Suzanne Simard
Mother Earth Podcast
In our conversation with Suzanne, she explains her groundbreaking findings and we hear about the controversy her findings have stirred up. We also discuss the , which is researching forest renewal practices that protect biodiversity, carbon storage and forest regeneration as the climate changes. Suzanne lets us in on her personal journey from a simple, rural upbringing in the British Columbia forests to world famous scientist and author. And she opens up about the challenges of being a woman taking on scientific orthodoxy in a male dominated field. Suzanne is professor of Forest Ecology...
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Madeleine Jubilee Saito
Mother Earth Podcast
This week’s episode of the features our first visual artist on the podcast, . Madeleine addresses the climate crisis through poetry comics, an artform that combines drawings with words. Madeleine’s poetry comics on the climate crisis take us out of the language of science and into the language of feelings and emotion. In our conversation, we discuss the role of feelings, emotion and human connectivity in solving this crisis. Madeleine’s art conveys a critical message: we are all inextricably linked; we cannot see ourselves separate from each other or from nature and we must...
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Dan Esty
Mother Earth Podcast
In the face of such grave climate threats, why has environmental policy failed us? Why has an issue that once enjoyed broad bipartisan support become a source of deep division? The 60s and 70s saw swift and effective legislation over pollution and clean air. So what has changed? In today’s episode of the , guest discusses the necessity to modernize environmental policy. He argues the 20th century policy has not failed us, but rather the policy and law of the 20th century served 20th century purposes. Now, “it’s time to refresh the game plan.” Dan Esty is the...
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Deeohn Ferris
Mother Earth Podcast
In this episode of the Mother Earth Podcast, we sit down with Deeohn for a conversation about the indispensable role of community-based environmental change. Deeohn and her team work in cities in China, India, Bangladesh and the United States, where they bring together key stakeholders--factory owners, workers, government leaders, NGOs, and folks at the grassroots level--to tackle the critical issues of making the transition to renewable energy, enhancing resiliency, reducing pollution, and making sure that equity is at the center of the process. Deeohn and her colleagues share international...
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Jeff Golden
Mother Earth Podcast
One year ago, catastrophic wildfires , including the rural towns of Talent and Phoenix. The fires destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, raced ahead of people trying to escape in their cars, and killed eleven people. Much of the devastation occurred in the district of state Senator Jeff Golden, Chair of the Oregon Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire Recovery. Senator Golden is a rare political animal: a progressive Democrat and environmental champion in a rural, conservative district and a thoughtful, respectful politician who refuses to vilify his opponents. In...
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Amanda Sturgeon
Mother Earth Podcast
In today’s episode of the Mother Earth Podcast, we sit down for an inspiring and hopeful conversation with world-leading sustainable architect and planner Amanda Sturgeon. Amanda is the founder of the biophilic design movement, which designs buildings and communities in alignment with nature. Her buildings have windows that open for fresh air and allow you to see the changing sunlight throughout the day. Biophilic design makes us happier, healthier, and more productive. Students learn better in biophilic buildings, hospital patients heal faster. The fresh air in biophilic buildings is a...
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Bren Smith
Mother Earth Podcast
When Hurricanes Irene and Sandy wiped out Bren Smith’s traditional oyster farm in the Long Island Sound two years in a row, he knew it was a wake-up call on the climate crisis. Starting yet again from scratch in a life of restarts, Bren began experimenting with ocean farming. Fast forward ten years: Bren is now recognized as the founder, leader and trailblazer of the regenerative ocean farming movement - a proven way of growing food that helps solve the climate crisis by sequestering carbon. Bren knows it works because he does it himself: he grows abundant quantities of shellfish and edible...
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Mike Calabrese of Lake Street Dive
Mother Earth Podcast
“As human beings, it’s not just survival of the fittest. We’re also social animals and we thrive when we share.” -Mike Calabrese It can be hard to remain hopeful when we're relentlessly inundated with bad news about the ever-present threat of the climate crisis. But music has the power to lift us up. And in a world where we're constantly being divided, music also has the power to bring us together. In today’s episode of the , we sit down with drummer Mike Calabrese for a conversation about how the hit band uses music to speak out on the climate crisis. Mike also opens up...
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Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
Mother Earth Podcast
This week on the Mother Earth Podcast we sit down with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha to get the back story on the Flint water crisis, her own remarkable life journey and how we can all stay safe from old lead pipes and not-so-old fixtures with lead that are still found in many cities and homes across the country. Dr. Mona is the author of on the Flint water crisis, a recipient of Time Magazine’s 100 Most influential People award, and has become a national activist and spokesperson on the toxic combination of lead pipes, environmental racism and the undermining of local democracy. Find out more...
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Michelle Wu
Mother Earth Podcast
Could Boston become the greenest city in the world? Leading Boston mayoral candidate and city council member Michelle Wu believes it can. Michelle may very well be America’s most important municipal climate leader. She joins us for an illuminating conversation in this special episode of the . In our conversation Michelle discusses her far-reaching vision of Boston as the world’s leading green city and her detailed plan that takes an integrated approach to the climate crisis with policies to address climate justice, housing, food, transportation, support of Boston’s small businesses, and...
info_outlineOne year ago, catastrophic wildfires devastated communities in southern Oregon, including the rural towns of Talent and Phoenix. The fires destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, raced ahead of people trying to escape in their cars, and killed eleven people. Much of the devastation occurred in the district of state Senator Jeff Golden, Chair of the Oregon Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire Recovery. Senator Golden is a rare political animal: a progressive Democrat and environmental champion in a rural, conservative district and a thoughtful, respectful politician who refuses to vilify his opponents.
In this episode of the Mother Earth Podcast we sit down with Senator Golden for an in-depth discussion on the politics of the climate crisis, the wildfires that literally hit close to home for him, and the important climate legislation in Oregon that serves as a national model for progress. We get an inside look at the immense challenges he and his colleagues have faced in enacting environmental legislation, including repeated Republican walkouts in 2019 and 2020 that deprived the legislature of a quorum and were used to block climate legislation, even as the state literally burned. Senator Golden joined us for two interviews that make up this episode: first in October 2020 just after the disastrous wildfires tore through his district, and again in August, 2021. The timing of these conversations turned out to be perfect. In the first conversation we hear about why a state cap and trade bill failed while in our recent conversation we learn of the success of a very different kind of climate bill in 2021 that is one of the most far-reaching climate bills on the electricity sector in the nation. We hear not only about the brutal devastation of the 2020 wildfires but also about the successful legislation Senator Golden sponsored in 2021 to reduce the dangers of future fires. We discuss Oregon’s status as one of the few states with no campaign finance limits in the first interview and, in the second, learn about a ballot measure in which the voters took control and authorized campaign finance reform.
Senator Golden’s experience in Oregon offers vitally important lessons for the national efforts to deal with the climate crisis. Despite the difficulty of working in politics in a time where extremism and misleading news are rampant, Senator Golden remains diligent in his commitment to protect the land and the people of his beloved state of Oregon And he offers us nuggets of wisdom from his lifetime as a journalist, logger, carpenter, activist and, now, political leader. Join us this week to hear an authentic, progressive voice of the rural American West.