#upliftingcontent – Anitha Rao-Robinson

Episode 164: Kindness Is Caring For Those Left Behind—When someone dies, what happens to their beloved companion animal?

Published on April 15, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Anitha continues her month-long celebration of her hero Dr. Jane Goodall who passed on October 1, 2025 at the age of 91, by chatting with Lindsay Kirschner. Like Dr. Jane, Lindsay had a close relationship with her mom. Sadly, Lindsay’s mom unexpectedly passed away leaving behind a grieving family which included an adorable dog named Coconut.

Despite being devastated by the sudden loss of her mom, Lindsay didn’t hesitate to bring Coconut back home to live with her.

Lindsay talks about what their lives (hers and Coconut’s) are like now. She also shares stories of Coconut and her boyfriend, who used to be Lindsay’s boyfriend, before Coconut decided he was hers!

Often when someone dies without making arrangements for their companion animal, the dog or cat or bunny, who is already grieving the loss of their human, finds themselves alone and scared and at a shelter. Lindsay and Anitha talk about how important it is to make sure that someone will care for your beloved fur-baby should you die before they do. Coconut is one of the lucky ones. She had family ready and willing to step in and care for her.

An episode about healing and how from great loss there can be great love.

To follow Coconut’s journey, check out her awesome Instagram page.

Coconut on Instagram

As a thank you to Lindsay and Coconut for sharing their story, Anitha donated to Pet Orphans of Southern California. This is the rescue that cared for Coconut before Lindsay’s mom adopted her. To learn more about this rescue, check out their website:

Pet Orphans of Southern California Website

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 163: Kindness Is Loving Dogs—From fostering to creating an animal sanctuary

Published on April 8, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Anitha continues her month-long celebration of her hero Dr. Jane Goodall who passed on October 1, 2025 at the age of 91, by chatting with Alyssa Blackwell. Like Dr. Jane, Alyssa loves dogs. Alyssa has been fostering dogs since she was 16 years old.

For the past 20 years Alyssa has cared for, fallen in love with and had her heart broken each time her foster dog finds their forever family. And now she and her husband are opening their own animal sanctuary called SACRED PAWS DOG SANCTUARY.

An episode full of love and hope and inspiration of what it means to follow your dream of helping animals.

To learn more about Alyssa, the dogs she fosters, and her sanctuary, check out these links:

Alyssa’s Fostering Journey on Instagram

As a thank you to Alyssa for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Sacred Paws Dog Sanctuary.

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 161: Kindness Is From Fauna—Spreading awareness about cultivated meat.

Published on March 25, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Sixteen-year-old Shimoi Kalra started working with From Fauna when she was 11 years old.

She joins Anitha to talk about why she joined this non-profit that shares information about cultivated meats in a way everyone can understand. Apparently, the is a lot of technical jargon behind the science of creating cultivated meats and one of Shiomoi’s jobs is to take in all this information and share it in a way that is much simpler to understand.

Shimoi talks about the many advantages of cultivated meat—from animals no longer being exposed to cruelty and slaughter to the health benefits to eating meat made in a clean and stress-free environment to the benefits to the environment itself. As Shimoi said, cultivated meat is a win-win-win for all. People can still have their steak, pork, chicken, fish etc. without the guilt of causing harm to animals and also know that the meat they are consuming is healthier for them.

A must hear episode for all those who are faced with the challenge of loving animals but also wanting to eat meat and fish—there is a solution and it’s cultivated meat.

lovers out there who Shimoi is an excellent and very knowledgeable advocate for cultivated meats.

To learn more about From Fauna and the work they do, check out these links:

From Fauna Website

LabMeatGuy Youtube

LabMeatGuy Instagram

As a thank you to Shimoi for sharing her story, Anitha donated to the Toronto Humane Society. In addition to being an animal shelter, this charity is also a leading voice in animal welfare and accessible care. To learn more about them, check out their website:

THS Website

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 160: Kindness Is Food Empowerment—How the power of one’s food choices can create a just & sustainable world.

Published on March 25, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Lauren Ornelas, the founder of The Food Empowerment Project (FEP) joins Anitha to talk about all the amazing work this organization does.

From encouraging healthy, vegan food choices to spotlighting the abuse of farm animals to raising awareness about the unfair working conditions for produce workers and the lack of healthy foods in low-income areas and so much more!

Providing backpacks to farmer’s families

Lauren believes we have great power to bring about a kinder world just by our food choices. At least three times a day when we have a meal, we decide if that meal is going to result in harm to animals, the environment and people or if the food we eat will build a just and sustainable world.

This was such an uplifting and empowering conversation.

To learn more about The Food Empowerment Project, check out their website & the following links:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

As a thank you to Lauren for sharing her story, Anitha donated to FEP.

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 157: Kindness Is Creating Transfarmation—Helping to build a just & sustainable food system.

Published on February 25, 2026March 3, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Katherine Jernigan, the Director of the Transfarmation Project, joins Anitha to answer a question Anitha has often wondered about—What would it take to transform an animal agricultural farm to a farm that grows vegetables, fruits and other plants for human consumption?

Katherine also talks about the harm to animals AND farmers who raise animals for food, the cost of transforming a farm and the advantages to animals, humans and the environment when a farm becomes more plant-based.

This was such an interesting conversation and shone a new light on not only the issues around animal agriculture, but more importantly, provided a valid option.

To follow learn more about The Transfarmation Project, click on the following links:

The Transfarmation Project’s Website

The Transfarmation Project on Facebook

The Transfarmation Project on IG

As a thank you to Katherine for sharing her story, Anitha donated to the Iowa Farm Sanctuary, who provide a safe haven for rescued farm animals. To learn more about what they do and how you can support them, check out their website: Iowa Farm Sanctuary

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 153: Kindness Is Making Poetry—Creating meaningful poems for strangers

Published on January 28, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Hannah Monsour joins Anitha to talk about creating moving and thoughtful poems almost instantly. Hannah calls herself a typewriter poet. She can be found in Central Park in New York City meeting strangers who share personal parts of their lives.

Hannah transforms their words into on-the-spot meaningful poems. She shares some of these encounters, including taking part in wedding proposals. Hannah even creates a poem for Anitha during the episode.

A testament to the healing power of words.

To find out more about Hannah, her poetry and her podcast!!, check out these links:

Hannah’s Instagram

Podcast—Poking Around

As a thank you to Hannah for sharing her story, Anitha donated to The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ young people. To learn more about what they do, check out their website:

The Trevor Project

To hear the full episode click here:

Episode 151: Kindness Is The Vegan Report—A space for all fronts of the animal liberation movement.

Published on January 14, 2026 by anitharobinsonLeave a comment

Animal activist and podcast host, Rayane Laddi joins Anitha to talk about his wonderful podcast, The Vegan Report. Rayane shares some of his favorite episodes and his guest wish list—Ricky Gervais & Bruce Friedrich, the founder of Good Food Institute!! Rayane also offers tips for anyone considering starting their own podcast!

To follow Rayane and listen to his awesome podcast, click here:

Vegan Report- Podcast

To learn more about Map Your Health, the initiative Rayane spoke about, click here:

Map Your Health

As a thank you to Rayane for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Dharma Voices for Animals, a non-profit dedicated to ending animal suffering within Buddhist communities by promoting plant-based living and a cruelty-free lifestyle.

To learn more about them, check out their website: Dharma Voices For Animals

To hear the full episode, click here:

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: