Podcasts about Environmental justice

John Maytham speaks to Greenpeace Africa oil and gas campaigner Sherelee Odayar about the Constitutional Court ruling setting aside Shell and Impact Africa’s oil and gas exploration rights off the Wild Coast. Presenter John Maytham is an actor and author-turned-talk radio veteran and seasoned journalist. His show serves a round-up of local and international news coupled with the latest in business, sport, traffic and weather. The host’s eclectic interests mean the program often surprises the audience with intriguing book reviews and inspiring interviews profiling artists. A daily highlight is Rapid Fire, just after 5:30pm. CapeTalk fans call in, to stump the presenter with their general knowledge questions. Another firm favourite is the humorous Thursday crossing with award-winning journalist Rebecca Davis, called “Plan B”. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Afternoon Drive with John Maytham Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 15:00 and 18:00 (SA Time) to Afternoon Drive with John Maytham broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/BSFy4Cn or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/n8nWt4x Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode was a great one with Chuck Sams, an enrolled member of the  Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse tribes, as well as the 19th director of the United States National Park Service from 2021 to 2025. He now serves as one of two of Oregon's members of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, the director of Indigenous programs at the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, and senior fellow at the University of Oregon Law School.Chuck has extensive experience in environmental stewardship and has spent nearly over 30 years doing salmon and watershed restoration work all across the Pacific Northwest and across the country on larger scale watershed restoration. We talk with him about tribal planning, lessons we can learn from indigenous nations, relationship building between tribes and government entities, and the current hot topic: data centers. Articles and resources mentioned in the episode:Oregon, Umatilla tribes aim to co-manage proposed wildlife area in Union CountyA small Central Oregon town shoots down data center developmentOffshore wind looked like a sure thing for Oregon — until it wasn't. What went wrong?Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email or voice message!  The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing?To share your experiences, email betterplannerspodcast@gmail.com or leave a voice message by clicking: https://www.speakpipe.com/BetterPlannersPodcast Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners 

Quelle est la plus vieille invention entre le papier, la géométrie et l'esclavage ? Sans surprise, l'esclavage est le grand gagnant, étant apparu comme l'écriture durant le Néolithique. Depuis le temps, il y a eu beaucoup de révoltes d'esclaves, dont certaines qui ont marqué l'Histoire, comme Spartacus. Mais aujourd'hui, pas d'Antiquité, pas d'Empire romain, on va partir au Brésil et parler de la plus longue révolte d'esclaves de la colonisation de l'Amérique : le quilombo de Palmares !Bonne écoute !

