Ep. 69: “Animal Liberation / Human Liberation” feat. Prof. Robert Porzel

YouTube link

“Where there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.” -Tolstoy

Prof. Robert Porzel is a national representative for “Physicians against Animal Testing” and founder of the animal rights group “T-Zelle,” which aims to establish intersectional collaboration between social movements. The current network connects about 20 individual groups and organizations in the state of Bremen, Germany. In January of 2019 he was elected as national speaker of the German Greens party for animal policies. Apart from his activism, he is a lecturer and researcher in the field of artificial intelligence at the University of Bremen.

Robert & I have known each other since 1987, when we were assigned as roommates during our freshman year at college together. Back then, we often talked for hours and hours, and though many years have passed, we easily found a groove in our conversation here. We covered a lot of topics including the lack of scientific basis for animal testing; alternatives for testing medicines that don’t involve animals; the ecological cost of agriculture generally and animal agriculture specifically; the connection between the oppression of animals by humans and the oppression of certain humans by other humans; the cognitive dissonance of loving some animals while eating others; veganic agriculture; health issues related to eating animal products; the many issues with dairy production and consumption; how wild animals are sacrificed for the ranching industry; the importance of stepping outside cultural perspectives; the signficance of social media communication; the relationship of capitalism to animal agriculture; reformism vs. abolition in social change; the increasingly serious effects of climate chaos; and what positive things that people can do both for animals and for human survival.

Papers by Prof. Porzel

This episode’s introduction music is assembled from loops by Doctor Dreamchip. You can follow them here: Youtube | Instagram | Patreon

Support me on Patreon:
patreon.com/kollibri

or leave me a tip with PayPal or Venmo