In this episode!

• This episode can hold so much charities!Breaking last years record! But by how much?
• Animations from around the web
• An interview with Labb Rat, known for her commentary videos, about the importance of caring about mental health and escaping toxic environments.

But first, the latest charity news from the fandom in this October edition of Digging Up Positivity and boy are here a lot of them! Do keep in mind, all amounts are converted to US dollars.

In the wake of the devastation rendered by Hurricane Helene, Carolina Furfare released a newsletter on October 1 stating the cancellation of the event that was to occur this weekend, and indicating that the hotels and facilities were needed in order to assist with rescue and sheltering efforts after the Hurricane hit the mountainous region.

This weather event hit the top ten most fatal and costly hurricanes in the United States even before full recovery efforts could be finalized. People who pre-registered have been given the option to roll over to next year, or to Bewhiskered 2025; due to the cancellation being so close to event day they cannot guarantee refunds for now.

In this episode!

• It’s high season for conventions, and it shows in the amount raised for charity world wide!
• Learning about neurodiversity through cute animations
• A wonderful interview how the fandom changed an aspiring cartoonist

But first, the latest charity news from the fandom in this September edition of Digging Up Positivity!

In this episode:

• A very squeaky expansion for Magic The Gathering
• So many furry charities!
• The new very creative and inclusive Winter Olympic mascots
• Results Pride Shirt Giveaway
• Cool animation news, and
• A lovely interview with Shrapnel Vagr, an amazing bean from Cardiff!

But first, the latest charity news from the fandom in this August edition of Digging Up Positivity!

In this episode!

• An exclusive interview with the force behind Brok the investigator
• Last month's furry charities
• What makes a fursuit really stands out!
• The results of the Pride Shirt give-away and how to get one yourself

But first, the latest charity news from the fandom in this July edition of Digging Up Positivity!

Furality finished its eighth gathering on the second weekend of June 2024. When the VRChat-based congregation had finished it had shown continual growth hitting 21,000 attendees registered and raising over $42,269 for charity. It has shown that in spite of the naysayers who thought that online only furry events would die down in the wake of waning 2020 pandemic restrictions, online conventions held in virtual reality spaces show no signs of slowing and are now clearly a new staple in fandom activities.

Being in attendance myself this year, I go over the strengths and weaknesses that these events have over their real-world counterparts. The article will also cover some highlights of the events such as the eclipse and firework show. In short, what we find is that while Furality has taken events and formats inspired by in-person conventions, it is clearly an entirely different beast.

In this episode!

• Cool animation news!
• How an actual photographer won in an generative AI contest
• A furry Halloween in Rotterdam!
• The worlds first furry opera!
• How to win this amazing Pride shirt, so fresh, mine is still in the mail.

But first, the latest charity news from the fandom in the June edition of Digging Up Positivity!

• Furry convention in Atlanta raising 100.000 for charity!
• Spotlight on several awesome women in the fandom!
• How accessible is our fandom truly?
• Animators working together!

And much more!

Furry Weekend Atlanta continues its monstrous growth, smashing its prior record with a total of 15,021 attendees and raising $100,000 for their charity of Lost-n-Found Youth. This has solidified its position in the top three, and for the time being surpasses Anthrocon – that had a 2023 attendance of 13,641 – making FWA, for the next few months, the world's second-largest in-person furry convention.

The increase this year from last was 4,693 attendees. For perspective, the total attendance of Anthro New England this year was 4,482. So staff at the Atlanta convention this year had to take care of the total they handled in 2023, plus an Anthro New England-sized convention at the same time in 2024. The gathering has never desired further volunteers more.

It was also my first year in attendance, so I wanted to go over my experiences, the challenges, and the strengths of the convention.

Welcome to the April episode of Digging Up Positivity! Spring is in the air and summer is just around the corner.

In this episode:

• The April charities from the fandom
• Even crocodiles need to go to the dentist
• Animation news
• A wonderful interview with one of the main forces behind AnthroIrish!

And much more.

Oh hey! Also, I am happy to say we are giving out item from my PAWS collection from my ArtworkTee store, more details at the end of this video.

Welcome to a packed episode of Digging Up Positivity! The convention season is gearing up and boy does it show!
In this episode:

• Many charities in March, pushing us over the $400,000 raised this year!
• A lovely memoriam for Mark Merlino, also known as Sy Sable.
• Nomad Complex is able to return, backed by the fandom.
• AnthroAir: Virtual airplanes for a real fandom!
• And the Good Furry Award.

Also I am happy to work together with artwork-tee, and there is a new pawtastic T-shirt in the store, for more details on how to get one, stay with us till the end of the show!

Furlandia announced on February 23 that Ursa Major Award-winning furry author Mary E. Lowd was removed as a guest of honor, citing her use of artificial intelligence to create her work’s cover art and the ensuing backlash.

Despite the strong response to her use of AI, the announcement’s second paragraph seemed to suggest that Furlandia is neutral on AI art itself:

Dear Furlandia Community,

Earlier this week we made the difficult decision to remove our Writing Guest of Honor for 2024, Mary E. Lowd. This is a decision we do not make lightly, and is all the more difficult for us as they have been a long time supporter of Furlandia. So why have we done this? It comes down to their decision to use AI-generated art as a tool in the creation of things such as book covers, the professional backlash that has accompanied it, and the general attitude towards this topic in the fandom.

Undoubtedly the topic of AI-generated art is incredibly divisive and controversial in our fandom at this time, and a lot of people have very strong opinions about it. We’ve made this decision not to push a particular opinion, but because our goal is to bring people together to celebrate the furry fandom, of which artists are the undeniable backbone. Continuing with Mary as a [Guest of Honor] would have made the people understandably uncomfortable and that’s not something we want. This is not an easy thing for any convention to have to do and we hope anyone who’s disappointed will understand.

Thank you,
Furlandia Executive Staff

In this episode:

• Zootopia 2 gets a release date!
• Small trains and giant cats!
• Several furry charities and the update to total raised this year!
• An exclusive interview with Nio the Dutch Angel Dragon!

Welcome to the February episode of digging up positivity. At the time this goes live, both me and this episodes’ special guest are at Nordic Fuzzcon in Malmo, Sweden, where I am helping the charity team raising funds for U-Animals. But besides this awesome charity, there is so much more! And I love to tell you more once future me has returned home.

But for now the charity updates!