Hello Interactors,I've long been a fan of “regreening” cities, imagining replacing bits of asphalt and concrete with trees, plants, mini-parks, and green roofs to cool them down. In many cases these are indeed good interventions. But even these celebrated nature-based solutions to the “urban heat island” effect require closer inspection. It turns out any land cover change alters energy, water, and momentum exchanges between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere. Which are the right ones and where?To understand why cookie cutter greening plans can fail and how planners and policy makers can build cities that can handle climate change, we need to understand how land and the air interact. Environments vary from place to place, and this puts limits on what we can do to land to create urban climates that are both beautiful and healthy.To get a handle on what the research says, I found a literature review from 2025 that synthesized findings from 84 peer-reviewed studies. In was published in the journal Climate Risk Management.Let's see what they, and others, found.BEATING HEAT WITH BIOPHYSICAL FEATSWhat better place to start than science. Let's just delve right into how urban green spaces affect temperature. It starts with determining the energy balance at the surface of the earth. This comes from a budget equation found in physical geography. When sunlight hits the Earth's surface, it breaks down into three main fluxes, or ways heat moves around* Sensible heat flux: the heat that directly warms the surrounding air, which we measure as temperature.* Latent heat flux: the heat that's used to turn water from a liquid to a gas, like when we sweat or plants release water vapor (transpiration).* Ground heat flux: the heat stored in building materials, asphalt, and soil.In conventional urban environments dominated by concrete and asphalt, latent heat flux is minimal because we've built cities in ways that rapidly drain water away as ‘waste'. As a result, incoming solar energy is funneled into sensible heat. This raises daytime air temperatures that gets stored as ground heat, which is slowly radiated back into the city at night. Urban greening can reshuffle this thermodynamic budget through three interconnected physical mechanisms: shading, evapotranspiration, and albedo modification.Mechanism 1. Shading: Intercepting Solar RadiationShading — the most immediate and reliable cooling mechanism provided by vegetation — requires precise microclimatic quantification. Vegetative canopies act as physical shields, intercepting incoming shortwave solar radiation before it strikes impervious surfaces like concrete or asphalt. By preventing these dense materials from absorbing heat and emitting sensible heat flux back into the boundary layer, shading dramatically lowers surface temperatures and reduces the baseline thermal energy transferred to the surrounding air. (Bowler, D. E., et al. 2010)The cooling benefit of urban trees is non-linear, accelerating significantly once neighborhood canopy cover crosses a critical threshold of around 40%. Measuring daytime air temperatures across urban gradients, they found that canopy cover above this 40% mark can lower local air temperatures by up to 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius, effectively offsetting the thermal burden created by surrounding roads and impervious surfaces. (Ziter, C. D., et al. 2019)Mechanism 2. Evapotranspiration: Trading Sensible Heat for Latent HeatWhile shading blocks heat absorption, evapotranspiration actively removes heat from the air. Plants absorb soil moisture through their root systems and release it as water vapor through tiny microscopic pores in their leaves called stomata. This process requires thermal energy that turns phase-changing liquid water into gas. This energy transfer absorbs sensible heat and converts it into latent heat.Evapotranspiration from well-watered urban green spaces can lower local air temperatures by 2-4 degrees celsius. (Coutts, et al., 2013) However, physical geographers emphasize a crucial physical prerequisite that is easy to overlook: evapotranspiration is entirely dependent on available water. When the soil is dry or the air is super dry, plants close their stomata to save water. When stomata close, evapotranspiration shuts down. This leaves shading as the sole remaining cooling mechanism.Mechanism 3. Albedo Dynamics: The Surface Reflectivity ParadoxAlbedo measures the reflectivity of a surface on a scale from 0.0 (total absorption) to 1.0 (total reflection). Urban asphalt has a low albedo (0.05 to 0.10), absorbing up to 95% of incoming solar energy. Vegetation's albedo can range from 0.11 to 0.25.In temperate climates, replacing low-albedo asphalt with greenery or reflective surfaces increases surface reflectivity, sending more solar radiation back into space before it can be absorbed as sensible heat. One study documented that increasing urban surface albedo typically lowers peak ambient air temperatures by 0.3 degres Celsius to 1.0 degree Celsius — alongside much larger drops in surface pavement temperatures. While a temperature change under one degree Celsius may sound modest at first glance, a baseline shift of this magnitude across a neighborhood is enough to redefine a local microclimate. (Santamouris, 2014)But swapping out light urban surfaces for dark vegetation can also have a negative effect. Paradoxically, when researchers in 2023 replaced dry, light-colored desert soil with darker vegetation in hot, arid regions it reduced overall surface reflectivity. The drop in albedo caused an increase in daytime surface warming. (Schlaerth, et al., 2023)Furthermore, dense tree canopies inside narrow urban street canyons can act as thermal blankets at night. While trees provide valuable shade during the day, their foliage reduces the sky view factor at street level, trapping outgoing longwave thermal radiation emitted by surrounding building facades and asphalt. When combined with reduced wind permeability, this canopy barrier restricts nocturnal radiative cooling and holds warm air near ground level (Lee et al., 2016).These are the physical realities that can demonstrate how urban greening is not a consistently inherent cooling practice. It is a complex thermodynamic intervention whose success relies entirely on local environmental conditions.PLACEMENT, PATCHES, AND PARK PATTERNSBecause thermodynamic processes happen across physical spaces, cooling urban green space can be uneven. The literature review reveals that a green space's cooling capacity depends on four spatial and biological variables: vegetation density, species selection, spatial configuration, and urban morphology. Let's break them down individually.Cooling Factor 1. Vegetation Density and Species TraitsNot all greenery cools equally. One way to measure this is through a Leaf Area Index (LAI). This is the total leaf area per unit of ground area and is a primary predictor of thermal performance. As you might imagine, dense foliage absorbs more from the sun and then produces higher cumulative transpiration (so long as there's adequate water).Botanical traits also play a big role. Broadleaf deciduous species (like oaks or maples) feature large surface areas that maximize summer transpiration, but that goes away when they drop their leaves in winter. Evergreen coniferous trees, however, maintain continuous canopy coverage through every season.In temperate rainforest environments like Seattle or Vancouver, researchers found that conifers cooled urban surroundings up to 1.7 degrees celsius more effectively than broadleaf trees. Dense needle canopies continuously block incoming solar radiation due to higher LAI and the fact that clusters of spiny needles better trap a stable buffer of calm air which moderates heat exchange with the surrounding urban environment. (Eyster & Beckage, 2022, 2023) Cooling factor 2. Spatial Configuration: Landscape Ecology PrinciplesEcologists and geographers commonly evaluate green spaces through two main attributes: composition (how much green space exists) and configuration (how those green patches are arranged across the landscape). Over 58% of the mechanism-focused studies in the literature review analyzed spatial pattern metrics. The consensus is the spatial layout of green space is just as important as its total area!Other empirical studies consistently demonstrate that cooling effects decay the further you get from green spaces. Research done in 2016 and 2023 shows how urban parks can produce a primary “cooling footprint” that extends typically 100 to 300 meters from the park boundaries. If you're lucky enough to live within this buffer, temperatures drop between 1.9 and 3.1 degrees celsius, but beyond 300 meters, the cooling influence quickly falls off. (Bao, et al. 2016, Shi et al. 2023)This spatial limit leads to a couple spatial layout choices. A few big parks or connected networks of smaller green spaces. Large, consolidated parks (>2 hectares) generate intense, stable “cool islands” at their core, but their benefits remain localized. For example, a study in Xalapa, Mexico, revealed that parks larger than 2.8 hectares with over 21% tree cover provided reliable local cooling of around 2 degrees celsius . (Lemoine-Rodriguez et al., 2022)Connected networks of smaller green spaces distributed across a city create a more equitable cooling effect. Three studies in 2019 and 2021 show that fragmented, isolated green patches — like big parks — perform poorly compared to continuous, linear green corridors. Linear “green belts” or street-tree networks (in the right environment) can act as ventilation channels, allowing cool air generated by vegetation to flow into adjacent built-up neighborhoods. (Masoudi et al., 2019, 2021; Pramanik, 2019)Cooling factor 3. Urban Morphology: The Built Environment MatrixObviously, green spaces don't exist in isolation. They're embedded within a three-dimensional hodge podge of buildings, streets, and other bits of infrastructure. Urban morphologists can quantify this urban morphological cacophony using building height-to-street-width ratio and sky view factor - the extent to which surrounding structures and canopies obstruct a location's view of the open sky.High-density urban cores with tall buildings create deep “urban canyons” that generate their own shade. In these settings, building shade can combine with tree shade during peak daylight hours to significantly lower temperatures.However, studies show that if tree canopies in narrow street canyons are too dense — particularly in humid environments — they can trap anthropogenic heat emitted by vehicle exhaust and air conditioning condenser units. They can also significantly reduce localized wind speeds. As a result, maximizing green space cooling efficiency requires aligning vegetation density and canopy architecture with prevailing wind corridors to preserve urban ventilation channels (Cheung & Jim, 2019; Morakinyo et al., 2019).Nothing is every as easy as it seems.BRIDGING GAPS WITH BETTER MAPSWhile academic literature can offer detailed insights into microclimatic processes, there remains a big gap between academia and urban planning and governmental policy. That gap may be self-fulfilling. The literature review of 84 papers revealed 61% of the papers simply advocate for expanding green space area, whereas only 26% focus on optimizing existing green infrastructure.Recommending that dense, historical cities “add more large parks” ignores real-world urban constraints. In modern, rapidly expanding cities, urban land is expensive, highly contested, and structurally constrained. Space dedicated to a new park often competes directly with housing, transit infrastructure, or commercial development. To move beyond idealistic slogans, urban planning will have to recon with three major implementation challenges.Challenge 1. The Water-Energy-Heat Nexus in Arid CitiesThe most significant implementation challenge facing nature-based solutions occurs precisely where urban heat stress is most severe — in hot, arid regions. Cities like Phoenix, Cairo, Tehran, or Riyadh already suffer from intense summer heatwaves. You don't have to live in or visit these places to know water there is extremely scarce.Maintaining green spaces in places like this requires pumping groundwater or desalinating seawater. Pumping and desalinating water requires massive amounts of electricity, which only increases greenhouse gas emissions if that power is coming from fossil fuels. Furthermore, if irrigation water runs out during a heatwave, non-adapted vegetation dries out, loses its cooling capacity, and can even become a wildfire risk.To solve this dilemma, physical geographers advocate evaluating urban greening through a standardized resource efficiency metric: evapotranspirative cooling per unit of water applied. In plain language, this ratio measures how many degrees of cooling you get for each liter (or gallon) of water that plants and soil release into the air through evaporation and transpiration.In dry climates — where municipal water is already tightly rationed and turfgrass is increasingly discouraged but rarely banned (I'm looking at you Arizona) — urban greening strategies are going to have pivot away from high-water lawns and non-native foliage. These cities have to move from simply prioritizing or incentivizing drought-tolerant species to requiring them. While drought-tolerant plants transpire less water than many other plants and trees — and still require water — when combined with drip-irrigation using treated municipal wastewater (greywater), they can provide a pretty reliable canopy shade and even modest evaporative cooling without draining water reserves.Challenge 2. Environmental Justice and Thermal EquityUrban heat exposure is rarely, if ever, distributed evenly across socio-economic groups. In many cities worldwide, low-income neighborhoods exhibit significantly lower tree canopy cover, higher proportions of impervious asphalt, and higher building densities than the more affluent suburbs and ex-urbs. This imbalance leaves more vulnerable populations exposed to extreme heat hazards.When municipalities undertake uncoordinated “regreening” projects, they risk triggering green gentrification. Installing fancy attractive parks can then inflate surrounding property values, displacing residents while still not reducing their heat related vulnerability.To address this, requires targeted interventions like deploying small-scale, distributed interventions (think pocket parks, vegetated bus stops, and road corridors) directly in high-vulnerability, low-canopy/vegetation neighborhoods. You could focus on functional shading over high-maintenance aesthetics. This could better ensure that at least transit stops, pedestrian walkways, and playgrounds are prioritized for canopy cover. Lastly, combining situated green infrastructure with social policy could create and/or protect more affordable housing around old and new greened public corridors and spaces.Challenge 3. A Multi-Benefit, Context-Specific Design FrameworkNo single cooling intervention works everywhere. Planners and policy makers need to adopt an integrated, multi-tiered approach that combines nature-based solutions with material interventions.In arid and semi-arid environments, planners should prioritize structural canopy shading and end an over-reliance on water-intensive lawn evapotranspiration. It's time to demand drought-tolerant trees with greywater irrigation networks, shade sails, and high-albedo “cool pavements” that can better reflect solar radiation without draining water resources.In contrast, humid and more temperate climates would likely benefit most from maximizing green spatial connectivity. By linking existing parks through linear street-tree corridors — with select broadleaf and/or coniferous species — summer evapotranspiration can be enhanced while maintaining year-round microclimate regulation.Finally, within high-density, built-up cores where ground space for new parks is limited, cities should leverage vertical green walls and green roofs paired with reflective building materials. But they best also preserve prevailing wind corridors while preventing nighttime heat traps through street canyons.“Regreening” is a compelling slogan, but as physical geography demonstrates, simplistic blanket policies can yield unpredictable thermodynamic results. Simply planting trees without considering local climate, available water, species traits, spatial configuration, and urban geometry can lead to unintended consequences.The exhaustive synthesis of decade-long research provided by Hadi Soltanifard and Majid Amani-Beni (2025) offers a clear path forward. Nature-based solutions are not off-the-shelf products that can be copy-pasted across different global cities. They are dynamic, living interventions that alter energy fluxes across urban surfaces.By moving beyond blanket acreage targets and framing urban greening as the strategic reorganization of surface-energy relations, geographers, urban planners, and policymakers will need to work together. When we design green infrastructure that respects local environmental constraints, honors spatial equity, and optimizes microclimatic processes, urban greening moves from a vague policy promise toward tools of experimentation that can pragmatically evolve our cities and megaregions into truly climate-resilient urbanscapes.ReferencesBowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). Urban greening to cool towns and cities: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97(3), 147-155.Cheung, P.K., Jim, C.Y., 2019. Differential cooling effects of landscape parameters in humid-subtropical urban parks. Landscape and Urban Planning 192, 103651.Coutts, A.M., Tapper, N.J., Beringer, J., et al., 2013. Watering our cities: the capacity for Water Sensitive Urban Design to support urban cooling and improve human thermal comfort in the Australian context. Progress in Physical Geography 37(1), 2–28.Eyster, H. N., & Beckage, B. (2022). Conifers may ameliorate urban heat waves better than broadleaf trees: Evidence from Vancouver, Canada. Atmosphere, 13(5), 830.Eyster, H. N., & Beckage, B. (2023). Arboreal urban cooling is driven by leaf area index, leaf boundary layer resistance, and dry leaf mass per leaf area: Evidence from a system dynamics model. Atmosphere, 14(3), 552.Lee, H., Mayer, H., & Chen, L. (2016). Contribution of trees and grasslands to the mitigation of human heat stress in a residential district of Freiburg, Southwest Germany. Landscape and Urban Planning 148:37–50.Lemoine-Rodríguez, R., Inostroza, L., Falfán, I., & MacGregor-Fors, I. (2022). Too hot to handle? On the cooling capacity of urban green spaces in a Neotropical Mexican city. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 74, 127633.Masoudi, M., Tan, P.Y., 2019. Multi-year comparison of the effects of spatial pattern of urban green spaces on urban land surface temperature. Landscape and Urban Planning. 184, 44–58.Masoudi, M., Tan, P.Y., Fadaei, M., 2021. The effects of land use on spatial pattern of urban green spaces and their cooling ability. Urban. Clim 35, 100743.Masoudi, M., Tan, P.Y., Liew, S.C., 2019. Multi-city comparison of the relationships between spatial pattern and cooling effect of urban green spaces in four major Asian cities. Ecol. Indic 98, 200–213.Morakinyo, T.E., Ouyang, W., Lau, K.-K.-L., et al., 2020. Right tree, right place (urban canyon): Tree species selection approach for optimum urban heat mitigation-development and evaluation. Sci. Total. Environ 719, 137461.Pramanik, M. (2019). Impacts of urban expansion on land surface temperature and urban heat island in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(12), 738.Santamouris, M. (2014). Cooling the cities—a review of reflective and green roof mitigation technologies to fight heat island and improve comfort in urban environments. Solar Energy, 103, 682-703.Schlaerth, Hannah L., et al. "Albedo as a competing warming effect of urban greening." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 128.24 (2023): e2023JD038764.Soltanifard, H., & Amani-Beni, M. (2025). The cooling effect of urban green spaces as nature-based solutions for mitigating urban heat: Insights from a decade-long systematic review. Climate Risk Management, 49, 100731.Ziter, C. D., Pedersen, E. J., Kucharik, C. J., & Turner, M. G. (2019). Scale-dependent interactions between tree canopy cover and impervious surfaces reduce daytime urban heat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 116(15), 7575-7580. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit interplace.io

In this episode of Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning, hosts Em Hall and Divya Gandhi sit down with Paul Lozito, AICP, Deputy Executive Director of the NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, to explore how environmental justice is reshaping urban planning in New York City. Lozito traces the roots of the EJNYC report and mapping tool back to decades of environmental justice organizing, and explains how the city is using data to identify "have" and "have-not" communities across heat, flooding, and tree canopy access. The conversation dives into Resilient Acquisitions, a first-of-its-kind proactive buyout program for flood-prone properties, and the city's new Urban Forest Plan, which targets tree planting and stewardship in historically underserved neighborhoods. Along the way, Lozito shares practical lessons for planners anywhere — not just in a city with New York's resources — on grounding climate work in community history, hard data, and tangible action. Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/mapping-environmental-justice-in-nyc-with-paul-lozito-aicp/

Plant-based diets lower COVID severity, cut inflammation, and help reverse environmental and health damage—especially in high-risk communities. #PandemicPrevention #ClimateHealth #FoodJustice

Send us a voice noteThis episode delves into the spiritual, cultural, and ecological significance of untouched wilderness and our role as “keepers” or caretakers of such spaces. Jim Stump, Vice President of BioLogos and host of the Language of God podcast, shares about his recent journey to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, exploring the intersection of faith, creation care, and environmental advocacy.  Jim speaks up against the potential abuse of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but also shares about the ways he himself was deeply impacted by his encounters with the inhabitants of that remote wilderness—both human and more than human.Links:Jim StumpBiologosLanguage of God podcastJim Stump's Substack – photos and essays about ANWR American Lands ProjectGwich'in NationAlaska National Wildlife RefugeAlaska Wilderness and Resource Extraction                  Alaska Public Media                  Earth JusticeResponse/Action Steps (see the end of the article) Key  Topics:Jim Stump's background in philosophy and scienceThe purpose and experience of the Arctic tripThe indigenous Gwichin people's relationship to the landThe environmental and spiritual significance of the Arctic RefugeChristian vocation to care for creationHope and faith in environmental activismThe role of indigenous wisdom in conservationPractical steps for advocacy and awareness Keywords:creation care, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, faith and environment, indigenous wisdom, climate change, conservation, Christian vocation, environmental justice, stewardship, Jim Stump, Gwich'in Nation, grizzly bears, Porcupine caribou, Arctic Village, earthkeepingFind us on our website: Earthkeepers Support the Earthkeepers podcast Check out the Ecological Disciple 

On today's show, host Douglas Haynes highlights a unique Wisconsin education program called the Driftless Field School at Thoreau College. He speaks with two educators, Benjamin Bernard-Herman and Margot Higgins about how their program engages the most pressing questions of our time, like climate change and inequality, and teaches students to revitalize their relationships to land and communities. The Driftless Field School is a five-and-a-half week long summer immersion program that offers place-based environmental education. They focus on the “bioregion” of the Driftless, the unique area of the Midwest that was never glaciated. Rather than imagining places as defined by state boundaries or urban centers, bioregions emphasize biological, geological, and cultural similarities. In the Driftless, this means engaging students on issues of energy and ethanol, issues that are deeply rooted in the region but are equally global environmental issues. They also talk about how their courses engage students in developing ecological literacy, the ability to notice the world around them. Students learn to sleep outside, take care of sheep, grow their own food, and more, all with an eye toward reciprocity. They also learn how to conduct oral histories, sing, and be a citizen in a place no matter where they go. Benjamin Bernard-Herman is a PhD candidate in the department of anthropology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His research is based in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region, and focuses on the values that sustain small-scale farmers in conditions of economic and environmental precarity. He earned an MA in the social sciences, with a concentration in anthropology, from the University of Chicago, and a BA in sociology and anthropology from Swarthmore College. He was the 2023-24 scholar-in-residence at Thoreau College, and has returned to Thoreau College to teach every year since; this is his third year teaching for the college’s Driftless Field School program. Dr. Margot Higgins is a professor in the Sustainability and Environmental Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, where she instructs courses on topics including Environmental Justice, Food Politics, Political Ecology, and Environmental History. She earned an MA in Human Development and a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California-Berkeley, as well as an MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, and a BA in American Studies and Art from Colby College in Maine. In addition to her focus on the Driftless Region, Margot's research and teaching have taken her from Norway and California to Montana and Alaska, where she first started teaching college students in a backcountry field program in 2005. This is her second summer teaching the summer field course at Thoreau. Featured image of students at the Driftless Field School. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Teaching Eco-Literacy in the Driftless Bioregion appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

This week, Scott is joined by former colleague Ilka Vega, who has traveled the world serving in various mission, justice, and advocacy roles and is currently serving as the Executive for Economic and Environmental Justice at United Women in Faith. The Texas Impact team first met Ilka when she was a high school student at the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, a United Methodist affiliated school in El Paso primarily serving students who walk across the border from Mexico, when Ilka attended her first United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Scott and Ilka talk about her journey from Lydia Patterson, her work in climate and immigration advocacy and her current work with United Women in Faith. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.   

The wait is over! In this episode of Grounds for Peace, host Blake Smith sits down with Joelle Wight, director of the upcoming 2026 Peace Forum, to talk about the highly anticipated return of the church's flagship peace event. Joelle shares how we can embrace "faithful disagreement" with wonder, what to expect from the brand-new Creative Reuse Pop-Up, and the incredibly inclusive ways for adults, youth, and global online congregations to participate.   Secure your early bird registration before September 1st!Listen to other episodes in the Grounds for Peace series. Download the transcript.Thanks for listening to Faith Unfiltered!Follow us on Facebook and Instagram!Intro and Outro music used with permission: “For Everyone Born,” Community of Christ Sings #285. Music © 2006 Brian Mann, admin. General Board of Global Ministries t/a GBGMusik, 458 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30308. copyright@umcmission.org “The Trees of the Field,” Community of Christ Sings # 645, Music © 1975 Stuart Dauerman, Lillenas Publishing Company (admin. Music Services). All music for this episode was performed by Dr. Jan Kraybill, and produced by Chad Godfrey.   NOTE: The series that make up Faith Unfiltered explore the unique spiritual and theological gifts Community of Christ offers for today's world. Although Faith Unfiltered is a Ministry of Community of Christ. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Community of Christ. 

This week on Truth to Power, we bring you a community conversation from the Aspen Ideas Festival in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States of America. The program called "America in Her Own Words" was organized by Theater of War Productions, which was honored to return to the Aspen Ideas Festival last week to present this year's closing session to help celebrate and interrogate the 250th anniversary of the United States. Actors David Strathairn (Goodnight and Good Luck, Lincoln), Michael Potts (The Wire, True Detective), and Kathleen Chalfant (Familiar Touch, The Affair) performed excerpts from Fourth of July speeches by Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony to catalyze a guided audience discussion about how reckoning and repair are fundamental to the promise and process of American democracy. The texts included sections from “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” delivered by Frederick Douglass at an Independence Day celebration in Rochester, New York on July 5, 1852; “The Electric Cord Speech” delivered by Abraham Lincoln from the balcony of Tremont House in Chicago, Illinois on July 10, 1858; and the “Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States” written by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony and read by Anthony on July 4, 1876 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia during the Centennial Celebration. Following the readings, thoughts were shared by panelists Abayomi Lewis (Singer; Poet; “American Idol” Contestant), Chuck Sams (Director, Indigenous Programs, Yale Center for Environmental Justice; Former Director, U.S. National Park Service), and Jeh Johnson (Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Chair, Board of Trustees, Columbia University). They candidly responded to these speeches and kicked off a powerful discussion with the audience. Watch the full performance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Witiu_NzpYs Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 7pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://www.forwardradio.org

On today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill is buzzing about the power of POWHR (Protect Our Water Heritage and Rights). Whenever nonprofits have to go up against big for-profit companies it's often like David vs. Goliath … but with David lacking any stones for his sling. But recently a Southwest Virginia environmental nonprofit used its power to successfully stymy – for now at least – construction of a massive 25-acre, 136,900 hp compressor station that Mountain Valley Pipeline wanted to build in a rural section of Montgomery County. Michael chats with POWHR community organizer Crystal Mello – who prefers to describe herself as the local cleaning lady and a nanna — and double Hokie Seferina Olivo, who is POWHR's community science manager, about POWHR's fight against Mountain Valley Pipeline … and its work to establish environmental justice for Southwest Virginia.

Environmental justice isn't about making sure pollution is evenly distributed. It's about making sure there is no pollution to distribute.In this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab, I break down the 6th principle of Environmental Justice. The principle demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous waste, and radioactive materials, and holds producers strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and containment at the point of production.Let's be crystal clear: the burden of pollution doesn't belong on the backs of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities who are forced to live next to toxic facilities. It belongs on the producers — the corporations and industries who profit from poisoning our air, water, and soil.Think about it this way: If CEOs had to live next to their own plants, how quickly would they find cleaner ways to operate?This episode is a call to stop compromising, stop capitulating, and stop letting polluters shift the blame onto the people they're harming. Environmental justice demands accountability. It demands detoxification. It demands we stop polluting.Tune in, get educated, and get engaged because we're not wavering.References: The Principles of Environmental JusticeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-environmental-justice-lab--5583745/support.Don't forget to subscribe and rate the podcast wherever you listen! Support our work by joining the Supporters Club: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-environmental-justice-lab--5583745/supportConnect with our Environmental Justice Lab community: Instagram: @envjusticelab YouTube: @envjusticelab Email: theenvironmentaljusticelab@gmail.com

00:08 — Hunter's Point community members are demanding answers after toxic materials were discovered during the cleanup of the former naval shipyard. We speak with Bradley Angel of Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice and journalist Tom Molanphy about the latest developments, community concerns, and the legacy of environmental contamination in Bayview-Hunters Point. 00:33 — Dazon Dixon Diallo of SisterLove joins us to discuss the impact of federal cuts to reproductive health and HIV/AIDS funding on communities in the U.S. and around the world.   The post The Fight for Accountability on Chemical Waste in Hunters Point Continues; Plus, Federal Cuts Hitting HIV/AIDS Care appeared first on KPFA.

Theonila Roka Matbob grew up surrounded by the toxic legacy of Panguna mine in central Bougainville.  Now a politician and human rights advocate, she refused to accept the damage left behind. Mobilising her community, Theonila took on mining giant Rio Tinto – and won.   Her campaign has earned her global recognition, including the the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize. In this episode of Sistas Let's Talk, Natasha Meten speaks with Theonila about growing up in the shadow of the mine, her fight for environmental justice and what justice means for her people. 

Bayview Hunters Point Naval Shipyard – May 2010 – Take notice of how close the homes are. Wikicommons – Edward Betts On today's show, San Francisco Bayview Hunters Point Shipyard is still a superfund site and still poisoning the residents.  We'll start the hour with Arieann Harrison and Malik Washington of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation and Bradley Angel of Green Action for Health and Environmental Justice.  Then the exhaustive, bombshell reporting by investigative journalist Greg Schwartz.  His latest piece in Counterpunch is entitled, “The Gaslighting of San Francisco at the Hunters Point Shipyard”. Click Here:  June 24, 2026 Call to Action for Bayview Hunters Point The post Bayview Hunters Point Superfund Site appeared first on KPFA.

What does sustainability really look like beyond reusable water bottles and eco-friendly products?In this episode of The Lexy Show: Fashion That Gives a Damn, Lexy Silverstein sits down with environmental activist and community organizer Ariel DeLa Cruz to explore the powerful connection between environmental justice, wellness, food systems, and community sustainability.Ariel shares her journey from studying biology and pre-med to becoming a sustainability leader focused on helping people reconnect with nature, improve their well-being, and create healthier communities. Together, Lexy and Ariel discuss the importance of outdoor spaces, sustainable living, composting, conscious consumption, food waste, environmental education, and why sustainability isn't about perfection—it's about progress.They also dive into sustainable fashion, fast fashion's hidden costs, mindful shopping habits, teaching environmental awareness to children, and how small lifestyle changes can create lasting ripple effects for people and the planet.Check out more from Lexy on Instagram and tiktok @lexysilverstein and check out Lexy's website https://elexyfy.com/ 

The sheer scale of the climate crisis can easily lead to burnout if we don't have a strong anchor to hold us steady. Today, we are digging beneath the protests and policies to explore the deep, spiritual roots that actually sustain this vital work. Join us to discover how a profound shift in our theology can transform environmentalism from a crushing global obligation into a deeply personal, daily practice of love. -------------------------   World Quaker Day is on Sunday, October 4th, 2026, and this year's theme is “Let Peace Be Among Us.” To mark the day, the Friends World Committee for Consultation is doing something pretty incredible: a massive, global online Meeting for Worship. It's a chance to bridge time zones and traditions—to be in a shared, digital worship that stretches around the entire world. Find out more and other ways to take part in World Quaker Day at www.worldquakerday.org. Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Public outrage and policy shifts offer hope. Learn how awareness, advocacy, and plant-based diets can drive real environmental change. #AtrazineBan #PublicAction #CleanWater #HealthTalks

While the podcast team is taking a Radical Sabbatical, Kim is interviewing authors of the books that have had a big impact on her in the past two years.  In this episode, Kim speaks with Heather McGhee, the author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, a New York Times bestseller.  Heather takes Kim on a journey through US history, demonstrating how efforts to exclude some of us from public goods harm all of us, starting with public swimming pools in the United States. As Heather describes in The Sum of Us, “By World War II, the country's two thousand pools were glittering symbols of a new commitment by local officials to the quality of life of their residents, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to socialize together for free…A Pennsylvania county recreation director said, “Let's build bigger, better, and finer pools. That's real democracy. Take away the sham and hypocrisy of clothes, don a swimsuit, and we're all the same.” These swimming pools were remarkable public resources. The Fairground Park Pool had a sandy beach, elaborate diving boards, and a capacity of 10,000 people. However, when cities across the country were forced to integrate these pools, they chose to fill them in with dirt instead. Nobody got to swim–except people wealthy enough to join private clubs. Starting in the late 1960s, the same illogic was applied to more consequential areas of life than swimming pools. As the public began to perceive that government programs like welfare, healthcare, education, and infrastructure funding would benefit Black and Brown Americans, political support for these public goods collapsed.  For example, when Texas rejected Obamacare, its rural hospitals began going bankrupt, resulting in medical deserts and economic devastation in rural Texas towns.    Today, we have a choice: the solidarity dividend that results from public goods that benefit everyone; or the devastation for everyone that results from the kind of zero-sum thinking that would cause a community to destroy public goods rather than make them available to everyone.   Guest Background: Heather McGhee designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together spent 10 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was long-listed for the National Book Award and Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, among numerous other awards. In the summer of 2022, The Sum of Us was adapted into a Spotify podcast by Higher Ground, the production company of Barack and Michelle Obama. The Sum of Us was adapted into a young adult readers' version by Random House Children's in February 2023. The adaptation for middle and high-school students received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist, and Kirkus named it a Best Young Adult Book of the Year. CHAPTERS (00:00) Introduction to Radical Sabbatical and Bacon's Rebellion (02:05) Bacon's Rebellion: A Historical Perspective on Race Relations (04:49) The Economic Impact of Racism on Society (06:34) The Race Class Narrative Project and Its Implications (16:30) Education: The Cost of Inequality (22:09) Healthcare: The Consequences of Drained Public Goods (24:37) Racialized Healthcare Politics (26:32) The Impact of Medicaid Expansion (28:38) The Mortgage Crisis and Racial Discrimination (31:24) The Canary in the Coal Mine (34:58) Unionization and Economic Power (38:54) Cross-Racial Solidarity in Labor Movements (42:18) Environmental Justice and Collective Action Connect with the Radical Candor team: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 Today, Donald Trump has formally nominated his personal lawyer Todd Blanche to be the Attorney General; the IRS failed to match taxpayer records with ICE data accurately; a federal judge has blocked Donald's $100,000 visa fee; the lawsuit to stop the UFC fight at the White House has been assigned to Judge Amit Mehta; Mayor Mamdani adds a free Bryant Park watch party for the Knicks after Trump's visit forces the cancellation of them around Madison Square Garden; Skagit County courts limit Zoom hearings for vulnerable community members in Washington state; Andry Hernández Romero - the gay stylist sent to CECOT prison - is rebuilding his life in Spain; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News. Thank You, Helix 20% Off Sitewide when you go to HelixSleep.com/dailybeans Thank You, WildGrain Get $30 off your first box + free Croissants in every box. Go to Wildgrain.com/DAILYBEANS to start your subscription. Guest: Chandra Taylor-Sawyer  Senior Attorney and leader of the (SELC) Southern Environmental Law Center's Environmental Justice InitiativeSouthern Environmental Law Center   The Latest Breakdown:Trump DOJ CORNERED by Judge in Jan 6 Cover-Up | The Breakdown StoriesIRS failed to match taxpayer records with ICE data accurately, report finds | POLITICO Court blocks Trump's $100K visa fee | POLITICO US judge asked to bar Trump's UFC fight at White House | Reuters Skagit County Courts Limit Zoom Hearings for Vulnerable Community Members | Skagit Scoop City adds Bryant Park watch party as Trump visit scuttles Game 3 MSG gathering | Gothamist Gay CECOT survivor rebuilds his life in Spain while speaking up for voiceless immigrants in America | The Advocate Good Trouble  Join a Rise Up, Sing Out event near you — or host one in your community. Or you can watch from home. Find All the info at → https://riseupsingout.com, and http://nokings.org   →Triumphal Arch - Section 106 Assessment of Effect and Draft Programmatic Agreement →Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance -  Open For Comments →The Forest Service is accepting public comments until June 7th →Form WTAF-8647 →Recall Gov. Jeff Landry - Louisianadeservesbetter.com →STOP the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi - Action Network →detentionwatchnetwork.org →FieldTeam6.org →Standwithminnesota.com →Tell Congress Ice out Now | Indivisible, Defund ICE | 5Calls →Congress: Divest From ICE and CBP | ACLU →ICE List  →iceout.org Good NewsA CALL TO ACTION: Submit “Media Bias” Tips – The White HouseAppalachian Pug RescuePurple pain: backlash over Mexico City's ‘axolotlisation' for World Cup | The Guardian DNR EagleCam | Minnesota DNR →Share your Good News & Good Trouble - The Daily Beans →Beans Talk audio -beans-talk.simplecast.com →Email Dana LGBTQ Owned eating establishments in your area - hello@mswmedia.com Subject: “Dana's Project” Subscribe to the MSW YouTube Channel - MSW Media - YouTube Harry Dunn is running for CongressHarry Dunn for Maryland Our Donation Links Blue Wave California - bluewavecalifornia.org/concert Donate to Public Citizen - https://citizen.org/beans/ The Daily Beans is donating $10,000 and invites you to give what you can to support their life-affirming work - Donate to It Gets Better / The Daily Beans Fundraiser Pathways to Citizenship link to MATCH Allison's Donationhttps://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_86ff5236-dd26-11ec-b5ee-066e3d38bc77&WidgetId=6388736 Join Dana and The Daily Beans in support of Human Rights Campaign http://onecau.se/_ekes71 More Donation LinksNational Security Counselors - Donate, ActBlue.com/donate/msw-bwc, WhistleblowerAid.org/beans Dr. Allison Gill - The Breakdown | Allison Gill, Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com - Bluesky, MSW & The Daily Beans Podcast @muellershewrote - Instagram, MSW Media - YouTube →Federal workers - email AG at fedoath@pm.me and let me know what you're going to do, or just vent. I'm always here to listen.  Dana Goldberg - Dana is on Patreon! At Dana's Dugout, @dgcomedy - Bluesky, @dgcomedy - IG, Dana Goldberg - Facebook,  DanaGoldberg.com More from MSW Media - Shows - MSW Media, Cleanup On Aisle 45 pod, The Breakdown | Allison Gill Reminder - you can see the pod pics if you become a Patron. The good news pics are at the bottom of the show notes of each Patreon episode! That's just one of the perks of subscribing! patreon.com/muellershewrote Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:https://apple.co/3XNx7ckWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?https://patreon.com/thedailybeanshttps://dailybeans.supercast.com/https://apple.co/3UKzKt0 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The National Science Foundation has announced it will begin removing most of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a collection of roughly 900 instruments in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that gathers fixed-point data on temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and more. The move is part of a broader trend within the current administration to shelve climate science research and reporting.   Also, today the Agora and Acropolis of Athens, Delphi on Mount Parnassus, and other Greek archaeological sites preserve not only cultural heritage, but also animal and plant species, including some that were around in ancient times and are described in historical accounts and Greek mythology. And the indigenous residents of Bougainville island in Papua New Guinea say their home used to provide them with everything they needed—shelter, fertile land, and clean water. That is until a copper and gold mine run by British-Australian company Rio Tinto set up shop and operated in the 1970s and 80s. Today, heavy metals like copper sulfate and cadmium still pollute waterways, and Theonila Roka Matbob, the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner for Islands and Island Nations, has been fighting for years to pressure Rio Tinto into taking full responsibility for remediating this damage. --   Save the date and sign up for the next virtual Living on Earth Book Club event on July 14 at 5 pm PDT / 8 pm EDT! We'll talk with Yurok activist and attorney Amy Bowers Cordalis about how multiple generations of her family have advocated for the protection of Northern California's Klamath River, a crucial habitat for salmon and the lifeblood of the Yurok tribe. Her book is The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life. You can sign up for this free event at loe.org/events.   Music licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joshua Kahn Russell returns to The Psychedologist to dive deeper into somatic work and the power of practice, engaging in a dynamic relationship with Ayahuasca, unlearning ideological tricks, survival in these times, and being of service to each other.We spend the first 30 minutes talking about somatic coaching, and then weave that into a conversation about a specific lineage of Shipibo Ayahuasca medicine's approach to agency and consent, how the two are related, and how Joshua's work resources activists and others in these overwhelming times.Bio: Joshua Kahn Russell has 13 years of experience practicing traditional Shipibo plant medicine in the Peruvian Amazon under the mentorship of Maestro Ricardo Amaringo. He regularly facilitates cohorts of social justice leaders and Indigenous land protectors to visit the Amazon and heal with traditional plant dietas. He works as a somatic leadership coach, with a 20+ year background in frontline Climate Change, racial and economic justice, and Indigenous Sovereignty grassroots movements. He has written and co- edited numerous books, including A Line In The Tar Sands: Struggles for Environmental Justice, Beautiful Trouble, and Organizing Cools the Planet: Tools and Reflections to Navigate the Climate Crisis. His most recent podcast mini-series is called Dialectics & Psychedelics: Transformation and Social Struggles.

