Carly Asse is a fitness trainer and documentarian. His first film, Unsupersize Me, has been seen over 3 million times, and has inspired and guided countless people to embark on their own journeys of healthy weight loss. Read more »
Normalizing Plant-Based Eating with Gwyn Whittaker: PYP 341
Gwyn Whittaker is a change-maker, and for the past several years she's deployed her considerable "get-it-done" skills to the plant-based movement. Whittaker is CEO of Greenfare Cafe in Herndon, Virginia, which is the only 100% whole-food, plant-based (WFPB), organic restaurant either of us has ever heard of. (If you know of one, please let me know in the comments section so I can give it a shout-out!) Read more »
Pleasure Activism with adrienne maree brown: PYP 333
adrienne maree brown is author of Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds and Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, and the co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements. She is a writer, social justice facilitator, pleasure activist, healer and doula living in Detroit. brown has been facilitating professionally for over fifteen years, and has worked with hundreds of organizations at all levels of scale including informal collectives, foundations, national networks and more. She is the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World podcast. Read more »
Tackling Food and Economic Insecurity Through Urban Agriculture with Jesse Herrera: PYP 330
Jesse Herrera is founder and chief visionary of Urban Theory, which I'd categorize as a "think tank" and an "act tank" for social and economic and environmental justice. Jesse is a former gang member, as well as a recovering architect. An urban planner. A visionary realist. We met at the World Healthcare Congress this past May, and immediately bonded by nerding out over sustainable small-plot agricultural tools and strategies, such as 2-wheel Italian tractors and compost tea. And discovered that our missions aligned. I work with individuals and organizations, while Jesse targets cities and communities. His passionate vision and clear-headed appraisal of obstacles and opportunities makes for an inspiring conversation. Read more »
Holding Ourselves to a Higher Standard with Marco Borges: PYP 318
Marco Borges, founder of 22 Days Nutrition, is a visionary social entrepreneur.From humble beginnings, Marco has partnered with Beyoncé and Jay-Z to bring plant-based health to as many people as possible, as affordably as possible.And he's one of those folks whose very presence and easy self-confidence compels others to take him seriously - in short, a powerful spokesperson and ally. Read more »
Charles Eisenstein on Climate Reductionism and True Planetary Healing: PYP 309
Charles Eisenstein has been challenging my thinking for about 15 years now, but never more so than with his latest book, Climate: A New Story. Basically, Eisenstein argues that focusing all our environmental activism on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming is a bad idea. As a card-carrying member of the enlightened, scientifically-literate, progressive wing of the American populace, of course I know that human-created climate change is the single greatest threat to our civilization, and that the biggest thing we can do to combat it is to reduce our carbon footprint, individually and collectively. Read more »
Vanquishing Procrastination with Hillary Rettig: PYP 306
Hillary Rettig is both an activist and a productivity expert, two vocations that don't seem to have much in common at first glance. But as soon as I started reading two of her books, The Lifelong Activist and The Prolific Writer, I got the connection. Unproductive would-be activists are disempowered activists. And in a world that systematically tries to disempower those who challenge its structures of power and privilege, the last thing we need is to get in our own way when we stand up to injustice. Read more »
“Give us This Day Our Daily Plants” with Tina Ahern: PYP 302
Tina Ahern is a long-time Plant Yourself Podcast listener and supporter. When she reached out to share her inspiring story, I knew I wanted to share it with you. Long story short, Tina and her husband Brian opened up a partially plant-based restaurant in Perry, Oklahoma, as part of their mission to serve their community through their Christian faith. Read more »
Unleashing Nurses to Revolutionize Patient Care with Caroline Trapp, DNP: PYP 300
Caroline Trapp, DNP (that’s Doctor of Nursing Practice to you and me), is the director of diabetes education and care with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), as well as a nurse practitioner with Premier Internists in Southfield, Michigan. Read more »
The Strategic Passion of a Bunch of “Lonely and Powerful Vegans” with Darina Bockman: PYP 299
Darina Bockman is a business mover-and-shaker; a Senior Finance Director at CBRE, and a long-time vegan activist. She felt split; on the one hand, committed to helping her organization succeed and achieving personal career success, and on the other hand, representing her views on animal rights, human health, and environmental stewardship through plant-based advocacy. And it occurred to her that there might be others like her; leaders in corporate management who happened to be vegan (or, if you prefer, vegans who happen to be in corporate management). Read more »