S8E10: Grad Review with Gina Song Lopez and Taylor Jobling
Gina Song Lopez, researching vegan movements in Taiwan and China through the lens of local culture and social media, and Taylor Jobling, a law lecturer unpacking how Australia’s legislation categorizes animals, come on to the show to discuss the main themes and tensions to emerge in Season 8, Animals and Media
Gina Song Lopez is a PhD candidate at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies and a member of the Critical Animal Studies Network, both based at Lund University in Sweden. Her doctoral project focuses on the rise of the vegan advocacy movements in Taiwan and China. Her project is particularly interested in examining how ‘new’ ideas and practices such as veganism is understood, translated, and promoted locally. Gina is also part of the advisory board of Animal Alliance Asia, an organization engaged in promoting a culturally relevant and inclusive animal justice movement in Asia. Learn more about her here.
Taylor Jobling is a Lecturer in law the University of South Australia. Her master’s thesis focused on animal welfare legislation in South Australia and its ability to protect the rights of animals. Through this research, Taylor has been actively involved in animal-related legislative reform, and as a result was recently awarded the 2025 Sybil Emslie Animal Law Scholarship for her contribution to animal welfare research and practice in Australia.
Mentioned:
What Comes After Entanglement by Eva Giraud
The Birth of Korean Cool by Euny Hong
The Omnivore’s Deception by John Sanbonmatsu
Animals and the Rights to Politics by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka
An analytical framework to understand the problematization of urban (historical) animals by Claudia Hirtenfelder
“Both the wounders… and the wounded alike bleed red blood. That small, narrow tube… far too tiny to call a road… was unlike prejudice born of hate and fear.. or battle washing blood clean with more bloodshed. But it was nevertheless, more than any wild dream or ideal fantasy… a vivid and real representation of the true road towards the sun" (One Piece: Manga Chapter 648, Anime Episode 568)
“Perhaps it will someday be recognised that the number of legs, the hairiness of the skin, or the possession of a tail, are equally insufficient reasons for abandoning to the same fate a creature that can feel? What else could be used to draw the line? Is it the faculty of reason or the possession of language? But a full-grown horse or dog is incomparably more rational and conversable than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month old. Even if that were not so, what difference would that make? The question is not can they reason? or can they talk? but can they suffer?” (Jeremy Bentham, 1789).
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; and the pollination project, the School of Modern Language, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, as well as the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech University for co-sponsoring this season. The bed music was composed by Gordon Clarke and the logo designed by Jeremy John. This episode was produced, hosted, and edited by Claudia Hirtenfelder.