For The WildAn anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift from human supremacy towards deep ecology.
An anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift from human supremacy towards deep ecology.
Dr. BAYO AKOMOLAFE on Slowing Down in Urgent Times /155
Our hearts and minds are set to work by the urgent eco-social crises of this time. We are invited by this week's guest, Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, to pause and abandon solutionism, step back from the project of progress, and ask: What does the Anthropocene teach us as a destabilizing agent that resists our taming? How can we show up in our movements of justice if "the ways we respond to crisis is part of the crisis"? What happens when we unfurl into a space of slowness and relinquish human mastery into a wider cosmic net of relations? Author, speaker, renegade academic, and proud father, Bayo is Director and Chief Curator for The Emergence Network and has authored two books: 'We Will Tell Our Own Story' and 'These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters To My Daughter on Humanity's Search For Home.' Music by Daniel Higgs. Visit our website for full episode descriptions, references, and action points:
Dr. BAYO AKOMOLAFE on Slowing Down in Urgent Times /155
KYLE WHYTE on the Colonial Genesis of Climate Change /154
The United States has more miles of pipeline than any other country in the world. Pipeline construction is one of the many ways in which the U.S. continues terraforming the land in support of ongoing settler colonialism. On this episode of For The Wild, we are joined by Kyle Whyte to discuss this very issue in connection to the vast extractive energy network that surrounds the Great Lakes area. Kyle Whyte is Professor and Timnick Chair in the Humanities in the departments of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. Music by Cary Morin and Bonnie "Prince" Billy Visit our Website for our full episode description, references, and action points.
KYLE WHYTE on the Colonial Genesis of Climate Change /154
Dr. RUPA MARYA on Decentralizing the Power of Healing /153
How can we understand our own ailments as a map of society's illness? A by-product of an inhuman, unbridled industrialized society where the pressures of productivity and the harm inflicted by violent institutions are causing a collective decline in health. On today's episode, we explore these topics with Dr. Rupa Marya. Rupa Marya, MD is Associate Professor of Medicine at UC San Francisco and Faculty Director of the Do No Harm Coalition, a collective of over 450 health workers committed to addressing structural issues that make health impossible for communities. Dr. Marya has been working to make visible the health issues at the nexus of racism and state violence through: her medical work; The Justice Study (national research investigating the health effects of police violence on Black, Brown and Indigenous communities); helping set up a free community clinic for the practice of decolonized medicine under Lakota leadership at Standing Rock (the Mni Wiconi Health Clinic and Farm); and international outreach with her band, Rupa and the April Fishes. She is currently working on a book with author Raj Patel looking at the health impacts of colonization and capitalism. Music by Rupa and the April Fishes
Dr. RUPA MARYA on Decentralizing the Power of Healing /153
MIKE PHILLIPS on Gray Wolves and the Vitality of Death /152
Not long ago, packs of gray wolves roamed freely across so-called North America from the grassy prairies of Florida to the snow-capped peaks of Colorado. Alongside a growing agricultural industry and settler expansion West, the U.S. government marshalled a perverse, ruthless campaign to systematically eradicate the gray wolf, driving this keystone species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s, the slow process of wolf recovery has begun, but the gray wolf remains endangered. On this week's episode, we speak with Mike Phillips, a conservationist and longtime ally of gray wolves who has served as the Executive Director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund and advisor to the Turner Biodiversity Divisions since he co-founded both with Ted Turner in 1997. During his employment with the Department of Interior Mike served as the leader of historic efforts to restore red wolves to the southeastern US and gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park. He also conducted important research on the impacts of oil and gas development on grizzly bears in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, predation costs for gray wolves in Alaska, black bear movements in northeastern North Carolina, and dingo ecology in Australia. In 2006, Mike was elected to the Montana legislature where he served as the representative for House District 66 in Bozeman until 2012 when he was elected to the Montana Senate. Ayana and Mike's conversation touches on the history of cattle ranching and grazing rights, trophic cascades, the violent lineages of conservation, and ecological restoration as an antidote to species loss. Music by Mac Demarco
MIKE PHILLIPS on Gray Wolves and the Vitality of Death /152
If we want a just and humane world, we must create one in which apparatuses of oppression are no longer considered reasonable. This week on For The Wild, we are joined by Mariame Kaba for an expansive conversation on Transformative Justice, community accountability, criminalization of survivors, and freedom on the horizon. Mariame addresses punishment as an issue of directionality while reminding us why it is vital to have the prison abolition movement in conversation with the movement for climate and environmental justice. When we engage with these issues and shape our actions out of a commitment to removing violence at its core, we are working to transform our world beyond recognition into something teeming with possibility, beauty, and life. Mariame Kaba is an organizer, educator and curator who is active in movements for racial, gender, and transformative justice. She is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. She has co-founded multiple organizations and projects over the years including We Charge Genocide, the Chicago Freedom School, the Chicago Taskforce on Violence against Girls and Young Women, Love and Protect and most recently Survived and Punished. As a Researcher in Residence at the Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW), Mariame Kaba works with Andrea J. Ritchie, fellow Researcher in Residence, on a new Social Justice Institute (SJI) initiative, Interrupting Criminalization: Research in Action. Mariame is on the advisory boards of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, Critical Resistance and the Chicago Community Bond Fund. