Motion To De-Fur (w. PETA’s Ashley Byrne)

00:00:06
Speaker 1: Welcome to Brief Recess. I'm Michael Foot, I'm Melissa Malbrand. Today we're going to be talking about the Super Bowl halftime show, whether or not cops on Long Island take casher credit. Clinton's headed to Congress getting older with less fucks to give about it. We have an interview with Ashley Burne from Peta, and all your questions from the DMS stick around.

00:00:24
Speaker 2: I mean, there's like the overpriced sh chocolate.

00:00:29
Speaker 1: I got a piece of pineapple and it was like twelve dollars. It was twelve dollars for a thing of pineapple at the at the corner store, and I was like, you know what, it's the middle of winter. I feel like I'm getting scurvy. I'm going to pay for the I'm going to pay for the fucking pineapple. Yeah you do. How you doing groovy? How have you been? Oh my god, I haven't seen you. You look great? Are you ready for the super Bowl? I mean this will air after the super Bowl?

00:00:58
Speaker 2: But all right, so I'll say I am not a sporty person. I did not marry a sporty man. One of the things that when I was looking to meet somebody new because my previous long term relationship. He was really into sports and it was annoying. It was so annoying and Andre could give a shit. I love that for me. But we are going to watch because a couple of reasons. I'm super excited about Bad Bunny. Yes, I love that he's performing.

00:01:29
Speaker 1: I think they'll maybe be some sort of political statement or something.

00:01:34
Speaker 2: And it's going to be really good. The Seahawks, I believe. Is it the Seahawks?

00:01:39
Speaker 1: Sure, but the Seahawks. I only know the teams from heated rivalry.

00:01:42
Speaker 2: I know this is not the same. But the owner of the Seahawks is a woman, and she's quite progressive and she's made some cool donations and stuff, as opposed to the guy from the other team, which I don't even know, is apparently a huge master.

00:01:58
Speaker 1: We do the Gay super Bowl, which as we go to Trader Joe's because it's empty. So that's fine that it's empty. It is empty. There's no one there on Super Bowl Sunday. If you want to see me, come to the any Trader Joe's in New York City. I'll be there. I'm cleaning up at the Trader.

00:02:13
Speaker 2: Joe's, but not in the morning because I have gone.

00:02:15
Speaker 1: No, you have to go during the game.

00:02:17
Speaker 2: Yes, but by then everything is gone. All the good shit is gone. No good snacks. No, everything's great, everything's there. They replenish, I have a great time. I'm yapping and the cashiers that are so flirty. I'm just yapping with everyone. One put his hand on my lower back with the.

00:02:35
Speaker 1: Escorting he handed me my back can then put his hand on my lower back, and I was like, you go service with a smile, you provide a correction.

00:02:45
Speaker 2: Do you feel like it's too much? Sometimes not definitely the hand on the back is too much, But like sometimes I feel like they're talking me up too much? How are you? You find everything? And I feel like a hello?

00:03:00
Speaker 1: Right, and I don't.

00:03:01
Speaker 2: I also don't need you to comment on the thing.

00:03:03
Speaker 1: You're hyping up, the little like sandwich crackers with.

00:03:05
Speaker 2: The cheese and the favorite.

00:03:07
Speaker 1: Yeah right, it's easy. We're all here because we're broke and it's two dollars for a game. But no, I won't watch the game, but I will be at Trader Joe's.

00:03:16
Speaker 2: You don't watch the halftime show.

00:03:18
Speaker 1: Not unless it's Beyonce.

00:03:19
Speaker 2: Okay, well it's only been Beyonce one time.

00:03:21
Speaker 1: And that was the only time I watched it.

00:03:23
Speaker 2: Do you remember when it was Jackson's Booby?

00:03:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, yeah, watching, Yes, I was watching okay and I saw the Booby.

00:03:30
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:03:30
Speaker 1: I'm still gay despite it. Well, of course, and it was a formative experience in my childhood. But I do think that the way they treated her and the way they treated justin Timberlake is a perfect example of misogyny in America.

00:03:45
Speaker 2: Not unbelievable, but yeah, basically canceled and he got off scott free.

00:03:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, and had like this whole prolific career after that, and she.

00:03:53
Speaker 2: Was like getting what he's deserving now.

00:03:57
Speaker 1: Yeah after that? Do we do you remember that?

00:03:59
Speaker 2: I do actually where he I know exactly where he got pulled.

00:04:02
Speaker 1: Over me too, Yeah, yeah, I know, because it's Long Islands.

00:04:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, well but it's east where we go every summer. And I was just like, I know exactly where.

00:04:11
Speaker 1: He did that, and I know those cops don't give a shit about who you are. It was out in the Hampton the other.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: I mean, the thing about it is, think about how many super duper wealthy people go through there. You think we're going to care about justin Timberlake.

00:04:24
Speaker 1: They do not this is going to ruin the world tour. This is what he said, This is going to ruin the world, and it did. He said what tour. The cop was like, what are you talking about?

00:04:34
Speaker 2: Who are you? Who are you?

00:04:36
Speaker 1: It was like twenty one and it was a second week on the job. I've been pulled over out there a bunch of times. So I'm just like as I am in everyday life. Imagine it behind the wheel. I'm extremely erratic, I'm distracted. I'm you drive like that. Yeah, I live my life as this, and sometimes it involves a motor vehicle. I'm not like drunk, I'm not.

00:04:56
Speaker 2: I'm not suggesting that, but you One.

00:04:58
Speaker 1: Time I did have a sip of a drink at Ladies' Night a PIMS, and I was it was much younger. I think I was like a teenager and I was driving home and I got pulled over, and I was so nervous because I was.

00:05:11
Speaker 2: Like, oh my god, did you do a lot of underage drinking?

00:05:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's why my brain just this kind of like a.

00:05:19
Speaker 2: You know, what's really funny, I did not really.

00:05:23
Speaker 1: Nope, you don't give off that energy at all.

00:05:25
Speaker 2: I don't know what that means.

00:05:26
Speaker 1: I just mean, you've seen my mother has lived.

00:05:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, mother has lived from her twenty twenty one onwards. Yeah, you know what it is. I think because drinking in my household was not a big deal, and if something special was happening, I was allowed to have a glass of champagne, do you know what I mean. So there was never like this feeling of like I am dying to get my hands on a drink.

00:05:49
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, No, it was the opposite for me. We were drinking and partying a lot when we were kids.

00:05:55
Speaker 2: I feel like that's a very suburban thing. Yeah, to do, not to say that is in the city, don't do that. But like all my cousins who grew up in suburbia, they were drunk all the time, and they were going to parties and they were getting I'm just saying.

00:06:07
Speaker 1: Just stumbling into home room.

00:06:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that was not Yeah, that wasn't my experience. It was not an interest at all.

00:06:15
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I loved it. I used to hide vodka in my closet. Vodka and it was and it was anytime we traveled. I would go to off like the cheap ship. So when we were abroad, I'd go to the duty free store in the airport, and I would buy bottles of cheap vodka and hide them in my suitcase for my parents.

00:06:33
Speaker 2: Well wait, at a duty free they were letting you buy it.

00:06:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, in countries and other countries, And so then I guess I was sort of like a smuggling ring. I was running out of my closet and I would smuggle it back into the US and I hide it in my closet and then I would pour it into like a thermost and bring it to friends parties.

00:06:49
Speaker 2: Well, we've learned something about Michael. It's so weird to me.

00:06:54
Speaker 1: But yeah, when I did, when I did get pulled over, it was I was so nervous. I gave him my credit card instead of my life sense.

00:07:01
Speaker 2: Did you think you did? He think you were trying to bribe him? Take my hammocks?

00:07:10
Speaker 1: Excuse me, sir, do you take master card?

00:07:12
Speaker 2: No? Wait, I think I have a discover.

00:07:14
Speaker 1: Imagine bribing someone in such a shit way. What a bad way to bribe someone?

00:07:19
Speaker 2: Did you get in trouble? How old are you?

00:07:21
Speaker 1: Sorry? I didn't have any cash on the officer, and so after I gave him the credit card, I was like, oh, he knows him wasted, like and I was, and I really wasn't, but I was like, I've had some alcohol and I didn't know. I mean, I was a kid, and so I was sure this was going to be Shawshank Life in Prison, No Corolla, dead Man.

00:07:41
Speaker 2: Walking ata atticaica truly.

00:07:46
Speaker 1: And so I called my mom when he was running the plates okay, because I was like, mom, I gave him my credit card instead of my license. Like I'm totally going to the clinking, so you know, in my mind, I'm already picking out like what colored my coffin's going to be. And so I call my mom and she's like, you idiot, you're so stupid.

00:08:04
Speaker 2: Oh my god.

00:08:05
Speaker 1: She's like, call me back after you get a ticket so I can make sure you're not in prison. Like, call me back in ten minutes.

00:08:11
Speaker 2: Okay.

00:08:11
Speaker 1: So he came back and gave me my credit card.

00:08:13
Speaker 2: Wait, he took your credit card, No.

00:08:15
Speaker 1: I mean my license. Eventually I gave him my license. See that's how easy it is to mix it up. And he was like, you know, here's your license back, and you know, don't be a shitt a little kid, don't fuck up. And I was like okay, cool. And so I call my mom back and I'm like, hey, I got off, it's fine, and I'm pulling out of the side of the country road. Not one but a family of raccoons runs in front of my car.

00:08:40
Speaker 2: Did you hit one of them?

00:08:41
Speaker 1: Bitch? It was the red wedding, every single last one of them. I don't know, I'm swerving trying to was like frogger, Like I was trying to avoid these fucking raccoons and they're I want to say that, they were like leaping in front of the tires. It was like a full kmakaze, like a like a group suicide raccoon. Yeah, it was like that Jim Jones group suicide kool Aid situation with a family of raccoons. Nineteen year old Michael, A little bit of tequila, a cop right behind me, as the cop saw you hit, and my credit cards out Like that was the truly formative experience for me. I'll never get over it.

00:09:18
Speaker 2: I don't like those animals either.

00:09:22
Speaker 1: This is sidebar. We're going to get into a little something personal professional that's happening in our lives right now. Okay, did you have a moment when you were like twenty five twenty six, where you fully developed your brain and you realize you started to really experience fear and consequences.

00:09:35
Speaker 2: I think I was a little bit older.

00:09:37
Speaker 1: Really okay, so late bloomer.

00:09:39
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:09:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, they say the brain develops at twenty five.

00:09:42
Speaker 2: My mom has said, because I did everything late, right. I graduated college as an adult, I met and married my husband as a grown ass woman. All this sudden and just sort of my life got together when I was older, and my mom was like, Melissa, she's a little bloomer, but she blooming.

00:10:02
Speaker 1: That's so good. Did you say that recently or at each sort of like life milestone.

00:10:08
Speaker 2: Each like at a milestone, even my aunt when once you get shout out to don't you get also just like you might let bloom.

00:10:15
Speaker 1: My baby, it's the toast at your wedding pretty much.

00:10:19
Speaker 2: I mean, I think have you ever watched them that movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding?

00:10:24
Speaker 1: Yes, of course, my mom's side of the family is Greek. So that is the the Bible that is vers of Testament.

00:10:30
Speaker 2: So there's a scene in it where the woman is she's going to marry this guy and her family meets him, and.

00:10:37
Speaker 1: Just like we think this day.

00:10:38
Speaker 2: We never come like and I'm pretty sure my parents felt like I was a lock case.

00:10:45
Speaker 1: I was at a wedding once of someone who was a notorious bachelor, and the best man toast was congratulations, Ashley, twelve hundred and thirty seven, must be your lucky number.

00:10:58
Speaker 2: What the fuck? I'd be so bad off at that, guys, and it was your life.

00:11:03
Speaker 1: It was cray.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: This is when I would fake snie This is when this is where I would fake snees because that would make me feel so uncomfortable.

00:11:11
Speaker 1: At the fakes news at the No.

00:11:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's when I would fake snees.

00:11:16
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha ha, chilling laughter, because he really was. And I think, I honestly don't think they're still together. I mean still man, Actually they're not. They're not.

00:11:28
Speaker 2: Why why do you look so happy and excited about that?

00:11:30
Speaker 1: It was just like, I'm excited that I actually remembered because this is, you know, a very distant, tangential person that I went to their wedding. I just remember I danced to the Carly rad Jepson song. It had like just dropped. It was like twenty ten. Call me, maybe I just remember dancing to that.

00:11:45
Speaker 2: You don't remember that. This is so ridiculous, but core memory. Colin Powell was on Colin Powell was on CBS this morning when Charlie Rose was still on that show.

00:11:58
Speaker 1: This is like you're pulling words out of a hat and Carly rod Jepson too much, I don't know.

00:12:05
Speaker 2: And they started saying it to each other on air, and it was so funny, two old men. Well, Charlie, call me maybe, like.

00:12:16
Speaker 1: I just met you signing off. Here's my number.

00:12:21
Speaker 2: I don't know where I remember that, but I do. It's really funny.

00:12:24
Speaker 1: Charlie.

00:12:25
Speaker 2: Whatever happened to him?

00:12:27
Speaker 1: Is he alive?

00:12:28
Speaker 2: I think that he is alive. But he got let go from that show very for doing some Matt lower ish type stuff.

00:12:35
Speaker 1: Oh no, I think so.

00:12:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:12:36
Speaker 1: You know who never got the Matt Lower treatment, who just retired and is wonderful and living his best life. The guy from the Price is right, Bob Barker.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: He's dead.

00:12:48
Speaker 1: God damn it. We'll be right back. I got to do some quick googling. Well, he was retired, he did a great job, he was and then retired and lived his best life. But he never got canceled. There was never a Bob Barker.

00:13:00
Speaker 2: I don't think there was. There was a scandal, but it didn't. It was not career ending.

00:13:04
Speaker 1: He like didn't spay or neuter his one cat and then got canceled for that. What was his cancelation show?

00:13:12
Speaker 2: That show was like core memory, you're you're sick, the chicken, the.

00:13:18
Speaker 1: Taste of the thermometer in your mouth, the mercury from the thermometer in your.

00:13:21
Speaker 2: Fucking jail, A sleeve of saltines, and.

00:13:24
Speaker 1: Bob bark salteenes. I saw someone on TikTok they did, oh, let me get your file, and they just start flipping through a row of saltine crackers in the sleeve. I thought that was so good. I thought that was so great. It was like, this is my legal filing system for my legal practice. Oh, mel branch, is that under m We'll be right back. This is your algorithm is showing. We're going to talk about all the weird, crazy things we're seeing in the news right now. I want to talk about Hillary Clinton recently tweeted it broke the gay Internet gay Twitter appssolutely when the tops, the bottoms, the verses all freaked the fuck out about Hillary Clinton. So they've been trying to pressure her and Bill to testify in like the Epstein right in front of Congress, because they keep dropping files and then they drop more and then they say, oh, those were redacted, and then they say, oh, well this is the last one we promised, this is the last drop, and then they drop it and then they redact everything except like the victim's confidential information and images, but like, of course, protect all the white rich powerful men, and so in it, Bill Clinton was named a bunch. And so they keep Republicans keep threatening, Oh, we're going to make the Clintons come in and testify. We're going to suppear in them. They're like okay, literally yeah, they were like sure. So they did it again after this last drop, and Hillary was like, Hillary tweeted, so let's stop the games. Oh, dramatic reading, dramatic reading.

00:14:56
Speaker 2: Let's stop the games. If you want this fight, Representative James Comer, let's have it in public. Oh talk about transparency. There's nothing more transparent than a public herrying cameras on will be there. I love that shit.

00:15:11
Speaker 1: Watch your feet. The mic is dropping Hillary Clinton right now. So I so now all the Republicans are like backtracking. They're like we actually don't want to hear. No, we don't have to come. It's we're good, it's okay, it's okay. And she's like, no, bitch, come on, no way, mom way, Yeah, she called her.

00:15:31
Speaker 2: This is the Hillary Clinton version of earrings off.

00:15:35
Speaker 1: That going on. She's got her rollerblades on, she's flying her Capitol hill.

00:15:40
Speaker 2: I love that. Would love to see this.

00:15:45
Speaker 1: And it is a little bit of the fanfare sort of public drama that Trump lives for, except it will completely implicate him. So you that's how you know he is so guilty of everything in the Epstein files, and so the things that people are saying about him and the files are true because he's not leaping at this opportunity. No, he hasn't said anything about pr firestorm. This is like, truly what we know about him is that he dreams of shit like this, A dramatic public congressional hearing with the Clintons. Let's get let's sell the ad time, let's get the ad buys going, Let's get like brought to you by.

00:16:27
Speaker 2: How can we monetize this?

00:16:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, like that is something he completely lives for.

00:16:32
Speaker 2: I wonder what do you think before she sent this tweet. Do you think she had a moment where she yoked up Bill by the neck? Just him up. I love a good yoku, just a good yoku, I think, and was like, what's a fucking yokup?

00:16:51
Speaker 1: Commit looks like it by the scruff. Oh no, okay, I got this. Come in here, sir, you're in my camera line.

00:16:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, tell you something. That's a yoga.

00:17:03
Speaker 1: Murder on the dad's FLOORA that's a young She got him, She got him the college.

00:17:09
Speaker 2: I remember there was before right when the Monica Lewinsky thing was had come out, Hillary Clinton went on the Today Show and.

00:17:18
Speaker 1: She snapped her crylics off.

00:17:20
Speaker 2: And she said, this is a right wing conspiracy against my husband. Dun't dunt dunt dum.

00:17:27
Speaker 1: Well, history, history, let that one tell us what really happened. Correct.

00:17:32
Speaker 2: So I feel like she probably has said to him, he did that ship to me once?

00:17:38
Speaker 1: Bill, Yeah, for me once. So I want to know, play stupid games, win stupid press, and so she yeah, I do think.

00:17:46
Speaker 2: So, what is the conversation that happened in that house? Did I hurt you?

00:17:50
Speaker 3: No?

00:17:50
Speaker 1: No, I just like it was shocking.

00:17:53
Speaker 2: A good yo cup and I'll get before.

00:17:56
Speaker 1: She tweeted that she did that. But I do think she probably has on staff, like a twenty four year old twink who's like knows the Repaul's drag race vernacular to sort of help her with these kinds of tweets to be like, Okay, Diva, miss Boots, we're coming to gather your ass for.

00:18:12
Speaker 2: Me, right, yeah, yeah, hunty hunt hunty. Look but seriously, there must have been some kind of a conversation. Yeah that happened in that household, sure, and she was just like all right.

00:18:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, I think so let's get her on the show. She won't come, let's ever yoke me up live? Wait, what's on your algorithm? Anything?

00:18:39
Speaker 2: No bbls although anyway, no bbl anyway, but just still, I gotta I have to like stop engaging with it because it's making me so Now what ends up happening is that I am now looking at my face, right, and I'm looking at all the things that I would do. And while I I don't think there's anything wrong with that, I haven't decided if that's the person that I want to be, do you know what I mean? But if I were to be that person, the time is now, because if you wait too long, it's too late. It's too late. I remember. It's really funny. So I have my dad's neck, is what I realized, Like things that run in families. Get your mother's hid right exactly. And I remember about ten maybe fifteen years ago, my dad went to a plastic surgeon to get really yes, because he was sensitive about it, like his bottle, and he went for a consultation and whatever whatever astronomical fee that they told him. He was like, all right, I guess I'm gonna live with it, like whatever they say. But he had a little folder and they gave him all the things and I was like, pop, really he was just.

00:19:54
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, that is so I went to see that's.

00:19:59
Speaker 2: No.

00:19:59
Speaker 1: Sure. I feel like if people, if there's like something that you're insecure about that you really want to change, like go for it. I love that.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: But I think, and I think about this a lot, especially as I've gotten older, is what is wrong with getting older?

00:20:13
Speaker 1: Yes?

00:20:13
Speaker 2: And why does it bother me to look at my aging face and feel like I should fix that?

00:20:21
Speaker 1: Yes? Right, it's absolutely something that is taught to us, and it certainly, I mean, I'm sure there are many more qualified people that can speak to how, you know, we treat aging and youth and the values and how it's just like so pervasive in every part of our society. But even if it is this thing that we should have never gotten, we still have it this insecurity. So what you sort of do with that is up to you. I mean sure, And there are some things like many men wouldn't have a bald head. They would be like, I'm so insecure about that. I'm going to go get that fixed immediately, right, And that's not something that bothers me, but other things bother me where I'm like, oh, my skin is like looking And then I go to the dermatolgist and they're like, oh, what if we did like a chemical pill or lasers or something or and I'm like, I don't know. Chemical pill just sounds so dramatic, like I'll just buy something over the counter. But everyone has their own sort of reference point of what.

00:21:17
Speaker 2: One has a thing.

00:21:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean.

00:21:18
Speaker 2: And the thing about it is is that if I was so fussed about looking older, I would just color my hair, right.

00:21:25
Speaker 1: I was going to say, like I talk to people women about oh, I could never color my hair, Like oh, people will say to me, like your co host Melissa, her hair is so beautiful, and I'm like, yeah, you would look great with gray hairs. So many people would and they're like, oh no, I never could. I never could, never, never, right, And I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, you just said it looks beautiful and great.

00:21:44
Speaker 2: No, but I mean it is one of those things. And when I when I stopped colling my hair, I got a lot of shit for it from like my family.

00:21:53
Speaker 1: When you stopped colored, When I stopped coloring, what was the narrative?

00:21:56
Speaker 2: Why would you do this to yourself?

00:21:58
Speaker 1: Okay, it's going.

00:21:58
Speaker 2: To look ugly, it's going to it's no, and you're going to look old. I had this woman who used to be my boss, who I adored, and she was just like, I think that's career suicide.

00:22:12
Speaker 1: Wow yea yeah, yeah what is this recent? Like what year was this? These are the fucked up things people said a long time ago. I'm I mean not that long ago.

00:22:21
Speaker 2: I was in my mid forties. I'm almost like.

00:22:24
Speaker 1: Ten years ago. Yeah, less than ten years ago.

00:22:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was before I got married.

00:22:28
Speaker 1: So yeah, wow, So like twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen.

00:22:31
Speaker 2: Twenty, I think I went Gray twenty sixteen.

00:22:34
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's not that long ago.

00:22:36
Speaker 1: So there's still like other people, I.

00:22:39
Speaker 2: Think, I feel like I see a lot more women who are allowing to themselves to just go great naturally, But it's a big deal. Nobody would ever say to one man you should color your hair.

00:22:51
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:22:51
Speaker 2: If you stop coloring your hair, never women will not find you desirable. It's career suicide. You're going to look old. On the contrary. Yeah, but women get this whole other narrative. It is what it is.

00:23:04
Speaker 1: It is what it is. Yeah. I did see that our friend, Congressman Robert Garcia was in the news again. So this clip is from Robert Garcia. He's in a proceeding and the victim of a shooting with ice is called in front of Congress and what he shows are these text messages from the ICE officer after he shot her. And so the officers is in the text reviews how many times he shot her and says put that in your book, boys, as if they are documenting in some sort of sick way, how many times they shoot citizens.

00:23:40
Speaker 2: Well, if it's like there's like some kind of a sick quota.

00:23:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, like a point system is it true that in the bodycam footage, the CBP officer told you to and I'm so sorry for seeing this.

00:23:52
Speaker 3: The author told you to quote do something bitch before he fired. Yes, it's disgusting, shameful, and it gets worse.

00:24:03
Speaker 1: MS Martinez.

00:24:04
Speaker 3: These are images of texts sent by the agent who shot you, and they're actually were They're actually disturbing to read, but I think it's important for the public to see this. The agent LinkedIn article about your shooting and texted, read it five shots seven holes. I fired five rounds and she had seven holes.

00:24:26
Speaker 1: Put that in your book. Boys, Oh well, it is what it is. Shit happens.

00:24:35
Speaker 2: I wish I was shocked.

00:24:36
Speaker 1: I am shocked just by seeing the words, right, Like I was shocked by just seeing the words and hearing the violence these text messages. The language used is so it's like the language people use in video games is how they're treating Americans, Like every day is January sixth in this country.

00:24:54
Speaker 2: Right, okay, But there's nothing about that that is surprising or shocking to me. And I think to your point that it's like people in video games, These are not people that have gone through sort of your normal training of a law enforcement person. This is some yahoo right who probably, like you said the other day, probably couldn't become a police officer. So it's basically a rent a cop with a gun and a license to do whatever they want, right, So, and they probably have spent a lot of times because my theory is a lot of these guys were like living in their mother's basement, eating cheetos and playing.

00:25:32
Speaker 1: A lot of them are a lot of them are convicted criminals. Some of them are on Megan's Law lists where they are registered sex offenders.

00:25:41
Speaker 2: So none of this is surprising. None of this is surprising. And also the presidence of the United States talks like.

00:25:47
Speaker 1: That a reporter when undercover and applied to become an ice officer that I did see and she was approved in like two days.

00:25:54
Speaker 2: She has no time at all.

00:25:55
Speaker 1: She had a very unique name that if you just googled it you would see she was a reporter and she was approved and I think the background check didn't even go through before she was onboarded as an officer. It was unbelievably fast, like.

00:26:08
Speaker 2: The Keystone Cops. It is, isn't It's like it's like it is such a hot mess.

00:26:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, It's so gross. I mean, this really pisses me off because we have Democrats keep saying, oh, well, you need to have body cams, you have to take your masks off. That's what Hikeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer asked for in exchange for reaching a deal on the package for the latest budget. But that's not going to stop them from brutalizing Americans. They're still going to be even with their masks off, even with body cams on, they're still going to be doing all sorts of insane things in the streets.

00:26:47
Speaker 2: They don't care because they don't have to.

00:26:50
Speaker 1: That's what it feels like because there's no accountability.

00:26:52
Speaker 2: Its exactly, there's no accountability, and they don't. And again, the President has made it clear, he's made it as though he will have their backup. But it's like I was saying the other day, I don't understand why these people don't recognize that he does not give a shit about you.

00:27:08
Speaker 1: Remember the January sixth insurrectionists, He sold them for a dollar. He was like I They were like, oh, I'm at trial. They're they're charging me with federal charges. And he was like, okay, how'd you get this number right, Yeah, I don't know. I find myself drawn to, like what type of TV shows? Does this make you want to watch? To feel comfort? Like I find myself watching older TV shows just to feel like close to the New York that Jerry Seinfeldt lived in, you know, like just to feel close to.

00:27:41
Speaker 2: The New York with no black people in it whatsoever?

00:27:45
Speaker 1: Well, okay, like Friends Fair, Yeah, like Friends were there no black people on Friends?

00:27:51
Speaker 2: There was.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: I never really watched that show.

00:27:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was one way later and I can't remember who was dating her. It may have been don't remember. Yeah, I remember that. I can see that. I could see the actress's face. She's Aisha Taylor Tyler.

00:28:06
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, I love her.

00:28:08
Speaker 2: Did you see that woman from Minnesota? She? Uh, I don't want to mispronounce her name, but I believe it's Aliyah Raman.

00:28:18
Speaker 1: Oh no, I didn't see.

00:28:18
Speaker 2: So she's on the autism spectrum and she has a traumatic brain injury. And I dragged her out of the car and she I guess she testified somewhere and it was so upsetting to hear. And there is that there is this feeling sometimes when you hear about things like that it's like you don't want to watch it, you don't want to hear it because you don't want to take that in. But I think that we all need to sort of bear witness as much as possible, like that kind of thing will continue to happen.

00:28:52
Speaker 1: We are barreling towards a government shutdown right now, and we're recording this a few days ahead of it being dropped. So apologies if I'm behind on the times when you hear this, but things like that, I think you sure, Yes, Republicans, how could you ever let this happen? But Democrats, how could you continue to let this happen? Right?

00:29:09
Speaker 2: The weakness is nauseating to me.

00:29:11
Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer, Kim Jeffries already rolled back their statements about masks and body cams. They were like, well, they were like, well, maybe yesterday the thing we wanted is not something we technically want, but you know, maybe we're not sure we're going to double We'll get back to you. They already are walking it back, which is just unbelievable to me. So let's take a break. We've got our guest in the studio. Yeah, you can't wait. Welcome back everyone, This is under oath. We're here with Ashley Byrne, who is the director of Outreach and Communications for PETA, which is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Her days are filled with body paint, fake blood, and vegan donuts, so you can find her on socials that Ashley loves Mango. Welcome to the show, Ashley, and thank you for joining us.

00:29:58
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.

00:30:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to brief Recess. I love your bio. It's very fun in whimsical. I'm glad you're really embracing like the fun parts of your job. I imagine, how do you sort of like take me through like how you spend your days. I'm just like so curious what it's like to work at an organization like yours, which you know is very storied. I'm sure, Yes, that's a great question.

00:30:24
Speaker 4: One of the things that I love about working for PETA is that, I mean, really, no two days are alike, and.

00:30:31
Speaker 2: Even when you think you have.

00:30:34
Speaker 4: A very quiet day ahead of you with everything you know kind of structure, the next thing you know, you could be doing anything from running through the streets in Bushwick trying to catch a stray chicken to oh my.

00:30:50
Speaker 1: God, because people in Brooklyn have like barn like name like backyard barns and farm stuff, and like they're there.

00:31:00
Speaker 2: Also every now and then they'll be like a cow or a goat that makes their escape, right like Flora houses from live markets. So it actually happens quite often.

00:31:10
Speaker 1: Like an actual market. Yeah. Interesting, Okay, I didn't realize that.

00:31:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's the news, right, I mean, and you know, you kind of it's interesting because everybody's always rooting for the animal.

00:31:21
Speaker 2: They're like, get away, get away, and then you.

00:31:24
Speaker 4: Know a lot of the time people are probably going to dinner and eating that.

00:31:28
Speaker 1: Same get away. But it's like, wait, why were they in that position in the first place. That does make sense, get away from who you know, like maybe from you.

00:31:37
Speaker 2: But but I mean the way I look.

00:31:40
Speaker 4: At it, though, it's kind of like it brings you back to the fact that I think people ultimately are for the most part, compassionate and love animals, and that is a great part of this job.

00:31:50
Speaker 2: It's hard.

00:31:51
Speaker 4: You see a lot of devastating things, you see a lot of things that are hard to forget, impossible to forget, but then you also see this incredibly kind side of people, and you realize that at the end of the day, most people not only like animals, most people love animals.

00:32:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, I will say that's part of one of the reasons why you're here today is because we were talking a bit about fur and vintage fur and whether it was like good, bad, ugly, whether we support it, whether we don't. Jerry seemed a little bit out and so look, I'll be like very honest with you. Your organization is notorious for being very confrontational. I think that's in sort of like the lifeblood of PETA, and we were shocked to find the opposite when we touched upon fur, and your organization reached out in a very kind, compassionate, thoughtful way, becau. So that was actually like, look, if someone is someone says, oh, Michael, watch out for so and so, watch out for so and so. Whatever it is, whether it's Peta, whether it's a person, whether it's that girl my sorority, I always say, okay, thank you so much, and then I approach it based off what that person has said and done to me directly.

00:32:57
Speaker 2: That's really all you can do, right, is like, and it could be very possible that somebody has had a negative experience with an entity or a person or what have you. But when you deal with that person, it's a completely different experience. And I remember, you know, I went home and I told my husband, I was like, we heard from PETA, and he was like, uh oh, yeah, yeah, And then I said, I'm like, it was really one of the nicest letters that I've ever gotten.

00:33:26
Speaker 1: Like barring activist organizations, like just generally people. Right.

00:33:30
Speaker 2: I love hearing that was. And I wonder because I remember growing up hearing about PETA and it was always kind of aggressive or or at least that was what was in the media right for based on what I was consuming at the time I was a kid. It almost feels like Peter has gone through sort of a rebranding. Or is it that we're learning more about what PETA actually does. That's a great question, and I think it's the latter. Honestly.

