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Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Environment
In addition to championing women’s rights, the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a strong and sophisticated environmental legacy. Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus speaks with Jenni Doering about some of “RBG’s” key environmental votes and written opinions.
Mastering Fire with Fire
In California, Oregon and Washington, the 2020 fire season is one for the record books, with millions of acres burned and many thousands of people displaced. Fires are inevitable in much of the West due to the region’s ecology, but devasting megafires aren’t, according to Timothy Ingalsbee, founding director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE). He joins Jenni Doering to discuss how fire management can keep megafires from erupting and keep communities safe.
Women Hotshot Firefighters
“Hotshot” crews perform some of the most physically demanding and dangerous firefighting work, and have long been male-dominated. Freelance journalist Amanda Monthei captured the stories of some of the first women hotshots for Outside Magazine. She’s worked on a hotshot crew herself, and spoke with Bobby Bascomb about the generational link she found between her experience and theirs.
HBO's "Ice On Fire" Offers Climate Solutions
The Earth is warming and changing faster than many climate scientists had predicted, and at times the future looks impossibly grim. Yet practical and accessible solutions to climate change are already at hand. The HBO documentary “Ice on Fire”, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, focuses on these solutions and on the scientists who are tackling climate change. Director Leila Conners joined Host Steve Curwood to discuss the making of the documentary and who it aims to reach.
Container Farming in the City
Modern industrial agriculture is a resource-intensive endeavor, requiring massive amounts of land, water, and energy. Some urban farmers are thinking outside the box by bringing their farms inside the box in the form of shipping containers. Living on Earth's Jay Feinstein and Aynsley O'Neill took a trip to Corner Stalk Farms, in East Boston, Massachusetts to find out more.
Saving West Africa’s Last Rainforest
When an oil palm development in the poor West African country of Liberia threatened indigenous communities and moved to cut down the last major swath of tropical rainforest in the region, lawyer Alfred Brownell jumped into action. He and his colleagues were able to persuade the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to get the company to back off, but not without great personal risk. Attorney Brownell, who has been recognized with a 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize, explains why the remaining Liberian tropical rainforest is so important to protect, shares his story of a near assassination, and implores American consumers to consider their complicity in the devastation caused by oil palm developments.
Antarctic Volcano
Many scientists are concerned about the impact global warming is having on Antarctica, and now scientists from Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a new kind of threat lurking beneath the vulnerable West Antarctic ice sheet—an active volcano. (Photo: Doug Wiens)
Bayou Community Struggles with Sinkhole
A huge sinkhole in the tiny swamp community of Bayou Corne is giving residents unique and unpleasant challenges. It is now approximately 20 acres in size.
The Great Lakes and Climate Change
In the last 30 years the largest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area, Lake Superior, has warmed nearly six degrees Fahrenheight. The increased temperature is a boon to some fish but warmer water is also more suitable for some species.
Key Southern US Senate Races and the Climate
Climate and the environment are controversial subjects in several closely-watched Senate races in the Southern U.S. this fall. The South faces significant climate impacts, and a majority of citizens are concerned, but candidates are taking a low-key approach to the topic. InsideClimate News Reporter James Bruggers joins Bobby Bascomb to look at climate politics in four races in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
Megafire Hard Times
Wildfires have been raging throughout the US west since July, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, burning millions of acres, and cloaking the region in dangerous air pollution. Some of the people most affected by these simultaneous crises are those in the region dealing with poverty and housing insecurity. Living on Earth's Bobby Bascomb reports.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Environment
In addition to championing women’s rights, the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a strong and sophisticated environmental legacy. Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus speaks with Jenni Doering about some of “RBG’s” key environmental votes and written opinions.
This Week’s Show
September 25, 2020
listen / download
Key Southern US Senate Races and the Climate
listen / download
Climate and the environment are controversial subjects in several closely-watched Senate races in the Southern U.S. this fall. The South faces significant climate impacts, and a majority of citizens are concerned, but candidates are taking a low-key approach to the topic. InsideClimate News Reporter James Bruggers joins Bobby Bascomb to look at climate politics in four races in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
Beyond the Headlines
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On this week's trip beyond the headlines, Peter Dykstra and Jenni Doering take a look at nurdles, tiny pellets of plastic that are turning up on coasts around the world. Then, the pair travel to the South African town of Ermelo, where coal miners are trying to switch to solar farms. Finally, Peter and Jenni take a look back ten years to Osama bin Laden's statement on the perils of climate change.
A Win for Native American Sovereignty
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A recent Supreme Court ruling recognized Native Americans sovereignty over millions of acres of tribal lands in Oklahoma. Rebecca Nagle is a member of Cherokee Nation and host of the podcast “This Land”, which tracks the pair of cases that led to the Supreme Court ruling. She joins Jenni Doering to talk about what this ruling means after decades of ignored rights of Native American tribal members living in Oklahoma and the implications for Indian country as a whole.
BirdNote®: Eastern Whip-Poor-Will – Bird of the Night Side of the Woods
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It’s officially fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and for those of us in the Eastern half of the country it’s a fine time to listen for the evening call of whip-poor-wills as they get ready to breed. BirdNote®’s Michael Stein has more.
Megafire Hard Times
listen / download
Wildfires have been raging throughout the US west since July, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, burning millions of acres, and cloaking the region in dangerous air pollution. Some of the people most affected by these simultaneous crises are those in the region dealing with poverty and housing insecurity. Living on Earth's Bobby Bascomb reports.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Environment
listen / download
In addition to championing women’s rights, the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a strong and sophisticated environmental legacy. Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus speaks with Jenni Doering about some of “RBG’s” key environmental votes and written opinions.
Special Features
Extended Version: The Sirens of Mars
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The search for life elsewhere in the Universe is focused now on Mars, our closest planetary neighbor, with the Perseverance mission planned to launch sometime between the end of July and the middle of August. Astrobiologist Sarah Stewart Johnson is a Georgetown associate professor and NASA scientist who has spent her career searching for answers to these questions. Her book Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World captures the intersection between planetary science and her life's journey, and she joins Host Steve Curwood to explore the big questions that define space exploration and the human species’ fascination with Mars.
Blog Series: The Podcast from Living On Earth
Field Note: Crab-Eater Seals Take a Break
Living on Earth's Mark Seth Lender shares a brief reflection about the crab-eater seals he observed enjoying a well-deserved rest.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Extended Version: Jane Goodall on 60+ Years of Conservation and Research
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The iconic Jane Goodall has spent her life advocating for the conservation of the natural world. Sixty years ago on July 14th, 1960, Jane arrived in what is now Gombe National Park, Tanzania, to begin her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees. In this extended interview version, Jane Goodall joins Steve Curwood to discuss her career studying chimps, the work her organization is doing now, what we can learn about our relationship with the natural world from the current pandemic, and much more.
Blog Series: The Podcast from Living On Earth
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...Ultimately, if we are going prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we are going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them...
-- President Barack Obama, November 6, 2015 on why he declined to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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