriemarbas/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrLaurieMarbas

Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.

Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at https://www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.

And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/207997266555049

Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check out their new product Sulfora, and enter 'MAINSTREET' in the discount box to save yourself 10%.