Earth to Humans

As of September 10, 2023, there have been 9,614 civilian deaths reported in Ukraine since Russia’s latest invasion began on February 24, 2022. And in Gaza, the latest numbers of civilian casualties in just over a month are estimated to be over 13,000. These scenes of unfathomable death and destruction have displaced millions, breaking apart families and disjointing entire communities; ripples that will have lasting effects for years to come.

But there is also a quieter victim of these wars. The land, the water, the plants, animals and fungi that call those places home. I have been thinking a lot about how these conflicts are impacting the ecosystems within them and I wanted to talk to somebody about it.

And that’s how I found Oleksiy.   

As a Ukrainian scientist, Oleksiy knows better than most, how these wars shape and change not only people, but amphibians, insects and birds. I asked Oleksiy about his life and work before the war, the idyllic lands he once explored, and also life after, the bombing, the militarization of the world around him and an ongoing race to save invaluable data sets before they’re lost forever. He’s smart, he’s candid, and he has a lot to say.

Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group

There are lots of amazing stories about the early days of the Appalachian Trail, but none match the story of Grandma Gatewood. In 1955, Gatewood set out to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. She was 67 years old at the time. She began her hike in secret - she didn’t want her children to know what she was doing because she knew they’d try to stop her. But news of her trek traveled fast, and by the time she was a few months into her hike, she had become a national celebrity. When she finished her hike she appeared on the Tonight Show and had stories featured about her in magazines and newspapers across the country.

For many Americans at the time, hearing news stories about Grandma Gatewood was their first exposure to the Appalachian Trail. The trail had been completed in the 1930s, but had been in left unmaintained during World War II, and by the 1950s it was in danger of being lost to obscurity. Gatewood awakened the public consciousness to this unique footpath, ensuring that it would receive the recognition and protection that it deserved.

Gatewood hiked the entire Appalachian Trail not just once, but three times. She became a fixture of the long distance hiking community in the 1950s and 60s, and has long been considered a legend of the Appalachian Trail. But until Ben Montgomery’s book was published, very little was known about her life before her Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Her motivation to hike the trail was largely a mystery.

Montgomery’s research and conversations with family members revealed that Gatewood’s husband was an long-time abuser. Her ambition to hike over 2,000 miles along the Appalachian Trail was in part a reaction to decades of physical abuse and suffering. This added a layer to Gatewood’s story that hadn’t yet been told, and it brought her motivation into clearer focus.

Having moved to Scotland very recently, I’ve been really keen to get started on telling some stories from this amazing country. As some of you who are keen listeners to the podcast will already know, I love a good bit of folklore, especially when it relates to landscapes and relationships with nature. So, it’s only natural that my first episode from here was with Folklore Scotland.

It also just so happened to fall on Halloween and, seeing as the origins of the holiday are very much engrained in Gaelic and Celtic history, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to talk about all the sinister creatures that contribute to some of the absolute best folk stories that Scotland has to offer. Think vampires, water monsters, witches, evil fairies…these stories have it all. So if you wanted some spooky stories this Halloween, you’ve come to the right place.

Artwork by Jasmine Hortop

During the episode, we discuss Beira, Queen of winter and creator of Scotland’s hills and mountains in great detail - you can find out more about her and the other characters we discuss on the Folklore Scotland website. We also discuss the fearsome baobhan sith, who I made a special request for this week’s artwork to be centred on. Baobhan sith are said to be extremely attractive women who hate all creatures apart from deer, therefore they hate deer hunters the most. As the story goes, they’ll enchant deer hunters with their beauty before…I’m not going to ruin the episode for you so you’ll have to listen and find out!

We mention a Robert Burns classic poem which is all about witches, and is also very much a lesson in not catcalling! I’d never heard it before and as soon as I’d finished the episode I went to read it, and instantly wanted to share it as part of the show notes. It’s incredibly long, so if you want the full version you can check it out here, but here’s a wee excerpt as a taster…

Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin!

In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin!

In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!

Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!

Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,

And win the key-stane of the brig:

There at them thou thy tail may toss,

A running stream they dare na cross.

But ere the key-stane she could make,

The fient a tail she had to shake!

For Nannie far before the rest,

Hard upon noble Maggie prest,

And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;

But little wist she Maggie's mettle—

Ae spring brought aff her master hale

But left behind her ain grey tail:

The carlin claught her by the rump,

And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

         Now, wha this tale o' truth shall read,

Ilk man and mother's son, take heed,

Whene'er to drink you are inclin'd,

Or cutty-sarks run in your mind,

Think, ye may buy the joys o'er dear,

Remember Tam o' Shanter's mear.

If you love this episode as much as me and want MORE Scottish folktales, check out Folklore Scotland’s podcasts and website.

“Patient Zero”, Taylor Quimby’s podcast series about Lyme disease, takes a deep dive into the complexity surrounding this disease. He explores the origin of Lyme, and how some of the earliest Lyme patients took matters into their own hands, becoming citizen scientists and advocates for the health of their community. He also explores the controversy in the medical community surrounding Lyme’s long-term symptoms, and how bad actors are taking advantage of patients that have lost hope.

Central to this story, however, is how human behavior has facilitated the spread of Lyme disease. Climate change has increased the range of the ticks that carry the disease, and increased development has created new habitat for mice, another vector for Lyme.

There is hope on the horizon however - we discussed with Taylor some of the similarities between COVID and Lyme disease, and how the lessons that we’ve learned from COVID could lead to new breakthroughs in our fight against Lyme. Of course, no scientific breakthrough will change the most basic preventative measure that one can take to prevent a Lyme infection - wearing your socks over your pants!

-Matt Podolsky

Today I want to welcome you to a truly special episode of Earth to Humans. My guest today has journeyed across continents, climates and cultures to unravel some of the most complex intricacies of our natural world. David Quammen joins us today, a renowned science writer who’s works offer us a lens to view and better understand the depths and mysteries of our ecosystems. The breadth of his work is unparalleled and his writing is both fascinating and terrifying, funny and exhilarating, scientific and empathetic.

I’m in a bookclub of all lady biologist and we have read a number of his books together including The Song of the Dodo, Monster of God about man-eating predators, and his latest book The Heartbeat of the Wild. But my favorite book of his (so far anyway) is probably his 2012 book Spillover, about zoonotic infections and the next human pandemic.

From the far reaches of rainforests to the urban heartlands, David’s explorations beautifully bridge hard science with compelling storytelling and leave you more in awe of the world we inhabit. And I feel a little bit smarter after every book.   

David's Website

Hey guys, Sarinah here - if you’re anything like us and have been feeling the crippling weight of the current state of our planet on your shoulders, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Everywhere you look there seems to be a new environmental disaster. Flooding in Libya, deadly wildfires in Canada and Maui – the list just never seems to end. And this relentless drumbeat of environmental crises can feel so overwhelming. It's not just the headlines; it's the images of polar bears stranded on melting ice, the choked skies of megacities, and once-lush rainforests reduced to stumps and ash.

These emotions can be incredibly isolating, leaving us feeling like nothing is ever going to change or get better, making us just want to throw our hands in the air and give up. However, it's important to remember that these feelings are shared by countless others who, like us, are deeply concerned about our planet's future.

As people who care about the environment, it’s nearly impossible to tune out and look away, but today we wanted to talk about what that is actually doing to our mental health, and how we can better cope with our current climate reality.

In this episode we share personal anecdotes of how it affects us, find solace in shared experiences and together seek ways to better cope and make a positive impact amidst the chaos.

Link to work by Bernie Krause

So by now I’m sure many of you have seen videos of the muck, sludge and mire that befell this years Burning Man Festival which takes place every year in the middle of the black rock desert. From its humble beginnings in the late 1980s attracting about 300 people, Burning Man has exploded into a global event that just seems to keep growing and growing.

This year, in about 24 hours, the area experienced about 2-3 months worth of rainfall, resulting in a shelter-in-place order, the closure of the festival’s entrances and exits and stranding about 70,000 people in the clay-like mud of the Playa (aka the sunken dry lake bed where the festival takes place). When the weather began to clear, so too did its attendees, creating a seemingly never-ending exodus of muddy cars, trucks, vans, RVs and everything in between. I’ve never been to Burning Man myself but even before seeing the aftermath of this year’s rainy mess, data released over the years about its ever-growing carbon footprint has turned me off from it completely. In just one week of its ephemeral existence, Burning Man produces over 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide with 90% of that coming from attendees traveling to and from the festival.

The festival’s principles of radical self reliance and leave no trace seem to be at war with each other in the face of our new climate reality. How do you stop a culture of disposability and encouraging folks to carry in what they can carry out, while also encouraging them to prepare extensively in order to survive the increasingly inhospitable conditions on the Playa?

The amount of trash and belongings left behind this year compared to other years though, was shocking. Because so many bikes, vehicles and belongings got stuck in the wet, muddy clay from the rain and flooding, and with most of its attendees long gone by now, organizers are now faced with the daunting task of cleaning up. My friend Deonne John, who is a member of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and who’s husband Matt John, is a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, reservations that lie just south of the festival site, spoke to me to discuss her feelings about Burning Man, its both negative and positive impacts on her community and other environmental issues facing sacred land in that area like the Thatcher Pass Lithium Mine Project.

At the end of this years festival, many acts of altruism, sharing of resources and shelter for those attendees struggling in the heavy rains were reported. Perhaps the thing that kinda killed everyone’s vibe, brought everyone a little closer to those OG Burner principles. It’s also worth pointing out that climate activists delayed entry to the festival by blocking the two-lane road with a trailer, demanding Burning Man “Ban private jets, single-use plastics, unnecessary propane burning, and unlimited generator use per capita at the nine day event in Black Rock City, Nevada.” Law enforcement eventually broke up the protest, and the steady stream of burners were able to make it inside the makeshift city.

But however you see Burning Man, good or bad, it only comes around once a year for a week. But something like the proposed Thacker Pass Lithium Mine, remains a looming threat that will change that area of land and its water forever.

Protect Thacker Pass

Defend the Sacred!

When I first met today’s guest I was a fresh-faced Conservation Biology undergraduate student with hopes and dreams of doing my bit to save the planet. Britta Jaschinski seemed like some kind of rock star to me. She spoke of going undercover at wildlife markets with cameras stashed in her handbag, using her photography to break apart wildlife crime rings and had strong morals she obviously lived by. I wanted to be just like her!

Artwork by Jasmine Hortop

CRIME

I got the chance to spend more time working with Britta and her amazing photography after the charity I was working for at the time gave her a grant to cover a story on wildlife confiscation areas at airports, which was later entitled ‘CRIME’. The photographs she produced were genuinely spellbinding - artistic and powerful. I’d never seen anything like them before and I’ve been following her career since. I attended a talk at a photography festival where she made pretty much every single person in the room cry - her presence and storytelling abilities really are second to none.

Update from me:

Having been away from home for the past 8 months, I’m now back in the extremely rainy UK for the foreseeable future. It’s really strange seeing all of the ecosystems and species I’ve been campaigning for from afar after a long time as they seem like quasi celebrities that I’ve only ever seen in photographs, which is a very strange feeling.

For our listeners who aren’t in the UK and don’t follow the news, it was uncovered over the past couple of years that we don’t have any rivers that are currently in ‘good’ condition which, as a keen wild swimmer, is incredibly troubling. The fact that water companies are pumping sewage into our freshwater ecosystems, agricultural chemicals are leaching in with every spray and even more after rainfall, and, of course, soil erosion and a bunch of other horrible stuff too, has caused our rivers to become an environmental catastrophe. Adding to that, our government has just decided to reopen licensing for new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, essentially sh***ing all over its climate ‘promises’. Suffice it to say, I’m not happy. Neither is anyone in my community which, actually, is filling me with the (non-fossil) fuel I need to feel like I might be able to contribute my voice and energy towards the kind of collective power that actually gets stuff done. It’s amazing what having a community of like-minded, pro-active environmentalists can do for you when you’re in moments of despair.

There’s a lot of really bad things going on, but humanity can definitely replenish as well as diminish your hope for the future. I think it’s easy to forget that sometimes. So, my takeaway message from this week’s episode and my first week back in the UK is to surround yourself with people who give a damn and join forces to create positive change. There’s loads of examples of that happening around the world, and your story might be the next to join them.

This week’s hot topics that Matt and Hannah discussed on our Instagram Live Producer’s Chat included:

After our last episode with Elizabeth Kolbert, the news of the Controversial carbon removal technology just got $1.2 billion from the Biden administration seemed strangely timely. Hannah hadn’t even heard the words ‘carbon removal technology’ before she finally opened her mind to geo-engineering having listened to the last episode, and was surprised to see this article in the news so shortly after. She wasn’t surprised; however, to discover that the company running the carbon capture were a petroleum corporation. Could the world not have chosen a more trustworthy climate change hero?

Matt’s deep-dive into the Pleistocene extinction conundrum continued as new research was published, uncovering that Ancient Fires Drove Large Mammals Extinct, Study Suggests. AKA - it’s looking like the 6th mass extinction started in this area when humans set a bunch of fires that got out of control. Sounds strangely familiar?

Hannah ended us on a high, discussing the fantastic news that Ecuadorians vote to halt oil drilling in biodiverse Amazonian national park. A landmark law for climate and land justice, and a huge middle finger to the fossil fuel industry. Love to see it!

As always, thanks for listening, and if you have any comments or feedback on today’s episode or the podcast in general we’d love to hear from you! Send us a DM on our Instagram or Facebook.

Today’s episode features an interview with Pulitzer prize winning journalist and author, Elizabeth Kolbert. Elizabeth has been reporting on the climate crisis for several decades, and her book “The Sixth Extinction” brought her enormous critical acclaim. Her most recent book, “Under a White Sky”, explores the nature of the future, analyzing how humans have, and will continue to change the planet and its ecosystems in response to our rapidly changing climate. In the book, she explores controversial ideas such as carbon capture technologies and atmospheric geoengineering. 

My inspiration for reaching out to Elizabeth Kolbert for this interview came from fellow Wild Lens Collective filmmaker, Kristin Tieche. Kristin has been directing a feature documentary about bats and the threat of white-nose syndrome for almost five years now, and her inspiration for initiating the project came from an article that she read back in 2009 written by none other than Elizabeth Kolbert. Kolbert’s article about a mysterious die-off of bats in a cave in upstate New York eventually became a key component of her book, “The Sixth Extinction”, and it also raised a warning for bat populations across North America, which have continued to be decimated by the introduction of the fungal blight called white-nose syndrome.

So when Kristin explained this connection to me and suggested that we reach out to Elizabeth Kolbert for a podcast interview, I grabbed a copy of her latest book, “Under a White Sky”, and started reading. The book is exceptional and terrifying. It paints a picture of our future in which our human society will be forced to make some very difficult decisions, and in which the best case scenario still most likely involves geoengineering. On the one hand, it showcases some fascinating cases of human ingenuity, and on the other hand, it shows how our ingenuity can spiral out of control and cause unforeseen problems that have no easy solutions. 

As you’ll hear while you listen, Elizabeth does not shy away from the truth, even when it gets ugly, and her bluntness actually feels like a breath of fresh air. It was a true honor for both Kristin and myself to have this opportunity to speak with such an influential journalist and author.

-Matt Podolsky

Resources:

Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Yorker staff profile

Climate Change from A to Z - New Yorker article mentioned in the interview

More information about Elizabeth Kolbert’s most recent book, “Under a White Sky”

My guests today, Dr. Justine Karst, mycologist at the University of Alberta and Dr. Jason Hoeksema, professor of biology at the University of Mississippi, take us deep into the complex world of fungi, trees and the story we all might be getting wrong about their relationships. For a while now, there has been this narrative out there about trees communicating with each other through fungi. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s a cool concept. Trees using the vast network of underground mycelium to not only communicate, but share and transfer resources and warn each other of dangers like bark beetle and wildfire.

It paints a visual of individual trees connected in a vast, sprawling network of entangled intelligence, altruism and shared wisdom. Kind of gives you this warm and fuzzy feeling. This concept is largely known as the “wood wide web” and if you’d asked me about it a few months ago, I would’ve been eager to tell this tale myself. Look anywhere and you’ll see article after article after podcast after book after popular culture reference of its existence as settled science. But what if I told you that this theory is far from having any semblance of scientific concensus, and not only that, but the evidence we have for it, might be a simplification of what’s actually going on.

Let’s start with the basics. The narrative of the “wood wide web” hinges on the relationship between trees and fungi, specifically mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi can form mutualistic associations with trees, connecting with their roots and extending a network of mycelium (the main body of the fungus) throughout the soil. The tree provides the fungi with carbohydrates it produces through photosynthesis (because fungi cannot photosynthesize themselves), and in return, the fungi can assist the tree with nutrient and water uptake.

This mutualistic relationship has been well-documented and is largely agreed upon within the scientific community. But where Justine and Jason feel we need to pump the breaks and gather more evidence, is in the interconnectedness and level of sophistication in communication and resource sharing proposed by the "wood wide web" theory. For many researchers, the primary function of mycorrhizal networks is to provide resources to individual trees, not necessarily to create a cooperative network of trees in a forest.

“I wish I would’ve caught it a lot earlier. But the only reason I started paying attention is because the claims got so crazy, and so incredible and so extraordinary.”

Several studies supporting the "wood wide web" theory are based on experiments under controlled laboratory conditions, a limitation that may not accurately represent the more complex and competitive conditions in a natural forest ecosystem. Basically, there’s just so much that we have yet to understand about these forest and mycorrhizal systems that Justine and Jason believe require much more evidence and experimentation for some of these popular claims to be substantiated and reach scientific consensus.

Moreover, while this concept of the “wood wide web” paints a romantic picture of the forests around us, this narrative might actually be oversimplifying the complexity of soil ecology and presenting the public with limited information that lacks evidence. The reality is, it’s just one of many possible interpretations of the evidence. The truth of soil ecology and tree-fungi relationships is likely more complex and nuanced, influenced by a myriad of factors we are just beginning to comprehend. So let's continue to explore, question, and learn about the awe-inspiring world beneath our feet, embracing its complexity and continuing to dig deeper into its mysteries.  

Anyway, I learned so much from Justine and Jason on this episode, and I hope you do too!

-Sarinah

Resources:

https://karstlab.ualberta.ca/

https://olemiss.edu/hoeksemalab/jdh_papers.html

https://undark.org/2023/05/25/where-the-wood-wide-web-narrative-went-wrong/