Hope is hosting Compassionate Living’s Humane Hoax Online Conference on March 17, 2026 and to entice you to register, we are replaying a fantastic conversation from Episode 81 on humanewashing in journalism. Lisa Barca is one of the 18 contributing authors to Hope’s anthology The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy and Ethical Eggs and they had an insightful conversation that we wanted to share again. The theme of this year's Humane Hoax Online Conference is language and narrative, so this conversation reflects our focus for the conference and we hope that you will register! The link is below.

Lisa has fascinating insights into the portrayal of farmers, farmed animals, and our relationship to animals in her chapter and discusses them with Hope in this conversation. She explains the “absent referent,” or the erasing or hiding of animal’s identities and how it relates to the humane hoax. She also talks about how the new “humane” do-it-yourself slaughter normalizes violence toward animals and she offers advice to journalists, and to us all, on language that helps the animals to be seen and heard in media stories about them.

Lisa Barca is a lecturer in the Honors College at Arizona State University, where she teaches humanities, writing courses, and seminars on the ethics of humans’ relationships with other animals. Her current research centers on critical animal studies, media ethics, rhetoric and ideology, and the intersections of feminism and animal rights. She holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures and is a contributing author to the volume Meatsplaining: The Meat Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial and also to The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs.

Resources:

Humane Hoax Online Conference Information

Conference Registration

Order Hope Bohanec’s Book: The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs

Social media is ubiquitous. Love it or hate it, social media's influence shapes our lives and steers our culture. Johnny Oberg uses this power for the good of animals. Johnny has a social media superpower with 300,000 followers and millions of eyes on his persuasive posts. He and Hope discuss the potency of social media to transform our world to one that cares about animal freedom. They talk about how to deal with “trolls” in your comments as well as AI generated content and how it might affect the believability of animal abuse content.

Johnny Oberg is an animal advocate dedicated to making the world a kinder place for animals by utilizing the power of social media. A vegan since 2009 he became an independent advocate in 2018 funded through individual donations, focusing on amplifying pro-animal content in the digital space. Previously, he served as Director of New Media for The Humane League and as Director of Communications for Vegan Outreach. In his decade of experience in social media advocacy, he has accumulated 300,000 followers his posts have been viewed 500 million times, and he has heard from thousands of people who've been influenced by his work.

Resources:

Official website: JohnOberg.org

Donations: Donorbox.org/JohnOberg

Instagram: Instagram.com/JohnOberg

Twitter: Twitter.com/JohnOberg

Facebook: Facebook.com/JohnObergOfficial

Threads: Threads.net/@JohnOberg

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johnoberg.bsky.social

YouTube: YouTube.com/user/JohnOberg

LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/JohnSOberg/

Article: Stop Saying Factory Farming

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In this solo episode of Hope for the Animals, host Hope Bohanec breaks down major recent developments shaking the vegan and animal advocacy world. From the return of beef and dairy to the top of U.S. dietary guidelines, to government-backed support for the beef industry, to controversial new campaigns encouraging people to donate money instead of going vegan — Hope examines how political power, industry influence, and shifting advocacy strategies impact animals, public health, and social change.

Hope calls for renewed moral clarity, reminding listeners that behind every policy and marketing campaign are living, feeling beings. With honesty, urgency, and compassion, she explores why ethics must stay at the center of veganism, why individual choices still matter, and why speaking up is more important than ever — especially feels like we're moving backward. With heartfelt conviction, this episode challenges complacency, defends individual action, and encourages advocates to stay vocal, critical, and empowered in the long game for animal freedom.

Support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Social Media:

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube