Earth to Humans

Happy (almost) New Year!

We wanted to take a look back on all of our favorite Earth to Humans episodes that we produced in 2024. From redefining wilderness to the deepest parts of the ocean, the stories we got to tell this year continue to inspire and motivate us, especially as we prepare to navigate a murky future filled with uncertainty and inevitable environmental hurdles.

Hannah, Matt and Sarinah shares their thoughts on the episodes that make this challenging work worthwhile, and a few of them might surprise you!

We know it can be hard, but its more vital than ever that we stay engaged, tuned-in and laser focused on our environmental goals into 2025. Here on the pod, we’ll be with you every step of the way and we can’t wait to share new stories that we’ll be cooking up ahead of our return in the Spring.

Cheers!

You know, it's amazing how despite this current age of information, we sometimes get lost in what’s actually true and struggle to wade through the constant barrage of misinformation. It sometimes feels like everyone's got a theory for something, whether it’s the results of the 2016 election, the source of COVID 19 or something more harmless like UFO’s and the existence of the Loch Ness Monster.

We see them everywhere online and, in the world, popping up in conversations with coworkers and overheard standing in line for coffee. So, it’s no wonder it can sometimes be hard to untangle this complex web of facts and falsities. My guest today has wrangled conspiracy theories head on with a level head and persuasive evidence. Mick West is a science communicator, author, and one of the leading voices in debunking misinformation. As the creator of Metabunk.org and author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole, Mick has dedicated his work to exploring how conspiracy theories take root, why they resonate, and how we can counter their influence with evidence-based reasoning.

From claims of secret geoengineering plots to the outright denial of climate science, conspiracy theories have a powerful ability to misinform, distract, and derail meaningful progress. In this conversation, we’ll uncover the real-world impacts of these narratives on climate science, public trust, and environmental policy—and discuss what we can do to move toward a more informed future.

https://www.metabunk.org

https://www.contrailscience.com

https://youtube.com/mickwest

We don’t have all the answers, but the Earth needs us now more than ever before.

I recorded this interview with Nathaniel Stinnett, the founder of the Environmental Voter Project, in the summer of 2016. While there are lots of differences between this election cycle and that of 2016, the ideas that Nathaniel shared remain relevant and important today. The Environmental Voter Project has dramatically expanded it’s capacity and scope since 2016, and now has an expansive reach, with ground operations in 19 states and more than 10 million potential voters contacted.

Earth to Humans has changed a lot since 2016 as well. When we released this episode, the podcast was still called “Eyes on Conservation” and I was the sole producer, churning out episodes almost every week. When I launched the podcast back in the fall of 2014, I imagined it as an outlet to share the audio from unused interviews originally recorded for various documentary projects, but it quickly evolved into something much more than that. I feel extremely fortunate to now have the opportunity to work with an amazing team of producers that bring a far more diverse and interesting slate of stories to the show than I would be capable of producing on my own. But when prompted to dig into the archives for this week’s episode, I realized that our show’s humble beginning took place almost exactly 10 years ago.

So cheers to ten years of podcasting at the Wild Lens Collective! I hope that you enjoy this foray into our archives as much as I did! Happy voting.

-Matt Podolsky

I discovered Lisa while reading a book not penned by her - Phosphorescence by Julia Baird. In the book, Julia is faced with a life threatening illness, and goes on a journey to cultivate ‘inner light’ which sees her, amongst many other things, meeting up with jellyfish and fluorescence expert Dr Gershwin. She tells a very brief summary of Dr Gershwin’s life - her incredible accolade of identifying over 200 species of jellyfish, her experience with homelessness, and her adulthood autism diagnosis.

I remember putting the book down for a moment and thinking what an incredible story Lisa seemed to have, so I looked her up online and discovered that this story was barely scratching the surface. I bought Lisa’s first book, Stung, and learned so much about jellyfish and their role within their ecosystem that I discovered a newfound appreciation for them, and an understanding about why someone would dedicate so much of their career researching them. I decided to reach out to her to see if she would be a guest on Earth to Humans and, to my delight, she said yes!

Cut to six month’s worth of emails later - she is based in Tasmania, Australia and I am based in Scotland, which made scheduling tricky - we finally found the time to chat. I could’ve spoken to Lisa forever. We explored her amazing journey from high school dropout to finishing her second phd, and how receiving an aspergers diagnosis made everything suddenly make sense for her.

Artwork by Jasmine Hortop

Lisa is a truly open book, and speaking to someone who is so honest about their experiences with neurodiversity, depression and finding their ‘ert’ left me feeling like the world would be a much better place if we all lived with such unapologetic authenticity. I have so much admiration for this amazing woman, I’m so excited to share this episode.

Watch a snippet of the episode of ‘You Can’t Ask That’, featuring Lisa.

In this episode, Lisa mentions the book she read that gave her insight into Aspergers and led to her getting a diagnosis. The book was by Dr Tony Attwood - check out his books here.

If you’re visiting Tasmania and want to book onto one of Lisa’s Glow Tours, you can find out more on her website.

Steve is bursting with enthusiasm for the Maine woods and the Appalachian Mountain Club’s efforts to protect this area. He grew up right along the border of Maine’s unincorporated territories, a vast stretch of uninhabited, but privately owned, forest land that covers nearly half the state. He always had a deep bond with this land, but was told while growing up that he’d have to leave if he wanted to earn a good living or follow his passion. That turned out not to be true, as an opportunity to work for the Appalachian Mountain Club arose that actually valued his preexisting connection to the region and to the area’s communities.

The Maine Woods Initiative is a unique and vast project. The Appalachian Mountain Club has bought over 114,000 acres of land in the region, but even though its privately owned, they are managing it based on a public land model. They’ve created numerous recreational opportunities, they’ve initiated sustainable logging operations working closely with local communities, and they’ve restored watersheds, re-establishing the only wild Atlantic Salmon run on the entire Eastern seaboard. It’s an example of land conservation and protection that values and includes human communities - Steve is working to protect not just ecosystems, but cultural lifeways and economic viability.

It was 2019 when I first began working on The Invisible Mammal with director Kristin Tieche. The past five years have been a whirlwind journey, but now we get to bring this story to life for the first time. The editing process on a documentary like The Invisible Mammal, which was shot over five years in a vérité style, is truly special. For the first time we get to see which story ideas work and which ones don’t. We establish a pacing and a tone for our film, and work hard to bring out the nuances of our character’s personalities.

In today’s bonus episode of Earth to Humans, Kristin and I discuss what it’s like to be at this stage of the filmmaking process, share updates on some upcoming events featuring sneak peak screenings of selected work-in-progress scenes, and discuss our plans for the future.

Learn more about The Invisible Mammal here: https://www.theinvisiblemammal.com/

Learn more and register for our October 1st screening event in central CA: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bat-movie-benefit-at-the-lark-theater-registration-998015740947?aff=oddtdtcreator

-Matt Podolsky

In this episode of The Earth to Humans Podcast, the Pod gets POLITICAL.

Specifically, the politics and dangers of Project 2025 and the looming chaos of another Trump administration.

We delve into the far-reaching impacts of another potential Trump presidency on the environment here in the U.S. and how shifting U.S. policies might influence countries around the world, with special insight on the United Kingdom.

The conversation extends to environmental and social justice policies, where we discuss the implications of diverging climate goals and the long term effects on already fractured international environmental collaborations. Fractures that could ripple across the globe for years to come.

We’re here to unpack it all.

After reading the synopsis for the film Kelp! I headed straight to their website - it featured so many things I’m passionate about that I had to watch it immediately! I hit the play button, sat back and enjoyed half an hour of pure hope and joy - something it can sometimes be a bit tricky to find within the environmental space.

I was aware of seaweed farming being a big deal in South East Asia, as I have seen vast coastal areas that are home to this form of agriculture, but I was surprised to learn that it was very much booming in the UK. The film goes into great detail about how amazing kelp is - it’s a habitat for numerous marine species, its potential to sequester carbon is unbelievable, it is a highly nutritious superfood, and it can be used as an alternative to plastic which is completely safe for humans and the planet.

Artwork by Jasmine Hortop

Not only was I in awe of kelp itself, but also the team who made this film. I’ve heard of the great lengths production teams have gone to to ensure their films do not create more environmental problems that they’re attempting to solve, but the extreme efforts of the Kelp! team became as much of an integral part of the story as the kelp itself. I’m not going to ruin the film by going into too much detail, but it’s definitely the only production I’ve ever been aware of being filmed entirely on a sailboat!

We somehow came up with the phrase ‘hungry for joy’ throughout the interview, and it’s something I regularly experience, with the greatest of appetites. If you’re looking for a big dose of hope and inspiration, I’d certainly recommend heading straight to the Kelp! website and getting exactly what you need! Scroll down to find the trailer, and a here’s a (free) link to the full film. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

By Hannah Mulvany

Anthony Cohen is a historian, author and expert on the Underground Railroad who has taken a truly unique approach towards researching and teaching history. His career was launched in 1996 when he traveled 1,200 miles by foot, boat and rail to retrace one of the routes of the Underground Railroad.

Since completing this remarkable journey, Anthony has developed his expertise in experiential history, establishing a living history center that teaches people about slavery and life on an 1850s plantation. His work has been featured in a number of documentaries, most recently the series, “Rooted Wisdom”, about nature’s role in the Underground Railroad.