Animal protection, explained with care.
Defender Radio and The Switch brings legal, scientific, and advocacy questions into plain conversation. Its episodes move from Canadian animal law and fur policy to cougar hunting, climate grief, science denial, and technology for conservation.
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Defender Radio and The Switch approaches animal protection as more than a set of campaigns. It treats it as law, science, public policy, grief, and community pressure all meeting in the real world. The show is interview-led and measured. Recent episodes spend time with people who can explain the mechanics behind a headline, from animal law at University of Toronto to the court fight over Ontario's Bill 156. The conversations often start with a specific event. A cougar killed near Canmore becomes a larger discussion about wildlife management, transparency, orphaned kits, and public trust. Fur-free fashion becomes a conversation about industry policy, textile change, mink production, and why some practices continue. Climate grief is handled with unusual care. Rather than treating anxiety about wildfires, droughts, floods, and ecological loss as private weakness, the show frames it as a signal that can shape resilience and action. The conservation episodes are similarly concrete. Trail camera technology and AI are discussed through tiger protection in India, while chimpanzee welfare is tied to social media, the pet trade, and rescue work. Legal issues return again and again. The show pays attention to Charter rights, investigative access, animal cruelty, captivity, fur farming, and the gaps students and advocates may try to close. It also cares about communication. A reposted conversation on science denial looks at curiosity, compassion, conspiracy thinking, and the difficult work of talking across distrust. The pace is rarely rushed. Guests are given space to define terms, tell the story behind their work, and connect abstract policy to animals and people affected by it. The show suits listeners who want advocacy without slogans. It is clear about its values, but it generally earns its conclusions through examples, context, and careful questioning. That makes it useful for people already active in animal protection and for curious listeners trying to understand how change actually happens.
Made for: For listeners who follow animal protection, wildlife conservation, Canadian policy, and the practical work of advocacy. It especially suits people who want context before action.
What sets it apart: The show connects courtroom details, field conservation, industry pressure, and emotional resilience in one steady interview format. It is advocacy-minded without becoming shallow or rushed.
Defender Radio and The Switch bring experts and solutions to wildlife advocates and animal lovers around the world. Hosted by award-winning journalist Michael Howie, Defender Radio and The Switch are produced by The Fur-Bearers (TheFurBearers.com) and released weekly. Learn more at DefenderRadio.com
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Michael Howey turns wildlife advocacy into clear conversations about law, policy, science, institutional transparency, and practical action.
Defender Radio and The Switch follows wildlife advocacy into the institutions and decisions that shape it. Michael Howey uses expert interviews to connect animal welfare with law, government transparency, climate anxiety, conservation, and industry practice.
A cougar's orphaned cubs lead you straight to questions about Alberta's closed-door decisions.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A University of Toronto program places animal law beside the cases and policies shaping the field.
Animal law becomes less abstract here, framed as an institutional project through Michael Howey's conversation with Angela Fernandez, the University of Toronto professor directing its new animal law program.
A clear, policy-minded look at how animal welfare and textile innovation are moving fashion away from fur.
Fashion's Future is Fur-Free follows PJ Smith, Director of Fashion Policy for Humane World for Animals, through the forces moving fashion away from animal fur.
A cougar tragedy opens into a clear conversation about orphaned kits, Alberta policy, transparency, and collaboration.
The death of a locally beloved cougar near Canmore gives this episode its emotional center, but the focus soon widens to her two orphaned kits and the Alberta wildlife decisions now facing public scrutiny.
A grounded conversation about naming climate grief and finding manageable action when environmental loss feels too heavy to hold.
Climate grief gets a clear, practical shape here, as wildfires, droughts, floods, ice storms, and strangely quiet green spaces open into a wider emotional terrain. Dr.
A measured guide to the ecology and legislation behind old growth logging.
Old Growth 101 approaches old growth logging as a matter of context as much as conflict, starting from the Fairy Creek blockade and standoffs on Vancouver Island.
A serious conversation about meeting science denial with curiosity, compassion, and better questions.
Science denial is treated as more than a failure of evidence. The stronger thread is why evidence so often fails to change minds. Michael Howey talks with Dr.
Delaware politics, argued from the bunker.
Irish law, policy, and practice in context.
Court rulings, weighed for what they cost city hall.
Host Michael Howie interviews Dr.
Defender Radio host Michael Howey speaks with Charlotte Daw of the Wilderness Committee about old-growth logging in British Columbia and the Ferry Creek blockades on Vancouver Island.
Defender Radio host Michael Howie interviews University of Toronto law professor Angela Fernandez about the school's new animal law program, which she directs.
Defender Radio host Michael Howie interviews PJ Smith, Fashion Policy Director at Humane World for Animals, about the fur-free shift sweeping the fashion industry during fashion month.
Defender Radio’s Canmore cougar tragedy update follows two orphaned cougar kits from Alberta to Park Safari in Quebec after stops at Cochrane, Calgary Zoo, and Greater Vancouver Zoo.
["Michael Howey opens Defender Radio by linking climate grief to wildfires, droughts, floods, and ice storms.", "Dr.
Interview with Dr.
An interview with Camille Labchuck about the court victory against Ontario's ag-gag law, Bill 156, and its implications for animal advocates.
An interview with Dr.
Dr.