Podcasts about Water protectors

Episode 15 - Part 3 - Water Knows No Boundaries: Releasing Toxic Tailings Ponds Won't Either What - Webinar previously recorded via Zoom on October 4th, 2022 Join Keepers of the Water and Environmental Defence as they dive into the alarming findings of their report which mapped decades of the toxic takeover of Indigenous territories by “tailings ponds,” massive reservoirs of oilsands wastewater. In part 3 Jesse starts off by giving the audience some background the Dene Nation, and Ally poses questions from the webinar viewers to Jesse and Daniel. Then Ally wraps up the webinar with closing remarks Then Daniel a resident of fort Good Hope and a retired lawyer speaks on the Tailings Ponds and the idea of controlled release of these Tailings into the Athabasca River Who - Jesse Cardinal is from the Kikino Métis Settlement, where she grew up. She has seen many changes to the lands and waters in her life and a drastic decline in wildlife. She loves to listen to Elders talk about how the land was, even before she was born. Jesse has been a youth worker and social worker and has grown into the roles of coordinator and director for environmental groups. Daniel T'seleie is K'asho Got'ine Dene from Radili Ko (Fort Good Hope). He is a retired lawyer who currently works with Indigenous communities and organizations on Indigenous rights and land protection issues. Daniel is also the N.W.T. Outreach Manager with Keepers of the Water. Aliénor Rougeot Aliénor's interest for human and environmental rights started during her childhood in the South of France, where she became vocal on topics of biodiversity loss, women's rights, refugee rights and climate change. Music - Soul Searcher by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

In this episode, host Jack Eidt discusses the ongoing wildfire crisis in Los Angeles and strategies for resilience with experts Richard Halsey and Lydia Poncé. We also include a clip on the climatic influence from Dr. Daniel Swain from UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Support the Podcast: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Richard Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute [https://californiachaparral.org/index.html], shares insights on protecting communities by hardening homes instead of destroying natural habitats. Indigenous activist Lydia Poncé emphasizes community resilience and mutual aid in response to the devastation. The episode explores the impact of climate change, poor urban planning, and the need for sustainable development. We delve into the socio-political dynamics affecting relief efforts and the role of big corporations in the aftermath. Join us as we explore how to rebuild with compassion and foresight, as well as a comprehensive look at wildfire resilience and the role of Indigenous stewardship in preserving our ecosystems. For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio Richard Halsey is the Director of the California Chaparral Institute, a non-profit, research and educational organization dedicated to the preservation of California's native chaparral ecosystem and supporting the creative spirit as inspired by Nature. Mr. Halsey works with the San Diego Museum of Natural History and teaches natural history throughout the state. The second edition of his book, Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California, was published in 2008. Lydia Poncé (Mayo/Quechua) is an Indigenous Activist, Water Protector, co-founder of Idle No More SoCal. She hosts a show called Be a Better Relative on KPFK Los Angeles. Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He writes a column on PBS SoCal called High & Dry [https://www.pbssocal.org/people/high-dry]. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Co-Host Jessica Aldridge Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 245

Honoring our epic Auntie Germaine Tremmel (kénha) in this powerful episode — a Lakota Water Warrior, lawyer, and descendant of Sitting Bull.

In this episode, Indigenous scholar and organizer Nick Estes explores how Indigenous land-based and Earth-centered societies are advancing regenerative solutions and campaigns to transform capitalism. “Eco-nomics” puts Indigenous leadership at the forefront of assuring a habitable planet. Featuring Nick Estes, Ph.D. (Kul Wicasa/Lower Brule Sioux), is a Professor at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Oak Lake Writers Society, a group of Dakota, Nakota and Lakota writers. In 2014, he was a co-founder of The Red Nation in Albuquerque, NM, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Native people from capitalism and colonialism. He serves on its editorial collective and writes its bi-weekly newsletter. Nick Estes is also the author of: Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance. Resources Nick Estes – The Age of the Water Protector and Climate Chaos (video) | Bioneers 2022 Keynote Indigenous Pathways to a Regenerative Future (video) | Bioneers 2021 Panel The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth | The Red Nation Indigenous Resistance Against Carbon | Indigenous Environmental Network Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Production Assistance: Anna Rubanova This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

Uranium Mining in Northern Saskatchewan: What You Need To Know Part 3―Health Impacts of Uranium Mining on Indigenous Bodies  Join host Beverly Andrews, Dr. Dale Dewar, and Professor Douglas Brugge for a deeper dive into information on the human health impacts of uranium mining.  Dr. Dale Dewar is a co-author with Florian Oelck of From Hiroshima to Fukushima to You. She is an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, an active member of the International Committee of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada, a two-term member of the Canadian Friends Service Committee, and the former Executive Director of Physicians for Global Survival. An anti-nuclear activist since the 1980s, she has published articles and spoken at conferences about nuclear proliferation. Douglas Brugge, Professor & Chair at the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine - Doug Brugge has a Ph.D. in cellular and developmental biology from Harvard University and an MS in industrial hygiene from the Harvard School of Public Health.  He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.  For over a decade, he has directed the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health, a series of community-based participatory research projects funded by NIEHS, NHLBI, NLM, EPA, HUD and the Kresge Foundation.  CAFEH has about 200 publications, including over 50 on traffic-related ultrafine particle pollution and their association with health.  He has worked in community collaborations with many neighbourhoods. This podcast episode was edited and produced by Beverly Andrews. This podcast was created from a live-stream webinar previously broadcast on Keepers of the Water's YouTube and Facebook channels on February 27th, 2024

Uranium Mining in Northern Saskatchewan―What You Need To Know; Part 2, Small Nuclear Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Consent in Saskatchewan: What You Haven't Been Told Originally broadcast as a live-to-air online webinar, this four-part series was shortened to audio for your listening pleasure. We want to help you learn more about uranium mining in Northern Saskatchewan, why it is happening, and what the future looks like for Indigenous Peoples and allies resisting uranium mining and nuclear waste in their traditional territories.  Tori Cress hosts this episode's guests, including Paul Belanger, Keepers of the Water Science Advisor. Dr. Gordon Edwards, President and co-founder of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, and Benjamin Ralston BA, JD, LLM, Assistant Professor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. Between our guests, you will gain decades of combined knowledge of uranium extraction and nuclear energy. You can watch the original broadcast on Facebook and YouTube. Please note the YouTube video is of lower quality due to connectivity issues during the live broadcast. In this episode, we will hear from Dr. Gordon Edwards, president and co-founder of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. Dr. Edwards is dedicated to education and research on all issues related to nuclear energy, whether civilian or military, including non-nuclear alternatives. A retired professor of mathematics and science at Vanier College, Doctor Edwards has also served as a consultant on nuclear issues for governmental and non-governmental bodies for over 45 years. He has been accepted as an expert witness by US and Canadian courts and tribunals, has cross-examined nuclear experts during provincial commissions of inquiry, and has been invited to address various countries. Nuclear energy is not clean energy that will save us from the climate crisis. This false solution is being sold to citizens by the same industries that are the source of the climate problem. Nuclear power, including SMRs, is not a climate solution because it is filthy to mine, physically dangerous, too expensive and very slow. The rise of nuclear energy as a solution to the climate crisis is a looming threat to clean, fresh water for the entire planet. Current extraction practices and policies have brought us to this global crisis, and colonial practices are not how we save ourselves from ourselves. Natural law shows us that we are not separate from our environment, and the time to pay attention to that teaching is now. This episode was edited and produced by Beverly Andrews.

Uranium Mining in Northern Saskatchewan―What You Need To Know: Part 1, Indigenous Resistance to Uranium Mining Originally broadcast as a live-to-air online webinar, this four-part series was shortened to audio for your listening pleasure. We want to help you learn more about uranium mining in Northern Saskatchewan, why it is happening, and what the future looks like for Indigenous Peoples resisting uranium mining and nuclear waste in their traditional territories.  Beverly Andrews hosts this episode's guests, including Leona Morgan and Candyce Paul. Between our guests, you will gain decades of combined knowledge of uranium and nuclear Indigenous resistance warriors on the frontline of water, land and traditional knowledge protection. You can watch the original broadcast on Facebook and YouTube. Please note the YouTube video is lower quality due to connectivity issues during the live broadcast. We will specifically address the impact of uranium mining on indigenous communities, shedding light on a crucial aspect of this issue. While many people have been busy in survival mode and exhausted from the pandemic, wars around the world, and extreme inflation, uranium mining lobbyists and governments have been taking advantage, passing industry-favourable laws that will further degrade and threaten freshwater systems already desperately overburdened by farming and mining use and wastewater byproducts.  Nuclear energy is not clean energy that will save us from the climate crisis. This false solution is being sold to citizens by the same industries that are the source of the climate problem. Nuclear power, including SMRs, is not a climate solution because it is filthy to mine, physically dangerous, too expensive and very slow. The rise of nuclear energy as a solution to the climate crisis is a looming threat to clean, fresh water for the entire planet. Current extraction practices and policies have brought us to this global crisis, and colonial practices are not how we save ourselves from ourselves. Natural law shows us that we are not separate from our environment, and the time to pay attention to that teaching is now. This episode was edited and produced by Beverly Andrews.  

Petey Brucker, stalwart defender of the Salmon River and friend to many, passed away on April 22, 2024. On this week's show, we are joined by his daughter, Allegra Brucker, and friends, Larry Glass and Nat Pennington, to talk about the impact Petey had on the planet on their lives. Listen to Petey's music.OBITUARY: Petey Brucker, 1952-2024Support the Show.

My guest on this episode is Healani Sonoda-Pale, a Kanaka Maoli Human Rights advocate for Self-Determination and a Water Protector who has been organizing at the intersection of the indigenous struggle for liberation and environmental protection in Hawai'i. She is a member of the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative and the spokesperson of the Ka Lahui Hawaii Political Action Committee. Healani was born and raised on the island of O'ahu where she resides with her family.Show Notes:The Beauty of the Pandemic Shutdown in Hawai'iThe Fallout of the Lahaina Fires in West MauiNo ControlsManufacturing the AuthenticReopening for Tourism in the Midst of CatastropheLocal Schism: Those in Favour and Those AgainstThe Tourism at the Heart of the Housing CrisisKa Lahui Hawai'i Political Action CommitteeThe Water Crisis in OahuDecolonizing Tourism is an OxymoronSolidarity with Kanaka MaoliHomework:Healani Sonoda-Pale InstagramKa Lahui Hawai'i | TwitterOahu Water Protectors | Red Hill Community Representation InitiativeTranscript:Chris: [00:00:00] In the first season of the podcast I spoke to Hokulani Aikau and Vernadette Gonzalez about the attempts to decolonize tourism in the Hawaiian islands. And following that Kaleo Patterson. Who offered a deeper historical and cultural background into the ongoing us occupation of Hawaii. The military industrial tourism complex, and some of the traditional forms of hospitality that Hawaiians have engaged in. Since then, and especially because of the wildfires that spread through west Maui this past summer. Listeners have asked again and again, to return to the islands, to host the voices of those. They're now struggling with another catastrophe. Who are offering resilience and resistance. In the face of these enduring consequences. And as such, I welcome.Healani Sonoda-Pale to the pod. Thank you for joining me today, Healani.Healani: It's my pleasure to be joining this podcast and to help [00:01:00] spread the message about tourism in Hawai'i. Chris: Healani, could you do us the favor of elaborating a bit on where you're speaking from today and how the world looks like for you?Healani: Okay. So I'm a Kanaka Maoli woman, born and raised in Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu. I have been in the Hawaiian movement for liberation and self determination for nearly 30 years. I am a student of Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask, and I am on the front lines of many, many issues. The issues that we face today are, many of them are a consequence of tourism.The desecration of cultural sites. The degradation of our beautiful beaches pollution, traffic, overcrowding, the high cost of living in Hawai'i, the extremely high cost of housing in Hawai'i. These are all because of tourism. This is happening to Hawai'i. [00:02:00] As a result, direct result of the tourist industry, which Hawaii relies on.And in Hawaii, we have two businesses. We have the military industrial complex and the tourist industry. Those are the two worst industries to rely on, number one. And they are the most exploitive and extractive industries to have. They do not enhance our way of life here on, on these islands in Hawaii.They do the opposite. They have brought many of us to the brink where we are now, most of us living paycheck to paycheck. The average cost of a house in Hawaii is a million dollars.I believe Honolulu is the number one or at least the top three most expensive cities in the United States to live in. So tourism is a plague in Hawaii. It is a plague upon this place and it has caused us to [00:03:00] struggle on a daily basis, not just financially and not just socially, mentally as well. Having to deal with tourists on a daily basis in Hawaii is frustrating, so that's kind of like the space I'm coming from. I am involved with the water issue, protecting our water, which is now something that is a huge issue. I'm very much involved in the Red Hill issue. I'm involved with protecting Iwi Kūpuna, which is our traditional Hawaiian burials. I'm involved with the repatriation of our land. Again, another big issue. It never ends because the, the economic, social pressure to take and take and take until there's nothing left is relentless. So that's the space we're coming from. So you talked about COVID, right? You started this podcast in the beginning of COVID and COVID was an eye opener for a lot of people in Hawai'i. When COVID happened, [00:04:00] the state of Hawai'i shut down and tourists weren't allowed here during our shutdown.I believe it was like a year and a half. It was beautiful. Even though we were living in the middle of a pandemic, our beaches were empty. There were no lines at the stores. There was no traffic. Even the air we breathed seemed cleaner. The water we swam in, in the ocean, didn't have this sliminess on it, from tourists with suntan lotion swimming in it all day, right?So the fish came back. Even the plants and the land was happy. I mean, it was a beautiful time. Even though it was sad because we were living through a pandemic, it was a beautiful time for us as Kanaka because we got to see Hawai'i without tourists. And that really opened the eyes for people who usually are not as [00:05:00] critical of tourism, as many of us have been so more people in Hawaii started saying, especially Kanaka Mali, well, how do we move forward without tourism?But when the state opened up again, tourism came back and it came back with a vengeance.When you look at what was happening on social media and, you know, what people were posting and across all the islands, we saw some frustration. We saw people posting about interactions they were having with tourists at sacred sites and beaches. People were more aware that tourists were there after COVID because we were able to enjoy our beaches, enjoy our islands without them.And then when they came back, it was not only dangerous because we live 2, 000 miles away from the nearest continent. So, they were bringing in the COVID. I mean, from the time of [00:06:00] Captain Cook, tourists, visitors, explorers, missionaries, they have been bringing in diseases when, when Captain Coke arrived in 1778. We didn't have any immunity to these diseases, and so now, I think for a lot of residents here in Hawai'i, our eyes have been opened on what we have to give up for tourism.We have to sacrifice not only our beautiful island life, but a way forward that doesn't include commodifying who we are as a people, our culture, everything. The state's been talking about diversifying the industry here in Hawai'i, right? They wanted to look into agriculture was one. They've never seriously taken that up. And they always fall back on tourism.Chris: And why do you think that is? Because it's just so easy.Healani: Because they've invested. It's a multi billion dollar business. There's hotels. Waikiki [00:07:00] is loaded with hotels. It's business interests. It's those that have been in control of the tourist industry, wanting to keep control of that and wanting to keep their financial interests protected and keep going.So that is, that has been a problem. And of course we have strong lobbyists here in Hawai'i for the tourist industry. It is an industry that is supported by taxpayer dollars. It's one of the few industries we give millions of dollars of our money. It's a private industry supported by taxpayer dollars.So it's a private industry that we support that exploits not just our resources, our culture, but they have really degraded our way of life here. They've made everything so expensive that most of our people, most of the indigenous people of Hawai'i have moved away because they can't afford to live here.Chris: And you know, I'm curious [00:08:00] in this regard, to what extent do you think that this Government money and government decisions played a part in these wildfires that passed through West Maui in August, you know, like reading and researching for this interview and seeing what's been shared online and social media, the term management and mismanagement continues to arise in and among social movement activists.And I'm curious to what extent you think that either government action or inaction or the tourism industry had a part to play in what happened this past summer.Healani: The Lahaina Fires. was so tragic and the tragedy continues months after. The suicide rates are on the rise in Lahaina. Families are still displaced, thousands of them. They were just [00:09:00] a few days ago, I had posted about it. They were just given again, eviction letters. The last time I was in Maui was there.The first set of eviction letters that went out. So they're being housed in hotels, 7,00-8,000 of them; families that have lost everything, in hotels. And now they're being told to leave to make way for tourism, to make way for tourists. That's the enormity of the pressure that tourists, tourism brings with it. The pressure to a piece and to serve and to put tourism first.Just going back to my childhood in school. We were basically brainwashed into thinking we need tourism. Without tourism, we wouldn't have jobs. There would be no money, you know? So it's been kind of ingrained in us. And that's why I think COVID was super important because it was an eye opener for a lot of us.Because they saw really [00:10:00] what was possible, a world without tourism. And so the pressure to support, to push tourism, to... "they always say, we want to support small businesses," but it's really not about small businesses. It's about those huge, multinational corporations that have invested millions.into this industry and have supported and lobbied for their industry, for the tourist industry. That's what it's really about, to a point where they really don't care about the people, the residents of Lahaina. They're literally traumatizing these families again and pushing them around to make room for an industry that we all pay to support.And the Lahaina fires is a result of corporations, land grabbing by corporations of [00:11:00] tourism gone wild, literally. The whole culture of Hawaii is about making sure tourism is going to be okay in the future. We're one big resort. That's what we are.Hawaii is one big resort. Everything is catered for tourists first. It's always tourists first, residents last. And kanaka maoli not even considered, like we're not even in the equation, except when they want us to dance hula, and when they want us to chant, and when they want us to teach tourists how to make leis. So the whole Lahaina situation is very complicated.Tragic, and it continues to be tragic. Over a hundred people died in those fires. And Lahaina is like a real big hub for tourists, and has been. It's like the Waikiki of Maui. So having that burned down, I think, was a big loss for the tourist industry on Maui. [00:12:00] So they are trying every which way to bring that back. In fact, today they're going to unveil the strategic plan for the next few years for Maui, which again, is just a slap in the face. It's insulting to the people of Lahaina. They're actually having it in West Maui. It's insulting to the people of Lahaina to have now a discussion about how to move forward with tourism while they're still displaced. There's thousands of families that don't know where they're going to be next month.There are thousands more that don't have access to clean water, don't have jobs, that have multiple families living in their homes and they're going to have a big presentation on tourism today. That's what we have to deal with.There is a mythology that's been built around the tourist industry that basically tells us, you know, [00:13:00] we need tourism. We need tourism. For some reason, we won't be able to survive without tourism. So that's the culture of Hawaii. And that's what I've grown up in. One of the things that is concerning about tourism is the fact that there's never been an environmental assessment or environmental impact study done on the effects tourism has on Hawaii .There are no controls. There's no control of how many people will be allowed in, how many people will be allowed at a certain beach, how many people will be allowed to swim and hike up to a sacred pond.There's nothing like that. It's like a free for all here in Hawaii when it comes to tourism.With tourism comes a thriving sex trade. So we have a number of brothels that, of course, are illegal, here in O'ahu. And a real epidemic with a [00:14:00] high number of missing and murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls. Hmm. This is the average characteristics of a victim of a missing girl is 15 years old native Hawaiian.And that's you know, that's the reality here in in Hawaii. So tourism is one of those industries that has a lot of low paying jobs. People have to work two to three, sometimes four jobs to survive here in Hawaii because Hawaii has the highest cost of living and one of the highest in the United States and it's really a struggle to make a living off of the tourist industry.Once tourism gets a foothold in your community, then it's very difficult to get tourism out. And right now, I'm in the midst of a struggle with keeping tourism out of East Maui.[00:15:00] They're expanding tourism into rural areas because they want to make these real authentic experiences for tourists.And they want to provide cultural experiences for tourists now. And the last couple years, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has done something called destination management, which is where they give money to non profits to host tourists in these real authentic settings, where they get to work in the taro patch or they get real cultural experience hiking or storytelling or something like that and in exchange these non profits get paid.The reality of this Destination Management Program that they always give Hawaiian names to -Aloha Aina, Kahu Aina -the reality of these programs [00:16:00] is that they're actually community bribes.Residents are less tolerant of tourism these days, especially post COVID. And so these programs, like the Destination Management Programs that they're now doing, and have been doing for a couple years are community bribes that help residents swallow the bitter pill of tourism. And that is pretty much how this whole thing kind of plays out.Whatever financial benefits we get out of tourism, they're short lived and they aren't sustainable. And in fact, they threaten a sustainable and livable future for residents here, especially Kanaka Maoli.Chris: Do you see any parallels between the quote return of tourism following the COVID-19 lockdowns and later after the fires? Was anything learned by the inundation of [00:17:00] COVID carrying tourists?Healani: Yeah, so I see parallels between what's happening with tourism post COVID and what's happening with tourism post-Lahaina fires. And what's very clear with the government here, the local government has made very clear is that tourism, no matter the cost, in terms of our health and safety, comes first.And that has been shown over and over. While, when they opened up tourism, the COVID numbers went up. And because, of course, people are bringing COVID in. And that put the numbers of people in the emergency rooms and in our hospitals that went way up. We don't have the capacity and we still don't have the capacity to serve thousands and thousands of residents and tourists at the same time.In terms [00:18:00] of medical health care. And so we, you know, we're in a really tight spot for that, you know. So we were really struggling because our hospital and our medical system was overrun.We had sick tourists and we had sick residents. And when you look at the numbers, it was the Native Hawaiians and the Pacific Islanders who were not just catching COVID more, but also dying from COVID more often than others. And with Lahaina, same thing. Instead of waiting, holding off on reopening Lahaina and Maui for tourists, they opened it up super early.In fact, they opened it up a month ago, for tourism. They opened up line up for tourism and families are still suffering. Families don't know what's going to happen next month, where they're going to be living next week. There's [00:19:00] thousands of displaced families still in Lahaina, yet the pressure to open up to tourism is so immense that they did it anyway. So what happened with COVID and the Lahaina fires is that they really show that what they're prioritizing.They're not prioritizing the health and safety of, of the residents, let alone Kanaka Maoli residents. They're prioritizing business interest.Chris: Mm. Hmm. Really just showing the true face, the true nature of the industry. Right. And then not in any way surprising why locals, both residents and Kanaka Maoli would be so upset and so angry, not just with the industry, but with tourists as well when they arrive having no understanding of this. Right. And so my next question kind of centers around locals there, workers, especially. And in this particular article, It says that, "as tourists returned to the [00:20:00] island, displaced residents are still in need of long-term solutions for their future, most notably in terms of long-term affordable housing. Currently. Quote, "a coalition of 28 community groups have staged what's being called a 'fish-in' on Kaanapali beach to help raise awareness of the ongoing impacts of the Malai wildfires. Wearing bright red and yellow shirts, the protesters have pledged to fish along kind of poly beach. An area usually crowded with sunbathers in swimmers, around the clock 24 7, in order to bring awareness to these issues. And so in terms of strategy and solidarity, How have local people and organizations responded in the context of these last few months.Healani: Yeah. Many locals work in tourism. So a lot of people in Hawaii felt that the reopening was too fast, too early. There were other ways they could have dealt with. They always use the term 'affordable housing,' they always use that to [00:21:00] develop. Here they use small businesses to justify prioritizing tourism. So, their whole justification for opening up to tourism early, in Lahaina, was to support small businesses. But there are other solutions. We all know that. They give billions of dollars to Israel and to Ukraine for a war that has nothing to do with us, to other countries who are doing whatever they want with it. But when it comes to this whole issue of tourism and the displaced families, they could have supported these families and for at least a year supported these small businesses like they did during the pandemic, but they chose not to.There's other solutions they could've used, but for them, opening it up was more important than making sure families were okay.So, there is a split between some residents who feel they need tourism and some [00:22:00] who don't. And it's usually, again, business owners who rely on tourists for their livelihood. And like I said before, any kind of benefit we get from tourism is really short lived and the effects of tourism, not just on our environment, but on our society and on our economic system is more detrimental than beneficial.I'll give you an example tourism fuels people from other places wanting to buy a second home here. Tourists come to Hawaii, they see how beautiful it is, they love the beaches, of course. We have like really good weather on a daily basis. So when they come here to visit, they wanna buy a second home here.⌘ Chris Christou ⌘ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Right now we have a housing crisis in Hawaii, and the reason for this housing crisis is because we have [00:23:00] tens of thousands of empty homes. In fact, we could put all the houseless people that are in Hawaii right now into these empty homes. And we would still have thousands of homes left over. And that is one of the reasons why number one, we have one of the, like the highest housing costs. The average house right now sells for a million dollars.It could literally be a shack on a piece of land. It'll sell for a million dollars in Hawaii. It's because of the demand for housing here in Hawaii. And it's because of the fact that a lot of the housing that we do have are usually second homes. And lots of times they use it for short term housing rentals as well. And I just want to clarify the numbers for the short term housing rentals. There's about 30, 000 residential housing units that are being rented to tourists, instead of residents, instead of locals, instead [00:24:00] of Kanaka Maoli, so that's part of the problem here. We don't have a housing shortage.We have a shortage of housing rentals or landlords that want to rent to residents.So, what we gain from tourism doesn't even come close to what we are losing from tourism, from the tourist industry.Chris: Uh, Wow. . It's just a. It's incredible. How so much of this, this desire to vacation, escape, have fun, rest, make money "passive income" lead so much to the detriment of neighbors, of what might otherwise be neighbors in our midst. And I know that, I think I've read the other day that there's this group Lahaina Strong, that was asking for government intervention. Is that right? Healani: Yeah. So they've asked. Yeah, that's a, that's a good point. [00:25:00] Lahaina Strong, one of the lead groups in Lahaina, have asked for the mayor and the governor to intervene and to ask short term housing rental owners to provide long term housing solutions for those, the displaced families. And that hasn't happened yet.It's been months. It's been September, October, November, over three months. And these families, their future is still up in the air. They don't even have reliable housing. So again, it just tells you what the priorities of the state is. Honestly, I don't think they're going to get what they want.Chris: Thank you, Healani and for being a witness to all this and proceeding accordingly. I'd like to, if I can ask you a little bit more about your political work. If I'm not mistaken you're a spokesperson for Ka Lahui Hawai'i Political Action Committee. Could you explain a little bit about [00:26:00] this organization? What the name means, how it was formed its principles, goals, and actions, perhaps. Healani: Okay, so yes, I am the spokesperson for Ka Lahui Hawai'i, and I am part of the Komike Kalai'aina Political Action Committee, which is a national committee of Ka Lahui Hawai'i, which means the Hawaiian Nation.We are a native initiative for self determination and self governance. We were formed in 1987 by Kanaka Maoli, Indigenous Peoples of Hawaii, as a response to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and as a way forward for our people to seek out justice and to create our own way forward by creating our own nation.I have been with Kalahui Hawaii since 1993. And I [00:27:00] joined after watching Dr. Haulani-Kay Trask do her speech on the grounds of Iolani Palace, where she proclaimed that we are not American. And that was an eye opener to me. And I joined Ka Lahui and I transferred to the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, became her student. A lot of the work that we've done has been nation building. We are a nation in exile, literally. We take stances on issues a lot of times. And the issues we've been doing has been from water issues to intellectual property rights, to land rights, to tourism. The issues we cover is literally anything that affects us as a, as a people and as a nation. So we cover a wide [00:28:00] spread of issues. Most recently it's been the water issue that we've been really focused on. And when you look at the water issue, again, you see the disparity there. We are in a water crisis on the island of Oahu. We are encouraged to practice conservation measures. However, the tourist industry, hotels with pools and fountains and large golf courses, which have to be watered daily, are not being told the same thing. They are the exception. They continue to waste water while on O ahu are concerned about the future.Of our children and grandchildren because we're not sure if number one, there will be clean water and number two, if there is clean water, there'll be enough clean water for everyone in the future, but the hotels in the tourist industry, they don't care. They have swimming pools and[00:29:00] golf courses.Tourists are not told to come here and conserve water. You know, in fact, they waste water in the tourist industry and you can see it. Are you seeing how they waste it? It's pretty visual and obvious. So Ka Lahui Hawaii has been active On the front lines with Mauna Kea issue, and we have treaties with other Native American nations. We've gone to the U. N., our past Keaāina, our governor, Merilani Trask helped to draft UNDRIP, which is the U. N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is one of the most important documents that have come out from the U. N. for Indigenous Peoples and has reasserted all of our rights to self determination.There's about 400 million indigenous peoples around the world, and UNDRIP [00:30:00] is important to every single one of us.Chris: Well, thank you for, for that and the work that you do with Ka Lahui, Healani. I'll make sure that the requisite websites and links are up on the homework section and the end of tourism podcasts for our listeners. Now, in my interview withHokulani Aikau and Vernadette Gonzalez, they spoke of various projects within the tourism sector, undertaken by indigenous Hawaiians to uncover and share with tourists or visitors, the histories of the people and place so often ignored by the industry. Now in order to do this, to educate, many people work within the confines of the structures and the systems we already have, that is to decolonize tourism, for example. Now if we weren't limited by those current structures and systems. How would you personally want to proceed hosting the other, the foreigner? How would you want them [00:31:00] to proceed towards you and your people? How might you imagine such relationship to unfold? Healani: Yeah. Yeah. Decolonize tourism. That's an oxymoron. I don't believe in decolonizing tourism. The nature of tourism, it's like colonization. The nature of tourism is to exploit, is to extract everything it can from a place and from a people and it commodifies, things that to us are spiritual, to us are sacred, tourism commodifies it all. To decolonize something that was not created from indigenous peoples is impossible.We can decolonize our world. But we cannot decolonize systems of [00:32:00] oppression because they're set up to oppress us. And so that is, I don't know what to say. It's like I said before. You know, they keep changing the name, you know, Hawai'i Tourism Authority even though they have leadership that is Kanaka and they're trying to be culturally sensitive and they are doing, you know, destination management practices kind of thing and working with nonprofits and cultural groups.It's still tourism. It's still a business that wants to benefit from our land, from our water, from our culture, from our people. And when we talk about decolonization, when we talk about working against systems of oppression, it's really about us rebuilding our own systems that counter their systems.So it's all systemic, right? It's like a system of power that benefits one group [00:33:00] over the other. It stems from colonization, which is a system of power that is working against us. So to counter that, we have to create our own systems. We actually have to reconnect and recreate our old systems. So Franz Fanon talks about this. When colonization happens, what they do is they compartmentalize our world.So, you know, where we see the world as living, as where we see ourselves as part of nature, and part of this living system where there's balance. We give and take from the land. We take care of the land, the land takes care of us. In our cosmogonic genealogies as Kanaka, it tells us basically our universal perspective on all life, which is basically we are related to all the animals and plants and to the islands itself, because what it does is it recites the birth of every [00:34:00] living thing in Hawaii that was here during the time we were here, before Captain Cook arrived, but it connects us to this world and it tells us our place in it. And when colonization came, what they did was they ripped our world apart.And they separated us from nature. They separated us from our ancient beliefs. They separated us even from our belief in ourself. And many Native people, I'm sure can relate to this, but it's like living in two worlds. We live in a Hawaiian world, and we live in the Western world. We act a certain way in the Western world because of the way it's organized. And in our world, it's different. So, it's important to understand that we cannot infiltrate a system. Without the system infiltrating us. We're going to change before the system changes because these systems have been in place [00:35:00] for centuries.So I don't even want to answer the question about hosting foreigners or others because that's not even something that's on my radar. I don't imagine tourism in my future or in the future of our Lāhui, or in the future of our people. Kalahui, Hawai'i has taken stances against tourists and tourism. It's not worth what we have to give up to host foreigners. And I could go on for hours with stories of our people, putting themselves at risk, saving tourists in the ocean, and not even getting a word of thanks. Having tourists pee on our sacred sites, having tourists throw rubbish on our beaches. It never ends. So I think it's cute that they want to decolonize tourism. It's a multi billion dollar business. You cannot decolonize tourism unless you take [00:36:00] the aspect of capitalism out of it. It's like decolonizing money. How are you going to do that? It's like you need to build systems where you can sustain yourself and your people outside of these capitalist and outside of these corporate systems of power. Healani: Yeah, so what I would want to say to those who want to stand in solidarity with Kanaka Maoli, with the Native people of Hawai'i, I would say stay home. Help us spread the message that we do not want or need visitors to come to our islands. As the Native people of Hawai'i we're building our own food systems, we're bartering. We're trying to move forward as a people away from these other systems, away from tourism, away and out from under military occupation.It's a struggle that we're in. I think for those that are listening, it's important for you to[00:37:00] spread the word about the struggle that Native Hawaiians are going through in our own homeland and our struggle for liberation and to support us in whatever way you can. So I think it's important to support us from afar, I would say.And if you're here anyway, like if you end up coming anyway, then support. Don't just come here. Give back. Help out a Hawaiian organization. Help out a Hawaiian on the street. 40 percent of all houseless in Hawaii are Indigenous Hawaiians. And we only make up 20 percent of the population in our own homeland. 50 percent of the population in Hawaii's prisons and jails are Hawaiians.We have low educational attainment. We die from diseases that other people usually don't die from. We have probably the highest suicide rates in Hawaii. High infant mortality rates. So this isn't our paradise. But we have to make it a paradise for tourists. And that's something we can't continue to do.The reality of the [00:38:00] situation is that it's destroying our future right now. And you look at what happened to Lahaina, and that's all because of unsustainable development, high cost of living, corporations running amok, diverting the rivers, water being diverted to hotels and golf courses, instead of letting water just flow freely from the ocean, from the mountains to the sea.So that's what we're dealing with, and if you are thinking about coming to Hawaii, please, please think again and just support a Hawaiian organization in their struggle to reclaim what we lost. We did something around tourism. It's a survey that we gave to tourists who are here anyway, right? So that is our pledge for tourists if they are gonna come here. And we've had it out for a few years. We've tried to get like the airlines to push it out and stuff like that to raise awareness. Now they're doing more of that, which is good. [00:39:00] And I appreciate that. But ultimately, we don't want people to come here.Healani: That would be the end goal because Hawai'ians are displaced on our own land.This is our mutual aid that we set up to help families of Red Hill who still don't have clean drinking water, which is nuts. And this is two years after, right? So if they want to help with that, we appreciate that. Chris: I'll make sure that our listeners have all of those available to them when the episode launches.Healani: Because we're basically providing services to the residents, but Yeah, that's pretty much it. I can't believe people think they can decolonize tourism. It's freaking nuts.Chris: Yeah. I keep coming back to this notion that, you know, [00:40:00] part of colonization of our minds and the wars against us tend to stem from a war against the imagination and a war against us being able to imagine other worlds and just things completely differently. And I also think that when people don't have examples to follow of what that might be like to, to imagine things differently, and then also to not have the time to do that.You know, people tend to fall back on kind of simple alternatives, I guess.Healani: I think it could be useful for a little while, but it's like, we've got to work towards not sustaining it, but dismantling it, somehow getting rid of it.I mean, look at what everything that's happened to Hawaii, COVID, Lahaina fires. Our wildfires are like happening more and more. We have more on this island now than we've had before. It's just a matter of time before we have our own huge fire that's going to be devastating on this island.Chris: [00:41:00] I'm very grateful for your time, and I can tell very clearly that you're one of those people that's offering an example for younger people on how things might be different. So, I'd like to thank you for your time, your consideration. And I'll make sure, as I said, that all of these links are up on the End of Tourism website when the episode launches and and on social media as well.Healani: Awesome. Thank you so much. You have a good day. Get full access to ⌘ Chris Christou ⌘ at chrischristou.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Jeffrey Haas, a Jewish civil rights and criminal defense attorney who has represented with the families of Black Panther leaders, Water Protectors at Standing Rock, and many more. The conversation focuses on the topic of indigeneity between Zionists and Palestinians, how some members of the Jewish community are feeling about what Israel is doing, the United State's affect on the war against Palestinians and how to focus on making the world a more equitable place. To learn more about Jeffrey, visit his Instagram.To learn more about his work with Santa Feans for Justice in Palestine, visit their website.

Episode 315 features guests Amy Denet Deal, the founder of 4Kinship, a Diné (Navajo) owned sustainable artwear brand, alongside Sha'Mira Covington, Ph.D., an interdisciplinary scholar-artist and Assistant Professor in Fashion. “Thinking about sustainability beyond just the textiles, thinking about the land that we're on, how we can live in reciprocity with the people, the four-legged relatives, everything, the plants, the animals here — in all the work we do. Which is why community focus is so much part of what I consider sustainability ‘cause everyone should be thriving from what we do — not just the brand, not just a couple people, everything around needs to be in that harmony.” -Amy “I'm very much so motivated by truth. We, as a society, have gotten really deep in the business of pretending, pretending that things are ok and they are not. We, as as society, are very spiritually unwell, yet we continue to go on as business as usual. This facade of sorts keeps me up and the performative untruths we have to tell ourselves every day to function in this society is very unsettling to me. This motivates me to be a seeker of truth, to better connect to myself, to nature and to other people.” -Sha'Mira In this week's episode, we explore the topic of INTERGENERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN FASHION & TEXTILES. To say this episode was healing, would be an understatement.  We talk about how we can learn from the trees, and the sky and the land that we walk on each day. What Black and Brown Indigenous cultures teach us about truth-telling, and the unlearning and relearning of traditional ways. We also explore how community circles are a solution to creating more social impact and better connections … with one another, with our four legged relatives, and the natural world around us.  This episode teaches us how to live in reciprocity, and how fashion is more than just aesthetics; it's about the upholding of cultural practices, and the amplifying of intergenerational knowledge and traditions. In order for these to live on, we all must actively participate in honoring and respecting and appreciating them – not appropriating them.  We all have a responsibility to take part in challenging systems to better heal the planet and its Indigenous cultures who have always been the inherent teachers of these connected ways of life. We can't wait for you to listen and learn from our guests this week who are the holders of so much wisdom, knowledge and truth. Tune in as we contextualize our February theme – Sharing Textile Knowledge Across Generations. Quotes & links from the conversation: Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, children's book Kestrel mentions  Images above are from Sha'Mira's recent installation at the Fashion for Good Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, entitled Curative: Confronting and Healing the Fashion-industrial Complex 4Kinship currently has 2 fundraisers active for their community initatives: 1) Text SKATEINBEAUTY to 707070 to help them deliver skateboards on Navajo Nation with Diné Skate Garden Project 2) Text ILLUMINATE to 707070 to help amplify and elevate Indigenous creatives with 4KINSHIP INDIGENOUS FUTURES FUND 4Kinship's Website Sha'Mira's Website Follow 4Kinship on Instagram Follow Sha'Mira on Instagram

This season, we jump headlong into the murky waters of American democracy, swimming amongst stories with themes that look at the power that the littlest voices can have to enact the biggest of changes. On today's episode, We are Water Protectors. Written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade, this 2020 title tells the story of a young Native American girl who exercises her First Amendment right to engage in peaceful protest. It connects the symbol of a black snake to a contemporary example of collective action–the 2016 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protests against the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline. And it acts as a rallying cry for readers to protect our shared planet. Sarah DeBacher is joined on this week's program by fellow exercisers of free speech, Susan Larson, host of the podcast “The Reading Life”, children's book author, Freddie Evans, and philosophy professor to the youngest among us, Thomas Warternberg. We will also hear from 9-year-old Alex and his 7-year-old sister, Harper, who, along with their mother, are members of another indigenous tribe, the United Houma nation, and who welcomed us into their home to listen as they discussed the stunningly gorgeous, and important book, We Are Water Protectors. It's time to jump in, and go… beyond the bedtime story.