Today, we examine how we will adapt to a changing climate and learn to listen to the Earth.(0:00) Abrahm Lustgarten(Reporter, ProPublica) (3:00) Jon Gertner (Author, The Ice at the End of the World) (5:32) Bill Hare (CEO, Climate Analytics) (6:35) Rob Nixon (Prof. Environmental Humanities, Princeton) (8:12) Louis de Jaeger (Co-founder, Food Forest Institute) (10:06) Kathleen Rogers (Pres., EarthDay.org) (11:31) Rebecca Tickell (Filmmaker, Groundswell) (13:42) Ben Goldfarb (Author, Crossings) (14:56) Jane Madgwick (CEO, Plantlife International) (19:23) Jason deCaires Taylor (Sculptor, Underwater Museums) (21:02) William McDonough (Architect, Cradle to Cradle) (23:19) Euan Nisbet(Scientist, Royal Holloway) (26:06) Roland Geyer (Author, The Business of Less) (28:15) Ron Gonen (CEO, Closed Loop Partners) (29:34) Paul Shrivastava (Co-President, Club of Rome) (30:14) Carlo Ratti (Architect, Dir., MIT Senseable City Lab) (31:24) Osprey Orielle Lake (Founder, WECAN) (32:38) Liza Featherstone (Journalist) (33:41) Yolanda Kakabadse (Fmr. President, WWF)For more, listen to their full interviewsEpisode Site: https://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/anth-regen

Learn how FCC standards are based on flawed data, and why the New Hampshire Commission found RF exposure to be a public health threat. #EMFPolicy #FCCFailure #PublicHealth #HealthTalks

Explore how livestock impacts climate, pollution, biodiversity, and soil—plus the benefits of shifting toward plant-centered diets. #ClimateChange #SustainableEating #PlantPower #EnvironmentalImpact

About this episode: It's graduation time at the Bloomberg School! In this episode: New graduate Della Wright shares how a passion for community engagement and a drive to sharpen her skills steered her towards public health, and how a DrPH degree is supercharging her work bringing researchers and communities together to protect the environment. Guest: Della Wright, DrPH, MPH, is a Bloomberg Fellow and the director of evaluation at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. Show links and related content: Get to Know Della Wright—Bloomberg American Health Initiative HBCU-CBO Gulf Equity Consortium—Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

GUEST: Allison BegalmanHollywood is known for big ideas, big creativity, and big storytelling — but in recent years, one of the biggest forces reshaping the industry isn't a genre or a trend… it's the climate crisis. And at the center of that movement is Allison Begalman. As the co-founder of the Hollywood Climate Summit, Allison has built a space where filmmakers, writers, activists, scientists, and executives come together to ask a simple but powerful question: What if the stories we tell could help shape a more sustainable future? Today, we're diving into how she's mobilizing the entertainment world to take climate action seriously — not just in documentaries or disaster films, but in the everyday narratives that reach millions.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Climate Crisis in Hollywood03:53 The Birth of the Hollywood Climate Summit10:29 Barriers to Climate Storytelling13:25 Break 114:23 Climate-Informed Storytelling vs. Climate-Themed Content19:57 Successful Examples of Climate Storytelling24:44 The Role of Social Media in Climate Advocacy24:52 Break 229:18 Measuring Impact in Climate Storytelling31:37 Future Vision for the Hollywood Climate SummitSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Uncover the political and economic reasons behind the lack of EMF regulation. Includes global comparisons and the telecom influence on public health policy. #EMFTruth #HealthFreedom #TechRegulation

This episode features a conversation with urban geographer, Malini Ranganathan, and historian, Juned Shaikh, on the centrality of caste to urbanization in India. Through a focus on 20th century Bombay (now Mumbai) and 21st century Bangalore (now Bengaluru), we explored the symbiotic relationship between caste and capitalism manifest in the political economy of urbanization from the heyday of industrial capitalism to contemporary neoliberalism. We also delved into the continuities between rural and urban caste relations as seen, for instance, in caste networks that remain key to the movement of capital from rural land to real estate. In addition to the centrality of caste in shaping urbanization, we also considered changes to caste wrought by its role within urban processes. The final part of the episode shifted to a discussion of oppositional mobilization among the urban poor, from the upsurge of literary and political activity among Dalits in Bombay and Bangalore in the 1950s-70s to the ongoing pushback against the threat of dispossession and displacement by real estate and finance capital. Guest bios Malini Ranganathan, Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University Juned Shaikh, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz References Khumbarwada: a historic potters' colony now located within Dharavi, Mumbai (Bombay). OBC: shorthand for Other Backward Classes, a Government of India classification for socially and educationally disadvantaged castes who are beneficiaries of affirmative action. OBCs are distinct from and considered to be relatively more advantaged than the Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, and Scheduled Tribes, or Adivasis, who also benefit from affirmative action. SC/ST: shorthand for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (see above). Malini Ranganathan, David Pike, and Sapna Doshi, Corruption Plots: Stories, Ethics, and Publics of the Late Capitalist City (2024) Malini Ranganathan, “Towards a Political Ecology of Caste and the City” (2022) Malini Ranganathan, “Caste, racialization and the making of environmental unfreedoms in urban India” (2022) Juned Shaikh, Outcaste Bombay: City Making and the Politics of the Poor (2021) Juned Shaikh, “Imaging Caste: Photography, the Housing Question, and the Making of Sociology in Colonial Bombay, 1900-1939 (2014) Frank Conlon, A Caste in a Changing World: The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmans, 1700-1935 (1977) Nikhil Rao, House, but No Garden: Apartment Living in Bombay's Suburbs, 1898-1964 (2012) C. J. Fuller and Haripriya Narasimhan, Tamil Brahmans: The Making of a Middle-Class Caste (2014) Ajantha Subramanian, The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India (2019) K. Balagopal, Probings in the Political Economy of Agrarian Classes and Conflicts (2020) Sushmita Pati, Properties of Rent: Community, Capital, and Politics in Globalizing Delhi, Cambridge University Press (2022). Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, The Origins of Industrial Capitalism in India: Business Strategies and the Working Classes in Bombay, 1900-1940 (1994) Priyanka Srivastava, The Well-Being of the Labor Force in Colonial Bombay: Discourses and Practices (2018) Dana Kornberg, “From Balmikis to Bengalis: The 'Casteification' of Muslims in Delhi's Informal Garbage Economy,” Economic and Political Weekly (2019) Amita Baviskar, Uncivil City: Ecology,. Equity, and the Commons in Delhi (2020) Mukul Sharma, Dalit Ecologies: Caste and Environmental Justice (2024) Liza Weinstein, The Durable Slum: Dharavi and the Right to Stay Put in Globalizing Mumbai (2014) Siddalingaiah, A Word With You, World: The Autobiography of a Poet (2013) Dharavi: a residential area in Mumbai (Bombay) considered one of the world's largest slums. Chico Mendes: a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader, and environmentalist who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

