Bill McKibben on climate action, grief and 'radical joy' after COP26 climate summit
Release Date: 11/23/2021
The high costs of resource-based conflicts for people & planet
Mongabay Newscast
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, journalist joins co-host Rachel Donald to discuss the ways many international conflicts are based on resource scarcity. Notable as an unembedded reporter during the US-led Iraq invasion, Jamail expands on the human and ecological to these conflicts, the purported reasons behind them, how those justifications are covered in the media, and the continued stress these conflicts put on society. "There was a saying a ways back by Lester Brown [who] said 'land is the new gold and water is the new oil.' And I think that that...
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How young activists navigate a hostile climate with honest conversations
Mongabay Newscast
On today's episode, climate activist and founder of the non-profit , Clover Hogan, details list of challenges activists face both from outside and within their movements. Not only do environmental activists face growing legal and physical threats across the globe, they are also vulnerable to burnout, exhaustion, and ridicule as they navigate a host of other social challenges while doing this work that is poorly compensated. Hogan speaks with co-host Mike DiGirolamo about these challenges and the way forward for more inclusive movements while navigating the noise: ...
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Jane Goodall on turning 90 and building empathy for nature
Mongabay Newscast
On today's episode of the Newscast, world-renowned primatologist and conservation advocate Dr. Jane Goodall sits down with Mongabay founder and editor-in-chief, Rhett Butler. Goodall is celebrating her 90th birthday this week and reflects upon her long (and continuing) career, sharing reflections, lessons, stories and inspirations that guide her philosophy toward protecting the natural world. Widely recognized for her pioneering work on animal behavior, she explains the importance of having empathy for animals and why it is crucial for meeting conservation goals now and into the...
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Forest elephants, the endangered "gardeners" of the Congo Rainforest
Mongabay Newscast
African forest elephants play a crucial role in shaping the Congo rainforest ecosystem, two experts explain on this episode. As seed dispersers and maintainers of forest corridors and clearings, they are sometimes referred to as "gardeners of the forest." Their small and highly threatened population needs additional study and conservation prioritization, since the loss of this species would fundamentally change the shape and structure of the world's second-largest rainforest. Guest Fiona "Boo" Maisels is a conservation scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society,...
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Show us the money: Are giant pledges by major conservation funders effective?
Mongabay Newscast
Billionaires, foundations, and philanthropists often make massive, headline-grabbing pledges for biodiversity conservation or climate change mitigation, but how effective are these donations? How do these huge sums get used, and how do we know? These questions are among the considerations that conservationists and environmental reporters should keep in mind, two guest experts on this episode say. On this edition of the Mongabay Newscast, Holly Jonas, global coordinator of the ICCA Consortium, and Michael Kavate, staff writer at Inside Philanthropy, break down some of the...
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Cultural survival through reclaiming language and land, with author Jay Griffiths
Mongabay Newscast
Today’s guest is , award-winning author of several books, including the acclaimed Wild: An Elemental Journey. She speaks with co-host Rachel Donald about the importance of language for preserving communities and their cultures, the impact of colonization and globalization on Indigenous communities, and the innate human connection with the natural world in the land of one's birth. Roughly 4,000 of the world’s 6,700 languages are spoken by Indigenous communities, but multiple factors (such as the decimation of human rights) continue to threaten their existence...
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Restoring an Irish rainforest by simply leaving nature alone
Mongabay Newscast
Eoghan Daltun has spent the past 14 years restoring 75 acres of farmland in southwest Ireland to native forest, a wildly successful and inspirational effort that has welcomed back long-absent flora and fauna, which he details in his book, . On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, host Rachel Donald speaks with Daltun about how easily he achieved this feat, its seemingly miraculous results, and the historical context behind the near-total ecological annihilation of Ireland, a country that today has only 11% forest cover. Daltun provides an honest but hopeful perspective on...
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Exploring a jewel of the Coral Triangle
Mongabay Newscast
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, host Mike DiGirolamo takes you on a journey through the most biodiverse marine region in the world, Raja Ampat. He speaks with three guests about how ecotourism has provided stable incomes through conservation, including documentary filmmaker Wahyu Mul, veteran birding guide Benny Mambrasar and resort owner Max Ammer, whose biological research center trains and employs local people in a variety of skills. Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple...
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Is media objectivity possible during our environmental crisis?
Mongabay Newscast
Objectivity is a pillar of journalism, but its definition and application are loosely defined and humanly impossible to achieve, experts say. Podcast guest Emily Atkin argues that an uncritical adherence to objectivity (over trust) has led to gaslighting readers about the real-world causes and urgency of the climate crisis. She quit her day job to launch the acclaimed newsletter “,” which was spurred by a desire to report on the human causes of climate change and ecological destruction more directly. She discusses why with host Rachel Donald on this episode. Subscribe...
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The many social and ecological benefits of a 'degrowth' world
Mongabay Newscast
Can 'degrowth' solve our economic, social, and ecological problems? Economist Timothée Parrique thinks so. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, he joins co-host Rachel Donald to interrogate this 20+ year-old concept that critiques the notion of limitless growth in a finite world, and which offers tangible gains for people and planet. The current economic model stretches the ecological limits of the planet – the . Parrique says degrowth is a pathway for rich countries to scale back production and consumption – much of which contributes nothing to human well-being,...
info_outlineStill there was some progress so we discuss those here plus proactive ways we can all stay engaged with this debate over the planet's future atmosphere, with two guests.
Bill McKibben is a noted activist, author, and founder of 350.org as well as the newly created Third Act initiative, and shares his response to the failures of COP26, why he was inspired by the activism he saw at the COP, and how he sees climate activism evolving to counter the outsized influence of the industries that rely on burning fossil fuels and clearing the world’s forests for profit.
And Trebbe Johnson, author of Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty In Earth’s Broken Places and founder of an organization with the same name, Radical Joy for Hard Times, tells us about ecological grief, how it can affect people concerned about the future of our planet, and how to deal with that grief and stay committed to working towards a better future for all life on Earth.
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Further reading:
• ”Hope old and new: COP26 focused on two largely unsung climate solutions”
• “‘Standing with your feet in the water’: COP26 struggles to succeed”
• ”Do forest declarations work? How do the Glasgow and New York declarations compare?”
• ”COP26 Glasgow Declaration: Salvation or threat to Earth’s forests?”
• ”$1.7 billion pledged in support of Indigenous and local communities’ land tenure”
Episode artwork via Twitter.
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