00:34:02
Speaker 4: I think that very often people confuse the firmness of Peter's message, I mean, just the strength of Peter's message with Peter being somehow aggressive or unfriendly. And I mean the fact is, yes, we are absolute about our message.

00:34:20
Speaker 2: We don't back down.

00:34:21
Speaker 4: We're you know, we're all about protecting animals, and we don't apologize for it. But at the end of the day, as I was saying before, we realize that most people do not want to hurt animals. Most people support protecting animals. Now, I would say the vast majority of people probably hurt animals in a bunch of ways that they don't really realize or they don't really think about, and we're here to help with that. I mean, we see most people as just needing more information. Now, if you're someone who's abusing animals, sure, right, that's a different story. Yeah, for sure, look out for Peter, watch out. But you know, even in those cases, I think people don't realize that a lot of the time. All the time, really, before something gets to that national stage.

00:35:07
Speaker 2: We reach out to businesses.

00:35:09
Speaker 1: Sure, behind the scenes, of course.

00:35:11
Speaker 4: Slightly, We ask if we can help, you know, we try to change things in a constructive way. It's really just when they dig their heels in and they say, nope, we're going to keep abusing animals that you know.

00:35:26
Speaker 2: We do get off, yes, and I think people want us to.

00:35:29
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:35:29
Speaker 4: But so I think that's a great question because I think that shift in perception has a lot to do with I think people's perception of animals is changing drastically.

00:35:39
Speaker 1: I think. So. I noticed that I make a lot of videos about ice and DHS and how people are being treated. And I will say when I make a video about migrants' pets getting put in shelters because migrants are being picked up, those get engaged with on an astronomical level. Online. Everyone's very engaged around, especially people who follow me and watch the message about immigration. But I do see this like other audience opens up when I start talking about animals, right, And I.

00:36:06
Speaker 4: Think that's because it's something that hits home in a very universal way. Because you know, so many people either have a dog at home, a cat at home. They've bonded with an animal at some point, and so it hits them in this way that you know, transcends politics and transcends you know, just a lot of cultural things.

00:36:26
Speaker 2: It's emotional exactly, yeah, because I mean, I think especially with if you are somebody who has a pet, or has had a pet, or have lost a pet, like the love that you have for your your it's it's your companion. Really, it becomes your companion. And when you realize, hey, somebody's poor animal is now feeling lost and scared, they don't know where their person is. You think of yourself and you think of the bond that you have with your animal, and you're like, oh, that is just it, it's so wrong.

00:36:57
Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, exactly, It's it's a truth that, like you said, if you've ever bonded with an animal, you know, you know what that animal is feeling. And it's Yeah, it reaches people in a way that I think few things do.

00:37:14
Speaker 1: So just for context, what DHS and ICE are doing is that when they detain someone, they usually leave the animal where the family was. They don't call animal control, it doesn't go to a shelter. It usually becomes a stray dog. And so if people are out walking their dog in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the person gets picked up by ICE and then the dog is left there on the street. And so there are these dogs that are the shelters are sort of having to take in, or they're getting lost and people aren't finding them, or they're trying to call the person and they're being held in a detention center so they can't answer their phone. So it really has created this like animal crisis in many ways. And I know we brought you on to talk about fur, but it just like became top of mind for me because you know, I woke up this morning and it was me my dog's head on his pillow next to me, and then my husband on his pillow like between us, and like, like you're saying, it really is this like emotional thing that I don't we don't, we don't really like think about it that much.

00:38:11
Speaker 2: Your animal is your family, right, like absolutely, Like our cat sleeps in the middle, hogs up the bed. And you know what I think is so funny is like you usually end up moving over to like and.

00:38:27
Speaker 1: Your dog is all over your instagram, right mango.

00:38:30
Speaker 4: Well, so my my instagram is named for one of my former dogs.

00:38:34
Speaker 2: He did pass away, but.

00:38:37
Speaker 4: Thank you, I mean, but also you know, I I left that name there because he just obviously, like losing him was devastating, but he also was just one of the most wonderful things that's ever happened to me.

00:38:50
Speaker 2: And yeah, exactly.

00:38:52
Speaker 4: All over all over my instagram. Just a wonderful shelter, you know, shelter dog, like so many wonderful shelter We have.

00:39:00
Speaker 1: A rescue psychopath and I love him so much and he's truly like a he is a convicted criminal, and I love him so much, and like, honestly, it's much more interesting and fun to have a crazy rescue than it would be to have some like gorgeous, perfect pure bread. I'm like, he's got a real personality, Like he's a true New Yorker.

00:39:17
Speaker 2: Oh my god.

00:39:18
Speaker 1: So I was going to ask her. I mean, like, people do talk about like PETA shelters, and I know that there are I think, out of context rumors about PETA killing animals and their shelters and all this stuff. Do you want to go on the record and sort of correct those people who are listening to this being like, I can't believe Michael had Ashley on. Don't you know what they do? Yeah, love for you to gather them, get them right by the scruff. Let's talk about it exactly, all right, let's do this.

00:39:46
Speaker 4: Yes, I am always thrilled for the opportunity to set that straight. So PETA has a shelter in at our headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. It's a shelter that's services the rural areas nearby in Virginia and North Carolina and for people who aren't familiar, which I was not before I came to Peta. I grew up in Los Angeles, I lived in Washington, d C.

00:40:13
Speaker 2: I live here.

00:40:14
Speaker 4: I really had not seen a lot of rural America before. The areas that this shelter and our outreach workers service are desperately poor, and the people living in these areas lack access to resources that I think a lot of us, you know, maybe living in Manhattan take for granted. Okay, they very often, if you know, in cases where they do love their animals, they very often don't have the money to adequately provide for them in a lot of situations.

00:40:47
Speaker 2: And then you also have a severe.

00:40:50
Speaker 4: Lack of education about animals, and so a lot of people will get a dog, put them outside on a chain as security or something, and pretty much forget about them. They won't go outside and spend time with them, play with them, they won't bring them indoors in snowstorms. Our crews have actually been out for like literal months now in this weather where most of us are like hiding in our houses with the heat cranked up, just begging people to bring their animals in. But when they won't, providing doghouses and straw and anything they can to keep these dogs warm because unfortunately, in a lot of these places it's not even illegal to do what is unthinkable to so many of us. And on top of that, a lot of them aren't socialized because nobody ever spends any time with them. They have no human contact. And so again, our outreach workers do everything they can to go educate people about how to take better care of their dogs, provide resources, just do anything they can. But in some cases it just falls on deaf ears or they just get there too late, like you know, they they eventually come to a house and it's too late and they find dogs who are in such severe states exactly, and so in that case, you know, sometimes then they're finally actually breaking a law and they're able to have animal control intervene, you know, basically say that the dog is being relinquished to PETA and then Peter will bring these dogs to you know, to their shelter facility and will do what you know, in unfortunately, in too many cases, the only kind option is to put them to sleep, because you know, they're they're in a physical state where they aren't going to get better, or the exactly they're in pain. A lot of them are just so terrified of humans, and so when they actually are dogs who we think would have a chance of getting adopted, we partner with local the local SPCA, and we'll bring the dogs there. Because our shelter facility isn't actually it's not what you think of, like when you think of a shelter where people can like go visit, see the dogs, play with them. It's really just like a facility at our headquarters that can provide medical services and you know, other things, but it's not actually set up for people to visit. So if we think of dogs adoptable, we're going to bring them to the shelter where families will visit, where they actually will have a chance of getting a home.

00:43:26
Speaker 1: So those statistics when people were like, wow, look at all the awful deaths happening Impedis facility, it was that facility, and it was just because it was those pets were being adopted out to the SPCA, and then just the ones that were not salvage of like right able to be really adopted or cases where they could really survive it sounds like exactly or being euthanized.

00:43:47
Speaker 4: The other situation is we have a lot of people from these areas who will bring their dog, their animals in and there they'll say, you know, they'll bring their animal when they are extremely sick, knowingly suffering, and they can't afford to take them to the vet and have them put to sleep. And having been in a situation where I had to do that, yeah, and it was the most devast devastating breaking yes, but it would have been even worse if I had to watch my dog suffer and with nothing I could do to help him. I mean, just you know, And so we never turn anyone away.

