NBSV 214: Life is an improvisation: Bob Wiseman on music, mortality, and veganism
Release Date: 01/20/2026
NBSV 228: Nabaasa Innocent on building the first vegan society in Uganda
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
Growing up in a farming community in Southwestern Uganda eventually led Nabaasa Innocent to animal welfare work, and to organizing the country's first vegan festival. Founder of Uganda Vegan Society (now transitioning into Humane Shift Alliance Africa) and senior co-manager of Thrive Africa at Thrive Philanthropy, Nabaasa joins me to talk about why veganism gets dismissed as "a Western concept" in Uganda even though plant-based eating has always been the norm there. We also discuss how her organization is shifting its language from "vegan" to "plant-based" to reach more people, getting kids...
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NBSV 227: Rare steak to whole-food plant-based: Skepticism, longevity, and running a vegan cafe, with Dr. Phil Narini
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
Dr. Phil Narini spent decades hunting, fishing, and eating meat-centric Italian home cooking before a single lecture on fish and mercury changed his and his wife's eating habits overnight — no cravings, no willpower. Fifteen years later, he's a reconstructive plastic surgeon who insists he's not a nutrition expert (and thinks you should be suspicious of anyone who claims to be), co-founder of a whole-food plant-based café built on the idea that healthy food has to taste good first, and an outspoken advocate for scientific skepticism over Instagram influencers. We get into the "trifecta"...
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NBSV 226: Pull-ups, protein, and the myth of the apolitical gym, with andrea bennett
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
Gym culture likes to pretend it's apolitical: just protein, PRs, and personal responsibility. My guest this week isn't buying it. andrea bennett is a senior editor at The Tyee and the author of several books, including Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence, which won a Taste Canada Gold Award. andrea also happens to be my open water swim buddy of several years, and the author of a recent Tyee piece on how MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) is trying to co-opt fitness culture, and why progressives shouldn't let it. We get into the difference between training...
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NBSV 225: Eat more plants, celebrate imperfection: Molly Patrick on ditching diet culture for good
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
Co-founder of Clean Food Dirty Girl and certified life coach, Molly Patrick, joins me to talk about why knowing *what* to eat is only half the battle. We dig into the mindset work behind lasting behaviour change, why abundance — not restriction — is the real engine of sustainable eating, and how dismantling shame-based diet culture is just as important as knowing what to put on your plate. Molly also gets candid about her decade of sobriety, and why the best thing you can do for the non-vegans in your life is to stop lecturing them.
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You're invited to my 40th birthday online taco party!
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
I'm turning 40 in a few days, so (obviously) I’m hosting an online taco party Hope to see you there! Cook along with me, or just watch and hang out. We’ll do a book giveaway, Q&A, and share vegan intel with likeminded folks. Join me on Wednesday, June 17 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern. It’s free, it’s going to be a super-fun community event, and I’d love to celebrate with you. Grab your spot at !
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NBSV 224: Veganism, fashion, food, and sustainability in Ghana with Nana-Serwa Mancell
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
Five years after her first appearance on the show, Nana-Serwa Mancell returns to share her journey from running a vegan African food business in Dubai to building a sustainability-focused retreat and community space in Ghana. We discuss West African vegan food traditions, overlooked plant protein sources, ethical tourism, sustainable fashion, environmental challenges in Ghana, and why she believes Africa’s future is full of innovation, creativity, and hope.
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Turning 40 and launching a Patreon!
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
I’m announcing the brand-new Patreon for the No-Bullsh!t Vegan podcast and giving you a peek at what’s inside. Check it out at patreon.com/noBSvegan! If the podcast has helped you feel stronger, more informed, more connected, or more confident in your vegan life, this is one way to help keep it growing, while getting some fun (and possibly unhinged) bonus content and behind-the-scenes access along the way. Thank you for being part of my little corner of the internet. Whether you support on Patreon, listen every week, or just send me memes occasionally, I appreciate you!
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NBSV 223: Dr. Michael Klaper’s mission to change medical education
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
After going vegan in 1981, Dr. Michael Klaper has spent decades helping patients use food to reverse chronic disease. He's now focused on a new mission: changing medical education from the inside out. We talk about his transition to veganism in the early 1980s, the moment he realized food was at the root of many chronic diseases, and why most doctors still receive shockingly little nutrition education. Dr. Klaper also shares the work he’s doing through Moving Medicine Forward to bring nutrition science into medical schools across North America. We discuss: why nutrition is still...
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NBSV 222: Paul Erlandson on ethical veganism and running an animal sanctuary
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
What does it mean to treat veganism not just as an identity, but as a practice? I’m joined by Paul Erlandson, co-founder of Rivendell Sanctuary, for a conversation about animal sanctuaries, ethical veganism, mindfulness, and the relationships we build with farmed animals when we actually get to know them as individuals. Paul shares the story of how he and his wife started their sanctuary from scratch during the pandemic, why their first rescued pigs changed everything, and how his decades-long spiritual practice shaped his approach to veganism. We also get into some nuanced territory: rescue...
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NBSV 221: It’s never too late to get strong (even in your 70s), with Jane Thurnell-Read
No-Bullsh!t Vegan
Strength training in later life might be one of the most important things you can do for your health. Jane Thurnell-Read—vegan, author, activist, and 78-year-old strength athlete—joins me to share how she went from thinking she was “too old for the gym” to deadlifting 160 pounds and getting stronger every year. We get into what actually changes when you start lifting later in life, why it’s never too late to build strength, and how that strength shows up in everyday life. We also dig into the mindset side of aging: the myths that keep people stuck, and what most folks get wrong about...
info_outline5-time Juno Award winner and founding member of Blue Rodeo Bob Wiseman joins me for a wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation about music, aging, and what it actually looks like to live vegan for decades—long before it was mainstream or convenient.
Bob and I talk about his early days with macrobiotics and touring as a long-term vegan, why grocery stores matter more than restaurants on the road, and how the West Coast quietly led the way on plant-based food culture. We dig into improvisation—not just as a musical practice, but as a way of understanding life itself—and why the idea that music isn’t improvised is philosophically questionable at best.
We also get into aging and mortality: how perspective shifts in your 40s, 50s, and 60s; what it means to start losing people you love; and why long-term health habits matter, even though nothing is guaranteed. Along the way, Bob shares stories about teaching beginners, learning accordion on a whim, raising a vegetarian kid in a mixed-diet household, and why trying to force change on other people rarely works.
This episode is funny, reflective, a little wackadoodle, and full of big ideas about creativity, compassion, and playing the long game—on stage and in life.