Glass Walls Podcast 002: Jo-Anne McArthur

Glass Walls Podcast 002: Jo-Anne McArthur

For more than two decades, Jo-Anne McArthur has been bearing witness to the lives of animals that are hidden from view—inside factory farms and slaughterhouses, at roadside zoos and fur farms, and in the aftermath of ecological disaster. Her photographs are both unflinching and tender, exposing the violence that underpins our food system while refusing to look away from the individuality of the beings trapped inside it. What’s always struck me about Jo-Anne’s work is how much it shares with conflict photography. The settings may be different, but the principles are the same: going to places most people never see, putting oneself in difficult, often dangerous situations, and coming back with images that make denial harder to achieve. Her photographs have helped shaped how the world sees animals, and they resonate deeply with the questions at the heart of Glass Walls: what truths are hidden from view, what costs are borne in silence, and what it means to look at the lives we prefer not to see. In this conversation, Jo-Anne speaks about the toll of that work, the founding of We Animals, and why images can sometimes reach people in ways that words can’t. Thanks for reading Glass Walls. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giantmecha.substack.com [https://giantmecha.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Glass Walls Podcast 001: Ronnie Lee

Ronnie Lee is one of the most influential figures in the history of the animal liberation movement. As the founder of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), he helped pioneer direct action tactics that disrupted industries built on animal exploitation—and would spend nearly a decade in prison for his actions. As government surveillance and repression have made underground activism more difficult, Lee has shifted his approach—moving from high-risk raids to public outreach and advocacy. In this episode, we talk about the rise of the ALF, the state’s relentless crackdown on radical activism, and why Lee now sees everyday conversations and community organizing as essential to achieving lasting change for animals. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giantmecha.substack.com [https://giantmecha.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]