00:44:20
Speaker 2: Anybody.

00:44:20
Speaker 1: There's an attorney on Long Island, and I will reach out. I want to get him on the show. But he actually goes and sues people who treat animals poorly, dogs and he's the dog lawyer. It's like kind of incredible. There's this awesome Times article will link to it in the episode. And oftentimes, I mean, like you say, the human in charge of the pet is really the problem. It's not the pet that bites the person, right, like we and like we have many of us know this, but the judge is like, well, it's so clear that this isn't the actual dog is the problem. It's the person and the lawyer says a judge, if you signed the arrest warrant, I'll make sure it gets execut for the owner. And the judge is right, like the lawyers sound something like that, that's record because it's so clear that it's the person, not.

00:45:09
Speaker 2: The past, right, Yeah.

00:45:11
Speaker 1: Exactly, So we go ahead.

00:45:13
Speaker 2: Sorry, I was going to ask. And the thing about it is, I wonder because that please tell me there's no way to prevent an abuser from getting another pet. That's a great question.

00:45:24
Speaker 4: So actually, when we are able to actually you know, get law enforcement involved and have charges brought against people for extreme cruelty, neglect, et cetera, we do everything we can to get these cases, you know, taken through the courts. And one of the things that we ask for is for the court to mandate that they cannot ever have an animal again.

00:45:48
Speaker 1: It's part of the order.

00:45:49
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.

00:45:50
Speaker 4: Now that doesn't always happen, but it's absolutely something we ask for. And I think that there are places now that are looking at the possibility of having an animal abuse or registry, just like you have a sex offender registry. And I mean that's we need that because the thing is all too often You're right, people, people can go and just buy another dog, buy another cat, and you know, go through the whole same cycle again.

00:46:16
Speaker 2: You know, one other thing that I want to bring up very quickly, because I'm.

00:46:18
Speaker 4: Just so glad you did ask about this, is that I think people don't realize that this kind of like this misinformation, this this twisted narrative did not come about on its own. It was engineered by a special interest group that is funded by multi billion dollar industries that make their money abusing ounts. And so you know, we're talking about the meat industry, the dairy industry, you.

00:46:48
Speaker 1: Know, the fashion industry.

00:46:50
Speaker 4: Fashion industry. This the Center for Consumer Freedom is the name of this organization. There are multiple organizations like this. The Daily Show actually did a piece on them once and called their founder doctor evil. And they don't just come after animal rights groups. I mean they came after mothers against drunk driving because the alcohol industry paid them to gotcha. But so I think people should realize that like this is actually a very like engineered, deliberate false narrative.

00:47:18
Speaker 1: It's very much like the woman gets called crazy because she brings up the accusations against the abusers, right, yeah, it is exacting.

00:47:26
Speaker 2: It is that is. That is the best analogy for it that I've ever heard. Thank you, let me ask you something, jump to something else per second. So I guess the reason why Peter sort of picked up on the conversation that Michael and I had had on our show was that we had both said never going to buy a new fur, but I love vintage. For I had this coat that I had inherited from my aunt, and I will tell you that I remember when she bought this coat, and I probably was like ten years old, and I know that for her, she was a single woman, made her own money, and for her, the purchase of this coat meant something to her. It meant that she had arrived in some way. And when she passed away, she didn't have any kids, didn't have a spouse, and the thought of this coat ending up in the trash, yeah, did something to me. I was like, well, we can't, we can't just leave it. But I didn't think that I was going to wear it. But then I was like, if I'm going to have it, maybe I should wear it. And this idea of there's a difference between vintage for vintage leather and new things, and this very kind letter to us was like, we understand why you think that. However, it really doesn't make a difference whether something comes from nineteen forty six or twenty twenty six. I would love for you to explain that to us. Explain that thinking, because I think what a lot of people believe. Like you said, people love animals. They don't like the idea of an animal having been hurt, but there is a feeling that it happened such a long time ago, and this item already exists in the world. What is the harm in my keeping it, having it, wearing it? Sure, that's a great question.

00:49:13
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I think, first of all, I would say that for is a great example of something where I think a lot of our of our relatives, a lot of people we love, probably owned them, wore them, wore them while cuddling with their dogs, you know, just really like war them without ever thinking that they were doing anything harmful. My grandmother's and my mother are both examples of this. And I remember my mom looking very glamorous in the eighties and these, you know, big fur coats, and I wanted one and I had one. I got one as a child. But fast forward, we know so much more now than we did, you.

00:49:57
Speaker 1: Know, did it that time?

00:49:58
Speaker 4: Of course, And as a result, furr has come to be so synonymous with cruelty to animals that almost every major designer has dropped it. Most major brands have dropped it, that's true. Banned from the runways of New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week and several other international fashion weeks.

00:50:22
Speaker 2: Vogue won't publish it in editorials anymore.

00:50:24
Speaker 4: I mean, it is truly almost universally seen as just being unacceptable. Now, the problem with wearing vintage fur is to kind of put it in the context here. It's that's a precedent that these things are you know that we're not okay with them, but well, you know, we can live with the fact that they happened, instead of saying, you know, no, like that the idea of having something in my house that came from an animal who was vaginally electrocuted, you know, or who had her skin ripped off of her while she was still alive. I mean, if that was if that was a Dalmatian coat, if that was a Persian cap coat, I think we'd be saying, get this away from me, like absolutely not, no, we don't think that that kind of cruelty should be even tacitly endorsed.

00:51:19
Speaker 1: It's less that like this actually killed an animal recently and is continuing to contribute to an industry that is killing animals, and more that like what it represents well exactly, okay, okay.

00:51:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I mean I think again, to put it in context, I think most of us if we inherited a piece of art from our family that was just hideously sexist, you know, that was cruel or violent towards women, or that was racist, we wouldn't say, well, it was a different time and like hanging on the wall, we would just want it out.

00:51:52
Speaker 1: Yeah. So what do you suggest people do with like their vintage fur, because we have some fur for you today that we would like to donate. But what do you suggest the people at home, the people listening who were watching, what is like the tea? What do you do with that mink coat that you got from grandma? What do you do with it? What do you suggest?

00:52:09
Speaker 4: Well, so the story that you were telling is one that Peta started hearing from a lot of people once our fur campaigns, you know this is back before my time, but started getting a lot of attention, and once people's ideas about fur really started to shift. We started hearing from a lot of people who would say, I'm not going to wear this, but I inherited it from someone I loved.

00:52:31
Speaker 2: It seems wasteful to just throw it away. What do I do?

00:52:34
Speaker 4: So we started a program where people could donate their furs that they already owned, and then we would repurpose them in a number of ways. One of the most common has been we donate them to refugees or like people living in refugee gems intents who are just literally freezing and trying to stay warm from the elements. And it's not when they put on a coat. It's not a fashion statement. It's literally trying to survive. We've donated them actually, in some cases to wildlife sanctuaries because sleeping on fur is actually comforting for orphaned animals.

00:53:13
Speaker 1: This is what my mom did with our grandma passed away. My mom was like, I'm never gonna wear these coats since she donated them to the local shelter and they've let the puppies kind of sleep on them. It was pretty cute.

00:53:24
Speaker 4: I think it's kind of a way too, especially if it came from someone you cared about, to honor them and the fact that they certainly didn't intend to cause any harm, but you know, to sort of bring things into the modern era and also honor what we know now, to have something good come out of something that really is very sad if you look at how it came about.

00:53:51
Speaker 2: Point well taken. And I appreciate that explanation. I had been thinking about this when I was when I realized that you were going to come on. What do you feel like is the overarching goal of PETA would Peter like to see more veganism? Like what ideally? What would you not? You actually or maybe yes, or maybe you actually, but like, what what do we feel like Peter really wants from the average person?

00:54:20
Speaker 4: Sure, Peter's mission statement is that animals exist for their own purposes, okay, and that they are not ours to exploit. You know, that they ultimately exist for their own purposes and not to be worn and eaten and used in experiments and used for entertainment and commodified and just again exploited in any way. And so I think what that means for most people is that there are so many areas of our lives where the average person they're making choices throughout the day. I mean most most people now who you encounter, who are encountering Pete's campaigns, have more options about what they're eating, what they're wearing, how they're spending their you know, recreational time than people have ever had in the history of humanity. People like to ask vegans and like animal rights activists a lot of the time, well, what if you were stuck on a desert island, would you know? Would you eat an animal? Would you wear an animal? And the thing is, we're not talking to that person stuck on that.

