The Best Messaging for Animal Rights (with Tom Harris) (Ep. 29)

The Simple Heart w/ Wayne Hsiung

Tom Harris was sent to prison for running a lawful campaign against an animal testing company in the United Kingdom. What can we learn from his experience about why so many, in the government and otherwise, hate activists for animal rights?

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More information:

Website: https://shacjustice.com/

Tom’s book: “Your Neighbour Kills Puppies: Inside the Animal Liberation Movement”:

https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745348698/your-neighbour-kills-puppies/

Follow Tom:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tattoo_tom/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.tattooist

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tattootom/

Website: https://tomharris.me/

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Chapters:

Chapter 1) 00:00-5:19 Intro: on the hate toward veganism & animal rights activism

Chapter 2) 5:20-24:10 Tom on the SHAC campaign in the UK & in other countries, & Wayne on the SHAC campaign in the US

Chapter 3) 24:11-35:47 The pressure campaign on Marshall BioResources (MBR Acres/Camp Beagle), cultural campaigns vs pressure campaigns, SHAC’s founders, & learning from past campaigns/activists

Chapter 4) 35:48-54:29 Grassroots activism in the early 2000s & organizational structure of activism groups now, & Tom’s work rebuilding local grassroots activism groups

Chapter 5) 54:30-1:00:11 National politics/activism vs local politics/activism, different types of addictions, & learning from past campaigns/activists

Chapter 6) 1:00:12-1:26:25 Activist infighting & different ways to do activism in person

Chapter 7) 1:26:26-1:39:00 What were/are the local grassroots activism groups, more on Tom’s work on rebuilding local grassroots activism groups, & studying other social justice movements

Chapter 8) 1:39:01-1:46:37 The beginning of Tom’s activism journey in childhood

Chapter 9) 1:46:38-1:50:24 Music & identity politics

Chapter 10) 1:50:25-1:55:26 Tom joining the animal rights movement & becoming vegan

Chapter 11) 1:55:27-2:09:22 Tom’s journey to jail for nonviolent activism: on biotech billionaire named David Sainsbury, actions of SHAC infiltrator Adrian Radford & SHAC informant Chris Potter, & activists raided in 2007 & SHAC campaign ended in 2014

Chapter 12) 2:09:23-2:19:21 Open organizing & underground actions

Chapter 13) 2:19:22-2:27:08 Tom’s advice to activists/advocates, getting through & being prepared for jail, buy Tom’s book (link above), & follow Tom on social media (links above)

Chapter 14) 2:27:09-2:27:25 Outro video: Thank you for watching! Please Subscribe. Acknowledgments to the Podcast Team: Joe Allman, Adam Durand, & Chloe Leffakis

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Books mentioned:

“Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community” by Robert D. Putnam

“Why David Sometimes Wins: Leadership, Organization, and Strategy in the California Farm Worker Movement” by Marshall Ganz

“Your Neighbour Kills Puppies: Inside the Animal Liberation Movement” by Tom Harris

Movies mentions:

“Animal People” (Documentary, 2019)