This episode features a conversation with urban geographer, Malini Ranganathan, and historian, Juned Shaikh, on the centrality of caste to urbanization in India. Through a focus on 20th century Bombay (now Mumbai) and 21st century Bangalore (now Bengaluru), we explored the symbiotic relationship between caste and capitalism manifest in the political economy of urbanization from the heyday of industrial capitalism to contemporary neoliberalism. We also delved into the continuities between rural and urban caste relations as seen, for instance, in caste networks that remain key to the movement of capital from rural land to real estate. In addition to the centrality of caste in shaping urbanization, we also considered changes to caste wrought by its role within urban processes. The final part of the episode shifted to a discussion of oppositional mobilization among the urban poor, from the upsurge of literary and political activity among Dalits in Bombay and Bangalore in the 1950s-70s to the ongoing pushback against the threat of dispossession and displacement by real estate and finance capital. Guest bios Malini Ranganathan, Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University Juned Shaikh, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz References Khumbarwada: a historic potters' colony now located within Dharavi, Mumbai (Bombay). OBC: shorthand for Other Backward Classes, a Government of India classification for socially and educationally disadvantaged castes who are beneficiaries of affirmative action. OBCs are distinct from and considered to be relatively more advantaged than the Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, and Scheduled Tribes, or Adivasis, who also benefit from affirmative action. SC/ST: shorthand for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (see above). Malini Ranganathan, David Pike, and Sapna Doshi, Corruption Plots: Stories, Ethics, and Publics of the Late Capitalist City (2024) Malini Ranganathan, “Towards a Political Ecology of Caste and the City” (2022) Malini Ranganathan, “Caste, racialization and the making of environmental unfreedoms in urban India” (2022) Juned Shaikh, Outcaste Bombay: City Making and the Politics of the Poor (2021) Juned Shaikh, “Imaging Caste: Photography, the Housing Question, and the Making of Sociology in Colonial Bombay, 1900-1939 (2014) Frank Conlon, A Caste in a Changing World: The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmans, 1700-1935 (1977) Nikhil Rao, House, but No Garden: Apartment Living in Bombay's Suburbs, 1898-1964 (2012) C. J. Fuller and Haripriya Narasimhan, Tamil Brahmans: The Making of a Middle-Class Caste (2014) Ajantha Subramanian, The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India (2019) K. Balagopal, Probings in the Political Economy of Agrarian Classes and Conflicts (2020) Sushmita Pati, Properties of Rent: Community, Capital, and Politics in Globalizing Delhi, Cambridge University Press (2022). Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, The Origins of Industrial Capitalism in India: Business Strategies and the Working Classes in Bombay, 1900-1940 (1994) Priyanka Srivastava, The Well-Being of the Labor Force in Colonial Bombay: Discourses and Practices (2018) Dana Kornberg, “From Balmikis to Bengalis: The 'Casteification' of Muslims in Delhi's Informal Garbage Economy,” Economic and Political Weekly (2019) Amita Baviskar, Uncivil City: Ecology,. Equity, and the Commons in Delhi (2020) Mukul Sharma, Dalit Ecologies: Caste and Environmental Justice (2024) Liza Weinstein, The Durable Slum: Dharavi and the Right to Stay Put in Globalizing Mumbai (2014) Siddalingaiah, A Word With You, World: The Autobiography of a Poet (2013) Dharavi: a residential area in Mumbai (Bombay) considered one of the world's largest slums. Chico Mendes: a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader, and environmentalist who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

This episode features a conversation with urban geographer, Malini Ranganathan, and historian, Juned Shaikh, on the centrality of caste to urbanization in India. Through a focus on 20th century Bombay (now Mumbai) and 21st century Bangalore (now Bengaluru), we explored the symbiotic relationship between caste and capitalism manifest in the political economy of urbanization from the heyday of industrial capitalism to contemporary neoliberalism. We also delved into the continuities between rural and urban caste relations as seen, for instance, in caste networks that remain key to the movement of capital from rural land to real estate. In addition to the centrality of caste in shaping urbanization, we also considered changes to caste wrought by its role within urban processes. The final part of the episode shifted to a discussion of oppositional mobilization among the urban poor, from the upsurge of literary and political activity among Dalits in Bombay and Bangalore in the 1950s-70s to the ongoing pushback against the threat of dispossession and displacement by real estate and finance capital. Guest bios Malini Ranganathan, Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University Juned Shaikh, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz References Khumbarwada: a historic potters' colony now located within Dharavi, Mumbai (Bombay). OBC: shorthand for Other Backward Classes, a Government of India classification for socially and educationally disadvantaged castes who are beneficiaries of affirmative action. OBCs are distinct from and considered to be relatively more advantaged than the Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, and Scheduled Tribes, or Adivasis, who also benefit from affirmative action. SC/ST: shorthand for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (see above). Malini Ranganathan, David Pike, and Sapna Doshi, Corruption Plots: Stories, Ethics, and Publics of the Late Capitalist City (2024) Malini Ranganathan, “Towards a Political Ecology of Caste and the City” (2022) Malini Ranganathan, “Caste, racialization and the making of environmental unfreedoms in urban India” (2022) Juned Shaikh, Outcaste Bombay: City Making and the Politics of the Poor (2021) Juned Shaikh, “Imaging Caste: Photography, the Housing Question, and the Making of Sociology in Colonial Bombay, 1900-1939 (2014) Frank Conlon, A Caste in a Changing World: The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmans, 1700-1935 (1977) Nikhil Rao, House, but No Garden: Apartment Living in Bombay's Suburbs, 1898-1964 (2012) C. J. Fuller and Haripriya Narasimhan, Tamil Brahmans: The Making of a Middle-Class Caste (2014) Ajantha Subramanian, The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India (2019) K. Balagopal, Probings in the Political Economy of Agrarian Classes and Conflicts (2020) Sushmita Pati, Properties of Rent: Community, Capital, and Politics in Globalizing Delhi, Cambridge University Press (2022). Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, The Origins of Industrial Capitalism in India: Business Strategies and the Working Classes in Bombay, 1900-1940 (1994) Priyanka Srivastava, The Well-Being of the Labor Force in Colonial Bombay: Discourses and Practices (2018) Dana Kornberg, “From Balmikis to Bengalis: The 'Casteification' of Muslims in Delhi's Informal Garbage Economy,” Economic and Political Weekly (2019) Amita Baviskar, Uncivil City: Ecology,. Equity, and the Commons in Delhi (2020) Mukul Sharma, Dalit Ecologies: Caste and Environmental Justice (2024) Liza Weinstein, The Durable Slum: Dharavi and the Right to Stay Put in Globalizing Mumbai (2014) Siddalingaiah, A Word With You, World: The Autobiography of a Poet (2013) Dharavi: a residential area in Mumbai (Bombay) considered one of the world's largest slums. Chico Mendes: a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader, and environmentalist who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

In this first episode of Enlight, Caroline Mardok speaks with Kaitlin Krause, founder of Rising Tide Effect, and Keraya Knight, a participant who grew into a mentor through the program. Set in New York City, the episode explores what access to water really means in a city surrounded by it: not only swimming lessons, but safety, confidence, dignity, and belonging. Through their conversation, the episode looks at the barriers many young people face—from cost and lack of access to food insecurity and fear of the water—and at how Rising Tide Effect is creating pathways through free swim instruction, water safety education, and youth development. At once intimate and civic, this is a story about survival, joy,and what it would take to build a more swimmable city. https://www.carolinemardok.com/

