Know It All with Peggy Bunker

"Wake Up and Read The Labels!" with food expert Jen Smiley

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000

How's this for shopping advice? "If it's an American staple product.....don't eat it." That's what our guest Jen Smiley wants you to know....our American food system has allowed toxic products to become mainstream, despite endless data proving it's terrible for us. Before you get overwhelmed, there's a solution: Jen has created a fast, current, lightning-speed app that helps you avoid toxic foods that have been proven to harm our health. It's time to get those products out of your cart and out of your diet, and Jen's here to explain why.

She argues the U.S. allows thousands of additives through a GRAS loophole, with many ingredients banned elsewhere, and says marketing and media sponsorship can suppress label education. Smiley highlights concerns about oatmeal, dairy and processed foods and recommends choosing products with minimal ingredients, shopping beyond endcaps, and using her “Read the Labels” scanning app to identify “clean” items. And at the very least? Look beyond the products at eye level. The tops and bottoms of the shelves are often where the good stuff is.

Have a thought or suggestion? - Leave us a comment wherever you're watching or listening! And please rate and review our show as well so that more people can know it all too.

Have your own story about your conscious consumerism journey? Email us at knowitall@peggybunker.com and tell us about some of your favorite products and life hacks to support ethical consumerism.

Want to Know More about Jen? - Find her at https://jensmiley.com/

The Tides are Turning on Detergents! A Consumer Awareness Hot Take

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to your favorite ethical lifestyle podcast, Know it All with Peggy Bunker. It’s time for a little Consumer Awareness Hot Take! In this short episode of the Know it all podcast, Peggy Bunker and producer Courtney discuss the empowered shopping and ethical consumerism needed to promote safe, sustainable living at home. Peggy lists four everyday home products that she has eliminated entirely, and she shares why and what she has replaced them with so she can pass her consumer awareness on to you. Peggy specifically recommends switching from mainstream laundry detergent jugs and pods (citing plastic waste, dyes, and fragrance loopholes) to detergent sheets like Cleancult. She also notes that Tide has launched plastic-free “Tide Tiles” largely due to consumer demand. Consumer awareness works! The tides are turning! She goes on to share her favorite eco-friendly products she relies on to replace three other harmful home products that are leaching microplastics and endocrine disruptors into your house. And don’t worry, she tells you exactly where you can buy these alternatives. If you’re wanting to reduce your environmental impact, choose eco-friendly products and adhere to your social responsibility to do better through empowered shopping, this episode is for you. Have your own story about your conscious consumerism journey? Email us at knowitall@peggybunker.com and tell us about some of your favorite products and life hacks to support ethical consumerism. Have a thought or suggestion? Leave us a comment wherever you're watching or listening! And please rate and review our show as well so that more people can know it all too.

This Woman Saved Thousands of Dogs from Lab Testing: Shannon Keith of Beagle Freedom Project

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Would you buy a hair spray if you knew it had been repeatedly sprayed directly into a dog's face in order to avoid lawsuits? Would you buy makeup that was forcefully pushed into dogs' eyes to gauge toxicity? How about a simple kitchen cleaner, hosed up to a dog's snout and force-sprayed into its face, with no relief, all to protect a company's antiquated, outdated, and ineffective attempts at sidestepping lawsuits? THIS is the reality of animal testing. It doesn't translate to human safety, it subjects thousands of animals to modern-day torture, and for what? It's the pinnacle of stupidity. In today's markets, many companies do just this. Use the testing of animals as a legal "catch-all" that they did their part to keep consumers safe.....when study after study shows that there is NO CORRELATION between animal testing and product safety for humans. I repeat - no correlation between animal testing and human product safety. How bleeping stupid is this?! It is unconscionable that for-profit entities are torturing millions of animals worldwide for the antiquated purpose of "we did labratory tests". Companies know what ingredients are safe, and what ones are not. To allow thousands of dogs, bunnies, and monkeys to languish in cages like stuffed animals when really their needs are the same as ours is abhorrent. Our job is to stop buying stuff from companies that test on animals. Simple as that. And today, we're going to introduce you to a shopping app that does all of the work for you! At Know It All we are *thrilled* to welcome the woman who initiated this movement to free testing beagles from labratories, and has saved over four-thousand dogs from a miserable life, year after year, in a cage. She is a modern day Superhero, and her name is Shannon Keith of Beagle Freedom Project! She is an angel among devils, and her ruthless calling-out of companies that still test on animals is going to be their death knock. Knock knock, bitch! Please welcome to the podcast BFP's Shannon Keith!

