Big Bright Dark

What does it take to confront the realities of global warming and find the sweetness of life? Authors, Matt Hern and Am Johal, open up about their own struggles with this question, the journey they took to answer it, and the book they wrote about it all.

What happens when a Rabbi walks into a church on Earth Day? She upends the story of Genesis and provides a powerful reminder that we are here thanks to the labour of all creatures with whom we share this place. Plus, she kicks it off with a really sweet anecdote about meeting a hornet at a coffee shop.

They were born after 1988, the year global warming became a household term. So, what's it like to grow up in the shadow of the climate crisis? In 2016, the theatre company, The Only Animal, asked 10 artists this question. And we got to talk to three of them. Turns out they have anger. They have hope. They have advice for all of us. (Interview with Kanon Hewitt, Crystal Smith, and Krys Yuan)

Leah Abramson is a Vancouver-based musician who immersed herself in the world of Northern Resident Orca whales to write her recent album, and masters' thesis, Songs for a Lost Pod. We speak with Leah about the musical inspiration in obscure research projects, about the lessons of forgiveness in unexpected places, and about the ways a family history of trauma can connect us to the animals with whom we share the seas. Spoken word included in the episode is by Barbara Adler.

20 years ago Laura Wee Lay Laq made a choice that ultimately transformed her relationships with her ancestors, with her future and with the land itself. In this episode we explore the power of a few simple and honest questions about who we are, about where we come from, and questions about to whom and to what we are accountable.

Whether you identify as an ‘activist’ or not, the word is undergoing a kind of fashionable comeback lately. In this episode we look at what a life of activism can teach us about ourselves, our motivations and the stories we tell about the world. Think of it as an audio advice column, or a six-step program for wiser living – relevant to those of us who do and do not feel that activism has something do with it.

Have you ever looked at what’s happening in our world and felt powerless? Ever looked at your career and thought, am I having a big enough impact on the issues that matter? Have you ever wondered if others cared about any of this as much as you? In our first episode, we unpack some of these questions through a story of bee encounters that helped propel one woman across continents, into new forms of work and home to herself.