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications including The Nation Magazine, The Guardian, The Washington Post, In These Times, Teen Vogue, The New Inquiry and more. She runs Prison Culture blog. Mariame's work has been recognized with several honors and awards. Music by Wyclef Jean, Jason Marsalis and Irvin Mayfield
Dr. SUZANNE PIERRE on Reshaping a Siloed Science /150
On this week's episode, we connect with Dr. Suzanne Pierre, soil scientist and purveyor of Critical Ecology. Dr. Pierre is a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley. She is trained as a global change ecologist and biogeochemist and researches the ways that climate change is altering the elemental exchanges between plants, soils and microorganisms in different habitats. She started writing about marginalized people's relationships to nature and science in 2013 when she began pursuing a Ph.D. in ecology at Cornell. She's now interested in the ways that human interactions with nature, mediated by science, labor, and freedom, have influenced local and global exchanges of the elements, energy, and social/economic power. This week's conversation oscillates between the importance of nitrogen, building the knowledge commons, the many new entry points that climate change necessitates, and the ways in which we can root ourselves in frameworks inspired by Earth. Music by Aisha Badru, Handmade Moments, and The Pit-Yak Aiodo
Dr. SUZANNE PIERRE on Reshaping a Siloed Science /150
InTheField, KASYYAHGEI on the Law of the Land /149
Kasyyahgei is a respected Tlingit knowledge keeper, a mother and grandmother, a spruce root basket weaver, and a fierce protector of her community and village of Hoonah. In the 1980s, Kasyyahgei brought a lawsuit against the National Forest Service for logging in Hoonah and, since then, has continued to stand with unwavering integrity and courageously speak truth to power. Through Kasyyahgei's spellbinding stories, we are transported to the salmon-filled waters and rich forested landscapes of her home in Hoonah. Meaning "protection from the North wind," the lands and waters of Hoonah have provided her people with sustenance for generations in an ever-turning cycle of reciprocity ruled by "the Law of the Land." Her haunting testimony spans stories from her childhood, the incredible mycelial worlds humming beneath the forest floor, and the land of talking trees. To stay up to date and informed about issues in the Tongass, please check out the following organizations and follow them on social media: Southeast Alaska Conservation Council; Sitka Conservation Society; Last Stands; Women's Earth & Climate Action Network; Audubon Alaska; Lynn Canal Conservation; Earthjustice For more resources, readings, and videos on the Tongass and issues raised in this episode, visit our updated webpage: Tongass Campaign / When Old Growth Ends. Beyond these points, we also recognize the need to courageously expand the existing envelope of action. We need a panoply of resistance from established tactics like public comments, advocacy and demonstrations, blockades and encampments, to even more creative gestures of resistance and daring acts of land defense. Music by Cary Morin, Theresa Andersson, Pura Fe, Kermit Ruffins, Lea Thomas
InTheField, KASYYAHGEI on the Law of the Land /149
InTheField: WANDA KASHUDOHA CULP on Rooted Lifeways of the Tongass /148
With arms outstretched in gratitude for those fighting on the ground to protect life and land, we humbly offer this first episode of In The Field, For The Wild's new place-based storytelling series and fierce prayer for a wild and free future. Join us this week as we travel to the Tongass Rainforest, the largest remaining intact temperate rainforest on earth and the traditional territory of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. The primordial heart of this place still beats to the rhythm of life, a kaleidoscopic turning of towering old growth trees, braided rivers, jumping salmon, eagle, bear, and glacier. In the wake of the Trump administration's renewed attack on the Tongass—a plan that would end Roadless Rule protections on 9.2 million acres of land—we are honored to amplify the call of those who are courageously rising to protect this great northern forest. This episode features the powerful Wanda Kashudoha Culp, an Indigenous Tlingit activist and advocate, born and raised in Juneau and Hoonah, Alaska. A professional paper-pusher and artist by trade, Wanda is also a hunter, fisherwoman, and gatherer of wild foods. She is the mother of three children, and is recognized as a storyteller, cultural interpreter, playwright, and co-producer of the film Walking in Two Worlds. Make space this week to tune into this deep, visceral listening experience, as we step into the moss-cloaked forest and meditate on the scars and stories held by this sacred ground. Guided by Wanda's indomitable warrioress spirit, we wind through the history of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Tlingit balance of Raven and Eagle, Indigenous food sovereignty, extractive tourism, and more. Wanda's testimony moves us beyond the story of old-growth logging as it has been told, unearthing the ugly truth of colonial extraction in Alaska and the powerful resistance seeded in its wake. May her impassioned words ignite an honest reckoning of all that has been lost, all that we are losing, and all that we have left to stand for. ♫ Music by Cary Morin, Lea Thomas, Rising Appalacia, Hana Shin, Carter Lou McElroy, and the Tlingit citizens of Hoonah, Alaska. Support Indigenous stewards of the Tongass working on the ground by making a direct donation to Wanda Culp for her 30+ years of activist work and ongoing community organizing in Hoonah, Washington D.C. and beyond. Make a donation through our PayPal link below -or use the button- & add a note that clearly identifies Wanda Culp as the recipient of your donation (such as, "For Wanda Culp"). All funds raised will go directly to Wanda Culp. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=4CQdJPu7R7AczvWIx39CG5do7JmMngwO8p9-_H0VZwuvEItvsHNjFDOGqAkByrFFBoMdim&country.x=US&locale.x=US