Burgers, Bacon, or Beans: Vegan or Carnivore, can you justify what you eat?

Wed, 20 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to your favorite ethical lifestyle podcast, Know it All with Peggy Bunker.

"Are you a vegan?"

Wow, what a loaded question. It’s similar to "do you smoke?" or "do you drink?" or even "do you NOT drink?!" In fact to many people, “vegan” is practically a dirty word.

These days there’s plenty of social judgement around people’s personal choices, and for whatever reason NOT eating meat can really annoy meat-eaters BUT, the tides are turning as awareness about factory farming, our physical health, and the destruction of our lands continue to dominate headlines. Shoppers understand that their dollar has power, and they are demanding change. The era of ruthless, violent and destructive farming is now facing its biggest nemesis yet: consumer awareness. Consumers are learning what their dollars are supporting and they don't want to be a part of it anymore. They don't want their money to support animal torture, destroyed waterways, or polluted air. They want to know their food was raised organically. Sustainably. Without salmonella, toxic pesticides, or e. Coli. Shoppers are willing to pay for sound mind and conscience, and the suppliers know it.

So what about you? Are you only buying responsibly-raised foods? What are your standards for what you put in your mouth, your kids’ mouths? Have you decided? This quick listen will have you thinking about the main factors to consider before you spend a dollar on food - is that dollar supporting your values........or betraying them? It’s a good idea to know where you fall….. be it vegan, carnivore, or somewhere in between. A conscientious consumer is a smart consumer.

Have a thought or suggestion? - Leave us a comment wherever you're watching or listening! And please rate and review our show as well so that more people can know it all too.

Have your own story about your conscious consumerism journey? Email us at knowitall@peggybunker.com and tell us about some of your favorite products and life hacks to support ethical consumerism.

Taking Direct Action with Cassie King

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 15:00:00 +0000

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." This quote by famed psychologist Wayne Dyer is at the heart of the animal rights movement....how can we stop viewing animals - thinking, feeling animals that are similar to ourselves - as products for our use? In a society that actively inflicts torturous pain and suffering on billions of animals per year so that we can eat them, one fact is true: we don't want to know about it. Cassie King, and her incredible colleagues at DxE, has devoted her life to bringing the truth to light.....for the safety of the animals, the earth, and us, the consumers. She is soft-spoken, but don't misjudge - King is a complete badass. Please meet our guest, Cassie King of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE).

Defending Beef with Nicolette Hahn Niman

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Is it actually possible to eat meat in an ethical way? According to Nicolette Hahn Niman, it most definitely is. After living as a vegetarian for 33 years, Nicolette fell in love with a rancher by the name of Bill Niman and discovered a way to raise animals responsibly and ethically. She is a wealth of information about the history of factory farming and how we got here, and her perspective is vital to this issue. Because if people are going to continue to eat meat, shouldn't we make sure that we are raising animals responsibly and humanely? If you want to learn more about Nicolette's perspective and methodology, she has written some incredible books and you can find the links to them below.

Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/righteous-porkchop-nicolette-hahn-niman?variant=32207905685538

Defending Beef: The Ecological and Nutritional Case for Meat
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/defending-beef-pb/

On a Lighter Note:
To find out more about Owamni Restaurant, check out their website https://owamni.com/

Escaping Factory Farming: A Farmer's Story with Tanner Faaborg and Megan Hunter

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:00:00 +0000

It's easy to point the blame at factory "farmers" for the way the animals are treated.....but once we learn their backstory, you realize the farmers are victims, too. Indebted to large meat producers who create cycles of debt with madatory farm upgrades, former family farmers can find themselves literally trapped like the animals in their sheds. There is a way out. Meet former hog-now-mushroom farmer Tanner Faaborg and Trans"farm"ation specialist Megan Hunter, who teaches factory farmers how to escape, and become proud of their farms again. It can be done!

From death's door to saving lives: Friend of Show Zach Skow joins us!

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Zach Skow knows what it's like to be at rock bottom. Diagnosed in his twenties with end-stage liver disease and turning yellow due to liver failure, Zach was given less than 90 days to live. Surrounding him was his support system, his beloved dogs, particularly his dog Marley. Seeing the love in their eyes, Zach decided to pull himself out of addiciton, and was able to turn around his liver disease in six months. Recognizing he couldn't have done it without his dogs, he began to volunteer at animal shelters, rescuing dogs about to be euthanized. After a friend, recently released from prison, asked to adopt one of the the dogs, Zach realized the life-saving capacity that dogs bring their owners. He created the Pawsitive Change program in 2016, pairing incarcerated men with death-row dogs about to be put down, and created a new breed of ex-convicts: ones that don't go back. As of 2025, Zach has saved thousands of dogs and helped stabilize the lives of hundreds of formerly incarcerated Pawsitive Change students. Zach has been profiled in Oprah's O Magazine, appeared on Ellen and numerous other TV shows, and is a recipient of the American Red Cross Real Hero award.

Compassionate Choices and Sustainable Food Systems with Gene Baur

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:00:00 +0000

There’s a reason why Big Ag doesn’t want you to see behind the scenes….the horrors of how beef, pork, dairy, and poultry are sourced has most consumers saying, “I don’t want to know.” Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, thinks it’s our responsibility to know, but without shame or judgement. In this episode of Know it all, Peggy Bunker interviews Gene about being one of the first to go undercover into the dark world of slaughterhouses and factory farms, documenting the unimaginable realities of raising animals for their meat. After rescuing a “downed sheep” that was unable to stand, Farm Sanctuary was born, and is now a bi-coastal farm sanctuary with hundreds of animals. Gene has made it his mission to educate the public about what they’re eating, how we can end factory farming, and most importantly, how we must act to save our planet from its impact. On a Lighter Note Video Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/dr_jane_goodall_guy_kawasaki_dr_jane_goodall_dbe_with_guy_kawasaki

From Ranch to Rescue with Renee King-Sonnen

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:00:00 +0000

If you had to name the number one place you'd never expect to find an animal-activist vegan, it would probably be a Texas cattle ranch. But that's exactly where we found our first guest, Renee King-Sonnen, surrounded by the cows her and her legacy cattle-rancher husband used to sell AND eat. But an awakening to the reality of the animals' lives, and hers, changed all that. Threatening divorce if her husband didn't stop ranching, she pulled off the unimaginable - rescuing the cows they used to eat. In this compelling first episode of 'Know-It-All,' host Peggy Bunker interviews Renee King-Sonnen, who shares her deeply personal story about risking her livelihood, her marriage, her friendships and her community after an awakening that changed everything. She suddenly saw the reality of the animals' suffering at the hands of the cattle ranching business, and said no more. The pushback from their Texas community would come next. Tune in for an inspiring and eye-opening journey about taking the hard road to do the right thing. On a Lighter Note Video Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJuHN_XxXeK/?igsh=MTBla2E3M3I2cHdieA== Photo Credit - Jean Barnes-Kaushik

Introducing: Know it All

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:20:00 +0000

Peggy Bunker is no stranger to discovering the truth. For many years, she was an award winning news anchor who reported all kinds of stories and some of those stories have still left her with questions. Those stories involve the mind-boggling state of our food industry and the lack of knowledge about what we’re feeding our children and using in our homes. As a mom herself, Peggy wants to dig into the truth of the what we’re supporting with our hard earned dollars every day so that we can shop better and band together to make real change with our choices. Because what we spend on MAKES or BREAKS businesses! We have the power to end the kind of treatment or environmental damage we’d *never* support…..if we only knew about it. What you’ll learn will shock you, it might make you sad or probably even mad…..but isn’t it better that you know? This is Know it All with Peggy Bunker.

Kim Sturla: "There's No Humane Way to Take A Life"

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Kim Sturla is the former Executive Director, current Board Member, of Animal Place. Sturla co-founded the sanctuary in 1989, and has been a central figure in the animal rights movement for 30 plus years. Sturla wrote the first law in the country that protects pre-university students unwilling to participate in animal dissections, and served as director of the Peninsula Humane Society for over a decade. Under Sturla's guidance, Animal Sanctuary has grown to over 600,000 acres in Northern California (no small feat) and has served as home to thousands of rescued animals. Welcome, Kim Sturla! More about Animal Sanctuary: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=458854404890886 d8EDoeXcr5kP29ZVdbnc