#upliftingcontent – Anitha Rao-Robinson

Episode 146: Kindness Is Creating Frankie’s World–Advocating for one of society’s most misrepresented beings, rats.

Published on December 10, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Mariah Madigan, the founder of Frankie’s World joins Anitha to talk about her journey to creating a sanctuary for rats.

Mariah first fell in love with rats when an adorable rat named Frankie came into her life. Frankie was such a great companion for Mariah and when Frankie passed, Mariah decided to create a sanctuary to honour her soulmate.

Mariah realizes that most folks have negative preconceptions about rats but she also knows that once folks meet a rat their opinions quickly change. Folks realize how smart and clean and affectionate rats truly are. Sadly, rats have been treated very badly in society. From being subjected to cruel experiments and medical testing, to being depicted as dirty and basically maligned. But once you actually learn the truth about rats, you realize they are clean, smart, very affectionate and make great companions.

This is such heartwarming episode to get us into the holiday spirit of love and compassion for all beings.

To find out more about Mariah and the incredible sanctuary she has created, check out these sites:

Frankie’s World Website

Frankie’s World on Instagram

As a thank you to Mariah for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Frankie’s World.

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 139: Kindness Is Fulfilling Edgar’s Mission—How a photo shoot with a pig grew into a sanctuary for farm animals.

Published on October 22, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Pam Ahern, the founder of Edgar’s Mission, a farm sanctuary in Australia, joins Anitha to talk about her journey to help animals.

Pam talks about meeting Edgar for the first time and how a one-time photo shoot to raise awareness about the plight of farmed animals, turned into a lifelong adventure to rescue pigs, chickens, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, alpacas, turkeys and others who were once part of the meat and dairy industry.

Pam shares stories of some of the individuals she has had the privilege of knowing. From Edgar, who inspired Pam to start the sanctuary to a cow named Clarabelle who was pregnant when she came to Edgar’s Mission. Clarabelle, like all dairy cows, was impregnated over and over to produce milk for human consumption. And her babies? They were always ripped away from her soon after birth. But safe in sanctuary, Clarabelle finally had a baby she could keep forever. Pam shares more heartwarming stories of other residents, too!

Despite knowing all she knows and seeing all she has, Pam believes there is kindness in the world. Her voice is full of hope when she talks about the sanctuary and all the humans who have helped it become what it is today—a safe and loving home for rescued farmed animals.

An episode full of resilience and hope and love.

To learn more about the kind folks at Edgar’s Mission and the wonderful beings they care for, check out these links:

Edgar’s Mission Facebook
Edgar’s Mission Instagram
Edgar’s Mission TikTok

As a thank you to Pam for sharing her story, Anitha donated to The Open Sanctuary Project. This organization provides free and accessible digital resources for anyone wanting to responsibly create or manage an animal sanctuary and/or provide the best possible care for animals so they can live long and healthy lives. To learn more about this organization, check out their website:

Website – Open Sanctuary

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 136:Kindness Is Helping Primates Together—How a group of sanctuaries work together to help primates.

Published on October 1, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Amanda (Andy) Gray joins Anitha to talk about NAPSA (North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance) an incredible organization dedicated to uniting the primate sanctuary community.

Of course, Andy and Anitha talk about the wonderful work NAPSA sanctuaries are doing to provide enrichment and professional lifetime care to primates. But they also talk about the reasons primates, who are not native to North America, end up in sanctuaries in this part of the world. From bio-medical research to entertainment to the exotic pet trade, all of these industries use and cause primates immense harm and suffering.

Fortunately, sanctuaries such as those who are part of NAPSA work tirelessly to end the exploitation of primates.

A compelling conversation about caring for our closest relatives and how we can all advocate on their behalf.

To learn more about NAPSA, their member sanctuaries and how you can support their work, check out the following links:

NAPSA’s website

NAPSA on Facebook

NAPSA on Instagram

As a thank you to Andy for sharing her story, Anitha donated to GIVING DAY FOR APES. In its 12th year, Giving Day for Apes is a worldwide event bringing together thousands of donors to rescue and protect apes across Africa, Asia, and North America. The live event takes place on Tuesday, October 7th, but you don’t have to wait – Early Giving is open now!

To learn more about GIVING DAY FOR APES, click here:

Giving Day For Apes

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 135: Kindness Is Ethical Wildlife Tourism—How to enjoy your trip while respecting wildlife

Published on September 29, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Travelling to faraway places can create lovely memories but does it come at the expense of wildlife?

Connie Needham joins Anitha to talk about ways to enjoy your holiday without causing harm to animals.

The two chat about experiences such as elephant rides and photo-ops with wildlife and the harm these activities inflict on the animal and most likely their family and habitat.

Connie shares things we can all do to have fun on our holiday while increasing the likelihood that our actions don’t cause harm to another being.

A great episode for those who love to travel and love animals.

To learn more about ethical wildlife tourism you can follow Connie here:

As a thank you to Connie for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Wild Futures Monkey Sanctuary, a registered charity founded in 1964. This charity is committed to protecting primates and habitats all over the world. To learn more about the work they do, check out their website:

Wild Futures

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 134: Kindness Is Zoocheck— Advocating to end the abuse, neglect & exploitation of wild animals.

Published on September 17, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Rob Laidlaw, the founder of Zoocheck joins Anitha to talk about his journey into animal activism. For over 40 years, Rob has been speaking up for wildlife. From his initial efforts to close down horrific roadside zoos to helping three elephants, who spent their lives in captivity, find a sanctuary, there is no limit to the kind and compassionate actions Rob has taken for the benefit of wildlife.

Despite witnessing the many atrocities animals are subjected to at the hands of humans, Rob shares why he is still optimistic for the future of wildlife.

An episode full of hope and kindness, and one you don’t want to miss.

To learn more about the amazing work Zoocheck is doing, check out the following links:

Zoocheck – website

Zoocheck on Facebook

Zoocheck on Bluesky

Zoocheck on Twitter/X

As a thank you to Rob for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the New Cat City Rescue & Sanctuary. This small animal rescue located in Toronto, Ontario is a permanent home for animals with special needs and requirements. To learn more about their work, check out their website:

New Cat City Website

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 132: Kindness Is Being Annick Press—How a Canadian publisher is standing up for diversity & representation in their books, their authors, and their publishing team.

Published on September 3, 2025September 3, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Rick Wilks, the co-founder of Annick Press joins Anitha to talk about publishing children’s books. He shares his journey, memories and even his list of favourite books.

The two also talk about book banning—what it is, the harm it causes creators, publishers and children. Rick talks about how important it is for books to showcase all voices, especially those that have been underrepresented in the past, (LGBTQ+, black, indigenous, and people of colour).

Annick press is determined to advocate for books from underrepresented communities. One way is through their Mentorship Program, launched in 2021. This yearly program supports works in progress of emerging, underrepresented writers whose access to children’s publishing may have been limited. The application window is for the month of September 2025! Check out Annick’s website for all the details.

Of course, Anitha asked Rick what he is looking for in submissions—always a key question for writers. Here is link to their submission guidelines: Submission Guideline

A great conversation about books, diversity and how important it is for folks in positions of power and privilege to use their position to help others.

To learn more about Annick Press as they celebrate 50 years in publishing, check out their website. It’s full of information about books, sources for educators and for the month of September, the Mentorship Program!

Here’s Rick’s list of recommended books, which can be found on Annick’s website.

Nonfiction:

*More Than Money: How Economic inequality affects EVERYTHING

*Fatty Legs

Comics and graphic novels

*The Wolf Suit

Picture Books

*The Man with the Violin

*Abuelita and Me

*The Paper Bag Princess

As a thank you to Rick for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). NCC is a non-profit organization that partners with individuals, corporations, foundations, Indigenous communities and other non-profit organizations and governments at all levels to protect Canada’s plants and wildlife. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to protect more than 15 million hectares, coast to coast.

To learn more about the Nature Conservancy of Canada, check out their website.

Nature Conservancy of Canada

To hear the full episode, click hear:

Episode 131:Kindness Is Oscar’s Place—A sanctuary for donkeys.

Published on August 27, 2025 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

For the inaugural audio and video episode of the podcast, Ron King joins Anitha to talk about Oscar’s Place, a sanctuary for donkeys to heal and live happy donkey lives.

Ron talks about the many individuals at the sanctuary and how people don’t realize that donkeys are incredibly affectionate, smart and love to hug!

Ron also shares his journey of healing and how the sanctuary and the donkeys helped him.

An incredible conversation about the power of love.

To learn more about Oscar’s Place check out their website. It’s full of information about donkeys, how to sponsor or adopt a donkey, and of course photos of adorable donkeys to fall in love with.

Oscar’s Place Website

As a thank you to Ron for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Jarjeer Mules. Anitha and Ron have both visited this donkey and mule rescue located in Marrakech, Morocco. Anitha also had the pleasure of chatting with the founder of Jarjeer Mules on episode 119.

To learn more about Jarjeer Mules and listen to their podcast episode, click the following links:

Jarjeer Mules Website

Kindness Is Jarjeer Mules

To hear the full episode, click here: