Harvard’s Animal Law Clinic Is Closing, Chicks Are Still Being Ground Up, and the Meat Industry Is Panicking. Just Another Week. | Rising Anxieties

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann digs into the uncomfortable gap between what institutions say and what they do — starting with Harvard Law School’s baffling decision to shutter its fully-enrolled Animal Law Clinic. From there: the industry’s coordinated PR campaign against plant-based alternatives (spoiler: they’re scared), the ongoing farce of in-ovo sexing technology being “not ready” for the US market, and a children’s book about chickens that ends with a recipe. Listen in and then bring your spirits back up with five actual reasons to feel good about being vegan in 2026.

• Harvard Law School is closing its Animal Law Clinic despite full enrollment and a waitlist — raising serious questions about who’s pulling strings at one of the country’s most prestigious law schools
• The meat and dairy industries are playing offense against plant-based and lab-grown alternatives, and their own trade press admits it’s because they watched dairy lose 15% of sales to oat milk
• In-ovo sexing technology — which could end the mass killing of male chicks — is being dismissed by egg producers not because it doesn’t work, but because it might not be good enough forever
• A Saskatchewan chicken industry book for children promises “an accurate picture” of chicken farming and ends with a recipe — a bold choice
• Chris Bryant’s YouTube video “5 Reasons for Vegans to Be Optimistic in 2026” is worth watching immediately after this episode, as a palate cleanser

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode’s interview.

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Join hostesses Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan on this unique and fun award-winning podcast that focuses on changing the world for animals.

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