“For some reason, particularly in Western philosophy, silence is diminished to this idea of lack, loss, or emptiness when really silence tells us so much more than the omission of something.” — AM Kanngieser In this episode, geographer, writer, and sound artist Dr. AM Kanngieser invites us to reconsider the diverse ways in which we register both sound and silence — pushing back against the idea that listening itself is a virtuous act with universality in experience. Through their own journey as a geographer and sound artist, Kanngieser sheds light on the colonial repercussions of extracting ..read more

“A lot of experts, policymakers and decision-makers talk about the ‘green economy’ and ‘sustainable development.’ In reality, what we are seeing is decarbonization by dispossession—shifting the responsibility through a geographical fix from North to South.” — Hamza Hamouchene Why is the North Africa and Middle East region so vital to center in discourses on climate justice? How does the current global energy transition reinforce colonial, extractivist power dynamics? And what is the meaning of “eco-normalization” in the context of the Arab world? Join us in this episode as Algerian researcher ..read more

“For fair trade certification to exist, there has to be someone in poverty. There has to be someone who is at a disadvantage to provide them with an opportunity to meet standards for certification largely set by folks on the consumer end who want to make ethical decisions in the marketplace. ” — Lindsay Naylor Who does “fair trade” as a certification program speaking to conscious consumers really serve? How might it fall short of what it promises—supporting farmers and producers from falling into the deepest pits of poverty while paradoxically also keeping them at a certain level? What does t ..read more

“What we’re talking about are plants that people desire for ornamental collection and will oftentimes go to great lengths to get them. Sometimes, that desire leads to conservation problems, and sadly… in the worst-case scenario, the extinction of an entire species.” — Jared Margulies Where does cacti and succulent life fit within the realm of illegal/illicit wildlife trade? What conversations might arise when we include them in a wider picture of political ecology and colonial histories? And how might the entanglement of desire, care, and conservation complicate trends of in-vogue succulent a ..read more

“I fell in love even more deeply with the seed world because it’s a world that looks like it’s dead but actually it is subversive. It is very insisting, quite resilient, and full of life.” — Vivien Sansour What can grief teach us about being truly alive? And how might seeds, and the compassionate acts of tending to them, be the “helpers and teachers” of mediating our collective grief? In this episode, we are honored to welcome Vivien Sansour, founder of the Palestinian Heirloom Seed Project—an initiative centered on caring for and preserving seeds as keepers of ancestral connection and models ..read more

“Human and grey whale relationships really interrupt the kinds of binaries that we often try to put on human relationships with whales more broadly.” — Anna Guasco What might the histories of human and gray whale relations show us in terms of how the stories we tell shape the texture of our relationships to our more-than-human kin? How can adopting a plurality of narratives and cultural perspectives in and around a particular species disrupt the kinds of binaries that so often underly academic research methods? And what might a more diverse, accessible, and context-specific approach to field ..read more

We welcome you into this behind-the-scenes conversation featuring Gabes Torres, a contributor and the advisor of our new 8-week program of daily imagination and creative prompts and practices, alchemize — now open for enrollment until January 12th, 2024. In this bonus episode, we explore the roles of imagination, escapism, dissociation, and discomfort in stretching our alternative possibilities. Enjoy! CHECK OUT ALCHEMIZE   ..read more

“One in four bites of our food is pollinated by honeybees, but at what cost in the system that we are in now? How could that look different if our agriculture was more localized, regionalized, and sustainable?” — Ang Roell In this episode, we warmly welcome Ang Roell—founder of They Keep Bees—to discuss their practice of working and learning with honeybees as models of resilience, care, and responsiveness. Ang’s work, which demystifies bees to decenter logics of power-over relations and consumer-driven work culture, frames a conversation around how we might learn from hive-lives in times of c ..read more

“As it is, space exploration is inherently colonial because we’ve ever only done it from a colonial perspective. Maybe we look at space exploration through the lens of how Indigenous peoples have explored the lands or waters we’re on—largely as a framework of being a guest. ” — Hilding Nielson In this episode, we welcome Dr. Hilding Neilson, who shares with us his knowledge of the night skies and expertise as an astronomer traced by his Mi’kmaw lineage. Trained in the Western-scientific sphere of astrophysics and shaped by Mi'kmaq methodologies, Dr. Neilson aims to disrupt the Euro-centric cl ..read more

“There is another way in which lichens resist commodification, which is that is that nobody yet knows, and I believe that this is still true to this date, how this symbiotic collaboration happens. ” — Laurie Palmer In this episode, we are joined by A. Laurie Palmer: a writer, artist, and author of the book The Lichen Museum. In paying attention to lichen, Laurie looks to these symbiotic organisms as a template for enriching human and multi-species relationality. How might lichen, and their refusal to be scientifically categorized, offer a model of living that nurtures slowness, adaptability ..read more