00:55:29
Speaker 2: Theoretical desert correct, correct, correct, We're talking to people who have.

00:55:33
Speaker 1: A whole foods right.

00:55:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you know, you have stash, You have so many options. So ultimately, we're asking people to just make different choices. And for most of us that is literally as easy as saying I'm going to eat this instead of that, I'm going to wear this instead of that. It's a small decision throughout the day. For us, it is literally the difference between a lifetime of suffering and a very violent death for an animal.

00:56:01
Speaker 1: And I'm glad, I'm glad you kind of like explained that it comes down to, like a simple choice that this isn't like, you know, an absolute right. It comes down to, like we're all dealing with a lot. The news cycles have been absolutely insane lately. How are we all like surviving in this world? And like, how do we also then try and think about how we are being ethical consumers? How are we ethically you know, treating animals right? And so I think thinking of it as making a small choice, a small change here and there when we can whatever is your personal individual circumstance, and how you sort of start to incorporate those ideals if you believe them into your life. When you did mention refugees and first for them, we have someone called in, So we have let people call in with questions, and someone called him because he had a situation that he wanted to kind of ask you about. So, if you don't mind, we would love to play the clips CJ. If you want to, absolutely. Yeah.

00:56:55
Speaker 5: My grandpa left me for a coat that is a beautiful thing, but I don't wear it, and so I donated it to the homeless guy on the corner and keeping warm in the winter. You're going to tell me that he has to throw that thing in the garbage like whether the coat's in the garbage or in the closet or keeping this guy warm. No animals are getting killed either way, no one. It doesn't matter to the animal what happens to their carcass.

00:57:21
Speaker 2: Like many many years down the line, just going to.

00:57:24
Speaker 5: You're gonna take this coat off of this poor guy's back.

00:57:30
Speaker 1: Thank you for thank you for calling him. We always love our sells listeners. People got very excited.

00:57:35
Speaker 2: But I think that that is the perception that people have, right, Peter wants to take a fur coat off a homeless guy.

00:57:45
Speaker 1: You know, And that's that narrative you were talking about rights where your organization is often portrayed in.

00:57:51
Speaker 2: Media, right, And I think it's more of a perception right than reality, right, that Peter is not going to suggest that you rip a coat off of a homeless person. You're going to actually do the opposite. But I but I think if you had not said that to me, if I had not gotten that letter, if I don't think that I would know that. And I think that that is also because of being afraid of what I'm going to see when I log onto Peter's Instagram page, for example, Am I going to see something that is going to disturb me, and I don't want because I think we feel this needs to protect ourselves. I don't want to see.

00:58:30
Speaker 1: That we're disturbed. There are so.

00:58:33
Speaker 2: Many things that are really deeply upsetting that this is not something that I want to see. So I may not take the time to engage with Peter on social media or go to their website or go to a meeting or what have you, because I'm going to see something that I cannot unsee. And once you've rung that bell, it's permanently in there, and I can see why there's a case for that and against it.

00:58:59
Speaker 1: I also think it's like what you said about like making a small choice, Like that's very accessible and easy for a lot of people. It's like, Okay, my small choice is I'm not going to buy anything with fur in it. Like that is like feasible and doable for me, a busy person who's just like trying to make it through the day without passing out. So like I loved hearing that because it's like, okay, cool, Like I like the pressure's off if I yeah, if I slip up, like I'll figure it out. But like just being real with people and understanding that people are humans and that we're just trying to make it and get by is like a very refreshing perspective. I think from what the rumors and the bias that we came into this interview with, I would say.

00:59:39
Speaker 4: The thing is, I think we see it as part of our job to make people aware of the choices they have, aware of how.

00:59:49
Speaker 2: Easy they can be.

00:59:51
Speaker 4: We work to make them more accessible by working with companies. Just earlier this week, we launched an ad with Alan Cumming where he's wearing all vegan leather. He has this this leather jacket on, but it was it was an All Saints jacket. I mean, it's something that anyone could or I mean it's literally again one of those things where it's like this or.

01:00:09
Speaker 2: That, So cactus leather hackt this leather interesting, I've never heard of that.

01:00:13
Speaker 4: And actually, so if you go to PEDS social media, yes, you know we do have some things that are hard to see, but we actually have a ton of information about all the alternatives that people have and how amazing they are. I mean, we have such incredible options and the same goes for food and so that is you know, that's part of our job too. And that's something we work at. We want to make these things available, accessible, like to show people how wonderful they are. That it's not about depriving yourself of things. It's just about choosing things that are actually better. And I think actually making these little choices throughout the day is incredibly empowering because if you look at the impact these choices have, I mean they're small for us, they're big in their impact. I mean just the environmental impact you can have by choosing a vegan meal, the environmental impact you can have by choosing a vegan leather jacket, it's actually quite significant. And those things add up. And in a world where everything feels so out of control, it's kind of amazing to actually be able to wake up in the morning and say, Okay, I can't change everything right now, but I can.

01:01:25
Speaker 1: Have coconut yogurt.

01:01:26
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean it sounds it. Actually, it sounds like what you're saying is it's not all or nothing. You can make these small changes in your life, these small decisions that will have a larger impact, and not doing so doesn't necessarily make you like this evil person that is going to come after in the middle of the night. And drag you out of your bed. No, and I know, but I appreciate that. And I think that I think that this conversation that we've had and the fact that Michael and I were talking about this great letter that we because I was really I was really touched by it. And I and I've told everyone in my circle, be like, I got this great letter from Peta. Hear that because it was a completely flies in the face of what I think I thought Peta was like mean, angry. Right.

01:02:19
Speaker 4: That's always so funny to me because yeah, like everyone I work with there literally the nicest people in the room.

01:02:25
Speaker 2: But again, if you're abusing animals, well you know if you but if you're abusing animals, you deserve what you get.

01:02:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, So thank you for coming on the show. We would love to give you this for to give to a refugee, a homeless person, whatever you need to do with that.

01:02:41
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know you whatever, Actually you will look at it and take it back to your office and you will. It's a first dole and a I think a lamb mm jacket okay.

01:02:55
Speaker 1: But very warm for maybe puppies or orphan like whatever.

01:02:59
Speaker 4: You thank you so much for making this choice, and thank you for sharing it, you know, with your audience, so that they can actually think about this and and think about whether they want to make the same choice, because it's so much better to have these pieces just go to do something good in the world than it is to just sort of have them as a skeleton in your closet.

01:03:22
Speaker 1: Literally, do you want to tell do you want to tell them where they can donate their furs if they have them from their grounds?

01:03:29
Speaker 2: Is it only fur or do you take other items as well?

01:03:32
Speaker 4: We we've had people don't donate other items, donate like, you know, exotic animal skin items and you know, even leather items. But yes, So anyone who would like to donate a fur or another item you know, made for animals to PETE that doesn't really fit with their ethics anymore, it can go to our website peta dot org. We have an entire page about our for donation program. You can actually get a tax right off from doing it because it's a donation. It goes down as a donation to Beta. So all the information is there about weird to send it, how to send it, and then how to clean that right off.

01:04:09
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thank you for joining us.

01:04:11
Speaker 2: Yes, it was a great conversation. Thank you everyally. You appreciate it. We appreciate it. Thank you.

01:04:17
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Brief Recess. We're going to de tails from the DMS. We want to get to all your burning questions, all the weird, wacky, crazy, wild, incredible, interesting, insane things that you messaged me through social media or at brief Recess, at exactly rightmedia dot com, or in my link tree, you can click on record a message that you can send to us.

01:04:37
Speaker 2: As I always say, friends, while Michael is a lawyer, he's not your lawyer. So the advice that you hear here, here I go again.

01:04:44
Speaker 1: No, let it leave the slip up in Let people know that you're human. You're too perfect and beautiful and amazing. I want them to know that you make mistakes every now and then. I'm not your fucking lawyer. Okay, so everyone calm down.