Permafrost melts, desert cities boil, inland lakes dry up; but Waltham too in its own way has become one of the dark places of the earth. Adverse manmade climate change is seeping into basements everywhere, and a wonderful new research project, “Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory” (that website launches very soon) counts some of the ways. John is joined by two Brandeis colleagues who spearheaded the project and supplied some of the local interviews that bring climate change dynamics vividly to life. Danielle Jacques is at work on a dissertation exploring the social and spatial dynamics of the renewable energy transition. Rachel McKane is Assistant Professor of Sociology with interests in community-based approaches to environmental justice through networks of solidarity and mutual aid, and articles in such journals as Environmental Research Letters, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sociology, and Local Environment. We also hear from Mark and from Colleen (about peaches!) in this episode. Mentioned in the episode Follow the project's growth at Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory. Or read about its origins in a local newspaper story here. John Dittmer, Local People Victorian neighborhood class proximity maps of London include the famous Booth "poverty maps." Yuki Kato, Gardens of Hope. Read the episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Permafrost melts, desert cities boil, inland lakes dry up; but Waltham too in its own way has become one of the dark places of the earth. Adverse manmade climate change is seeping into basements everywhere, and a wonderful new research project, “Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory” (that website launches very soon) counts some of the ways. John is joined by two Brandeis colleagues who spearheaded the project and supplied some of the local interviews that bring climate change dynamics vividly to life. Danielle Jacques is at work on a dissertation exploring the social and spatial dynamics of the renewable energy transition. Rachel McKane is Assistant Professor of Sociology with interests in community-based approaches to environmental justice through networks of solidarity and mutual aid, and articles in such journals as Environmental Research Letters, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sociology, and Local Environment. We also hear from Mark and from Colleen (about peaches!) in this episode. Mentioned in the episode Follow the project's growth at Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory. Or read about its origins in a local newspaper story here. John Dittmer, Local People Victorian neighborhood class proximity maps of London include the famous Booth "poverty maps." Yuki Kato, Gardens of Hope. Read the episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Permafrost melts, desert cities boil, inland lakes dry up; but Waltham too in its own way has become one of the dark places of the earth. Adverse manmade climate change is seeping into basements everywhere, and a wonderful new research project, “Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory” (that website launches very soon) counts some of the ways. John is joined by two Brandeis colleagues who spearheaded the project and supplied some of the local interviews that bring climate change dynamics vividly to life. Danielle Jacques is at work on a dissertation exploring the social and spatial dynamics of the renewable energy transition. Rachel McKane is Assistant Professor of Sociology with interests in community-based approaches to environmental justice through networks of solidarity and mutual aid, and articles in such journals as Environmental Research Letters, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sociology, and Local Environment. We also hear from Mark and from Colleen (about peaches!) in this episode. Mentioned in the episode Follow the project's growth at Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory. Or read about its origins in a local newspaper story here. John Dittmer, Local People Victorian neighborhood class proximity maps of London include the famous Booth "poverty maps." Yuki Kato, Gardens of Hope. Read the episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

Permafrost melts, desert cities boil, inland lakes dry up; but Waltham too in its own way has become one of the dark places of the earth. Adverse manmade climate change is seeping into basements everywhere, and a wonderful new research project, “Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory” (that website launches very soon) counts some of the ways. John is joined by two Brandeis colleagues who spearheaded the project and supplied some of the local interviews that bring climate change dynamics vividly to life. Danielle Jacques is at work on a dissertation exploring the social and spatial dynamics of the renewable energy transition. Rachel McKane is Assistant Professor of Sociology with interests in community-based approaches to environmental justice through networks of solidarity and mutual aid, and articles in such journals as Environmental Research Letters, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sociology, and Local Environment. We also hear from Mark and from Colleen (about peaches!) in this episode. Mentioned in the episode Follow the project's growth at Building Collective Resilience via Collective Memory. Or read about its origins in a local newspaper story here. John Dittmer, Local People Victorian neighborhood class proximity maps of London include the famous Booth "poverty maps." Yuki Kato, Gardens of Hope. Read the episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, has become shorthand for one of the most urgent environmental justice crises in the United States. Lined with more than a hundred petrochemical plants, it's often talked about in terms of statistics and headlines. But in the new podcast The Corridor, those abstractions start to fall away, revealing something much more human: the lived experiences, histories, and deep-rooted connections of the communities who call this region home.In this episode of Biophilic Solutions, we're joined by Jaha Nailah Avery, a journalist and storyteller from Asheville, North Carolina. Trained in constitutional and civil rights law at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she moved from the tech world to journalism, with work featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Architectural Digest. Her work centers on documenting and preserving Black history, from interviewing Jim Crow survivors in her book Those Who Saw the Sun to her latest project producing and hosting The Corridor.In our conversation, she shares how a single article about Cancer Alley sparked a bigger question – how did we get here? – and set her on a path to trace the connections between slavery, land use, and modern-day environmental harm. We talk about the legacy of plantation country and the role that oral storytelling plays in preserving history and preventing its erasure. What emerges is a far more nuanced picture that holds both injustice and resilience, hardship and community. It's a conversation about why listening matters, and what becomes possible when we truly hear the stories that shape a place.Show NotesThe CorridorI Heard by Jaha Nailah AveryThose Who Saw The Sun by Jaha Nailah Avery and Steffi WalthallJaha Nailah Avery on Instagram Louisiana's Cancer Alley (Human Rights Watch)Cancer Alley, environmental justice, biophilic design, place-based storytelling, landscape and memory, oral history, Black history preservation, petrochemical industry, Mississippi River corridor, Louisiana communities, land use and legacy, industrial pollution, community resilience, environmental health, storytelling and justice, historical memory, plantation history, civil rights, environmental storytelling, human-centered narratives, cultural preservation, climate and community, listening and empathy, social impact, public health and environmentBiophilic Solutions is available wherever you get podcasts. Please listen, follow, and give us a five-star review. Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and learn more on our website. #NatureHasTheAnswers

As the climate crisis accelerates, humanity faces an unprecedented spiritual test. Quaker minister and scientist Brian Drayton joins us to explore how we can engage in the deep spiritual formation required to respond faithfully to the challenges ahead. Order "The Gospel in the Anthropocene: Letters from a Quaker Naturalist" by Brian Drayton here: https://qkrs.org/drayton Become a monthly supporter! Sign up for the Daily Quaker Message.

Link to Paper The Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health (CTECH)  In January 2025, New York City launched the first congestion pricing program in the United States, offering a rare real-world test of how traffic policy affects air quality. This Keynote brings together researchers from environmental science, economics, and political science, who used high-frequency monitoring data to conduct the first zone-specific causal evaluation of the policy's PM2.5 impacts. The study found substantial pollution reductions within Manhattan's congestion zone, with spillover benefits across the city and region. The discussion will unpack methods, results, and implications for urban policy, public health, and environmental justice. As other U.S. cities consider similar programs, these findings offer crucial insights into congestion pricing's potential as a tool for improving air quality and addressing environmental inequities in urban areas. What You'll Learn: How NYC's congestion pricing policy was evaluated using quasi-experimental methods Key findings on PM2.5 reductions inside and beyond the toll zone Evidence of behavioral adaptation and growing effects over time Implications for public health and environmental justice What other U.S. cities can learn when considering similar policies   Follow eCornell on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

We're excited to welcome Mayra Pelagio & Nanci Torres to the podcast Mayra Pelagio is the founder of Ignite Community Connections, where she works as a consultant, coach, and yoga instructor dedicated to strengthening connections to self, community, and nature. Through organizational consulting, leadership coaching, and embodied practices, she supports individuals and teams in living and leading with greater alignment, connection, and purpose. Her work centers on purposeful living, collective well-being, and equitable collaboration, helping people reconnect to what matters most and move forward with intention.Nanci is a rising sustainability professional who loves to spend time outdoors. Before entering the sustainability field, Nanci worked in the non-profit sector, conducting environmental education, and spent two years working as an environmental science educator in Yosemite National Park. During her time, she had the opportunity to work on the Zero Landfill Initiative project, exposing her to the idea of sustainability. Nanci joined TreePeople, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles County, as the Waste Management Youth Leadership coordinator. In this role, she supported middle and high schools across the county in adopting waste management systems, integrating community gardens, and raising awareness of sustainability issues.Together, they remind us that building a more sustainable and equitable world begins with how we connect to each other, and the environment.Tune in to hear their stories, insights, and what it really takes to move with purpose.

From zoonotic disease to bird flu, Bohanec links animal agriculture to pandemics—and introduces ahimsa as a spiritual guide for compassionate living. #Pandemics #FactoryFarming #Ahimsa #HealthTalks