We are thrilled to bring this episode to our listeners on the last day of Indigenous People's Heritage Month! The Russell Library recently had the pleasure of partnering with Kyle O'Neil and her father and Wangunk Elder, Gary O'Neil, to showcase Kyle's 20 year retrospective journey as an artist. This conversation includes a retelling of Briana and Christy's experience hosting this beautiful event, along with sound bites of conversation from Gary and Kyle taken during a guided tour of the collection. We invite you to view Kyle's incredible artwork at the library throughout the month of December. The land the Russell Library sits on is Wangunk land; we are honored to bring awareness and recognition to the Wangunk people, who are sometimes referred to as a “lost tribe.”Book RecommendationsMisewa Saga 1: The Barren Grounds by David RobertsonNever Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Collection edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst JrFirst Laugh -Welcome, Baby!  by Rose Ann Tahe, Nancy Bo, and Jonathan Nelson Powwow Day by Traci SorellWe are Water Protectors by Carole LindstromThe Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson This podcast uses music by Ashutosh, under a creative commons license:Time by ASHUTOSH | https://soundcloud.com/grandaktMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Episode Summary This time on This Month in the Apocalypse, Brooke and Inmn talk about revenge, strikes, bad decisions about water, the economy, interesting victories around water, and funny things about tanks. Host Info Brooke can be found on Twitter or Mastodon @ogemakweBrooke. Inmn can be found on Instagram @shadowtail.artificery. Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript Live Like the World is Dying: This Month in the Apocalypse: October **Brooke ** 00:14 Hello and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. This is your monthly installment of This Month in the Apocalypse, where we talk about the shitty news from around the world. **Inmn ** 00:28 But also some cool stuff. and some funny stuff. **Brooke ** 00:32 And some funny stuff. I am one of your hosts today, Brooke, and with me is.... **Inmn ** 00:40 I'm Inmn and my brain is in a horrifying state today, which only comes from researching heavily about, unfortunately, mostly bad things that happened but also some cool things that happened in the last month. **Brooke ** 00:58 Alright, let's talk about those. But first, let's give a shout out to one of the other podcasts on the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts to which we also belong. But here's some words from some of our friends. Doot doot doo duh doo doo dooo. [Singing the sounds like a simple melody] **Brooke ** 01:54 And we're back. Welcome back. So many fun things to talk about. I'm sorry you've also had to spend the morning reviewing all sorts of terrible events in the world. **Inmn ** 02:30 You know, I ran into a friend last night and they made a joke, they were like, "Oh, what have you been up to?" And I was like, "Oh, I dunno, mostly just work, you know, doing podcasts and things." And they're like, "Oh, yeah, you've you've really like professionalized doom scrolling. [Both laughing] **Brooke ** 02:54 Yeah, that sounds about right. Sounds about right. **Inmn ** 02:59 Yeah, I don't know if I felt good about that or not, but.... **Brooke ** 03:04 It's complicated, right? Like, I don't want that to be my job. But also, I guess it's nice that somebody does it. **Inmn ** 03:11 Yeah. And I just want to shout out for like a lot of people who have sent us messages fairly recently about enjoying these segments, which I think we were on the fence about them for a little while, I think, about whether we liked them or whether they felt useful or whether they just like inspired dread and despair and a lot of.... Thanks everyone who's reached out to be like, "No, no, I really like these segments, and they do the opposite of despair." So thank you, everyone. **Brooke ** 03:46 Yeah, I've got something that's the opposite of despair. **Inmn ** 03:49 Oh, really? What is the opposite of despair? **Brooke ** 03:53 Revenge travel. **Inmn ** 03:55 Oh? **Brooke ** 03:56 Do you know what this is? **Inmn ** 03:58 No, I have no idea what you're... **Brooke ** 04:00 Okay. So if I say the phrase to you, revenge travel, what do you assume? Like what would you guess that I'm talking about? **Inmn ** 04:08 Um, I think what my assumption is--I feel like it is related to remote work. Is it related to remote work? **Brooke ** 04:18 No, it's not. **Inmn ** 04:20 Okay. I have no idea what it is then. **Brooke ** 04:23 Okay. I saw it in the headline. And then of course, it was wonderful clickbait and I had to click on it. And I assumed it meant traveling to get revenge on somebody. Either like taking a trip to spite them or like, going somewhere to exact revenge. I don't know. Like, I've never heard this phrase before. But apparently, it's travel that people have done since covid because they weren't able to travel during the worst of the pandemic. **Inmn ** 04:23 Okay, I see. **Brooke ** 04:27 I know, it's way less exciting. And like the article that I read about it mentioned revenge travel multiple times but it never specifically explains it. I had to like glean that from the rest of the text of the article. So it's not the fun thing that you think it is but maybe we should make it a fun thing. Revenge travel. **Inmn ** 05:15 Oh, okay, so now that you say that, the thing that it reminds me of is--which I'm totally guilty of--have you heard of bedtime revenge procrastination? I think that's what it's called. **Brooke ** 05:31 I can guess what you mean, but I have not heard of it. **Inmn ** 05:36 Bedtime revenge procrastination is when you stay up late even though you have to wake up very early because.... It's due to a sense of lack of control over the autonomy of your time. It's called bedtime revenge, meaning that you're revenging yourself upon time, but the cost is still your time and energy because, you know, you get less sleep. **Brooke ** 06:08 I psychologically understand that, you know, resting control thing, but at the same time I'm a person who really needs my full night of sleep consistently or else I quickly deteriorate and also become a horrible human being so I also can't imagine doing that to myself. Because that sounds awful. **Inmn ** 06:27 Yeah, I did it to myself for like the entirety of high school because I had an absolutely unreasonable schedule. Like, I got on average five to four hours of sleep a night for like the entirety of highschool. **Brooke ** 06:46 Wow, I feel bad for young Inmn. **Inmn ** 06:49 Me too. **Brooke ** 06:50 Sorry, you did that to yourself. Okay, well let me finish saying this about revenge travel. It's nothing major, mostly the headline's hilarious and the phrase. But there was a huge boom in travel and 2022 as covid restrictions eased and people were able to travel again. So, they were taking their, I guess, revenge against covid, maybe, is what they were taking revenge on? Or just revenge on not being able to travel. Anyway. And that continued to get into 2023. But the boom seems to have slowed and we're kind of back to more normal pre pandemic levels, especially places that do surveys of consumer demand to figure out, you know, people's intentions to travel and their plans for it. And people are sort of back to normal, i.e. pre pandemic levels of intention to travel, so. **Inmn ** 07:39 Okay, golly, can I do a little mini rant about that? I'm replacing Margaret's rants today. **Brooke ** 07:50 Okay, good. What would this episode be without a rant or two? **Inmn ** 07:57 It's just like the.... I don't know, like I remember after, you know, like the summer in the northern hemisphere after mass vaccination occurred and people feeling like they could move around, travel, and do a lot more in what felt like a safer way to do that. And I don't think--this isn't targeted revenge travel as much as it's targeted at a lot of people's mentalities throughout COVID were like being upset at like things the government or being upset at like society for making them like be cooped up in their houses or whatever, or making them have these like lower modes of travel. And it felt really weird to hear it from a lot of people, like people who were like, really angry about it. And it's like, I get it, it was hard, and it sucked for a lot of people but like, I don't know.... I remember when lock down started that I was like--you know, I'm never thrilled for a government imposed lockdown--but what I was thrilled for, I was like, people just have the chance to like--or, you know, some people--just have the chance to chill a little bit and have some space from their lives. But like, I'm not upset that we were doing the right thing by slowing down. You know? **Brooke ** 09:39 I feel like in that first couple of weeks too, you know, there was at least a couple of weeks that pretty much everyone stopped doing everything and we all got to slow down for a minute. And there was something special in that time before all of the, you know, rage and conflict and conspiracies and everything blew up. But there was a brief moment, I think, for pretty much everyone. Maybe a little bit horrible but also special. **Inmn ** 10:00 Yeah. And, you know, obviously it's way more complicated than that, but I'm like, I'm never upset that like, yeah, it was a hard year and a half and it continues to be really hard for so many people and I'm thrilled to have been doing the right thing. **Brooke ** 10:25 Yeah, for sure. No, I hear you. **Inmn ** 10:28 Anyways, you know, who doesn't do the right thing? **Brooke ** 10:32 Oh, boy. Do you want a list? Should I? Or should I just do a whole rant here on? Maybe you should just tell me. There's too many options. **Inmn ** 10:43 Okay, so, hypothetical situation, you're faced with a problem. So here in Arizona, **Brooke ** 10:51 Who you gonna call? **Inmn ** 10:55 Here in Arizona, there are weirdly not that many regulations around groundwater usage and stuff. **Brooke ** 11:04 That's wild to me. **Inmn ** 11:05 It really is wild. But, if you lived in a town that had halted new construction, new development, but you really wanted to build a mega city, what would you do? **Brooke ** 11:24 Oh god, I'm a billionaire, aren't I? Aren't I? I'm a billionaire in this scenario. **Inmn ** 11:30 In this scenario, no, you are actually not a billionaire. Although, there's a weirdly similar thing happening with a billionaire. **Brooke ** 11:39 Okay, well, then I would do the right thing if I'm not corrupted by having way too much money. **Inmn ** 11:45 Okay, would you but would you consider building a 1000 mile pipeline to the Missouri River? **Brooke ** 11:53 Oh, fuck. No, because? No, no. [Laughing] **Inmn ** 12:00 Or would you... **Brooke ** 12:01 Water is sacred. It should not be forced to travel like that. That's wrong. **Inmn ** 12:08 Okay, so your other alternative is to build a 200 mile pipeline? **Brooke ** 12:13 Nope. **Inmn ** 12:14 To the Gulf of California. **Brooke ** 12:16 Nope. It's also not.... The water's not supposed to travel that far. We go to the water. The water is not supposed to be made to come to us. That's how it works. **Inmn ** 12:28 I'm waiting for a Qanon person to comment, What about rivers?" [An uncomfortable silence].... Anyways, so the town is... **Brooke ** 12:31 I'm just going to sigh in anger and sadness for a while. I'm gonna mute myself and just sigh for an hour while you explain. [Audibly sighs] **Inmn ** 12:50 Okay, so this is where normally a rant about the city of Phoenix would occur. But this is a rant about a city that is literally adjacent to Phoenix, which some would argue is actually a part of Phoenix, but is really hell bent on not being a part of Phoenix because they want to be their own mega city. And this is the city of Buckeye, Arizona. And Buckeye, it's basically a suburb of Phoenix and they hope.... Their population's like, I think it's like 170,000 right now. And they aspire to grow the population to over 1.5 million, which is about what the population of Phoenix is. **Brooke ** 13:43 I was gonna say, that's a lot of people. **Inmn ** 13:47 Yeah. Yeah. And it seems to be just because the local politicians and city council, or whatever, want to be like big deals. Like they just want... **Brooke ** 14:01 I'm sorry, if your city is called Buckeye, I think there's not hope for you. You need to start by rebranding the name of your city if you want just a chance in hell. But Buckeye, Arizona, I think is never going to be No, just the name, just that's it. It falls flat on its face on the name. **Inmn ** 14:20 Yeah, but they, for some reason, want to grow their city. I think it seems to be wrapped up in like those local politicians wanting to be big deals. **Brooke ** 14:29 Capitalism and ego. **Inmn ** 14:31 Yeah, but they can't. They're.... So the state has kind of halted construction, like new construction, or new development, in those areas because the groundwater use has hit a limit. And this comes after some developments in Phoenix were halted because of a lack of water security. So, there's very little regulation about groundwater in Arizona, but there is this thing where water has to be guaranteed for 100 years in order to build a new house, for example. So like if a new housing development is going up then water has to be guaranteed to be at that house for 100 years. **Brooke ** 15:17 That sounds great, but I have a lot of follow up questions for Phoenix and Arizona and how that actually maths out. But do go on. **Inmn ** 15:24 Yeah, yeah. I mean, how it maths out is that, you know, Phoenix heavily relies on the Colorado River for water usage. And the city of Phoenix--which to put in proportion to what the city of Buckeye is aspiring to do--is the city of Phoenix uses about 2 billion gallons of water a day. Like a new fun thing--because the more that we talk about water on the show, the more I'm like trying to visualize what water looks like--what do you think 2 billion gallons of water looks like? **Brooke ** 15:25 I'm trying to imagine some body of water that I am familiar with in order to conceptualize that and I'm wondering how big Crater Lake is because that's maybe.... Wait, wait, well, wait while I inefficiently Google things. Okay, that's way too much water. Okay. Tell me. I can't. **Inmn ** 16:37 It is one inch on Lake Mead. One inch of water is 2 billion gallons of water. **Brooke ** 16:43 Okay, I don't have a good reference for how big Lake Mead is but I hear you. **Inmn ** 16:47 Yeah, you know, that lake that everyone references when we're talking about water scarcity in the West is the constant depletion of Lake Mead. It's weird how that has become the gauge, it's like our gauge for fear and disparity is what the water levels in Lake Mead are. But do you want to know a fun thing about Lake Mead? **Brooke ** 17:13 I do. **Inmn ** 17:14 Um, Lake Mead, the water has.... There was like this crazy low point in 2022. And this is actually a fun thing, but the lake has risen 23 feet since that low point in 2022. **Brooke ** 17:29 I mean that's normal, right, because of the season that we're in? **Inmn ** 17:33 Yeah, yeah. And after like, you know, a recent pretty dry spell this summer, in August, due to record snowfall, I guess the previous winter, the lake rose 13 inches in seven days. Which, is like, you know, 27 billion gallons of water sounds like a lot. **Brooke ** 17:58 Yeah, that sounds a lot. Like a lot, a lot. **Inmn ** 18:03 But to like put that.... 27 billion. **Brooke ** 18:07 Like a foot and stuff? No, two billion is one inch? Is that right? **Inmn ** 18:13 Yeah, two billion's one inch. **Brooke ** 18:14 And 13 inches, a foot. A footish? **Inmn ** 18:17 Yeah, right. A footish. Which is only like seven days of water for the city of Phoenix. **Brooke ** 18:24 [Laughing] Okay, I'm like a foot of water in the lake is a lot. And then yeah, you say.... Just kidding! Do go on. **Inmn ** 18:38 No, yeah. Sorry. The city of Buckeye story is jumping all over the place. But in one of the more weird moves that they're considering is they want to build a pipeline from Puerto Penasco in Mexico to Phoenix, which it's about a 200 mile pipeline that would be built. And it would go right through the Organ Pipe National Cactus Monument. **Brooke ** 19:12 No big deal. National monuments, no big deal. **Inmn ** 19:20 But this is being heavily pushed for not just by the city of Buckeye but by a contractor company called IDE, which is an Israeli company, who thinks it's a really great idea to build this 200 mile pipeline between Puerto Penasco and the city of Buckeye. And it's part of this like growing, seemingly growing, trend of instead of like, instead of dealing with water resources on a, you know, a local level, or any kind of resource, on a local level, we're in this age of industrialization of like, "Well, they have this other resource 1000 miles away or whatever, what if we move to that resource so that we can sustain this absolutely unreasonable population growth in...." And not like a natural population growth. Like the city of Buckeye is like, "We want to grow the population." This is not what the city's naturally doing, you know? **Brooke ** 20:29 So they're bringing in water to support and.... You know, sorry, I want to go off on a whole side tangent because I have many questions about Buckeye, but I'm going to stop and we can talk about it another time. Sorry, I'm just so curious. **Inmn ** 20:44 But yeah, so some of the bigger problems with the pipeline are that it would.... They don't have a plan for dealing with...the desalination plants, they don't have a plan for dealing with the salty material that they remove from the water, except to dump it back into the Gulf of California. **Brooke ** 21:09 Oh, my God. **Inmn ** 21:11 You know, people in Mexico are not stoked about this because it will destroy ecological centers in the Gulf of California. Oh, okay. I remember the other bit. So IDE, the Israeli company that's building...who wants to build the pipeline, they also build desalination plants in Gaza. **Brooke ** 21:32 And that's where the money is. **Inmn ** 21:38 And yeah, it's just...it's a very strange idea. They want to put it through the Organ Pipe National Monument, which, like, there's a lot of pushback because that's a national monument. It's this federally protected wildlife area. And there's a lot of pushback from an environmental perspective. Do you know what else is in the Organ Pipe National Monument? **Brooke ** 22:05 Besides the cacti? **Inmn ** 22:07 Yeah. **Brooke ** 22:08 Let's see. Are there birds? Flowers? **Inmn ** 22:10 What is a great thing to have near a federally protected wildlife area? **Brooke ** 22:18 Oh, wildlife that needs special protection? **Inmn ** 22:22 A bombing range. **Brooke ** 22:23 Oh, shit! I see. You were being sarcastic. Here, silly me. I was trying to guess the real answer. **Inmn ** 22:35 Yeah, It is a bombing range. **Brooke ** 22:38 Of course. Of course it is. Yes. That's what Arizona's for is blowing shit up. **Inmn ** 22:44 Yeah, blowing shit up. And.... **Brooke ** 22:49 I just saw Oppenheimer, sorry. **Inmn ** 22:51 Okay. It only gets worse because the other thing that goes on in the Organ National Monument is that it's like a heavily trafficked corridor for migration between the US and Mexico for, you know, for animals and for people. And it is also one of the most deadly corridors along the US Mexico border for undocumented migrants coming from Mexico, South America, Central America, like up through Mexico and the US Mexico border. And so it represents this strange thing where the government, or people, or like whoever, they have large problems with things like a pipeline going through somewhere, but they have--and Organ Pipe National Monument as like an agency--has no problem with ramping border militarization or a bombing range that's like right next door. So. **Brooke ** 24:00 Man, I will never make sense of people's priorities. **Inmn ** 24:05 Anyways, that is a very long rant on city of Buckeye, **Brooke ** 24:10 That's more attention than Buckeye deserves, ever. But here we are. **Inmn ** 24:17 What else is happening in the southwest? There's some stuff that happened in Vegas. **Brooke ** 24:23 That's right. There's some looming...there's a looming strike in the hospitality industry in Vegas. I don't know how well known this is amongst people but Vegas has a very strong union for various hospitality workers. It might be multiple unions. Forgive me for not knowing exactly. But your housekeeping workers, your bartenders, your food servers, all of those service industries that are so central to the hospitality industry, which is central to the economy of Vegas, and a lot of Nevada, have very strong unions there that do a great job representing them and getting them fair wages and those kinds of things. So one of the major contracts expired in June of this year, 2023, so negotiations for new contracts started back in April. They did not reach an agreement in June. So they extended the contract deadline to September and that has now expired, and they are still negotiating. But the union has voted to authorize a strike if necessary. The union is asking for higher wages, more safety protections, and stronger recall rights, meaning rights to return to their work. So on the issue of safety for the union's, abuse of hospitality workers is on the rise in the US and particularly in Vegas. And I like to think that all of our listeners are the kind of folks who have had a service industry job at some point in their lives and would never ever throw something at a housekeeper. **Inmn ** 26:10 Oh, God. **Brooke ** 26:11 But, you know, just in case it needs to be said, If your room is really dirty and you're upset about it, don't throw things at the housekeeper who's just trying to clean. It's not...it's not a great way to go. **Inmn ** 26:23 Yeah, don't do that. **Brooke ** 26:27 Yeah, there's increasing reports of housekeepers getting yelled at, having things thrown at them, being threatened with abuse. Because there are--it's a complicated thing--so this also ties into the recall rights that they're asking for. Hotel workers, hospitality workers, saw significant decline in the number of people doing those jobs during the pandemic, partly because there was significantly less travel and then also restrictions on how many people you could book on a floor or in a hotel, or etc, etc, etc. So, hotels, you know, laid off a lot of their workers. And then, like many other places, have had a hard time rehiring. So they're not back up to the staffing levels that they used to be. So there's fewer people spread around, you know, a wider workload. And then part of that, the reason for the lack of rehiring, was because they didn't have recall rights. So, there was no reason for people to assume that they would be able to go back to their jobs or get their jobs back. So they, you know, left...stayed or left the industry or what have you. So, there's fewer workers to do the work, especially cleaning work. And then also, consumers are demanding less frequent cleanings for the most part in their hotel rooms. I don't know about you, when you travel, or the last time you went to a hotel, I am the kind of person that does not want housekeeping at all during my stay, whether it's one day or five days. I put out my Do Not Disturb sign. And I guess that's true of about 40% of hotel guests, they choose not to have housekeeping. The downside of that is that when housekeeping does come in after someone's left, the rooms are usually messier than they would be if they had a daily cleaning so housekeeping asked to do a deeper clean and they don't necessarily have--because they're short staffed, and it's a deeper play than they would plan for--they don't have the time to really turn over the room as thoroughly as they should. That difficult contrast between trying to get all the rooms at least a little bit versus doing a few rooms and doing them well and then not having some rooms. Yeah. So that's the other thing, if you're a person like me out there in the world and and you're staying at a hotel and you don't like to have housekeeping, do try and do them the kindness of whatever bits of cleanup you can on the way out so it's faster for them to turn over the room. Anyway, so they are continuing negotiations, but the union has...the union workers have authorized a strike or intermittent work stoppages if needed, and, you know, we fully support them doing that if that's what they need to do. Yeah, yeah, they would not be the only ones that have done that even in the last year or even super recently. Kaiser Permanente, you may have heard about this, had a three day walkout at all of their locations, appointments canceled. That kind of thing. So the Kaiser Permanente Health care workers went on strike and they've reached a tentative deal. And also somewhat recently, but a little bit longer ago, was the Writer's Union in Hollywood went on strike. And they were on strike for quite a bit. But they are back to work, having gotten a lot of what they wanted. The United Auto Workers Union is in negotiations for contracts with the major....sorry, with the major car manufacturers in the US. They have had some work stoppages throughout the negotiation process and may have a full stoppage or full strike at some point as well. So, yeah, lots of worker strikes going on, or have gone on and have been successful, in recent times and we support those workers, not only in their right to strike, but also in treating them well when we are traveling. And encouraging others to do the same. **Inmn ** 31:03 This kind of relates to my mini rant earlier about, like, you know, things shutting down or being less available, which is like, one of the really cool things that I saw out of the Writers' Guild strike was people whose like, you know,--whether it was talk show hosts, or like, whoever, who were like, during the strike, and then like, after the strike, are like, "Yeah, it was hard to not do the show for however long, but like, what is far worse and much harder, is that these very simple demands were not met before the strike or on day one of the strike." And like, I don't know, just like...it's like shifting this mentality from like, I'm sad that the new season of Stranger Things is on hiatus with that these strikes are very important and these people's lives matter and them getting the things that make them able to continue doing their work and surviving is like, incredibly important. And that's more important than my desire to see a fucking TV show, you know? **Brooke ** 32:24 Yeah, and it was really great to see, you know, a lot of actors and so forth, who weren't necessarily striking but were standing in support of, you know, their fellow Hollywood workers going on strike and getting their demands met. It was really cool. **Inmn ** 32:41 Yeah. Is there some other stuff that got shut down recently? **Brooke ** 32:46 No, the government talked about it, like they do. **Inmn ** 32:51 They always talk about it. **Brooke ** 32:54 Yeah, and we talked about this last month, and we said, hey, if it happens, we will follow up and talk more. At the last minute a continuing resolution was passed right before the deadline of when the government would have shut down. And I'm being overdramatic, because it's fucking every single time, basically, with very few exceptions. The downside of the continuing resolution form of passing a budget is that it's basically like buying them another 30 days, or however long the continuing resolution was for. So they still haven't passed a budget. They've just agreed to continue operating based on the old budget for a limited period of time. And I think their next deadline, I want to say, is mid November or so. The whole situation is complicated a little bit by the fact that they outed...the Republicans outed their speaker of the house. They don't have one. But they did pass this continuing resolution without having a speaker. So it is possible, it's just that they're dealing with the other chaos of trying to elect a new speaker and they have, at least, their fourth person that they put up for a vote, is up for vote. So they're focusing on that a lot rather than dealing with the budget issues they need to deal with. So I still, you know, I continue to say the same thing that I have said about this, which is that the government shutdown is very unlikely. If it does, it's likely very short. And even if it is very short, it probably won't affect very much because they have plans and programs set up to automate a lot of their stuff for at least a short period of time. It's only a major problem if there's a longer term shutdown like we saw back in 2019, which is very unlikely. And if it happens, we'll talk about it. **Inmn ** 34:48 Yay, talking about stuff. **Brooke ** 34:52 So that's about them not shutting down. I hear you have some good news, though, that we can talk about. **Inmn ** 35:00 I do have some good news. But I kind of have like a question about the economy for you while we're like on the subject, **Brooke ** 35:11 Give it to me, baby, you know I love talking about economics. **Inmn ** 35:14 I read this article this week about this growing trend, which is not surprising to me because it's like seeing...because it's something that a lot of us are just seeing in the world, but--or experiencing ourselves, depending on where you live. But there seems to be this big growing trend in large cities, especially like, you know, the Bay area where there's been a huge, huge housing crisis for a very long time, which is driven by the tech industry being horrifying. Um, but I read this article recently talking about this thing where it has reached such a crisis that cities like Santa Barbara, and like some cities in Oregon, have opened up parking lots that are there for people who live in their cars. And it's catering to like a very specific like demographic of people, which is like people who make too much money to apply for government assistance, like housing assistance, food assistance, anything like that, or even Medicaid or Medicare--I always forget which is which--but they do not make enough money to afford rent. And it's this growing thing in the economy where like, like.... And these are people who make like $72,000 a year at government or state jobs who can no longer afford to live somewhere. And so they have to live in their car. And that is, yeah.... That's less of a question and more of a what's going on? What's going on? **Brooke ** 37:20 Yeah, that level of problem where someone is making that much and still can't afford is definitely more specific to larger cities and places where housing costs are significantly higher. And housing is expensive everywhere right now. It's out of control. But you do have some places like the Bay Area, LA, parts of Seattle, where it is just ridiculously inflated. So yeah, making $70,000 a year is definitely way too much money to be getting any kind of assistance. You're well above the poverty line, even in your allegedly high income area, but it's nowhere near enough to afford a housing payment for how much houses cost right now. And I think there's always been some amount of people that live in that strange margin place of above the poverty line, can get little or no assistance but below what it takes to afford where they're living. That's not an entirely new phenomenon. But it's definitely much larger than it used to be. You know, because we've seen this astronomical increase in the house of pricing...in the price of housing. And inflation, overall, has increased the price of a lot of other things as well making it harder to afford all aspects of life and living. **Inmn ** 38:47 Yeah, and, you know, it's like this.... It's the thing where it's horrible to me that it's something that people are paying attention to now that it's something that is affecting middle class people. Where it's like this, you know, this has been a lot of people's like realities for, you know, decades and decades, is living in this nebulous zone of like, for whatever reasons, not qualifying for government assistance or for qualifying for government assistance but that assistance not being enough to actually change anyone's life or get them housing or things like that. And that's more what interested me about the article, was like less than that this is like a newer growing thing and more that it's something that is starting to shift up the wage scales and stuff, from something that has always affected lower income people and is now starting to affect people who like would have not considered themselves low income before. **Brooke ** 40:01 Yeah, the poverty line, what the government defines as being, you know, what they call the poverty line and then they use that to measure, you know, how far above or below it you are and then different services say you qualify based on your income relative to that position, that poverty line does not change rapidly. The government does not make big changes to that. They make very small changes to that. But meanwhile, we've seen in the last few years very rapid changes to the cost of living. And it costs so much more for so many basic things right now but that has not been accurately reflected in a higher poverty line, particularly with houses. **Inmn ** 40:42 And wages. But yeah, I don't know. I feel like my hope for articles like this are more hoping that it like increases the amount of empathy and compassion that like more people have for other houseless populations. Which it sucks that it takes.... It sucks that that's what it takes for people to have empathy, but we live in a hell world. **Brooke ** 41:18 Yeah, we do. **Inmn ** 41:19 But you know, sometimes in this hell world that we live in, cool things can happen too. **Brooke ** 41:27 Are there wins sometimes? **Inmn ** 41:28 There are wins sometimes. **Brooke ** 41:31 Like union workers winning and also...other things winning. What are they? Give me hope. **Inmn ** 41:36 Hope. So this was a fun thing that I came across this month. And this has been less like this month and more like a thing that's been happening for over two years. So in 2021, in O'ahu, in Hawaii, there was a fuel leak from, you know, naval bases. **Brooke ** 42:02 Wait, I was there in 2021. **Inmn ** 42:05 Oh, yeah. Well, depending on where you were 93,000 people had jet fuel laced water introduced into their homes and their water drinking supplies. **Brooke ** 42:22 I feel like I would have known that when I was on my little vacation there, if that was when I was there. But damn. **Inmn ** 42:28 Yeah, the symptoms for ingesting it were people having migraines and nausea and vomiting. And while for a lot of people, those were short term symptoms, for like huge amounts of the people who were affected by it, a year and a half to two years later people are still experiencing symptoms and complications from having ingested jet fuel laced water. And some of those symptoms include severe anxiety and depression. **Brooke ** 43:08 Maybe I did ingest some. Wait, I already had those symptoms, but they're worse. Okay, go on. **Inmn ** 43:14 Yeah. And this sounds like it's grim, but there was recently a victory, which is that this initiative led by, I think it was like the Sierra Club and O'ahu Water Protectors have been waging this battle against the US military to drain these fuel reservoirs, which it's like miles of tunnels underneath O'ahu that are like filled with jet fuel, you know? So it's like the possibility of leaks are just astronomical. Like, it's so easy for it to...for that shit to leak. **Brooke ** 43:55 I'm gonna guess they were rapidly built in World War II or something like that as well. **Inmn ** 43:59 Yes, they are World War II era jet fuel tanks. That after like an extreme period of inactivity are finally being drained. And this this was a quotation from someone from the O'ahu Water Protectors, who said, "We got here not because the US Navy woke up one day and said, 'Oh, we're gonna do the right thing,' we got here because of the collective voices of the people who are calling for a shutdown." Which is like, you know, time and time again, the thing that we find in these situations, is like if there's an environmental catastrophe that is also a human catastrophe, it's like...it's not...the government isn't like, "That's bad. We should do something." It takes like it takes thousands of people for two years like screaming and yelling at people and fighting for a change. And this is like...you might think too, that people exposed to jet fuel laced water who are having like pretty severe reactions to those things, that the local government might offer--or the US military--might offer some kind of help with that immediately, you know? **Brooke ** 45:27 No, come on now. **Inmn ** 45:29 It took a year and a half for the Navy to set up a clinic to treat people who had been exposed to these chemicals. And, you know, it is 100 million gallons of petroleum. **Brooke ** 45:47 Holy shit, **Inmn ** 45:50 That is sitting in these tanks. That wasn't the size of the leak, but like.... And like, yeah, two years later residents are having their water in their houses tested. Because a lot of people's houses weren't flushed, the system wasn't flushed. It was never really dealt with. And so like two years later there's these low but persistent traces of these chemicals in people's water. But hopefully, that is.... At least the larger threat of another leak is hopefully not going to happen because of this victory from indigenous water protectors in O'ahu to like, get the fuel tanks drained. And unfortunately, you know, they're not just like.... I'm happy for O'ahu, but they're just moving the fuel to Singapore, the Philippines, and San Diego. So. **Brooke ** 46:51 So, yeah, it's just gonna spill somewhere else. I mean, what do you do though? Is there a safe way to dispose of it? Probably not. Use it up, create more carbon emissions? I mean, yeah, lose-lose. Lose, lose, lose. Pour it down a volcano? What could go wrong? Pour jet fuel into a volcano, I'm sure that'll be fine. I do. I just want to say I never trust the federal government when it comes to drinking water and people. I just don't. That's one of those important things that we, you know, as we live like the world is dying here, that we all have to prepare for and plan for on our own and collectively. Do not ever trust the government to keep your water supply safe and consistent. It's just not going to happen. **Inmn ** 47:47 Nope. Yeah, we protect us. It turns out. **Brooke ** 47:53 Turns out. Alright, other water things: El Nino. So this is funny to me--I'll tell the shortest version of the story that I possibly can--when I was growing up, there were heavy rains in 1996, in the town that I--well, not just the town but this whole occupied Kalapuya territory that I live in, suffered from extreme rainfall. It's the Pacific Northwest, so we have a lot of rain anyway, so when I tell you there was extreme rainfall, that tells you something about how much rain there was. And lots of flooding, lots of water damage. There was a point when it rained for, I don't know, like, I think it was 16 days straight or something like that. Just...anyway. And it was ascribed to El Nino weather events. And so for most of my life until like the last few years, you say El Nino and I think lots of rain. That's all I understood about the El Nino weather events. But we've been talking a lot about it this year because globally, we have been in one since the springtime. And it actually has to do with water temperatures in the Pacific and airflow and stuff. And actually has very diverse effects on weather patterns around the world, really, especially right now in North America and parts of Europe, too. So we may be heading into a winter that is colder for some and warmer for others. And it was really funny in reading the reports on this that came out from NOAA and then were disseminated by others with input from this or that meteorologists, climatologists, whatever, about what was going on. And it's...you look at the maps and it's like, "Oh, the northern US is going to be much warmer or it's going to be slightly warmer. It's going to be in the Northeast. No, it's going to be the Northwest. The southern US is going to be colder in the southeast. No, in the southwest. No, actually it's going to be close to average. So all that I'm really getting from any of this as I read multiple sources is that we really don't quite know what the winter is gonna be like. No one is being consistent. And we're also in the middle of...we still have a polar vortex that's pushing cold air down from the Arctic. But also average temperatures are on the rise globally because of climate change. And this year, we're higher than average for much of the year. So all of that is to say, who knows what winter weather is going to do? Whatever winter weather prediction you've read, it might come true. But there's another one out there that will say the opposite thing. And, you know, who knows? **Inmn ** 50:36 Golly, yeah, **Brooke ** 50:39 Just funny things. So many headlines about it. And then they're all being totally contradictory. Yeah. Except that possibly, the central so-called United States of America--not like what we call the central US but if you literally draw a swath through the middle of the country--that seems to be consistently predicted to have roughly normal winter temperatures. So Kansas...Kansas, everything is probably going to be normal for you and maybe Colorado too. I don't know about the rest of us. **Inmn ** 51:14 Hell yeah. I'm excited. **Brooke ** 51:17 Isn't that great? **Inmn ** 51:18 It is. To kind of get towards the end of the episode, I did remember this other thing that I wanted to tie in, which was we talked a little bit about like border militarization and like how that relates to this water pipeline, and this is in no way a new thing but like just to build this larger linkage. So, I, you know, I live here in Arizona and like border militarization is absolutely ridiculous. It's terrifying. And I was thinking about this thing that I've encountered a lot. And people who live here have encountered a lot, which I realized a lot of other people might not know about, which is that one of the big defense contractors that the US military uses here in Arizona is Elbit Technologies, which is this Israeli defense company. They designed shit for the IDF. And they, you know, a long time ago at this point, they started to build this virtual wall here in Arizona. And it's this...it's this series of fixed towers that build this AI controlled map of the entire border in Arizona. And the development on this is that we used to, in doing humanitarian aid work out in the desert,we used to joke that the towers that monitor infrared and shit would get set off by a cow or a hot rock or something. And since the development of AI technology, that's shifting. So they are now plugging into these monitors a lot of AI technology. And I think the effectiveness of it, which like at different points was laughable, is going to change a lot soon. **Brooke ** 53:41 Okay, that's a lot. **Inmn ** 53:43 Yeah, it is. It's just wacky and terrifying. And it's like a thing that's being felt especially by people on the Tohono O'odham Nation who have these towers completely covering the reservation. And, that makes people who.... You know, these are people who also faced large amounts of government repressio, becoming fearful to leave their homes and shit. Because they're like, "Well, I can't go to that place that I normally go to. Because all those towers are there now." All of this is to connect this thing that we aren't.... We're not going to talk a whole lot about it, but as I'm sure everyone knows, Israel recently invaded Gaza and.... Or, you know, their continued invasion of Gaza has reached new and horrifying levels. And, we're not going to talk about it too much, or we didn't cover it too much, because there's so much information. And there are a lot of really great sources to get a lot more information than we can responsibly provide on a segment on this show. I have been reading stuff from Jewish Currents and I've been reading some stuff from the Palestinian Youth Movement. And those have been really awesome places to see more like.... Like if you want updated timelines and things like that of events, or like ways to support people in Palestine through this genocide then highly recommend people like learning more about this and finding any way that they can to support people on the ground in Palestine. But some kind of cool things have happened because of it. Like, in Eugene, over the weekend, there was this big pro-Palestine march. **Brooke ** 57:04 Eugene, Oregon. **Inmn ** 57:05 Yeah. Eugene, Oregon. There was this big pro-Palestine March. And this guy and a fucking Guy Fawkes mask gets out of his pickup truck in the middle of it and pulls out a handgun and, you know, starts firing it into a crowd. And then two antifascists come up with their own handguns and to like successfully deescalate and disarm this person. **Brooke ** 57:33 Awesome. **Inmn ** 57:34 You know, without shooting him. And,you know, it was later revealed that the gun this person was firing was like a.... it was not a live ammunition gun. It was called a splatter gun or something. But if you see the pictures of it, it looks like a fucking hand gun. So like, hell yeah to the people who intervened in that situation to like, hopefully prevent, to prevent something that's become a horrifying regularity. **Brooke ** 58:06 Yeah, it could have been a real gun. Yeah, we protect us. Yeah, speaking of war and conflict, can I tell you a funny thing from war? **Inmn ** 58:19 Yeah, you have another funny thing. O, you know, these previous things weren't funny. But let's end on a funny thing. **Brooke ** 58:26 Well my first thing was funny. Okay, I hope this will brighten up everyone else's day too. So, of course--this is not happy--there's a war going on against Ukraine right now. We're at, you know, 20 months, 22 months, getting close to two years on it. Ukrainians are continuing to fight and be bad asses and still doing things stealing equipment from the other side, including tanks. I don't know how much that they're still doing that, but we heard about that a lot in the beginning that the Russians would abandon tanks and Ukrainians would take them. So there was a Ukrainian officer, this was earlier this month, early October, who was driving around in his captured tank and started having technical difficulties with it. So he took it to local experts, whatever that means, and they weren't able to fix what's going wrong with it. It had some oil leakage and it was doing some other things. So he called the manufacturer of the tank, which is a Russian manufacturer, and he called them--and they're in Russia where they make them--and they called the Russian people for tech support. And they answered. And the person tried to help him problem solve the problem going on with the tank. He just called up and said, "Hey, I'm driving, you know, I'm involved in the war and I'm driving such-and-such type of tank and I'm having these problems." And he was...he was generally having the problems with a tank but the call to tech support was just to troll them. I mean, he didn't really expect them to answer or get help, but they did. And then they were trying to help problem solve through the issues that he had and let him file a complaint about the issues with the tank. And also passed him along to a manager at the manufacturing plant so he could further discuss the problems that he was having with this stolen Russian tank. **Inmn ** 1:00:19 Oh my god. Did he get the...did he get the tank operational? **Brooke ** 1:00:24 It doesn't sound like it because I think that really wasn't his end goal. He was really just, like I said, trolling them. And yeah, so he ended up talking to a manager about it. And then, you know, finally let them know, "Oh, by the way, I'm Ukrainian. I'm fighting against you guys. This is a tank that we captured, you know, earlier this year, that's giving me trouble. Thanks." **Inmn ** 1:00:48 Oh my god. That is one of the biggest, hilarious, you know, whatever, modern technology society things that I've ever heard. **Brooke ** 1:01:02 Yeah, and you know, he's speaking Russian. They have no idea. It's just great. It's really.... So there you go, troll the bad guys. When all else fails, just maybe, maybe troll them a little bit for the lols. **Inmn ** 1:01:19 Okay, well, I think that about wraps it up for This Month in the Apocalypse. Thanks, everyone for tuning in. **Brooke ** 1:01:32 Yay October! What joys will November bring us? **Inmn ** 1:01:37 So many more. **Inmn ** 1:01:44 If you enjoyed this podcast then live like the world is dying. Because it probably might be. Um, but you can also tell people about the podcast. You can support us in a bunch of other sillier ways, but you should really just tell people tell people about the podcast and talk to people about like, you know, if stuff like this happens where you are, if you are affected by any of these things, like figure out ways to deal with it as a small community that can help your larger community. And you can also support the show by supporting the publisher, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. Strangers is a media publishing collective. We put out books, and podcasts, and zines, and a bunch of other stuff, and zines [said to rhyme with "dines"], and you can find us at tangledwilderness.org And you can support us on Patreon at patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. And that money goes to paying our audio editor. It goes to paying our transcriptionist. And it goes towards supporting the publisher so that we can do lots of other cool stuff. And in particular, we would love to thank these folks. Thank you, Patolli, Eric, Perceval, Buck, Julia, Catgut, Marm, Carson, Lord Harken, Trixter, Princess Miranda, BenBen, Funder, Janice & O'dell, Aly, paparouna, Milica, Boise Mutual Aid, theo, Hunter, S.J., Paige, Nicole, David, Dana, Chelsea Staro, Jenipher, Kirk, Chris, Michaiah, and Hoss the Dog. Thank you for growing this list to such an extent that I'm out of breath by the time that I am done saying it. We hope that you're everyone's doing as well as they can with everything that's going on and we will see you next time.

Second in a four-part series of special Borderlines episodes with UC Berkeley Law guest hosts Professor Roxanna Altholz and Professor Laurel E. Fletcher shining a spotlight on human rights champions—all guest speakers in their Human Rights Practice Workshop course, where leading practitioners working in a variety of institutional settings speak about their struggles against corruption and impunity, the relationship between legal and social justice, and the future of human rights movements. Episode 18 of Borderlines features guest host Professor Roxanna Altholz, Co-Director of Berkeley Law's Clinical Program and its International Human Rights Law Clinic, in discussion with Natali Segovia, Quechua, Legal Director, Water Protector Legal Collective and international human rights lawyer with extensive experience in criminal defense work and Federal Indian Law. Ms. Segovia shares the story about the Water Protector Legal Collective, a legal nonprofit, grew out of the No Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock and works to provide legal support and advocacy for Indigenous peoples and climate justice movements. Listeners will be enriched by powerful first-hand accounts of struggles to stop destruction of the environment and defend the rights of Native people affected by forced displacement, desecration of sacred lands, and human rights violations. Issues covered include leveraging of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with the US framework; SLAPP suits and the criminalization of protest; and protecting cultural and tribal sovereignty against encroachment. For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today is Dani Espiritu, a native Hawaiian educator, minister, and activist (as well as one of the authors from our anthology). We talk about the wildfires in Maui, her activism around the Oʻahu water crisis, Hawaiʻi's complicated history with Christianity, and theology about our relationships with land and cultural stories. Dani is a deep, compassionate thinker and a sharp, dedicated advocate. You don't want to miss this one!Links mentioned in the episode:* The Intervarsity Hawaiʻi site on the Maui fires with links to learn, advocate, and donate: https://www.intervarsityhawaii.org/donate-to-maui-families.html* Intervarsity's Hawaiʻi Justice programs on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ivhawaii_justice/* The organization Dani works with on indigenous food systems, Hoʻōla Hou iā Kalauao: https://hoolahouiakalauao.wordpress.com/* That org's IG: https://www.instagram.com/hoolahou.ia.kalauao/* The Oʻahu Water Protectors: https://oahuwaterprotectors.org/Shake the Dust is a podcast of KTF Press. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Subscribe to get our newsletter and bonus episodes at KTFPress.com. Transcripts of every episode are available at KTFPress.com/s/transcripts.HostsJonathan Walton – follow him on Facebook and Instagram.Sy Hoekstra – follow him on Mastodon.Our theme song is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra – listen to the whole song on Spotify.Our podcast art is by Jacqueline Tam – follow her and see her other work on Instagram.Production and editing by Sy Hoekstra.Transcript by Joyce Ambale and Sy Hoekstra, with special thanks to Dani Espiritu for helping us out filling in and proofreading Hawaiian words.Questions about anything you heard on the show? Write to shakethedust@ktfpress.com and we may answer your question on a future episode. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ktfpress.com/subscribe

In this Intelligence Briefing, Adnan and Henry discuss some of the latest regarding the ongoing climate breakdown and discussions of the "Anthropocene", weaving in discussion of sovereignty, techno-modernism, the Capitalocene, and much more.  This is the latest in our series of episodes focused on the environment and climate, be sure to check out our previous episodes on A History of the World in 7 Cheap Things (w/ Jason W. Moore & Raj Patel), World Ecology & the Capitalocene (w/ Jason W. Moore), Shut Down Red Hill! Naval Pollution Disaster (w/ Mikey from O'ahu Water Protectors), Socialist States and the Environment  (w/ Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro), COP26 Dispatch  (w/ Vijay Prashad & Chris Saltmarsh), and Eco-Despair, Revolutionary Optimism, and the Fight for the Future.   Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory 

This installment of A Prayer For Salmon begins with the creation story of the Winnemem Wintu, at a sacred spring high up on Mt. Shasta.

Lummi Nation member Darrell Hillaire is on a mission:  amplify native indigenous storytelling using technology to educate and inspire actions to protect water ecosystems for future generations. 

In episode five of A Prayer for Salmon, the Winnemem Wintu and supporters start a two-week Run4Salmon prayer to call salmon back to the waters above Shasta Dam.

The transition from a fossil-fuel economy to a clean-energy economy is going to require the United States to build a lot of solar, wind, geothermal, energy storage and transmission and distribution systems as soon as possible. We also must consider the infrastructure necessary for building resilience and adaptation to climate change, such as sea walls, flood protection systems, and water storage systems. Some argue one of the biggest barriers to building all this is the time and costs associated with obtaining the necessary permits and approvals from regulatory agencies. The complexity of the process gives motivated individuals the ability to drag out the approval process, which can be a significant hurdle for energy companies looking to invest in renewable energy projects. Further, some assert we should repeal/reform the National Environmental Policy Act (called NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). These laws require federal and state/local agencies to assess the potential environmental effects of development projects, public works, and other major government actions, and involve the public at important steps in the process. On this show, we talk with Dustin Mulvaney, Professor, Environmental Studies Department, San José State University, and Lydia Poncé, Indigenous Activist, Water Protector, and Coordinator of Earth Justice. Dustin Mulvaney is a Professor in the Environmental Studies Department at San José State University and a Fellow with the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. His research includes work on just transitions, solar energy commodity chains, and natural resource development. He is the author of Solar Power: Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental Justice published by the University California Press in 2019, and Sustainable Energy Transition: Socio-Ecological Dimensions of Decarbonization out with Palgrave-MacMillan in 2020. Lydia Poncé is an Indigenous Activist, Water Protector, co-founder of Idle No More SoCal and Coordinator of Earth Justice. She hosts a show called Be a Better Relative, Tuesdays on KPFK Los Angeles. Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 172

This SHINE podcast episode is on the importance that water plays in all of our lives. Water is a  fundamental resource and life. In this interview, we will speak about why water stewardship is important.  We will address three significant challenges in the quality of water on the planet: Red Tide, Microplastics and PFAs. We speak about how these 3 are interconnected, the dangers of them to our well being, and action steps you can take to reverse the negative impacts at an individual and business level.  This inspiring episode will ignite greater purpose and inspiration to be a water protector.   Episode Links: Greg Koch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkochsustainability/ Greg Kochs Book SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes  Building Trust Free Gift — leadfromlight.net Carley Links: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ Consultation Call with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/SHINEbook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Environmentally Friendly Products for Water Protection Grove Collaborative Red tide Everything you wanted to know about Red Tide- Scripps Edu Red Tide Affects in Tampa/St Pete Area PFAS CDC Fact Sheet Dark Waters- Documentary on PFAS How Dupont may avoid paying to clean up toxic forever chemicals  Microplastics https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01143-3   Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment- https://tinyurl.com/igniteyourinnergame   Social:  LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast   Imperfect Shownotes:   Carley Hauck  0:08   Hi, welcome to the shine podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I'm your host, this is the fifth season of the shine podcast. I started the shine podcast as a way of doing research for my book on conscious leadership in business. And you will find interviews with scientists, researchers and business leaders on the intersection of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. My book debuted in 2021 Shine ignite your inner game of conscious leadership and was voted one of the best books to read in 2022. By mindful magazine, I facilitate two episodes a month of the shine podcast. And before I tell you about the topic for today, please go over to Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast carrier and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes. The focus of this season is on the essentials for wellbeing. And that encompasses the intersection of our personal well being the collective well being of our workplace, and how that fosters and nurtures the planet's well being they are all connected. I focus on well being this season, because I really want to crack the code and inspire folks to prioritize their individual well being and therefore that will transcend into the collective and the planet's well being. And I have developed a inner game leadership assessment that I gave out to 100 different leaders last year. And the leadership assessment is based on the framework of the inner game, which is what we're cultivating on the inside to be conscious leaders. And then it shows up on the outside when we've cultivated the certain qualities. And two of the nine leadership competencies that were lowest from the sample of 100 leaders were psychological and physical well being. Therefore, that is why we are focusing on well being and if you're curious about where your strengths and gaps are, around the qualities to become a conscious leader, you can take the assessment and find out your score for free. I recently opened to the assessment tool to the public and the link will be in the show notes. Now onto our episode. Hello, Shine podcast listeners. Thank you so much for joining this season. I am so excited about this conversation with my friend, Greg. Coach. Greg, thank you so much for being here.   Greg Koch  3:06   Thanks for having me, Carley. I really enjoyed the last podcast we did and the relationship that we've maintained the friendship since then. And I'm looking forward to today,   Carley Hauck  3:15   likewise. And for those of you listening, I just want to share that I've only had two folks that have now been on the podcast twice. And so Greg, you're in very good company. Lynne twist, who wrote the foreword for my book, who has a new book that just actually came out that I interviewed her on at the end of last year is the only other person that has been on the shine podcast twice, but for good reason, the fact that you are both repeating, because you're very purposeful leaders, and she is also a very strong climate leader. And so I'm delighted that you both   Greg Koch  3:58   are here, I feel honored.   Carley Hauck  4:02   Well, so with that, please introduce, introduce yourself regarding your current role at IR M. And also, you know, why? The topic of water stewardship and water protection, which we'll be speaking about in various ways today is personally and professionally important to you.   Greg Koch  4:26   Sure. Well, thanks again for having me. My name is Greg couch, and I live in Atlanta, Georgia. And I've spent when I've not been on a plane or somewhere out of the country, which has been quite often throughout my career, I've been based in Atlanta, here in Atlanta, Georgia. I currently work for consultancy called e r m Environmental Resources Management. And my role there as a technical director is in the water and climate space and And primarily what I do is work with clients to translate all the noise around water and climate risks and issues into an assessment of how those issues will impact the business, both negatively and potentially positively. Meaning there are opportunities to, to, to look at as well as risks to try to mitigate. And so what does that look like? Well, it takes all the data that everyone has, but then dives deeper in what information the client would have around their water use or greenhouse gas emissions, what they've experienced in terms of impacts regulations, employee interest, other external stakeholder interest, including investors, NGOs, customers, and consumers. So that nuances all that, that global information and local information, and allows you to come up with scenarios realistic scenarios of what could happen positively or negatively, because of the stress issues. And then let's just focus for the sake of time on the risks versus the opportunities. But when you look at the risks that we quantify, we help the clients quantify a probability of that risk event happening, and then the impact that they would experience if that risk scenario or if that manifested itself. And that assessment of risk, what what would this mean, to me, me in this case would be accompany, but it's the same if you want to take it down to the personal level. Once you translate the issue, into what could happen positively and negatively, to you, your business, what have you, that leads to two things that I find very powerful one is, it leads to ownership, because you're a part of translating the noise into real impacts that you would experience or maybe already are experiencing. So the ownership, right, you're not just accepting the data and saying, Okay, that's an issue, I'm going to do something about it. There's nothing inherently wrong with going from issue to action, but issue to risk and opportunity quantification, in my experience leads to that ownership, but also more impactful actions. So so that's what I do. And in the course of the topics we'll discuss, I can give you some examples of how I've helped clients, and what that actually looks like.   Carley Hauck  7:42   Thank you. So that was a great summary. Why does protecting the water there's no, there's lots of resources in the environment that we can protect. But that seems to be one you've really narrowed in on in your life and in your career, why does what is protecting the water personally matter to you?   Greg Koch  8:06   Well, it should matter to everyone in the same way it matters to me in that it is a fundamental resource life as we know, it does not exist without water, there is no substitute for water. And at the same time, while water is a finite resource, there's a fixed amount of water on Earth that you cannot change over the long term. We can't create or destroy water over the long term. But it's infinitely renewable. So I'll be honest, most of my pre adult life, I took water for granted water was something I played in, I recreated in I saw fall from the sky, you know, experience rainfall, you you have a daily visceral connection with water. So it's always been important, but honestly, I took it for granted. Like I think most people do, and probably that those from the fact that over human history, water has been relatively abundant, and relatively clean, and therefore hasn't posed significant challenges to the majority of civilizations that have come and gone and that currently exist. But all that's changed, certainly since the Industrial Revolution, and even more in the last few decades, particularly from the impacts of climate change, which we talked about in in our previous podcast was very, you know, climate change is the message than water is the messenger. Right? You experience climate change, primarily not through hotter temperatures, but through some change, more intense and more unpredictable water situation. So what was the aha moment for me? It came when I was working for the Coca Cola company. And one of the jobs I had It was addressing wastewater discharge around the world and the company had implemented a standard or requirements say that if you can't discharge your wastewater, your industrial wastewater into a sewer system, if you will, where the government were utility would fully treat that water, then you had to build a wastewater treatment plant yourself, right, so that you weren't discharging, untreated, industrial and sanitary waste. And that was very well adopted. But the standard that is, but it went when I first started assessing the current status. Now, keep in mind, Coca Cola operates, I think, in all but one or two countries in the world and has 1000 Hot plants. And so I really got exposed to the local conditions around water. Initially, it was through the lens of water pollution, but quickly started to appreciate the challenges of drinking water access, reliable, safe, affordable water, being there at the tap when you needed it, or in some close proximity. And all of that was happening at a time where in my life, I had young children, they're 25 and 22. Now, but at the time, they were toddlers, and, you know, preschool or school aged children. And you know, I appreciate it. The the luxury that we have compared to most of the rest of the world, in having that safe water access, and then seeing the impact when that safe drinking water is available, what that does to communities and made me appreciate more the situation that that we have here in Atlanta, but also recognize how dire the situation around water was around the world. And so   Carley Hauck  12:01   I have a more personal recently, which I'll see ya, yes. But you know about Yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah. That's fascinating. Well, let me just kind of queue up what we're gonna be talking about today for those listening. So So Greg, and I've been noodling and emails in the last few weeks. And we came up with this fabulous conversation to share with you. So we're going to be really reviewing the interconnection between red tide microplastics and PFS. Over the course of the next, you know, 4045 minutes with you all, we're going to talk about what each of these are, how they are negatively impacting the planet's well being locally, globally, but then how that is impacting our well being, because what happens, what the planet is going to be happening with us, you know, we are interconnected. And we are, unfortunately, creating a lot of these problems. So we have the opportunity to shift that, to clean it up, you know, this, this is our home, we need to take care of our home. So so that is really going to be what we will be empowering, and activating and shedding the light on for all of you. And I also thought I would share a little bit about why water protection matters to me. So well. I grew up in Florida, which is not too far from Georgia, they're, you know, they're their neighboring our sister states, we could say. And from a very young age, I just had this kind of inner climate leader. And I was, you know, spending a lot of my childhood in St. Augustine, Florida, which is actually deemed to be one of the oldest cities in the United States. It's apparently where Ponce de Leon founded the fountain of youth. There's old Spanish forts. It's a beautiful, quaint city. And we would go you know, they're from my hometown of Gainesville when I was a kid every summer and multiple times during the year and I was noticing plastic on the beach. And because I was really interested in ocean life, and my father would give money to the World Wildlife Fund or the cetaceans society and so he would get these really cool calendars with all of these beautiful pictures of whales and dolphins and being a curious kid. I'm still a curious kid. Just a little older. I would I would go and look at the calendars and I'd see all these different organisms. missions and I started doing some research and finding out, wow, this humpback whale is endangered and this bottlenose dolphin is also endangered. And the sea turtle that I am fascinated with is really struggling. Why? Well, because we are poaching them, you know, we're polluting the oceans. And so when I was eight, nine years old, I literally was writing letters to the dictator. I guess they were a dictator at that time of Japan. And I said, stop killing the whales. So I adopted a gray. Yeah, I drafted a gray whale for my third grade class was $25. Back then I'm sure it's not much more y'all, you can adopt a gray whale. But it kind of started off, you know, at a young age. And so I've always felt this, frankly, responsibility to take care of the ocean. And there were not trash receptacles on the beaches in Florida. And I'm speaking to this now, because that was about 40 years ago, and I was recently in Florida, during red tide, which we're gonna get into in just a minute. And right before I left, thankfully, the basically the Tampa Bay St. Pete area lifted the restriction of being at the beach, because if you're near Red Tide, which Greg is going to tell us more about, you know, I mean, it can actually create some really adverse consequences, you can't breathe, you know, people get really sick if they go near the water if they go in the water. So all of the, you know, beaches, basically, in the Tampa St. Pete area, we were restricted from going and then the day before I was about to leave, they lifted those restrictions, it was safer, supposedly to go. And so I was walking on the beach with my father and I see a piece of plastic, which I know if I don't pick up a sea turtle is probably going to, at some point in their lifecycle see it, if it goes in the ocean, think it's going to jellyfish and it's going to try to eat it. So that's just an innate reflex of mine pick up trash, if you see it on the beach. And there was no place to throw it away. There's I mean, so Florida, Florida people. Now see you it's been 40 years I was doing this when I was five, I'm getting closer to 45. It does not take a lot of money to put waste receptacles recycle, compost would be great on the beach. Otherwise, it makes it really hard for people to do the right thing. Because most people are not going to pick up trash and carry it to a receptacle. And let's let's just let's just be real, like, you know, people go to the beach, they bring stuff, they bring stuff they don't even intend to leave on the beach. But let's say they have a screaming two year old who came with a little plastic bunny. And she throws the bunny on the beach and the bunny then gets stuck in the sand and they don't bring it back. Anyway, these things happen. Let's just make it easy for people to do the right thing. So this is why the water protection matters to me, because this is our home. I care about the planet, I care about the creatures, and I want to create a legacy for the future, that I'm not going to feel guilty about that I'm not going to regret that I couldn't have done more. And that, frankly, is going to alleviate so much suffering of so many people because we do the right thing right now.   Greg Koch  18:50   Yeah. That's amazing. Thanks for sharing that.   Carley Hauck  18:53   Yeah, thank you, Greg. Well, and I know that the folks that are listening to this have that inner water protectors as well. And so, before this podcast ends, I'm going to leave you all a prompt to really ignite that part of you because we all have that responsibility. And that opportunity. Okay, so without further ado, Greg, I feel like there's a you know, a music or is playing in the background. Can you please illuminate? Let's start with red tide. What is red tide? And why does it matter?   Greg Koch  19:35   Yep. All right. So red tide is a global phenomenon. It can be called different things. But it's a condition where there's a certain micro organism and I'll get into that in a moment. It's an algae, different types of algae, but there's one in particular, that when it grows in abundance, when it grows, period, it per Do says a toxin a neurotoxin, as part of how it metabolizes food, and when shellfish in particular, but other aquatic species as well are exposed to that toxin, it can kill them and or affect their reproductive abilities. And if you eat those fish or shellfish in particular, you could ingest some of that toxin and it would have negative effects for you. It's called Red tide in in Florida and other parts of the world because that bacteria when it grows in maths, it takes on a reddish brown color. And that can actually color the water. And so the phrase red tide is used. There are other versions for it. So it's good that we started with red tide, because it's, it's the only one of these three topics microplastics and P Foss and red tide that occurs naturally, even without humans, but as exacerbated by humans. The other two topics we that's all the on us. Right? So red tide, or versions of it have been in recorded history as far back as the 1500s. So well before the Industrial Revolution well before the type of Population and Development we have today. So we know, in Florida, in other parts of the world, red tide has occurred naturally, these are naturally occurring micro organisms, and they do in particularly in warmer weather, when they are faced with enough nutrients. And I'll talk about the nutrients in a moment. It can cause it's perfect conditions, and they just start growing like crazy. If they are the type of algae that, that that produce this neurotoxin, then you get this, this red tide that happens now a little bit about the micro organisms, they're algae, and when you get a big growth of them, it's called an algal bloom. Right, just a lot of algae. One algae that all of us are familiar with, or most of the listeners should be familiar with is kelp. So seaweed, most forms of seaweed, including kelp are algae. So algae can be really big. If you've been diving off the coast of San Diego, the kelp forests are massive that actually an algae. So they are and I say that just to say that they are naturally occurring. When that algae bloom happens, I already talked about the impact to aquatic species, that neurotoxin and how that could impact you, but that that toxin that's released also becomes airborne. And most people will have trouble breathing. People who have immune compromised, their immune compromised or have asthma are more sensitive for some reason to to, you know, respiratory issues. It can be, it can be very debilitating. I'm not certain about deaths. And could anyone say this person died because of this, but it's certainly a complicating factor. And as you said, when that occurs, advisors go out and say, Okay, we're going to close the beach, you know, we're going to close it, the fishing, and we're going to close it to even people walking on the beach, because of both the dead fish and shellfish that will come up on shore. No one wants to walk around that. The smell of that, of course, but then also that toxin that's in the air that that's going to affect everyone and some people very significantly. So that's what   Carley Hauck  23:48   Yeah, no, thank you. And just to speak to that, you know, I was reading a lot of articles. So I was I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago visiting my parents in the Tampa St. Pete area. And I remember when I was last there, there was also a red tie. And I'm like, why is Why is this still here? And so as I was as I was doing some deeper research, it had been in full bloom essentially with some minor, you know, wanes since December 22. And I just thought this has been going on for over a year. Yeah. And, and as I did more research, like 600 tons of whales and dolphins and turtles and fish are just rotting there. They're dead. I mean, this makes no sense to me. So that was in Part I, I was very angry. And I reached out to Greg and I said what is going on? And he said I was just in Florida too. Yep. So So I guess that'll go to the next piece of it. Why is this happening? And I've done some research, but I'd love to ask.   Greg Koch  25:03   Sure. Well, like I said, it's been documented back to the 1500s. So it happens, it happens all by itself without any human intervention. But, and the science is not conclusive yet. But it is certain about one thing. A couple of things. One, you know, these things naturally exist. And for them to thrive, they need warm temperatures, like climate change, and they need nutrients food, just like you and I, we need magnesium and iron and potassium and you know, all these elements and nutrients, phosphates, nitrates, what have you. Our bodies need them to metabolize, to build cell structures to process food, what have you, it's the same with with any living organism, there's a set of nutrients that are critical. So when you have conditions where you have warmer than normal, or just warm temperatures and lots of food in the form of nutrients, that's right conditions, ideal conditions rather for a red tide to have red tide in quotes. Sometimes it's called the Blue tide. Sometimes it's all the other things, but let's just use red tide. So what role do humans play in either of those two conditions? Well, climate change is conclusively, in part, caused by manmade action. So we're making the world warmer, global warming aspect of climate change. And then we grow a lot of food and apply a lot of the nutrients that these algae love to the land. We do that in agriculture, we do that in our own home gardens, our lawns, our public spaces, to maintain those, for the most part, we apply a lot of fertilizer. And the main things in fertilizer are potassium, and nitrogen, and manganese. And so it is those nutrients that that enable the algae to thrive. So again, not conclusive, but if you triangulate runoff from land, particularly agricultural areas, and then coastal areas with warm, particularly warmer than normal water, body temperatures, you get these blooms. One thing I failed to say earlier, it's not just a title issue in the sense of the ocean, you can have algal blooms in freshwater, particularly in lakes, probably the, for those of your listeners that are familiar with the United States, Lake Erie, every summer, the west end of it, I believe it's the West End, just gets this green pond types gum on it, and, and that too, is it's green. And I'm sure people have been hiking and you know, in the forest and come across a pond and it's just covered in green scum. And that's algae, and conditions were ripe for that algae to to grow. Now, even if it doesn't produce this toxin, it still can have impacts on the environment and therefore humans. So this Algae grows, and it comes to a point where it can't grow anymore, because there's not enough room or enough nutrients or enough oxygen. And so that algae that algal bloom will eventually die. And when it dies, it settles to the bottom where other micro organisms say Oh, buffets open, let's go eat. And they start multiplying like crazy. And in doing that they they grow and they use up a lot of oxygen. So the dissolved oxygen, the amount of oxygen that's in water, for plants and animals to breathe to use is decreased and you get fish kills and other impacts. Probably the most famous one in the United States is in the Gulf of Mexico, at the outfall of the Mississippi River. Every summer there's a dead zone, actually called a dead zone because really everything dies because so much nutrients from all the agricultural practices in the Midwest come down the Mississippi dump all those nutrients in the summer you have warm temperatures and you get this massive algal bloom and once that algal bloom starts dying off, you get accelerated dissolved oxygen content and everything dies a dead zone. That doesn't sound great. So so it happens naturally. But it is pretty clear that higher temperatures from climate change and nutrients, primarily from fertilizer application, untreated sewage, untreated sewage, those types of things are going to exacerbate. Yep.   Carley Hauck  30:09   Thank you. And I was also just gonna share, and it's not cracking down on polluters, right. And also, you and I were having a conversation prior to this one about how do we educate farmers to be more regenerative and their approach, right? I mean, we all know composting is the way we know that regenerative agriculture is the way forward so that we have, we're not ripping up, you know, the soil infrastructure, but we're regenerating it. So it's easier to continue to create a lot of opportunities for food and growth without all of this fertilizer. And it seems like from some of the research that I've been doing around Florida, and I'll leave, we're gonna leave a lot of, you know, very validated links about all of these things in the show notes. But apparently, the sea it was in the clean waterways act of 2020, did not require agricultural interests to reduce phosphorus runoff, and continues to rely on what is effectively a system of voluntary compliance. Well, that is not going to get it done. appealing to people's altruistic motivations. Unfortunately, without I think, certain checks and balances and consequences, is not going to support red tide to diminish. What do you think, Greg?   Greg Koch  31:39   I agree. And, you know, not in defense, but an explanation of farmers. They spend a lot of money buying fertilizer, and they spend time and money applying it to land. And they know that they apply more fertilizer than the plants they're growing can actually absorb. And that cost them money. And when you apply more that the plants can use, that's what becomes runoff either trickles down into groundwater, or it's gonna run off off the surface, and then into rivers, lakes, and eventually into the ocean. The reason they they do that is that when a plant needs a certain nutrient, let's say nitrogen or phosphorus, they want to make sure it's available. Right? So you put more than you need, because you know, someone's going to wash off. And that when that plant in that part of the field is ready for it's there. Now, yes, if you knew at every part of the field, exactly what a plant is needs. During its growth cycle, you could apply that but just think of the technology and the cost of trying to understand that at such a granular level. So it's it's much easier for them to just apply it more liberally, if you will, so that they ensure that the plant is going to have the nutrients it needs. But unfortunately, that's what what ends up in our waterways and whether it causes red tide or not. There. There's other impacts to us, right? You know, the water treatment systems, for instance, for drinking water around Lake Erie, when they are faced with their source of water being covered in this green algal bloom. They have much higher water treatment costs to make that water safe to drink. It's a cyanobacteria that that actually grows from that blue green algae that causes that, that pond scum. So if you say all right, well, that's just temporary. It's in the summer. It's well, what if you live there, you know, beyond the health impacts?   Carley Hauck  33:53   Well, I want to share I want to share just this is coming from an article. This is from a current, you know, citizen that lives in Pinellas County in Florida. So this is her experience in this part of Florida as we know it happens all over the world and all over the country. But she let me just Okay, so this this is coming from a woman Alicia Norris, a mother of 352. She experienced it firsthand. She said I cannot shake off that sickening, nauseous feeling in the summer of 2018. From the stench of dead fish turtles and manatees rotting in reddish brown coastal waters along the shorelines of St. Petersburg and the state's Tampa Bay area. And apparently, you know, it's been getting worse every year, as we know, because, you know, it gets it gets hotter. And just within the last year, Pinellas County Only officials reported collecting 600 tons of dead fish as the red tide peaked.   Greg Koch  35:07   What that does to Yeah, it's deadly life.   Carley Hauck  35:10   Property dolphins, manatees? Yeah,   Greg Koch  35:13   the loss of biodiversity, property values, tourism dollars, you know, that fisheries people, fish or people who go out and catch fish to sell that we eat, you know, all of those are going to be impacted when you have a situation like this.   Carley Hauck  35:31   And then, apparently, in 2001, the leak there is a basically a phospho Algeciras leak, that was discovered in a reservoir pond, that was holding 480 million gallons of toxic wastewater produced from phosphate. So there's apparently a lot of that that is positive, there's 25 Giant, toxic wastewater ponds in Florida. So I'm kind of sharing some of the God I don't want to hear this. But isn't this evoking emotion, emotion is going to get us to do something different. So I want to expose what's here? Because then we get to act on it. So we've kind of addressed what is red tide? How is it negatively impacting us? And now we get into what can we do about it? So and then we'll move similar Lee into PSAs, and microplastics, because they all are connected?   Greg Koch  36:37   They are. So what can you do? I'd say for all of these topics, any topic that's new to you. Do some research, get some facts, as you said, Carly, in the show notes, you're gonna have some links to some reputable this is like no, CDC, right? Go get some facts. And   Carley Hauck  36:57   Greg and I have come up with these resources together, by the way, so they're I'm not just pulling them out of thin air we actually came together on like, okay, let's share these. Yeah.   Greg Koch  37:07   So whatever the topic is climate change, microplastics, red tide, you know, whatever, go get educated, you know, maybe this, this podcast is the first step. But if this interests you, or some emotion that's evoked, we'll do some reading. But beyond that, there's always advocacy that people can do and, you know, become somewhat, you know, cliche ish, but write your representative in Congress, right, your local, but those things matter, right? So do write your local representatives, your your local town, your county, your state, whomever and say, This is my voice, you know, that it's rare that people get to voice their concerns and issues with elected representatives outside of voting for them. Right. But but this is one way. And they have entire staffs, who, whose job it is to feel these questions and summarize and, and so it does have an impact on these people. If they say, you know, 10,000 people in my constituency have written to me about this issue. They're passionate about this issue, I have to say something and perhaps do something, and perhaps doing something is going to be something constructive. So get educated. Right, your representatives, right. But what can you do   Carley Hauck  38:30   on it to plug one other piece to? Yeah, you know, I think it's also really important that we give money and we're supporting the institutions that are doing research on this. So for example, like, the mote aquarium is a research laboratory down in St. Pete, Tampa Bay, Scripps, which is where I am in San Diego, you know, they're they're doing some incredible research around ocean protection and how climate change is impacting the coral reefs to our water to red tide. And so like how do we support these institutions that are creating the education for us?   Greg Koch  39:10   That is, and they're also creating the data, the science that regulators and other people will eventually look to to say, Okay, this defines the situation now I want to do something about it. So excellent. Add.   Carley Hauck  39:25   Yeah. So I know we could talk about this for hours. So I want to move us into woody Which one do you want microplastics PFS?   Greg Koch  39:37   Well, let me let me just want to add one more thing for things that you can do at home right now. Yes. Even if you live in Kansas and not worried about red tide, but one is, think about the fertilizers you're putting on your own lawn in your own flower pots in your in your apartment, whatever the case. There's a huge climate impact producing those fertilizers. And then if incorrectly applied, they can contribute to water quality issues, including red tie. So think about maybe using composting of your food waste and using that as a fertilizer and just be thoughtful about your fertilizer application. The other thing is, if your house or apartment, your home relies on a septic tank, that septic tank should be properly maintained. You know, it's not flush it and forget it, you still have a responsibility as a homeowner to properly maintain that when those aren't properly maintained. They can release a lot of sewage, which has lots of problems, but nutrients are are one of the things that is contained in sewage. So those are two other things that you could do. All right.   Carley Hauck  40:50   I really appreciate that, as well. And you know, the other piece two, and I know you came up with this, but I think it's so important that we pay attention to what are we putting down the septic system, right? Like, are we using environmentally friendly products for cleaning for laundry detergent for you know, washing there's, there's so many options. GROVE collaborative also is a really wonderful company and everything that they provide are really environmentally safe and plastic free, in fact, cleaning and household resources. So I will put a link in the show notes, they are one of my favorite companies.   Greg Koch  41:33   So one other thing I saw, I just learned about yesterday, Amazon platform has a filter that you can I haven't tried it, but someone showed it to me. Right now it's around climate change. Like if a company has set a Paris treaty aligned carbon reduction goal aligned with the 1.5 degree change. Some of your listeners will know what that is. It shows up. So if you're looking at products that you might buy from Amazon, there's a screen there that say, okay, which ones have set a goal of reducing their carbon emissions. And, you know, hopefully over time, other credible certification platforms or organizations would join that. And that way consumers can make an easier informed decision on something that that's not going to be as impactful to the environment.   Carley Hauck  42:32   I love that. Yeah.   Greg Koch  42:35   All right, well, let's go to microplastics. Boy,   Carley Hauck  42:38   I feel like I want to get going from   Greg Koch  42:40   bad to worse.   Carley Hauck  42:42   Take it away from my class six. All right, there we go.   Greg Koch  42:46   We'll talk about a personal evolution on the topic when most of my life, you know, I didn't Well, I don't like seeing litter on the side of the road, you know, wherever on the beach and waterways, just just, you know, out in the field or whatever. But I thought, you know, what harm is it doing? You know, it's just a can or a newspaper. It's just there. And then yes, you read about certain plastics that turtles might think as a jellyfish. And, you know, I just didn't really appreciate it was that big of an issue? It's wasteful. Aesthetically, it's displeasing. But is it really doing harm to the environment? Well, here comes micro plastics. And there's two categories of micro plastics. So they're defined as a piece of plastic that is of a certain size, and that's five nanometers, but it's tiny, tiny, tiny, the two most predominant sources of microplastics. One is intentional, and one is not intentional. Let's start with the intentional one. There's something called microbeads. And you find these microbeads in their tiny little balls of plastic, that are in makeup, are in exfoliating creams are in some toothpaste and are even in some, some foodstuffs. So these are manufactured microplastics that are put into a product, a human use product for some sort of functionality, right, it helps with exfoliation, or taste or texture of a food that you're you're eating whatever the case may be. So that's one and there are many examples of products that have microplastics in them. The other is probably what you're thinking of, it's just a piece of plastic, any kind of plastic that has been disposed that in the environment, particularly in the in the aquatic environment, and particularly in oceans, but it can happen on land it can happen in rivers and lakes. Oceans are just more energetic and dynamic. That those pieces of plastic take take a plastic bottle, soda or Water, whatever it is, it just gets broken down over time. You know, just like water action, breaks down rocks into boulders and then eventually into pebbles and then eventually into sand. So it's the same natural phenomenon that's breaking apart these pieces of plastic. And now, they're really tiny. And they currently are everywhere. You can find them in the Arctic, North Pole, you can find them in the Antarctic, you can find them on the peaks of mountain tops throughout the world. You find them in rivers, lakes, and in particular, they're all over the ocean. They're everywhere. What is the problem with that? The problem is, well, first of all, there's still a lot of science to be done. But what is already known is, you're probably eating them, maybe even inhaling them as you speak. And, and listen, because, as I said, they're so prevalent around the world, they're in everything. So you could just do the the mental thought experiment, say, Well, how can a microplastic and an ocean end up in my body? Well, if a fish or some species, even if it's one that you don't eat, but something you do eat, eat it, right in the food chain, they might mistake the plastic for food, or it just might be attached to something they normally eat. Like say that's a turtle that wants to eat some plant like kelp, or I'm not sure if they eat kelp, but it's got microplastics attached to it, they're just going to ingest it inadvertently. Or they actually think it's food that's usually with bigger pieces of plastic. So inside the body, it's not going to break down, it's going to take 100 to 1000 years for it to break down in your body or other people's body. It is already known to cause reproductive issues in aquatic species. What is the birds and amphibians, lizards, frogs, snakes are also exposed to it, anything that's closer to a water environment is probably going to be ingesting it. And that has problems just for biodiversity overall, but if you eat any of those, or rely on them to do something else for you, then they're being impacted. The human impacts are unknown. Certainly not pleasant to think that you have undigested plastic in your in your gut. But odds are you do. In fact, I would almost guarantee it. But no one's done the science to say, how much microplastic Can I ingest over a lifetime? That's a safe amount. Right? So there's the studies that are done on all kinds of chemicals that are aquatic, or in our case, human.   Carley Hauck  47:57   And I also login another piece to this. And this is also, you know, kind of connecting to what can I do? Right? Yeah, to avoid microplastics. But based on hearing that we have, we all have plastic in our gut. But guess what else has plastic and it's got animals, right? Yeah, fish, because we're depositing so much of our plastic in the ocean, but it's also getting in the soil, it's getting in the water, it's getting in the air. And so Greg and I are both, you know, big plant based advocates, and you will actually have less plastic, if you're eating more fruits and vegetables, you know, a Whole Foods organic plant based diet, and that also will greatly mitigate the effects of climate change through less fossil fuels. And the more that we can actually eat vegetables versus things that are packaged, there will be less plastic, you know, we don't need I mean, it's great that we have beyond me, and we have all these really wonderful opportunities to get these products like just egg who happen, you know, just like Josh Tetrick happens to be a CEO that I have focused on in my book, Josh and I have had heart to hearts, he's like Harley, we wouldn't need to even create, you know, being placed or being sourced offering if people were just eating more beets and vegetables. So anyway, we can minimize our plastic consumption by eating more whole foods plant based and also just by choosing not to buy plastic as much as possible, even though we know it's everywhere.   Greg Koch  49:45   I remember one time being in I used to travel a lot, particularly International. And I remember I think it was in Japan. And in the airport. They were selling bananas in a plastic bag, a sealed plastic bag and I looked Get that and I thought the banana has a rapper, rapper that protects that banana in the forest in the jungle for transportation, everything, but for some reason someone thought, let me put it in a plastic bag before I sell it. It has a nature provided bananas, its own packaging. But it's great. You say that. So what can you do? Again, educate yourself write your representative. But I like to think of what I can do about microplastic as the three C's consume less clean. All right. And don't change as often. All right. It's a it's a weak alliteration. I get   Carley Hauck  50:44   that I love it. One more time.   Greg Koch  50:47   Yeah, no, it's consume, clean and change. break those down for you. Now, I think that's a really weak alliteration. But so the first one you already said it's, you know, buy less things that have plastic in them, or are made of plastic. Right? Particularly. Yeah, particularly single use. Totally plastic. Right. So here, well, you can't see it. You can but your listeners can't. is a plastic water bottle that I got at REI. Rei. Yeah, go Rei. So it's made of plastic. All right, but I'll have this I've had this for 10 years, I'll have it for another 20. Right. And that's better than a one way bottle of water that I just drank. And now I've got to get rid of it. Right. So fortunately, increasingly, you see a lot more consumer goods particularly,   Carley Hauck  51:46   and bring your own Tupperware to the restaurant. I went. So I currently live in San Diego right now. And I went to a place I tried to actually cook and eat the majority of my food from home, but sometimes I'm out and about, and I gotta eat dinner. So I stopped to get a salad. And I knew that I was not going to leave the whole salad. And I said, I don't want you to put it in a TO GO Box. Even though they had a compostable box. I brought my own Tupperware. And the woman behind the counter said, I love that you brought your own Tupperware, why aren't more people are doing that. And I was like, I know. But you just have to think about it and grab it. So bring your own plastic Tupperware. That's how you use it. And for those of you that have been listening, the podcast, you know that I had this experiment where I lived in Costa Rica for three months, and I tried to live as regeneratively as I possibly could. And I brought plastic everywhere. And I recycled even my little plastic baggies. Like I just I really did not want to bring more plastic into this country that does not want it or need it going back.   Greg Koch  53:00   Consumers don't buy things or plastic. Certainly, well, if you can avoid it. One way plus   Carley Hauck  53:08   another piece. This is a plug for the US airlines and international. They, in my opinion, are one of the biggest polluters of single use plastics, we do not need to be using plastics for everybody's water consumption. I've talked to the airline attendants, they hate giving out these plastic cups. So southwest, you know united, what are we doing? It's so easy, there is compostable plastic ware that we can be giving out to our patrons who are going to love the fact that you are being more environmentally responsible. For you, I don't know are the airlines any of Arabs clients? How do we get the airlines your clients?   Greg Koch  53:55   I don't believe any of the airline's our clients. I know we've done some work for some of the airline manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus, but I don't know. But wow, talk about a captive audience and a captive waste stream, right? No one's gonna take any of that waste with them when they leave the plane. So it's entirely up to the airline what to serve, and what to serve it in and what to do with the waste that's left. It's only them right? Because people aren't going to bring their own meal. Most people are water and they're not going to leave their way or take their waste with them.   Carley Hauck  54:30   So I do but I'm meticulous. Bring all my own food. I bring my water bottle and I just want to plug only 7% of what we think gets recycled actually is recycled. So the rest of it it's just going into a landfill and or the ocean.   Greg Koch  54:46   That's the worst part. All right back to what can you do we talked about last   Carley Hauck  54:53   and then we don't have a lot of time left Greg. So we'll have to move into PFA clothing.   Greg Koch  54:58   Let me just do clothing. Yeah, go for it because most clothing has plastic in it. Yeah, nylon, you know all these synthetic fibers. So try not to buy the latest fashions all the time and throw out your other stuff. And believe it or not, because most clothing has plastic in it, your dryer, if you heat dry your clothes, like you wash your dryer at home, it's generating lots of microplastics that will get out into the airborne environment through your dryer vent. So think about that. Particularly with the, you know, the trend to buy all new outfits for every season because it's cheap, and you can have a new outfit and whatnot. But let's move on to P FOSS.   Carley Hauck  55:43   And I'll just plug I know we're sharing a ton of information. But after this interview, I'm going to repeat the what can you do a summary for everybody before you so stay on till the very end of this interview because you're going to be reminded, okay, Greg, take it away. P FOSS.   Greg Koch  56:02   P FOSS?   Carley Hauck  56:03   What a fun name your pays   Greg Koch  56:05   are P Foss, I think it's most commonly referred to as P FOSS. And sorry, my dogs are excited if you hear them in the background. Yeah. Well, it's funny, those dogs have beef. Awesome. And so do you, Carly? So do I, it's everywhere. You know, I talked about microplastics being everywhere. This stuff is really everywhere. I'm everywhere. So what they are is they're they're per and polyfluorinated substances, abbreviated as P FOSS. It's a chemical and manmade chemical. It's a poly or fluoro polymer for anyone who wants to try to understand that. But in the shownotes there'll be some links that explain you most commonly experience P FOSS in Teflon, scotchguard GoreTex. Those are probably the three most trade names that most people are. So stain resistance, water resistance, stick resistance, right? There's more industrial applications and firefighting foams, but because of Scotch cards a brand name, but what I mean to say is stain resistant coatings, which are everywhere. Teflon, everyone's frying pan, and cookwares coated with something nonstick. And then GoreTex is every bit of outdoor equipment. Those things are major sources of peat moss, and so they're everywhere. And because they've been used so ubiquitously. It's in the entire global population. So there was a famous study that one of the manufacturers of P FOSS did, where they, you know, said we're gonna do a random sampling, you know, I don't know 10,000 People and sample their blood and see if there's any P Foss, they stopped after 100 people, because 100% of the 100 people that pee FOSS in them. They're like, it's everywhere. It is everywhere. It's considered a forever chemical, meaning it takes 1000s of years to break down in a natural environment that it's in you you'll never get rid of. There's no way to get P FOSS out of your body. We believe that it has thyroid cause thyroid problems, cancer, reproductive issues, and liver does liver damage, but a lot of the science and that's not just in people that's in other living species, aquatic and terrestrial. And the science is still out of we know if you consumed a bunch of this, it would be detrimental probably deadly. But the tiny concentrations that we all have and are exposed to from our clothes or carpet, whatever our rain jacket. What does that look like? What are the long term health impacts over a lifetime that being exposed? We don't know. But in an abundance of caution regulators around the world in Europe, even in the United States and the Biden administration pointed out put out some recent new rules to say we've we've got to start limiting how much new pee FOSS gets into the environment into the product supply. And we start we have to start cleaning up some of the hotter spots of pee FOSS   Carley Hauck  59:29   just to give a little bit more science. And this is all been found you know through the pf the P FOSS action act of 2021 which was designed to create a national drinking water standard for select P FOSS chemicals. And basically, the lawmakers shared that more than 320 military sites have P FOSS contamination and more than 200 million US residents could be drinking contaminated water now Want to cause cancer, reproductive and developmental issues and weakened immune systems? So there is, you know, this new legislature that it seems like it's being passed finally, through the EPA, because it's been stalled many times to remove three. And I believe there's 600, forever   Greg Koch  1:00:17   600 versions of these.   Carley Hauck  1:00:19   So why are we only reducing three,   Greg Koch  1:00:23   three, go start somewhere. But I can tell you, you know, linking it back to my personal life, you know, the consultancy I worked for, there are places where we go and sample for this, to see, you know, if it's there, we know it's going to be there. But at what concentration, it's incredibly hard thinking about you're trying to sample for something that might be present in the parts per billion or even trillion, but you the person doing the sampling and doing the lab test, have P FOSS in you, it's in all the lab equipment, it's in the sample container, it's in the air, even just sampling for and trying to test it in the lab is very difficult because of how ubiquitous it is. And to be honest, that the three issues red tide microplastics and, and P Foss, this is the one that that worries me the most, not just the three that they're acting on now, but all 600 of them, and they are forever chemicals.   Carley Hauck  1:01:18   And they're not just you know, local to the US. They're global, because they've gone out and all products all over the world. So what can we do? We can? Mice? Yeah, go ahead. Well, I was also gonna say, What are you cooking with y'all? You know, cooking with to get rid of that Teflon, you stainless steel or all clad is another   Greg Koch  1:01:45   something. But I think the number one thing you can do after you sort of scrub your you know, is just be cautious about new products that come out. That sounds too good to be true. I mean, think about it, you know, think about stain resistance, you know, I could spill blueberries on this dress shirt that I have on right now. But because of the stain resistant, it comes right off. So be a little more cautious when a new product comes out, say, oh, it's got all this new function well, is it using a forever chemical? Does it have microbeads or microplastic in it and, you know, get educated about what you're bringing into your home into your body. As you work to try to eliminate the original sources of this Be careful not to buy a new one. Because it's the latest greatest thing. And it does things we I you know, stain resistance, waterproofing, stick resistance, these things make our life easier. But I would trade the convenience that those things offer for, for better health any day of the week.   Carley Hauck  1:02:49   And make sure that you have really good filtered water, like some research on this reverse osmosis is the best to be able to really eliminate PFAs. You know, one of the things that I didn't share in this podcast, but it's also why I felt even more compelled to put more effort in my own life around water protection is when I was living in Costa Rica, Greg knows this. I unfortunately, got hit with parasites three times in three months. And this was due to I love Costa Rica. But if you're near the coast, they don't have great drinking water. And I have no idea what I was picking up. And it's not because I wasn't drinking filtered water, all my teachers, but I was I was eating local produce, because I was trying to stay away from having to cook everything and I didn't want to eat out. Yeah. And that local produce is being you know, grown and unhealthy water. And even though there's parasites and there's PFAs here in the States, I guess my body's like, I know that parasite. You're welcome here. But the parasites in subtropical climates in Costa Rica, my body was not happy. Took a little while to come back into healthy. So I believe that that was for me. And for me to then reach out to Greg and say, Hey, buddy, let's go we gotta talk more. Let's let's amplify our efforts to protect. This was wonderful. The other thing that I just wanted to leave as as resources is, Greg has written a fabulous book with his colleague will sarni I'm gonna leave a link in the show notes, which speaks to some of what we can do from a private and public sector. So even though Greg and I have been saying what can you do individually, this also comes down to what do we do in our business, right? Business has such an opportunity to be a force for good to really I change its operations so that it is aligned with the SDGs. And environmental responsibility and accountability for that matter. And then I'll just plug my own book, my own book shares another pathway, which is, how do we really cultivate that conscious motivation, as an individual to really lead, whether it's at work, whether it's in our communities, whether it's at home, and to see models of other people doing that, to know that, we have the opportunity, we have the responsibility to be the change, and there are going to be lots of resources for your education, for your activation that we will leave in the show notes, and I will come back, if you stay on just a few more minutes, I will summarize all the things that you can do. And, you know, maybe just pick one from each of these categories. And start small. And Greg, thank you, again, give our listeners with,   Greg Koch  1:06:05   I think, not plugging my book, but the underlying premise of the book is about wellbeing. And the book starts off with an obvious realization of more, right, you hear politician, we want more jobs, you know, you're a business person, say we need more profit, more revenue, more volume, right? It's always more more more more and more across business, across government, even in our own lives. People want a bigger house, a nicer car, newer clothes, more jewelry, more, more, more. And in part microplastics, and nutrients and P FOSS are linked to a consumer society. And so the premise is, you know, instead of focusing so much on more, why don't we apply all that energy into well being?   Carley Hauck  1:06:57   And less and simplicity. Yeah, I love it. Okay, thanks. This is so much fun. Yeah. It's so good to talk. Thank you again. Thank you. Thanks. All right. Keep keep rocking it, Greg,   Greg Koch  1:07:14   you to have fun and have fun this weekend. I will. So have fun. You too. Take care.   Carley Hauck  1:07:21   Bye. Well, I am humbled and inspired by that conversation. Greg, thank you so much for willing to noodle on this with me the past couple of weeks, as we, you know, co created what do we want to talk about? How is this going to be in service, for the flourishing of people and planning, and I'm just really delighted to have you in my life and this friendship that keeps deepening. For those of you that want to connect more with Greg, you know, he's doing some fabulous work with companies, and so is his consulting firm. So his LinkedIn handle is in the show notes. He also wrote a fabulous book. And I would encourage you to go there. As I prompted throughout the podcast, there were lots of action steps that Greg and I spoke about. And what I would encourage you to do is, you know, to pick one or two from each of these three sections, red tide, PFA, S and microplastics. So let me summarize a couple for you to really take some action on because we are all leaders, we all have the responsibility and the opportunity to lead and we have to take care of our home and that is planet Earth. If we do not take care of her, we will not flourish. our well being as you heard is being hugely negatively impacted. Because of our actions. We need to clean it up. We need to do better, we can do better. So I hope that these action steps inspire you. Share them with friends with colleagues with your kiddos, what can we do about red tide? Well, as we heard, the more we can mitigate warming of the planet, the better. So we try to abstain from fossil fuels. How do we do that? We don't drive as much you know, you don't have to go to the grocery store to go get that thing every day. Ride your bike more take mass transportation. And also, you know, be mindful of your heating and your cooling and just your energy consumption, limit or even eliminate home fertilizer use that even And, you know pertains to, if you're living in an HOA or you know a residential neighborhood are the landscapers using fertilizer like you have a voice This is what you pay for right? Figure out what are they using? Is there a way to have this be more regenerative pick up pet waste even on your lawn that actually makes a difference, as Greg mentioned, maintain your septic septic system. And really refrain from dumping any pollutants into sewers or storm drains or your laundry you know, so again, like there are so many environmentally friendly products for shampooing and laundry, to cleaning your pets to washing your hands that are biodegradable and healthy. Also see what you can do if you live near streams or water. How can you help clean up the water right so that there isn't trash or pollutants? It was kind of astonishing to me in 21 I was living outside of Asheville, North Carolina and the front prod wherever, which is one of the largest rivers throughout the Mississippi was quite polluted. And it just ran through town people would get really sick in the summer when they go swimming in it and I just think so Why are you swimming in an infected huge river? Why aren't we cleaning this up so we can enjoy it. And the same thing as you heard me talk about in Florida, which is please people that are living in Florida, please to help me get some new legislature so we have composting in Florida so that we have mandated solar on roofs that's going to help mitigate warming and red tide. Okay, I'll stop there. What about microplastics? What can we do about that? Well, it's intuitive, we use less plastics. Bring your own bag, there is no excuse for not having a cloth bag. Bring it when you travel. Bring your own water bottle when you travel when you go on the plane, refill it anything honestly that is transported in a plastic bottle that then has water in it that then you drink from at some point that plastic bottle is being transported in heat. When plastic gets hot. What happens? Well, chemicals from the plastic leach into the water which then you're drinking. So I don't believe that what is in your plastic bottle is cleaner than the tap water. So let's really try to bring our own bottle. There's a ton of incredible filters when you go to the airports now. And you just refill your bottle there. wash your clothes, less often. Air dry clothes, because that's going to mitigate microplastics you don't have to buy new clothes. I love going to consignment stores one that's going to lower fossil fuels because it takes less energy to have to create new clothing when you can actually just use great ones that are still in good shape that were probably way more expensive than what you can get for them now. And buy plastic free cosmetics if you're using cosmetics and don't microwave in plastic containers. We kind of already know that and then again, you can do you know litter cleanup. That's also going to help. What about PFS? PFS is harder because they're in everything. There's over 600 But filtered water is huge. And in doing my research reverse osmosis seems to be the best way to reduce them from your water. We also need to call our legislature or senators or Congress, you know, men, women people, why are we only limiting three when they're 600. And let's go a step further. I would love to encourage you to watch the movie dark water, which came out in 2019 Mark Ruffo and Anne Hathaway Oh yeah, some big stars are in this movie. And they basically exposed Dupont, there is a article in the shownotes where there is some evasion on actually paying the amount needed for all the people that got sick and the ongoing long term effects that they have caused not just the US the world, it's everywhere. And we also want to have less consumption of packaging because that is going to have one microplastics into it. PSAs so there are a lot of wonderful actions that you can get started on. But before we end, I wanted to leave you with a prompt. So let's just take a moment to just go inside, close the eyes. If you're driving, don't do that. And just feel your body. And when you think about this question, notice what arises, feelings sensations. And what do you feel inspired to do? What if you didn't have clean drinking water? What if you didn't have enough water to use for your every day? You know needs? There are a lot of people in the world that don't. How would that impact you?   And what might you do to ensure that you protect it the water for yourself, for your neighbors for your community for life for animals for future generations? How could you live more simply how could you bring your attention towards living in a way that is regenerating? Not over consuming, not destroying.   Water is becoming more scarce and quantity and quality. We can and should expect that there will be a reduction in precipitation due to changing climate. Drought, excessive withdrawals of groundwater from aquifers. Freshwater is diminishing. And we have a finite amount of water, which means we have to protect it. We are water protectors, you are a water protector.   I invite you to take 30 minutes out of your week to reflect on how you want to be a water protector in your life. If you enjoy this episode, please give it a five star rating and share it with friends, colleagues and community who will benefit. Additionally, if you know of someone or you yourself work in the airline industry

Editor's note: This is a preview of a longer episode. You can watch the full episode on our YouTube channel (both linked below) or listen to it by subscribing to Red Media on Patreon for as little as $2 a month.  Investigative journalist Alleen Brown (@AlleenBrown) reports on 50,000 pages of recently released TigerSwan documents, showing how the private security company tried to market its policing and surveillance of the Indigenous-led protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to other fossil fuel companies.   Alleen Brown co-write this investigative report with Naveena Sadasivam (@NaveenaSivam). Read the article, "After infiltrating Standing Rock, TigerSwan pitched its ‘counterinsurgency' playbook to other oil companies"  In the second half of the conversation, Nick and Alleen review the  "first narrative film about "On Sacred Ground" (2023), "the first narrative film on Standing Rock." Watch the video edition on The Red Nation Podcast YouTube channel. Support www.patreon.com/redmediapr

Jessica Reznicek received terrorism enhancement charges for property destruction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Her case is part of a growing police backlash against Water Protectors and environmentalists. Her conviction and sentencing show how abolition and climate justice movements converge.    Watch the video edition on The Red Nation Podcast YouTube channel Twitter: @FreeJessRez   Website: freejessicareznicek.com  Support www.patreon.com/redmediapr

Written by Carole Lindstrom and Illustrated by Michaela Goade. A story inspired by the Indigenous people and their movement to protect Earth's water from harm and corruption. When a black snake threatens to destroy the Native lands, one young wanted protector takes a stand to defend the most sacred resource, water. Available on Amazon.com or Barnes & Nobles. Check out our collection of educational books for kids ages 0-14. www.SlothDreamsBooks.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/slothslovetoread/message

What role did Warrior Women play in the Wounded Knee Occupation, and the American Indian Movement (AIM)? This February 2023, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the occupation, Laura speaks with two Indigenous women activists, a mother-daughter duo, who have been involved in the Red Power movement their entire lives. Madonna Thunder Hawk, Oohenumpa Lakota and Lakota Matriarch, Marcella (Marcy) Gilbert, Lakota/Dakota/Nakota, with Elizabeth Castle, co-director of the documentary Warrior Women, have co-organized the Warrior Women Project, an oral history archive that's the first of its kind. Hear how the project, and an interactive exhibit set to open this month, are finally putting a spotlight on Indigenous women at the frontlines of the movement.“What the Warrior Women Project is doing is keeping that empowerment moving forward, and offering it to others. It teaches our reality of who we are within the United States, so that we don't disappear, so that we don't melt into the melting pot.” - Marcy Gilbert, Lakota/Dakota/Nakota“The connections in the Red Power Movement days are the same today. It's all about land. Indigenous land struggles all over the planet, wherever colonization happened and is happening, has always been a land struggle. Whether it's in Northern Ireland, or here in our territory, the Dakota, Lakota territory, or Palestine, it's an Indigenous struggle, and it always starts with the land.” - Madonna Thunder Hawk, Oohenumpa Lakota and Lakota Matriarch Guests:Madonna Thunder Hawk (Oohenumpa Lakota), Lakota Matriarch; Co-Organizer, Warrior Women Project Marcella Gilbert (Lakota/Dakota/Nakota), Lifelong AIM Member; Co-Organizer, Warrior Women Project The Show is listener and viewer supported.  That's thanks to you!  Please donate and become a member.Full conversation & show notes are available at Patreon.com/theLFShow

Courtney Bowie, Managing Attorney for Earthjustice, shares the huge misconception and history-making moment around the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and why water rights, not race, lie at the bottom of many civil issues.Hear Courtney's full interview in Episode 412 of The Action Catalyst.Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Sunsama, the daily planner for busy professionals, organizing your work one day at a time, to feel calm and focused.Sunsama

The first FBI agent close to the Leonard Peltier case is calling for his freedom. Coleen Rowley recounts, in this wide-ranging and exclusive interview, her time as an agent in the Minneapolis field office. For nearly 50 years, the FBI has indoctrinated its agents on a specific version of events that led to Leonard Peltier's arrest, conviction, and imprisonment. The mentality then, Rowley argues, is little different than the mentality today. That's why she decided to break the silence and is calling on President Joe Biden to grant Leonard Peltier executive clemency.   Rowley gives us an insider's view of the FBI and how the dark and violent history of COINTELPRO, which targeted civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and social movements like the Black Panthers and AIM, didn't end in 1971. It morphed and evolved over the years and continued well into the U.S. war on terror. Despite attempts at reform and accountability, the FBI continues its ongoing persecution of political prisoners like Leonard Peltier and the unarmed Water Protectors at Standing Rock. This is a preview of a longer conversation. Watch the entirety through the video edition on The Red Nation Podcast YouTube channel or subscribe to Patreon for as little as $1 to listen to the audio. Find out more: whoisleonardpeltier.info  Support  www.patreon.com/redmediapr

130 years ago today, the US Navy aided the overthrow of the sovereign and independent Hawaiian government. On January 17, 1893, the USS Boston landed in Hawai'i to support a white Euro-American oligarchic overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani. Kānaka Maoli and their anti-imperialist allies continue to mark that day and and the resistance to the ongoing occupation of Hawaiian Islands.  During the first week of August 2022, eight members of The Red Nation went on a delegation to the island of O'ahu to share, connect, and build with Kānaka Maoli, O'ahu Water Protectors and other organizers on the island. Join comrades Uahikea, Jen, Kiley, Dana, and Maira as they share their perspectives and insights on this delegation. Watch the video edition on The Red Nation Podcast YouTube channel  Support www.patreon.com/redmediapr     

From Hawaii, Katie talks to three organizers who are protecting the water and future of Hawaii as well as organizing for its independence: Healani Sonoda-Pale, Dani Espiritu & Mikey Inouye. Healani Sonoda-Pale is a citizen leader of Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi a native initiative for self-determination and self-governance. She was born and raised on the island of O'ahu where her ancestors lived from time immemorial. For over 25 years Healani has served as an educator who has taught at Hawaiian immersion preschools and Hawai'i high schools and colleges for over 25 years. Currently, she is an outspoken advocate for the protection of Hawaiian lands, water, ocean resources and marine life, and iwi kūpuna. Healani sits on various community boards and is a member of the O'ahu Water Protectors, a group of leaders who are calling for the shut down of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Dani Espiritu is a Kanaka Maoli educator from Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu currently living in Waimalu, where her mother's ʻohana is from. She is a member of the Oʻahu Water Protectors and is also dedicated to the restoration of loʻi kalo (irrigated taro fields) and traditional food systems. Mikey Inouye is an independent filmmaker and community organizer with O'ahu Water Protectors and the Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid Collective. Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen - https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/liliuokalani/hawaii/hawaii.html#I Recommended reading: https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/from-a-native-daughter-colonialism-and-sovereignty-in-hawaii-revised-edition/ ***Please support The Katie Halper Show *** For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media and to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow Follow Katie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kthalps

Tune in to catch Winona LaDuke, Tara Houska & other Water Protectors and their legal counsel for a special rebroadcast of the Rally for Rivers Reunion! PLUS MN State Senator Mary Kunesh brings Friday Updates

Randell Sam is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. I met Randell while spending some time with the Water Protectors near Palisade, Minnesota. After a brief introduction in Ojibwe, Randell shared some of his history with alcohol and drug addiction. After years of using, he found the true meaning behind his Anishinabe name, which is, “I Am The Walking Light.” Randell plays an important role in the recovery movement in his community, fighting the opioid epidemic. Through living honestly and practicing truth, love, and humility, he's able to continue connecting and supporting others to stay sober. He's found his life's calling, sharing that he recovered loudly so addicts don't have to die quietly. 

In this episode, picture book maker Michaela Goade takes us behind the scenes of her author/illustrator debut, BERRY SONG, and talks about her experience winning the 2021 Caldecott Medal for WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS (written by Carole Lindstrom).This episode is sponsored by THE JOY OF READING, written by Terri Lesesne and Donalyn Miller.

Rail Union President OUSTED by pissed off workers and JFK Docs set to be revealed. Tina-Desiree Berg and Ron Placone discuss these topics along with ANOTHER Navy Oil spill in Hawaii, and more! They are also joined by Mike Inouye from O'ahu Water Protectors to talk about the recent spill revelations. Tina-Desiree Berg: @TinaDesireeBerg on Twitter | District 34 on Youtube Ron Placone: https://www.ronplacone.com | Ron Placone on Youtube | @RonPlacone on Twitter SUPPORT Status Coup's ON-THE-GROUND and investigative reporting on the stories the corporate media COVERS UP: https://www.StatusCoup.com/Join --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/statuscoup/support

Today is election day in Georgia's Senate runoff. Voters are headed to the polls to decide between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, in a race that could give Democrats an outright majority in the Senate.This Wednesday marks one year since the state of Hawai'i ordered the U.S. Navy to defuel its Red Hill fuel facility, after thousands of gallons of jet fuel contaminated the local water supply. Keoni DeFranco, an O'ahu-based community organizer, joins us to discuss the ongoing fight to shut down the facility for good.And in headlines: the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could undercut LGBTQ rights, authorities said a “targeted” attack on power substations over the weekend left thousands of people in North Carolina without electricity, and Michael Avenatti was sentenced to 14 years in prison for embezzlement.Show Notes:O'ahu Water Protectors – https://oahuwaterprotectors.org/Sierra Club of Hawai'i – Shut Down Red Hill – https://sierraclubhawaii.org/redhillHawaii Public Radio: Red Hill fuel storage facility contamination timeline – https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/navy-red-hill-fuel-timelineEvery Last Vote | Vote Save America – https://votesaveamerica.com/every-last-vote/Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

There's a world of curiosity just below street level, and this week, we're taking the plunge with a truly glam academic! Dr. Marsha K. Allen joins Jonathan to discuss fractured rock aquifers, sinkholes, and her groundbreaking work on water sustainability in Tobago.Dr. Marsha K. Allen is a geologist with a research background in Cosmochemistry (meteorites) and Hydrogeology. Her current research focuses on the fractured rock aquifer of one of her home islands, Tobago. She is currently new faculty at her alma mater Mount Holyoke College where she hopes to inspire students to pursue a STEM degree.Ready to start advocating for more sustainable water use? For global action, check out Waterkeeper Alliance. Black people and Indigenous peoples are disproportionately affected by contaminated waters. A uniquely national Native initiative, Honor the Earth's mission is to raise awareness and support for Native environmental issues. In North Dakota, get to know the Water Protectors of Standing Rock. Mari Copeny, age 15 and also known as Little Miss Flint, has been fighting the water crisis in Flint, MI for over five years. You can follow Marsha on Twitter @HydroGeoTrini, and if you have any burning questions sparked by this podcast, feel free to email her at hydrogreotrini@gmail.com! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

This week as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we want to challenge our listeners to acknowledge and honor the day as a National Day of Mourning for indigenous people. The truth of this holiday isn't that white people from Europe and the Wampanoag people in Plymouth, Massachusetts sat down to eat a nice meal together, celebrating a fall harvest. The true story of Thanksgiving is one of brutal genocide, theft of land, and the beginning of a relentless assault on native people and culture. This is a hard truth, but it is one we must acknowledge in order to reconcile our past and do better in the future. As we gather with family and friends, we encourage you to bring this conversation to bear. Today we're running a conversation from our archive featuring indigenous artist and educator Josué Rivas in conversation with Molly Kaplan, one of At Liberty's old hosts. Josué is a visual storyteller, educator, creative director, and self-described “Indigenous futurist.” He descended from the Mexica Otomi peoples. He aims to challenge the “mainstream narrative about Indigenous peoples,” and to “be a visual messenger for those in the shadows of our society.” His work has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, and National Geographic — to name a few publications. He is also the founder of the 2018 Standing Strong Project, a tribute to the Water Protectors at Standing Rock, North Dakota, and co-founder of Natives Photograph, a database for photo editors looking to hire indigenous photographers in North America.

Oʻahu Water Protectors and the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi reflect on the one year anniversary of the first reports of fuel detected in the military's water system; a newly formed non-profit hopes to establish a cat sanctuary on Oʻahu modeled after the one on Lanai; and First Lady Dawn discusses her experience over the last eight years.

In this episode, we interview Danielle Frank, a Hoopa Valley Tribal Member, activist, and youth coordinator with Save California Salmon. Danielle shares her story of growing up in Hoopa Valley along the banks of the Trinity River near its confluence with the Klamath River. We hear how speaking up for her beliefs, community, and way of life helped her find her voice and become an empowered youth leader and public speaker. At nineteen years of age, some of her accomplishments include leading Native Youth programs, creating informed Native American curriculum for schools, assisting with California State legislation, being a featured Vogue climate activist, and a speaker at the United Nations Climate Change Summit COP 27.DisclaimerThe views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Save California Salmon or any entities mentioned. All music is the property of the artist/s and may not be reproduced or shared without their consent.Get involvedSchool Curriculum: Advocacy and Water Protection in Native CaliforniaSave California Salmon DONATE- It is Native American Heritage Month and these funds go directly towards education events and travel funds for Northern California Native youth and Water Protectors, and Klamath Dam removal celebrations for our communities who have worked for 20 years to remove Klamath Dams.Protect ICWAStop the Delta Tunnel PetitionAdvocates for Indigenous California Language SurvivalVogue ArticleEpisode creditsProducer: Natalie KilmerProduction Support: Carrie Tully, Kasil Willie, Kendall Crakow, Regina ChichizolaPodcast Music by Tony Bald, Adam Inguiez, and Danny SnyderMusical break Clip: Maymi Preston-Donahue Photograph of Danielle Frank by Carlos Jaramillo; Styled by Marcus Correa. Reprinted from Vogue

We're joined by Mikey & Keoni from the O'ahu Water Protectors to discuss the recent history of Red Hill & the destruction of Hawaii's largest aquifer and primary source of fresh water for the residents of the island. How did we get to the point that the most important source for life, fresh water, is becoming less and less accessible? Further, how has this pushed people into activism and begun to change narratives in the community about the role of activism? We don't just dive into these questions but we also look at the recent successes caused by direct action, and the lessons learned from this process.   To support the O'ahu Water Protectors, visit: https://oahuwaterprotectors.org/ They can also be found on social media at @Oahuwaterprotectors Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid social medias: @SDRHMutualAid Venmo: @ShutDownRedHillMutualAid   Support this podcast through Patreon at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac  

At this moment, across the United States, in places like Baltimore, Maryland and Jackson, Mississippi, access to clean and safe water is becoming almost impossible. This water crisis in the United States is Worth Noting. Sources consulted:ABC News Network. (n.d.). ABC News. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/jackson-mississippi-residents-sue-officials-water-crisis/story?id=90157690Knutson, J. (2022, September 19). Jackson residents file class action lawsuit against city over water crisis. Axios. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.axios.com/2022/09/19/jackson-residents-lawsuit-water-crisisRayasam, R. (2022, September 25). In Jackson, the tap water is back, but the crisis remains. PBS. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/in-jackson-the-tap-water-is-back-but-the-crisis-remainsRozier, A. (2022, September 26). EPA: Feds prepared to take action on Jackson Water. Mississippi Today. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://mississippitoday.org/2022/09/26/epa-feds-prepared-to-take-action-on-jackson-water/Schwartz, J. B. (2016, October 28). Becoming 'water protectors' changed their lives. CNN. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/27/opinions/youth-against-dakota-pipeline-britto-schwartzSimmons, S., & Williams, A. (2022, September 27). DOJ letter outlines 'imminent and substantial endangerment to human health' from Jackson Water. WAPT. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.wapt.com/article/doj-report-on-jackson-mississippi-water/41392646A win for all water protectors. Center for Native American Youth. (2020, August 24). Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.cnay.org/a-win-for-all-water-protectors/

In this episode, Indigenous scholar and organizer Nick Estes explores how Indigenous land-based and Earth-centered societies are advancing regenerative solutions and campaigns to transform capitalism. An ancient “eco-nomics” today puts Indigenous leadership at the forefront of assuring a habitable planet. Featuring: Nick Estes, Ph.D. (Kul Wicasa/Lower Brule Sioux), is Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico and a member of the Oak Lake Writers Society, a group of Dakota, Nakota and Lakota writers. In 2014, he was a co-founder of The Red Nation in Albuquerque, NM, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Native people from capitalism and colonialism. He serves on its editorial collective and writes its bi-weekly newsletter. Nick Estes is also the author of: Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance. Resources Nick Estes – The Age of the Water Protector and Climate Chaos (video) | Bioneers 2022 Keynote Indigenous Pathways to a Regenerative Future (video) | Bioneers 2021 Panel The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth | The Red Nation Indigenous Resistance Against Carbon | Indigenous Environmental Network This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast For more info on Nick Estes and show notes, please visit our radio page.

  The Plagues of Egypt were devastating.  Today we discuss when the water turned to blood!

Tahila Mintz is an indigenous Yaqui/ Jewish media maker, ancestral scribe, educator and community organizer. She is a Photographer, Medicine Carrier and Founder/ Executive Director of OJI:SDA' Sustainable Indigenous Futures. She works across multiple platforms and organizations to amplify the voices of Indigenous people and the natural world.  Tahila's work focuses on ancestral matriarchies and gender equilibrium, contemporary Indigenous issues, and recuperating knowledge that has been unraveled by colonialism. She is a Water Protector and a Land Guardian whose home is in her Yaqui community of Sonora and in the Haudenosaunee territories of upstate New York. Visit Tahila Mintz at OjiSda.org, Tahila.net, and Instagram @TahilaSnap. Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac), herbalist, and yoga teacher in Ventura, CA. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Elements (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here.  Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

In this Dispatch, we talk to Mikey from O'ahu Water Protectors about the both ongoing and impending disaster at the Red Hill facility, where the US Navy's fuel continues to leak into the largest aquifer on the island of O'ahu.  We discuss the history of this fuel facility, and the activism taking place to shut it down! You can find Mikey on various social media platforms, including Twitter, @karaokecomputer.  You can find more information about O'ahu Water Protectors and the efforts to shut down Red Hill at oahuwaterprotectors.org. Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory 

Jaime Durand of Mystical Womxn's Magic Fest talks about her Journey and why she started this amazing festival. July 5-10 Mystical Womxn's Magic Fest is a participatory festival where you can refresh, rejuvenate, create deep connections, and bring your voice, talents, and wisdom to share. Our mission is to shift the culture from oppression to the upliftment of the oppressed and to support our connection to the sacred divinity that resides in all of us. JOIN US ON THE LAND... A sacred gathering place for women and girls. The Land features rolling woodlands, old growth oak trees, fields, campfire sites, outdoor showers, and open fields with an amazing night-sky view. At Magic Fest, we will share Music, Comedy, Spoken Word, Workshops, Ceremony & Magic, Nature Walks, and Dance Parties under the stars in this matriarchal, cooperative village that we create together. There will be a Womxn of Color Sanctuary and ASL interpreters. Teachers at include Queen Hollins Queen is a Sovereign being. She has been blessed to re-remember her purpose in this lifetime. Currently she is serving the globe as a community spiritual activist, lightworker, and Earth steward/ guardian/ midwife/ channel. She is a spiritual counselor/ activator and has a successful transformative practice at the Earth Lodge for individual sessions and group retreats. The philosophy at the Earth Lodge is to see each Human being as a sovereign entity that holds power and the inner technology to create in a way that we can all benefit individually and globally, to practice looking at one another in their wholeness and innate gifts…upon acquaintance. Omiyomi As a Singer/Songwriter/Musician Omiyomi has performed on stages all over the United States for many years. She worked as Musical Assistant to Rickey Byers for 5+ years and as Musical Director for the Sunday Evening Worship Service at Agape International Spiritual Center for over 10 yrs. Omiyomi is a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner, licensed by Agape International under the spiritual direction of her mentor Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith. She is also an initiated Ifa (Yoruba) Priest since 2012 (under the guidance of Ifalade Tashia Asanti and Ile Ori Ogbe Egun). Omiyomi is an Ordained Minister installed by the late Dr. Vickie Lee in 2009. She is an Ancestral Empath and healer by birth; witnessed by herself, family members, and in the transformed lives of clients, students and her audience all over the world. Chris Gacsi Ethnopercussionist-musicologist Chris Gacsi has been a music educator and Special Education teacher for more than 40 years, has studied Middle Eastern, Afro-Cuban/Caribbean, West & North African rhythm and folk traditions and cultures with numerous Masters, as well as Music Therapy practices. She teaches and performs instrumental music, World percussion, & therapeutic music practices locally (S. California), nationally, and internationally, provides rhythm, melodic (instrumental and vocal) for Middle Eastern and West African dance classes, performance ensembles, educational settings, produces concerts, community drum circles and events, and has lead many woman-focused World drum ensembles. She is also a Special Education teacher and uses many of these practices with her students in S. CA. Michelle Dunkirk Intuitive Spiritualist Musician Michelle Dunkirk has had psychic abilities ever since she was a small child. Although known primarily as a violinist and musician, Michelle has studied many kinds of healing modalities including Reiki; Massage; Stone and Crystal Healing; Sound Healing; Pranic Healing; Essential Oils and Herbs; Biofeedback; Breathe Work; Yoga…and more. She is also a Sundancer in the Anishinabe tradition, a Gardener, a Lightworker and Water Protector. There is so much ✨

Cody blue speaks with indigenous elders and Ariel Clark, the top psychedelic attorney in the world to discuss indigenous injustice and how to change the law around psychedelic medicines. (Time stamps below) Ariel Clark is an attorney, activist, and co-founder of Clark Howell LLP, a women-steered law firm focused on cannabis, hemp and psychedelics. After practicing law at California Indian Legal Services, she started her own firm in 2010, to be of service to the plants and communities she is in deep connection with. Ariel is General Legal Counsel to Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and member of Chacruna's Board of Directors. She has been involved in numerous drug policy, social equity and justice reform efforts in her life. Her organization affiliations have included the Psychedelic Bar Association, the LA Cannabis Task Force, and the California Native American Cannabis Association. She has been recognized by Rolling Stone as one of 18 “Women Shaping The Culture of Tomorrow” and Entrepreneur's “Top 100 Cannabis Leaders.” She is licensed in California; J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (2005); B.A. in Religious Studies, University of Michigan (2000). Gray Wolf is an Elder from the Yoeme, and a friend of the Awakened Underground. Alfred is an Elder from the Cherokee and Muskogee, and is a friend of the Awakened Underground.  0:07 - Disclaimer 1:52 - The Dakota Access Pipeline 3:25 - Cody shoots a music video to raise awareness for Standing Rock and is attacked by the military, alongside Water Protectors and protestors 11:26 - Gray Wolf talks about the military attack, being tear gassed and looking for a place to die 14:41 - "The United States is a land of the law" 16:10 - Medicines and Spiritual practices being outlawed by the government  16:58 - Peyote 19:06 - There's not one way to do anything 20:33 - Alfred talks about The Awakened Underground Podcast 21:37 - Cody has no ego 22:57 - The Prophecy of the Condor and The Eagle 24:42 - Intro: Ariel Clark; the top psychedelic attorney in the country  25:41 - Ariel's story and walking the Red Road 34:28 - Turning deeply toward ourselves  44:16 - Interconnectedness 49:55 - Healing in nature and catharsis  51:48 - Nature is the best medicine 53:44 - How to have a direct communication with Spirit 54:54 - Ariel connects with researchers at MAPS, works with 5-MEO, Psilocybin, and MDMA 57:00 - The Ceremonial Container 57:57 - Integration and Feeling into it 1:03:30 - Sitting with Ayahuasca 1:12:59 - De-Colonization and Bio-Piracy  1:19:29 - Ism's are prisons for us all 1:23:52 - Law Reform 1:31:09 - Indigenous Reciprocity and Active Engagement, Chacruna Institutes Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative of the Americas  1:43:52 - What happens in Oregon will inform what happens in other parts of the country  1:55:13 - Chacruna Institue  1:56:30 - Look up the North Star Pledge  1:58:47 - Remember who we truly are and love ourselves through it all  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we hear the first part of the recent webinar ‘USA vs. Jessica Reznicek: fighting the criminalization of Water Protectors'.  The webinar description reads: “Since the No-DAPL movement, dozens of states have passed critical infrastructure laws that increase criminal penalties for anyone taking action against destructive fossil fuel projects. In 2017, 80 Republicans and 4 …

Many Indigenous communities live on land that is being directly impacted by global warming. And as resistance to fossil fuel production has grown in recent years, Indigenous people have been at the center of the movements to reverse this trend. On this Earth Day weekend, The Takeaway is looking at how the 2016 Standing Rock protests and water protector movement created a blueprint for ongoing environmental activism. To learn more, we speak with Nick Estes, a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, incoming American Indian Studies department professor at the University of Minnesota, and founder of The Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization. He's also the author, "Our History Is the Future:Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance." 

Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced it would be closing the Red Hill fuel facility in Hawai'i amid a contamination crisis affecting thousands of people in Oahu.  The facility — which consists of 20 massive tanks — is located just 100 feet above the primary drinking aquifer in Oahu — and for years, petroleum has been found in Oahu's water supply.  Native Hawaiians have demanded the dismantling of the World War II era facility with months of protesting— including a demonstration outside the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in December.  To better understand the contamination crisis, The Takeaway spoke with an expert. Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer is a professor at the University of Hawaiʻi and a member of O'ahu Water Protectors and Kaohewai.