Vegan Nation interview with vegan activists/musicians, David Giardina (New York City) and Gene Maurillo (San Diego). Join us for this lively discussion on everything Vegan, including compassion and freedom for all. Monday, April 11, 2022. Listen to the On-Air radio broadcast here: WCUW 91.3 FM wcuw.org/listen (every Monday, 4 PM Eastern time). Hear it again in the Vegan Nation archives: vegansradio.com. Vegan Nation brings you a 1/2 hour of vegan news, music, events and interviews, every week, about the vegan evolution revolution happening worldwide. Thank you for caring enough to hear and be heard. Host Marlene Narrow, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

(The views in this program do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the radio station nor its management.)

BIOGRAPHIES:

Gene has lived in San Diego for 3 years having returned after a long stint in San Francisco. Around 9 years ago in San Francisco, he went fully vegan and joined the grassroots animal liberation organization in nearby Berkeley named Direct Action Everywhere (or DxE). This was early on, about one year into DxE’s existence. He participated in almost countless activities with DxE and part of his helping this organization grow, he became the lead organizer for the DxE San Francisco working group for around 3 years. Since his return to San Diego, he has participated with DxE San Diego, Animal Save, PETA and has done numerous independent outreach activities for the animals. He also did outreach and protested for Black Lives Matter for several months in San Diego along with attending rallies with the group called Re-open San Diego (protesting so-called covid mandates). Before Gene’s participation with DxE in San Francisco, he also protested for gay rights and was in numerous anti-war activities going all the way back to the Vietnam war. During Vietnam, he successfully became a conscientious objector and proudly did not serve in the military. Also, around 8 years ago, Gene started taking music much more seriously and as a vocalist has numerous cover recordings of all kinds that can be heard on his YouTube channel. In addition, for 2 years, he served to promote and manage the Facebook group Vegan Music Makers which at the time of his departure, he had built up to 365 fully vetted, vegan musician members located worldwide. Finally, Gene has also been a big advocate for humor and has taken countless classes in comedy improvisation both in San Diego and San Francisco. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_tFgqSiwqtuf_ZzRlBAFpw

David Giardina is a singer, an award winning filmmaker, independent health researcher and vegan animal liberation activist based in New York City. He received a BA in theater from Hofstra University and then he acted professionally in New York on TV (“As the World Turns”, “Up All Night With Gilbert Gottfried”, “Commander USA”, the criminal of the week on “New York’s Most Wanted”) and in various movies (“Moonstruck”, “When Harry Met Sally”). As a crooner David has performed at such venues the world famous Rainbow Room, the Algonquin Hotel, Grand Central Partnership, The Central Park Band Shell, The Cutting Room as well as command performances at the United Nations and many others. David has also appeared Off Broadway in “The Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic” (as Eddie Cantor) and in “Vagabond Lover – The Life and Tunes of Rudy Vallee (as Rudy Vallee) and in “The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air” (as Will Rogers) at Birdland. David wrote/directed/produced the feature film “Taffy Was Born” which won the award for Best Director and Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the NY International Film Festival. It can be streamed on Amazon Prime. Several of his other films have also won festival awards around the globe. “Celebrating Art” is a weekly Manhattan Cable TV show which David produces airing every Tuesday at 9:30pm on www.mnn.org channel 4. David has also written a book on the nature of health and the mythologies surrounding disease called “A Banana In My Pocket”. hhttps://davidgiardina.com

Additional note from Marlene: Deep veganism philosophy includes the premise of quantum theory, in that what we experience/witness in human civilization can be understood within the concept of: ‘as we collectively sow, humanity eventually reaps — affecting someone, somewhere, at sometime throughout millennia’. As such, population health and human freedom require animal liberation. In 2022, many organizations are working to free humanity from tyranny, violence, censorship, and dis-ease. My hope is that all groups, including Defeat the Mandates rally – Coast to Coast (April 10th) will include the vegan imperative within the work for freedom & justice, to end the cycle of suffering for all.