InTheField: WANDA KASHUDOHA CULP on Rooted Lifeways of the Tongass /148
Lyla June returns to For The Wild bearing poems that imbue the rigid language of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) with embodied story and prayer. Lyla reminds us that when we yearn to truly speak the language of life, love and healing, we must turn to poetry. Lyla and co-creator Joy De Vito's collection Lifting Hearts Off the Ground: Declaring Indigenous Rights in Poetry grounds the 46 articles of the UNDRIP in the lived experiences, languages and traditions of Indingeous peoples, as well as the perspectives and responsibilities of settlers on Turtle Island. Lyla shares how the UNDRIP "begins to Speak of the sacred. To achieve its goal, the numbed world must come into the format of the sweat lodge." In this rejuvenating interview, Lyla and Ayana embrace the natural laws that flow from land, language and culture. Lyla June was raised in Taos, New Mexico and is a descendent of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages. Her personal mission in life is to grow closer to Creator by learning how to love deeper. In 2012, she graduated with honors from Stanford University with a degree in Environmental Anthropology. She is a musician, public speaker and internationally recognized performance poet. Lyla June ultimately attributes any achievements to Creator who gave her the tools and resources she uses to serve humanity. She currently lives in Diné Tah, the Navajo ancestral homeland which spans what is now called New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. She spends her free time learning her engendered mother tongue, planting corn, beans and squash and spending time with elders who retain traditional spiritual and ecological knowledge. In honor of Truthsgiving, join us as we meditate upon the true spirit of giving. Lyla and Ayana unravel the great potential held within the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and well as some of its false assumptions, and propose Indigenous-led frameworks for sovereignty. We trace the lineages of pain first brought ashore by colonizers, and awaken to the emboldened Indigenous resistance to present-day attempts at erasure. At the core of this conversation, we listen in to the innate wisdom of the Earth and remember how we are meant to be gifts to the land. ♫ Music by Lyla June + ACTION POINTS + 100% of the proceeds from the beautiful poetry collection Lifting Hearts Off the Ground: Declaring Indigenous Rights in Poetry go directly towards uplifting initiatives in Indigenous communities. You can find and purchase a copy here: https://www.commonword.ca/ResourceView/2/19399 You can also sign up and make a donation to attend Lyla's webinar "Medicine Theory" happening on December 14th, 2019. Instructors will be teaching about being in solidarity with Indigenous communities, as well as practices in Indigenous hydrology and climate resilience. All proceeds will go towards the protection of natural springs and water resources at Indigenous sacred sites. You can sign up here: https://lylajune.wixsite.com/medicinetheory + REFERENCES & RECOMMENDATIONS + You can always find some of Lyla's spoken word poetry and music here: https://soundcloud.com/lylajune Learn more about Lyla June's work, poetry, and essays by visiting her website: http://www.sodizin.net/sodizin You can explore more of Lyla's multi-disciplined work by reading some of her recent articles: "Lyla June on the Forest as Farm" "Yes world, there were horses in Native culture before the settlers came" Read the complete United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
Reshaping the Landscape of Conservation Media at JACKSON WILD /146
Journey with us this week to Jackson Wild Summit, an annual convergence of filmmakers, conservationists, scientists and innovators exploring critical conservation and environmental issues. Within this rich overlap, we seek to ask meaningful questions that crack open the dominant paradigm of conservation. As media makers, how can we responsibly tell stories of people and place in service of greater reconnection and mobilization? Where are we failing to show up with integrity and address issues of access and power? And, perhaps most importantly, what is possible when space is held for brilliant, diverse voices to chart the path forward? Tune into this episode to hear Ayana's conversations with seven storytellers who are shifting the landscape of conservation from behind their cameras, bold media strategies, and work in the field. These honest and refreshing interviews touch on the topics of balancing global and local narratives, centering communities in the management of their own natural heritage, and breaking the creative boundaries of multi-platform storytelling. We hope these voices—from the salty mangrove forests of the Kenyan coast to the endangered vaquita still swimming through the Gulf of California—spark an ongoing dialogue about how to meaningfully be of service to life, land, and water. Voices featured in this interview include: Tiffany McNeil of Yellow Balloon Productions, Creative Director & Innovations Lead for CBS; Dr. Ayana Flewellen of The Society of Black Archaeologists and Diving With a Purpose; Meaghan Brosnan of WildAid's Marin Protection; Rodrigo Farias of Parley for the Oceans; Kaitlin Yarnall of National Geographic; and Faith Musembi, an award winning visual storyteller and filmmaker of Salt Water Survivors. ♫ Music by South London HiFi, Bad Snacks, Chris Haugen, Josh Lippi & The Overtimers
Reshaping the Landscape of Conservation Media at JACKSON WILD /146
