What do you get when two of our all-time favorite people—Oprah Winfrey and Alicia Silverstone—tackle the topic of America's addiction to cheaply raised, unhealthy animal products? An episode of Oprah that's both a chilling reality check and a charming hunger-inducer.

Oprah's never been one to shy away from the hard-hitting issues, and on yesterday's show she took a critical look at modern factory farming methods. Viewers were given a glimpse of modern farming methods and were, no doubt, shocked to see footage of chicks tumbling down a chute—as though they were nothing more than paper clips on an assembly line—and adult chickens, belly up, struggling to breathe in jam-packed, stench-filled sheds. But, never one to leave her audience without a solution to an issue, Oprah invited the vivacious and lovely Alicia Silverstone to the show to teach viewers about delicious, satisfying vegan alternatives to meat-laden and dairy-drenched foods.

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While Alicia set to work making mouthwatering recipes from her cookbook, The Kind Diet, she also revealed that her acne, insomnia, and asthma all vanished when she went vegan. If I weren't already dining on a cruelty-free diet, those facts combined with Alicia's recipe for Artichoke, Mushroom and Leek Crostinis would have been enough to get me to try it out. So tell us: Was it the food or the health benefits that finally convinced you to try a vegan diet?

Posted by Karin Bennett

FYI: As soon as I'm done writing this blog, I'll be dialing my friends to propose that we hightail it to our nation's capital to catch the very hot opening of "Naked Ambition: 20 Years of PETA's Sexy Celebrity Ads" at a special Govinda Gallery exhibit this Saturday.

Twilight's Christian Serratos will appear in person to unveil her beautiful anti-fur poster, one of the newest in our ongoing series of provocative ads, the first of which launched in the '80s and featured The Go-Go's. Since then, a galaxy of other stars, including Christy Turlington, Tyra Banks, Alicia Silverstone, Eva Mendes, Dennis Rodman, Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee, and Joanna Krupa, have stripped for PETA's animal-friendly campaigns. Some donned only tiger stripes to protest circuses or barely-there lettuce bikinis to encourage people to try going vegan.

The special, free exhibit at 3307 M Street N.W. will expose Georgetown visitors to 35 of PETA's pulse-quickening ads. It runs through January 9, but I plan to zoom down I-95 tomorrow, stopping only for some vegan eats. Once in Georgetown, it's down the Exorcist stairs and over a few blocks to the Govinda Gallery by 2 p.m. for the opening festivities this Saturday, December 19. Will we see you there?

Posted by Karin Bennett

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Well, Jessica's thinking about opening her heart and home to a new pooch and word on the street is that she "wants a rescue dog."

We're thrilled to hear that she's thinking about rescuing a dog instead of buying one from a breeder. Today, we wrote to the star to urge her adopt her new friend from an animal shelter, pointing out that millions of dogs are euthanized at shelters every year simply because there aren’t enough homes for all of them. Even if she has her heart set on a particular breed, there are many purebreds at open-admission animal shelters and certainly many who are in the care of breed-specific rescue groups.

We hope, hope, hope that Jessica Simpson will join the long list of caring celebrities, including Charlize Theron, Katherine Heigl, Kyra Sedgwick, Audrina Patridge, and Alicia Silverstone, who have saved a life (or two or three) by adopting homeless animals.

Posted by Karin Bennett

Our favorite naked vegan has written a new book, The Kind Diet, which comes out in October. The book is all about living a vegan lifestyle, and Alicia had some great things to say to Health about the benefits of eating cruelty-free:

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"You can hear your needs and desires more clearly. You're just more juicy—there's just this lightness that happens."

"Once you're informed, then you can be really gentle and kind to yourself, by giving yourself all the gifts life has to offer—like mental clarity and vitality—all while making the planet better."

"It's weird to be 32 now and feel and look younger. What saved me was my love of animals. Right after I first made the switch to a plant-based diet, people were literally telling me, 'What have you done? You're sparkling.'"

I think I'm going to print myself a T-shirt. It'll either read, "Sparkling, Juicy Vegan" or "Juicy Like Alicia." Decisions, decisions …

Posted by Amanda Schinke

Hey D.C.ers, this one's for you. Tomorrow morning, when you're picking up that cup o' joe and morning paper before catching the Metro, look out for our sleek new "Vegetarian Starter Kit" stands. They are popping up all over the city—at last count, there were more than 50.

So grab the latest copy of our "Vegetarian Starter Kit." Alicia Silverstone, Russell Simmons, and animals everywhere will appreciate it, and we're sure you will find someone to pass it on to at work or play. Won't you now?

Posted by Shawna Flavell

Alicia Silverstone’s wonderful ad is in some very impressive company in TV Guide’s “Best of 2007” viral video list, including two of the very greatest videos of all time (IMHO): Will Ferrell’s “The Landlord,” and Justin Timberlake’s utterly glorious “Dick in a Box.” For anyone who works in marketing, you’ll know that companies tend to use the term “viral video” for pretty much any visual media they can come up with (it tends to be more of a wistful hope than an actual description of the video in question), but some videos really are “viral”—i.e., millions of people watch them, post them on their blogs, and pass them onto their friends—and it’s a truly incredible experience to be involved with one.

You can see TV Guide’s full list here, and here’s a reprise of the stunning pro-vegetarianism PSA that took 2007 by storm.

Update: Following the success of Alicia’s PSA, Sky News put together a wonderful retrospective of PETA’s many naked ads and protests over the past year. You can check out the picture gallery here.

The folks in Houston were severely deprived yesterday, when their cable provider decided at the last minute (literally) that it would pull Alicia Silverstone's super sexy new pro-vegetarianism ad, which had already been approved and paid for. Comcast Cable told us that they had banned the spot "because she is naked," despite the fact that the ad has already aired on numerous news programs worldwide. Besides, as PETA Vice President Dan Mathews pointed out in a staff meeting today, they showed Holly Hunter's naked ass on Saving Grace the other night, so, um, what's the problem here, Comcast?

We had picked Houston because it consistently ranks in the top ten least healthy cities in the country, so we figured they could use some good diet advice (honestly, who in their right mind would turn down friendly diet advice from the beautiful Alicia Silverstone?), but Houstonians need not despair. As PETA President Ingrid Newkirk puts it,

"Houston viewers can still go to PETA.org and get an eyeful, not only of the stunning Ms. Silverstone, but also of our free Vegetarian Starter Kit—chock full of delicious recipes—that will make them drool for an entirely different reason."

And finally, because I love it so much, here is the ad again. Alicia, you are gorgeous.

What can I say, Alicia Silverstone is amazing. She never misses an opportunity to talk about veganism and animal rights. I think she might have just won my vote in our “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian” contest.

Check it out here.