01:04:54
Speaker 2: Michael not your lawyer.

01:04:55
Speaker 1: Your favorite teenage Minnesota and wrote us an awesome email.

01:04:58
Speaker 2: I love that. So here's what she said. Hi, guys, I want to start off by saying how much I appreciate what you guys are doing for your podcast. I love learning about what is happening in the real world. Both your humor and insight make it both entertaining and enlightening. AnyWho, I'm a high school student in the surrounding Twin Cities area, and as we are all aware of, my state is going through some shit. But this is very publicized brutality that has happened here before. This made me feel so old. George Floyd was killed when she was in elementary school.

01:05:29
Speaker 1: Oh my god. That's oh my, that makes me feel really well.

01:05:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. Now that I'm older, I'm able to understand more about what happened then and recognize the impact that it's having on my community. I was just going to write a paragraph of questions but was but it was overwhelming, so I put them in bullet points and said, so, here are the questions that she has. What are the parallels that you've noticed between George Floyd and the current shootings.

01:05:52
Speaker 1: Oh that's really interesting. I mean, have you seen This is not a legal question, so let's jump in. I mean, I have certain I've been thinking more about like the public outcry and the way that it has sort of taken over media and everyone's conversations in social media. That's the parallel I have really noticed, not necessarily in like the way people are, but I guess they're very similar in the violence against Yeah, I mean I think.

01:06:17
Speaker 2: I think the similarity that I am seeing is that is sort of this collective outrage, right, and the people who are outraged versus the people who are not. It tracks right, right, So the person who would say, well, if George Floyd had just cooperated, then he wouldn't have.

01:06:37
Speaker 1: Been Yeah, those people are tragedy to tragedy, maintaining the same.

01:06:41
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And these are the same people who are like, well if they were here legally, well, if she hadn't been in her car she tried to run him over, or if Alex pretty hadn't liked.

01:06:51
Speaker 1: Oh well, why didn't we fight that? Yeah? Why was he why was he filming?

01:06:55
Speaker 2: All of that really tracks for me. So it's the same people who were not outraged about George Floyd are also not outraged the best, right.

01:07:03
Speaker 1: And then the similarity of you know, officer person correct killing someone for literally no reason is the other.

01:07:12
Speaker 2: Man similarity that I see.

01:07:15
Speaker 1: Our favorite Minnesota and also asked how likely am I to witness something or be in a position where I have to do something. I mean, that's really hard to answer. It's it's changing every day. I would say that we're all witnessing things here all the time. I have a friend who put out on her stoop whistles for ice for people to take one to have on them in case they see ice. I know someone who saw ice trying to abduct a child on the New York City subway the other day and intervened and got them released. So it is unfortunately possible. It is certainly possible that you'll witness something or be in a position where you have to do something that is like a conversation between you and your parents. I do not want to be telling you what to do for sure, but I do know of some great volunteer organizations that you can reach out to who might be able to guide you in ways that you could be involved. I know that hands on Twin Cities dot org is a great one.

01:08:10
Speaker 2: And the other thing to our favorite teenage Minnesotian we are I have your email address. We're going to get back to you, and I'm going to share these links with you and also will put them in our socials sure and our show notes so that everybody has access to them, I would I really want to stress to you that it's really important. I hope that you're in a position where you can really talk to your folks about this stuff, because if you are under age, we want you to get their permission right. We don't want people want to go out there and get themselves in trouble. And the other thing, I had this thought, and I was wondering what you thought about this.

01:08:46
Speaker 1: Sure, I know.

01:08:47
Speaker 2: That you were really interested in doing something that is sort of immigration related. I do have an email out to an organization in your community to ask about that, waiting to hear back from them. But I wonder what you think about just this idea of volunteering in general, right, so that if you are not able to volunteer with a legal organization because you're too young, there's a part of me that feels like volunteering in general. It's sort of like the good deed gets passed one.

01:09:21
Speaker 1: You have no idea how many tangential nonprofits support my work that you would never even guess. I work with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies CRGS. I think it is it's a I go to them for legal brief templates sometimes and I think it's like this group of researchers and librarians and legal brains who work at this nonprofit. And I'll have a migrant in a unique situation with a very unusual background or something that they are just a perspective or an issue that they're facing in the court system, and it's a one of a kind one and I bring it to them and I say, hey, I've got this client, this is what's happening. And they say, oh, here's a stack of ten other briefs where this thing happened. You can use them as a template. They redact everything for me, and it makes my life so much easier, so I can then get to court quickly and help that person with real legal precedent behind me. And a lot of those folks aren't lawyers. A lot of it's not even really like an immigration nonprofit. I think it's like a it's part of a university or college or something like. I'm honestly not sure. Okay, So there are so many nonprofits that have ways that you can help indirectly that really make a big difference. It doesn't have to be and it could be local. It could be helping at the local church soup kitchen. I saw some awesome protesters. It was like all women over the age of like seventy five that were all retirees, and they worked in shifts protesting in my small town where I grew up. Telling this, it was so cute and like, it's these little things that really are death by a thousand paper cuts for fascism.

01:10:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean there are a lot of things that I think you can do from where you are, And I also feel like you will likely be more successful at whatever it is if you feel an affinity towards the thing, right, so that if your thing is animals, Michael was saying that there are a lot of people who are getting picked up by eyes, and those animals, the animals of those people who've been picked up, are being dumped at shelters.

01:11:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, go walk the dogs out the shelter.

01:11:23
Speaker 2: The dog at the shelter, you know, go socialize the cast. I think there are a lot of things that you can do.

01:11:28
Speaker 1: And a lot of the people who are like, oh, there's nothing I can do a dread doom scrolling, Try and do one little thing to volunteer, and I guarantee you're going to feel better.

01:11:37
Speaker 2: You are going to feel better, try to make a difference in your community. I thought this was really funny. It's something that she said. She My final question is do you not have a pick? Do you not have a profile picture for your email? Because I wrote to you and I had no idea if I was writing to the right person or not. You might want to get on that.

01:11:55
Speaker 1: I love a teenager, and.

01:12:00
Speaker 2: I know and I love from your sort of your gen X auntie, and you're a millennial uncle, your gunkle.

01:12:09
Speaker 1: Point taken, point well taken. We really need to get a profile photo up there. All right, call exactly right. I get them on the phone.

01:12:16
Speaker 2: But you're you're going to hear from us directly, and we really really appreciate you listening. We appreciate you having this desire to be helpful, and we love that your sort of optimism.

01:12:30
Speaker 1: She said. I love your podcast. I hope you don't I don't see you in court was how she signed the email. I hope you don't see me she or they or he, I don't know. I'm not sure, but thank you for writing in. That was tell us from the DMS. We've got some other questions that we're going to get you next time. I promise we're going to get to them. I guess I'm gonna see you in court, not me. Well, and now that Peter came on the show, what I'll just I guess I'll just say what my soy shape brings all the vegan voice to the yard.

01:12:58
Speaker 2: I hate you.

01:13:01
Speaker 1: This has been an exactly right production recorded at iHeart Studios, hosted by Me, Michael Foot.

01:13:06
Speaker 2: And me Melissa Albrant. Our producer is CJ. Ferroni.

01:13:10
Speaker 1: This episode was edited by Nicholas Galucci.

01:13:12
Speaker 2: Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, and our guest booker is Patria Cottner.

01:13:16
Speaker 1: Our theme song was composed by Tom Brifogel with artwork from Charlotte Delarue Manessa Lilac, with photography by Brad Obono.

01:13:23
Speaker 2: Brief Recess is executive produced by Karen Kilgareff, Georgia hart Stark, and Danielle Kramer.

01:13:28
Speaker 1: You can find me on Instagram at Department of Redundancy Department or on TikTok at Michael Foot.

01:13:33
Speaker 2: And I'm on both Instagram and TikTok as Melissa Albrant got.

01:13:37
Speaker 1: Legal questions, reach out at Brief Recess at exactlyrightmedia dot com. Listen to brief Recess on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and of course we're a podcasts with video. Search for brief Recess on YouTube