Herd Around the Barn

Herd Around the Barn


Free The Animals: PETA President Ingrid Newkirk Speaks on Decades of Animal Activism

June 21, 2022

Referred to as the “Queen of the Animal Rights Movement” by Rich Roll, PETA co-founder and bestselling author Ingrid Newkirk joins Kathy on the podcast this week to talk about the 30th anniversary edition of her landmark novel, Free The Animals: The Amazing, True Story of the Animal Liberation Front in North America. In this incredible episode, Kathy and Ingrid will talk about:

  • How Ingrid responds to criticism about PETA’s more “controversial” protest tactics
  • Free The Animals unique story as a fictional novel “completely based on fact” from the early days of the animal rights movement
  • The role of the Animal Liberation Front in PETA’s early days in the 1980s, and the widespread misunderstanding the ALF faced from the government and the media
  • The Research Modernization Deal, a fully constructed proposal from PETA to create animal-free testing in the United States
  • The story of Britches, a monkey who was rescued from horrific lab testing and eventually found a happily ever after with a surrogate mother 
  • The exciting news that animal activist and Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix acquiring the film rights for the book


Find Free The Animals anywhere books are sold!


To find cruelty-free products and services online, check out PETA’s links here:


Follow PETA on all social media:


Connect with Kathy Stevens: