How empathy and spiritual ecology can heal humanity’s rift with nature
Release Date: 07/29/2025
Freeing ourselves from cars is simpler (and healthier) than we may think
Mongabay Newscast
Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon and Aaron Naparstek realized that no one was discussing the many cultural factors that have played a role in humanity’s car dependency, or the negative impacts this reliance on motor vehicles has on human health and the planet. So they started their own show to do exactly that, . Gordon joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss just how human society got here — and how we might get ourselves out of it — which is also the subject of a new book he co-authored with Goodyear and Naparstek, : . “We felt that nobody was really covering the car as this overwhelming...
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Indigenous and local communities regain millions of hectares of land via successful legal effort
Mongabay Newscast
Nonette Royo is a lawyer from the Philippines and executive director of , a group of “barefoot lawyers” working to secure land tenure for Indigenous, local and Afro-descendant communities across the world. To date, the organization has secured more than $150 million in funding and has made progress in securing land rights covering across 35 projects, an area larger than Greece. Royo joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss the organization’s success, its recognition as a for the 2025 Earthshot Prize, and why land rights are so crucial both for cultural survival and slowing the pace of...
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Madagascar conservation successes hinge on public education and health, famed primatologist says
Mongabay Newscast
Patricia Wright, a pioneering primatologist who established the research station in Madagascar, began her work there in 1986. As the person who first described the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) to Western science, her contributions led to the creation of Ranomafana National Park, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her conservation breakthroughs and the challenges the island faces during political instability and widespread poverty. Wright has participated in the making of numerous documentaries over the years, including Island of Lemurs:...
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Mongabay founder reflects on success, Jane Goodall, and more
Mongabay Newscast
Hello listeners. This week on the Mongabay Newscast, we ask that you take a few minutes to fill out a brief survey to let us know what you think of our audio reporting, which you can do . Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler was recently awarded the by the and named to the list alongside conservation greats such as David Attenborough. The credit for this success belongs to Mongabay, Butler says on this week’s podcast. “While my name is on the award, it's for Mongabay. All that Mongabay achieves is not necessarily me. I’m the figurehead,” Butler says of receiving the Henry Shaw...
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Australia’s inspiring ‘humpback comeback’ and why krill need protection
Mongabay Newscast
News of Australia’s “humpback comeback” is making waves globally. Numbers of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the nation’s east coast have rebounded to an estimated 50,000 from a historic low of just a few hundred before commercial whaling was outlawed in the 1970s. And wildlife scientist and whale expert Vanessa Pirotta joins the podcast to discuss this inspiring conservation achievement. Pirotta emphasizes this is a good news story that deserves to be celebrated, and that it could also bolster action for other whale species that are struggling, including the southern right...
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Understanding the psychology of environmental crime
Mongabay Newscast
Psychologist and true crime presenter joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss her latest read, examining some of the highest-profile environmental crimes and why they occur, in . She details the commonalities behind six major cases, and what can be learned from them, as described by six motivating factors: ease, impunity, greed, rationalization, conformity, and desperation. "As a psychologist, I was like, ‘What if we create a psychological profile of the various people involved with these various big crimes?’ And so that's how I came to the Six Pillars because I was using a model from...
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Innovative initiatives for nature recognized with World Future Policy Awards
Mongabay Newscast
Policies enacted by seven nations and one international agreement have been by the World Future Council for “top policy solutions for [humans], nature and generations to come.” On this edition of Mongabay’s podcast, the council’s CEO, Neshan Gunasekera, shares key highlights of the eight World Future Policy Award laureates. Under the theme of “Living in Harmony with Nature and Future Generations,” the winners for 2025 “bring to light the future orientation of the way we take decisions at [a] time that there are multiple crises facing ourselves as a species, but also the...
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Bird-watching’s wide appeal and social justice impact
Mongabay Newscast
Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. NGO joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for underserved communities in urban areas, and provides an accessible way for people to connect with nature and drives impactful change. “Birding is an opportunity [for] people to fill in data gaps where they live [to] help direct investments that come from the world of conservation … from federal to state to local levels that have usually been funneled away from their communities,” she says on this episode. Newsome says that...
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Storytelling with wildlife photography drives global impact and healing
Mongabay Newscast
On this episode of Mongabay’s weekly podcast, we look at nature through the lens of wildlife photographer and senior marketing associate at Mongabay, Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo, the multilingual staffer charged with sharing the team’s reporting and mission with the world. Prescott-Cornejo details how his work with Mongabay intersects with his passion for , what makes a good photo, and how anyone can connect with nature by getting to know their own “local patch.” “There are so many beautiful things, whether big or small, that can be very, very close to you — and you don't need to go...
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Stewarding nature & Indigenous culture with shared knowledge & radio
Mongabay Newscast
Aimee Roberson, executive director of , joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how her organization helps Indigenous communities maintain their traditions, languages and knowledge while living among increasingly Westernized societies. As a biologist and geologist with Indigenous heritage, Roberson is uniquely suited to lead the organization in bridging these worlds, including via “,” which blends traditional ecological knowledge and Western science to increase humanity’s ways of knowing, toward a view of people as active participants in shaping the natural world. Cultural Survival also...
info_outlineThe Nature Of is a new podcast series from the nonprofit nature and culture magazine Atmos that speaks with prominent figures in conservation and culture about how humans relate to the natural world, and how they might heal and strengthen that relationship.
On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, its host and Atmos editor-in-chief Willow Defebaugh details the series’ resulting revelations and why her publication covers the environment through the lens of community, identity, arts and culture.
“From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to invite creative storytellers and artists into this conversation alongside scientists and journalists,” she explains.
Storytelling and the arts, she says, house rarely tapped potential for helping people place themselves in the context of nature: “I think that what we need is to be changing people's hearts, not just minds.”
Defebaugh also highlights how little individual action is actually needed to inspire greater collective action among the public, a fact that Harvard researchers revealed: only 3.5% of the public needs to be engaged in non-violent resistance for a movement to succeed.
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Please send questions, feedback or comments to podcast[at]mongabay[dot]com.
Image Credit: Willow Defebaugh, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Atmos. Image courtesy of Camila Falquez/Atmos.
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Timecodes
(00:00) The nature of relationships
(11:24) Why science and empathy go together
(16:23) On ‘spiritual ecology’
(20:43) Meditations on how humans see nature
(23:41) Willow’s inspiration
(26:10) Identity, community & nature
(28:43) Art & culture
(31:10) Biomimicry
(36:38) Collective vs individual action
(43:14) Speaking of solutions