4.22.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: VA Redistricting Win for Democrats. MAGA Cries Rigged. Earth Day Justice & ICE Fight Virginia voters have approved a new congressional district map that may enhance Democrats' electoral prospects in November. MAGA supporters are claiming the election was "rigged." We'll discuss why this represents a victory for democracy. A Virginia activist will explain why ICE's plan to convert a vacant 9,000-square-foot building in Suffolk into office space is not the best idea. Today is Earth Day, and we'll speak with the Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice about alternative approaches to environmental justice, especially in light of the Trump administration's rollbacks of critical initiatives. And we will continue addressing the epidemic of fatal domestic violence by exploring the underlying issues that contribute to such tragedies. Tonight, we will focus on how to escape violent situations and what healing looks like for survivors. We will also discuss the legal aspects, including temporary restraining orders and the potential charges and sentences for offenders. Democratic Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned just hours before the House Ethics Committee was set to discuss potential sanctions against her following her conviction for multiple violations of campaign finance laws. The Justice Department is investigating the Southern Poverty Law Center in connection with a now-defunct program that used paid confidential informants to infiltrate white supremacist and other extremist groups. Virginians have less than an hour left to vote in the redistricting referendum. A Texas police officer has been relieved of her duties after a video of her racist rant went viral. The former self-described "Super Mayor" of Illinois, Tiffany Henyard, will be allowed to continue her campaign for a Georgia County Commission seat as a Republican. We will continue addressing the epidemic of fatal domestic violence by focusing on the "Anatomy of an Abusive Relationship." In tonight's "Shop Black Star Network" segment, we'll showcase a little magic with Afro Unicorn. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.Democratic Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned just hours before the House Ethics Committee was set to discuss potential sanctions against her following her conviction for multiple violations of campaign finance laws. The Justice Department is investigating the Southern Poverty Law Center in connection with a now-defunct program that used paid confidential informants to infiltrate white supremacist and other extremist groups. Virginians have less than an hour left to vote in the redistricting referendum. A Texas police officer has been relieved of her duties after a video of her racist rant went viral. The former self-described "Super Mayor" of Illinois, Tiffany Henyard, will be allowed to continue her campaign for a Georgia County Commission seat as a Republican. We will continue addressing the epidemic of fatal domestic violence by focusing on the "Anatomy of an Abusive Relationship." In tonight's "Shop Black Star Network" segment, we'll showcase a little magic with Afro Unicorn. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Water Mamas: Climate Fiction That Challenges Everything | Mona Shomali on Geoengineering, Indigenous Rights, and the AmazonIn this episode, I sit down with author and visual artist Mona Shomali to discuss her debut novel Water Mamas — a gripping work of climate fiction that explores the collision of indigenous human rights, environmental justice, and geoengineering in a near-future Amazon on the brink of collapse.Mona's background is as rich as her storytelling. Before writing Water Mamas, she spent years as a college professor teaching Indigenous Human Rights and International Environmental Governance, worked as a case researcher on the landmark indigenous rights case Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku vs. Ecuador, and served as an environmental policy analyst lobbying the UN on behalf of small island states facing extinction due to sea level rise. This is a conversation that goes deep.Water Mamas doesn't give you easy answers — and that's exactly what makes it so powerful. If you care about climate change, indigenous sovereignty, and the ethics of technological intervention in our ecosystems, this episode is for you.Timestamped Highlights:(00:00) Introduction to Water Mamas and its themes of climate crisis and indigenous rights(03:12) Mona's academic background — teaching Indigenous Human Rights and International Environmental Governance(03:52) Her work on the landmark case Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku vs. Ecuador and indigenous land rights(08:06) The central conflict: cloud seeding, geoengineering, and indigenous consent in the Amazon(10:16) Why geoengineering is more complicated than it seems — and who it's already helping(13:18) Meet Afa, the protagonist: a UN representative torn between mission and conscience(14:44) How Mona's work with small island states facing sea level rise shaped Afa's backstory(18:32) The water mamas: indigenous spirituality, mythology, and a chilling dream sequence(21:38) The real Macuxi mythology behind the water mamas — and why it matters(24:33) Vishnu, the love interest: a character you'll keep changing your mind about(28:42) Could there be a sequel to Water Mamas? Mona shares what she's thinking(39:07) Where to find Water Mamas, Mona's Substack, and her environmental art collection Invisible StainsResources & Links:

More To The Story: As NASA's Artemis II journeyed into space earlier this month, one of the astronauts took a photo of Earth lit by the moon known as “Hello, World.” It's the first published photograph of our planet taken by a human since 1972. The Artemis mission has reinvigorated mankind's awe of our planet. But for Earth to remain a habitable place for humans to flourish, it requires us to take care of it.On this special Earth Day episode of More To The Story, we're featuring interviews with three influential environmental leaders: former Vice President and founder and chairman of the Climate Reality Project Al Gore; longtime activist Catherine Coleman Flowers; and journalist, author, and activist Bill McKibben. All three acknowledge the challenges of fighting climate change to protect our planet, especially at a time when the Trump administration is rolling back federal environmental protections. But they're surprisingly hopeful about our capacity to protect the Earth for future generations.Listen: The Great Arizona Water Grab (Reveal)Read: Rooftop Solar Is a Miracle. Why Are We Killing It With Red Tape? (Mother Jones)Read: Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization (W.W. Norton & Company)Read: Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope (Spiegel & Grau)Learn more: The Climate Reality Project Donate today at Revealnews.org/more Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Today, we hear from writers Yann Martel, Carl Safina and David George Haskell on the practice of listening to the living world. Tom Chi discusses the dangerous volatility of a one-degree shift. Clayton Aldern explores how climate change alters brain health and behavior, while Ami Vitale,Osprey Orielle Lake and Martín Von Hildebrand remind us of the kinship we share with nature. Fred Pearce discusses 40 years as a journalist reporting on climate from around the world, while Richard Black of the environmental think tank Ember and Paula Pinho, European Commission's Chief Spokesperson, talk about policy, hope and the radical empathy required to protect the planet for future generations.(0:00) Clayton Page Aldern – Finding awe and beauty in the world(0:40) David George Haskell – On consequences of humans tuning out the sounds of the living world(2:11) Yann Martel – How animals ask us to step out of our humanity(3:12) Carl Safina – The interior lives of non-human animals(5:08) Ami Vitale – Environmental collapse and human conflict(6:37) Martín von Hildebrand – Indigenous views of nature(8:00) Richard Black – Transition to clean energy vs. massive fossil fuel subsidies(10:01) Tom Chi – Climate destabilization(11:07) Paula Pinho – Europe's vision for energy independence(14:04) Osprey Orielle Lake – Māori concept of "I am the river and the river is me”(16:08) Bill Hare – On limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees(17:19) Fred Pearce – Finding hope in nature's resilienceTo hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/pod@creativeprocesspodcast

3.26.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Summer Lee Launches Environmental Justice Caucus. Trump Attacks Newsom. Letitia James Targeted Congresswoman Summer Lee and other members launched the People's Environmental Justice Caucus today. This new congressional caucus will address the environmental harms that disproportionately affect frontline communities. The twice-impeached, criminally convicted felon-in-chief, college dropout Donald "The Con" Trump, had the audacity to call California Gov. Gavin Newsom stupid during today's cabinet meeting. Newsom's response - classic. We'll explain how New York Attorney General Letitia James is getting targeted again by the Trump Administration. While mortgage rates were expected to decline this year, the war in Iran has caused them to spike, complicating affordability for American homebuyers. Experts warn that Artificial Intelligence could widen the racial wealth gap. We'll speak with a man who emphasizes that training is key to bridging this gap. I'll have a conversation with the founder and executive director of the Center for Black Literature about the 18th Annual Black Writers Conference. In tonight's Shop Black Star Network segment, we'll feature Created Collections, an artisan lifestyle brand that curates earth-rooted, soulfully made goods to inspire intentional living and everyday beauty. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Environmental History, #2 of 4. Many of the conservationists who've defended the Arctic heralded it as the “last great wilderness,” an ecosystem and landscape unmarred by corporate greed and violence, a place that needs to be preserved because of its “pristine” and “untouched” beauty. While well-intentioned, this narrative is, of course, problematic, because the absence of white settler colonial development is not the same thing as “pristine” or “untouched.” Entire communities of people call the arctic home. The Gwich'in and Inuit nations live on and have stewarded the northernmost reaches of this continent for some 24,000 years. At every imperialist and capitalist effort to destroy those lands with their greed, the Gwich'in and (some) Inuit have shown up to protest, testify, and speak out against those violences. Bibliography “Legal Action Challenges Arctic Refuge Drilling Plan,” Center for Biological Diversity, (15 Jan 2026) H.R.1 - An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018. Congress.gov. (2017) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Status of Oil and Gas Program. Congress.gov. (Updated 4 Feb 2026) Lenny Kohm and the Last Great Wilderness Tour (1995) Part 4 The Wilderness Act (1964) Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (1980) “The Inuit and Northern Experience,” Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume 2 (2015) Thomas Berger, “Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland,”  THE REPORT OF THE MACKENZIE VALLEY PIPELINE INQUIRY: VOLUME ONE Finis Dunaway, Defending the Arctic Refuge: A Photographer, an Indigenous Nation, and a Fight for Environmental Justice (UNC Press, 2021) Donella Meadows, “National Energy Policy,” The Donella Meadows Project (Sep 1991) Elizabeth Manning, “Trump Administration Opens the Entire Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Oil and Gas Leasing,” (23 Oct 2025) Brian Palmer and Anna Greenfield, “The Long, Long Battle for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” Natural Resources Defense Council (Oct 24, 2025) Kyle Whyte, “Indigenous Climate Change Studies : Indigenizing Futures, Decolonizing the Anthropocene,” English Language Notes, Volume 55, Number 1-2, Spring/Fall 2017, pp. 153-162 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

PBS News Student Reporting Labs, our journalism training program, takes us to a family farm in Upper Marlborough, Maryland, to meet Cameron Oglesby. They bring you the story of her family's struggle to hold onto their land, which inspired her to want to tell stories of environmental justice. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

For many Americans, proper sanitation and clean water seem like issues for developing countries. But much of rural America—and even parts of US cities—still struggles to provide the basics we all need to survive. And as infrastructure ages and strains under the threat of climate change, the problems will likely get worse. Environmental justice activist Catherine Coleman Flowers has been on the forefront of these issues for decades. And she says that while a lack of sanitation is often found in poor, Black regions, especially in the Deep South, these basic environmental issues cut across racial lines. On this week's More To The Story, Flowers sits down with host Al Letson to talk about her years working to achieve “sanitation justice” in the South, how biblical lessons apply to climate offenders, and her book of personal essays, Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope.Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson Donate today at Revealnews.org/more Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky Read: Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope (Spiegel & Grau)Listen: The Great Arizona Water Grab (Reveal)Read: Some Alabamians Can't Even Flush Their Toilets. The EPA Is Here to Help. (Inside Climate News via Mother Jones)Note: If you buy a book using our Bookshop link, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices