Bearing Weight

For the first time in years, Jordan World Circus is touring without elephants.In early 2026, the circus confirmed it would not use elephants for the rest of its tour. In this episode, Danielle and David sit down with Debbie Metzler of PETA to unpack how that decision came about, what it means for the elephants who had been on the road, and whether it will hold.At the center of the story is Viola, the elephant PETA has called "the most desperate elephant in the world." Taken from her home as a baby more than five decades ago, she has spent her life with Carson & Barnes Circus and has tried to escape at least four times, including the viral 2024 walk through the streets of Butte, Montana. Debbie traces the campaign that tracked Jordan World to every stop, the leasing loophole that lets a circus with a revoked USDA license keep using elephants anyway, the economics that make the elephant rides worth more than the tickets, and the settlements that let repeat offenders wipe their records clean.This is a real victory, and it is not the finish line. Viola and sixteen other elephants are still confined at the Endangered Ark Foundation in Oklahoma, where public bathing encounters and bullhooks continue. The conversation closes where every fight like this one does: with what it will take to get these elephants somewhere they can finally just be elephants, and what each of us can do to help them get there.About Debbie Metzler & PETADebbie Metzler is the Managing Director of Captive Wildlife for PETA's Captive Animal Law Enforcement division, where she oversees campaigns and legal advocacy on behalf of wild animals used in circuses, roadside zoos, and other traveling attractions. PETA has campaigned against Jordan World Circus and its use of animals for more than thirty years.You can urge Carson & Barnes Circus to end its animal acts and retire Viola and the other elephants to a reputable sanctuary, and sign up for PETA's news and action alerts to follow this campaign and others.🌐 peta.org✊ Take action for Viola: https://support.peta.org/page/1131/action/1📸 Instagram: @petaAbout the Weeping Elephant ProjectWeeping Elephant Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and affecting change for circus and zoo elephants in the United States. Change is more accessible through collaboration. Bearing Weight is our effort to bring those voices together — because the work is stronger when it's shared.Consider donating to support the work we're doing:🌐 weepingelephant.org📸 Instagram: @weepingelephantproject

Sangita Iyer didn't set out to make a film that would be nominated at the United Nations General Assembly. She set out to tell the truth about what was happening to elephants in the temples of Kerala — and the truth turned out to be something the world needed to see.In this episode, Sangita takes us inside her decades of work documenting the plight of temple elephants in India — the suffering hidden behind centuries of tradition, the cultural and institutional forces that work to keep it that way, and what it has cost her personally to keep speaking anyway. We also explore the work of the Voice for Asian Elephants Society, from a robotic elephant project challenging the need for live animals in religious festivals, to securing corridor land that keeps wild elephants out of villages and out of captivity in the first place.This is a conversation about what happens when you can't look away — and what you build when looking away is no longer an option.About Sangita Iyer & the Voice for Asian Elephants SocietySangita Iyer is a biologist, journalist, and filmmaker whose work has brought the plight of Asian elephants to a global audience. Her documentary Gods in Shackles received 13 international film festival awards and was nominated at the UN General Assembly. Sangita is also the recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar — India's highest civilian honor for women — awarded by the President of India for her work exposing the exploitation of elephants in the name of culture and religion. Dr. Jane Goodall has written the foreword to Sangita's book and endorsed the Voice for Asian Elephants Society, calling the work essential. Through VFAES, Sangita continues to fight for wild and captive Asian elephants through advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation projects.🌐 vfaes.org 🎬 Watch Gods in Shackles: unchainedtv.com 📖 Gods in Shackles — the book: amazon.comAbout the Weeping Elephant ProjectWeeping Elephant Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and affecting change for circus and zoo elephants in the United States. Bearing Weight is our effort to bring those voices together — because the work is stronger when it's shared.Consider donating to support the work we're doing: weepingelephant.org🌐 weepingelephant.org 📸 Instagram: @weepingelephantproject