EcoJustice Radio

For bonus content and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

This is an encore presentation of an interview we did in 2021 with Spoken Word Artists Awa Ndiaye and Matt Sedillo, one of our most popular shows of last year.

Spoken-word poetry can be a powerful art form of personal testimony, of protest, of activating on social and environmental concerns.

On this show, we look into poetry artivism, the mixing of art and activism, where words can become catalysts intended to change the way people envision their world and act within it.

Awa Ndiaye [https://www.humanitei.art/about] is a spoken word poet whose work explores various themes including identity, social justice, and climate change. With an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford, she combines her formal education with her art to explore and amplify perspectives often silenced in the mainstream conversation on climate.

Matt Sedillo [https://www.mattsedillo.com/] has been described as the "best political poet in America" as well as "the poet laureate of the struggle" by academics, poets, and journalists alike. He has appeared on CSPAN and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He has spoken at Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, at numerous conferences and forums such as the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, and at over a hundred universities and colleges, including the University of Cambridge, among many others.

To buy Matt Sedillo's latest book, 'City on the Second Floor': https://www.amazon.com/City-Second-Floor-Matt-Sedillo/dp/1953447899

Their spoken word demands a rethinking of popular narratives on environment and climate, mainstream narratives that often minimize or erase the experiences of the very people at the forefront of the climate crisis.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge

Engineer: Blake Lampkin

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Music: Javier Kadry

Episode 105

Image: Matt Sedillo-Awa Ndiaye

Indigenous Cultural Monitoring is an important step in acknowledging Native peoples' historic and spiritual relationship to stewardship of public and private lands. An Indigenous Cultural Monitor is someone from local Tribal Nations trained in archeological methods, Indigenous Protocols, and traditional teachings who monitors archeological assessments conducted within affected lands. Those assessments include potential environmental impacts and artifacts uncovered during the work.

In the last few years, momentum has been increasing around the Land Back movement, an Indigenous-led initiative to return both public and private lands to Native peoples that claim them historically, spiritually and culturally. It is a movement for restitution and restoration of Indigenous rights, decision making power, sovereignty and self-determination with regard to land.

We acknowledge that the lands here were first “stolen” and continue to be sold to the highest bidder. How might we change the existing system? How to approach the lands in a good way, a better way?

On this week’s show, Joe Calderon shares his insights on Indigenous protocols, archaeological analysis, and properly approaching the land. He is a Cultural Monitor representing the Chumash, Tongva, and Chicano Peoples. He works to protect his Ancestors, Sacred Sites, Artifacts and Cultural Resources, as well as doing his best to care for the environment, water, and lands. He is also a singer, instrument maker, and composer of songs and enjoys sharing traditional teachings with others.

His monitoring company, Sacred Grounds, can be reached at [email protected].

We also interviewed Joe's wife and daughter in 2019, Tina and Jessa Calderon. Listen to the interview: https://wilderutopia.com/ecojustice-radio/indigenous-legacy-intergenerational-wisdom-for-our-times/

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Hosted by Carry Kim

Intro by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Episode 127

Photo credit: Joe Calderon

For an extended version of this interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

The proliferation of suburban sprawl, built where wildlife live and thrive, threatens the safety and genetic diversity of wild animals and plant species. Migrating wildlife of all shapes and sizes must contend with humans driving on the 4.8 million miles of roads in the US, facing the danger of colliding with vehicles.

Aside from driving less, one strategy to mitigate these accidents has gained bipartisan acceptance: providing wildlife crossings that facilitate connectivity for a diverse group of species. Not all wildlife crossings are simple bridges or tunnels, and our guest this week has been championing for years what will become the world’s largest urban wildlife crossing, planned for suburban Los Angeles.

Beth Pratt, California Regional Executive Director of National Wildlife Federation, joins us to discuss the importance of connectivity and wildlife crossings. She explains why they are an integral strategy in land and habitat conservation and why preserving biodiversity not only protects wildlife, but also all of us humans!

Beth's Website: http://www.bethpratt.com/

Save LA Cougars: https://savelacougars.org/

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Hosted by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Episode 126

Photo credit: Living Habitats

Biotonomy [https://www.biotonomy.com/] is an architectural design firm based out of Spain that uses a holistic & nature-based approach for buildings & cities to address the climate and biodiversity emergency. They provide groundbreaking and nature-based design principles that go beyond passive & green-building certification standards. Together with their international network, they work to accelerate the transformation to autonomous development with nature-based solutions. They assert that this transformation is one of the most important steps in our evolution to become sustainable inhabitants of this planet. Their mission is to help make buildings and cities become a force for restoring the natural world.

We had an in-depth discussion with Moein Nodehi, the founder, CEO, and Lead Architect for the firm Biotonomy about his unconventional approach to solving design and environmental problems and connecting people to the land and their community.

For bonus content and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

This is an encore presentation of an interview we did in 2021 with Moein Nodehi of the architectural firm Biotonomy.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://wilderutopia.com/sustainability/biotonomy-nature-based-architectural-solutions/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Interview by Carry Kim

Intro by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer: Blake Lampkin

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Music: Javier Kadry

Episode 94

Image: Biotonomy

For an extended version of this interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

We’ve been ​“saving the planet” for decades and environmental crises just continue to compound. All this Tesla driving, green-roofed corporate headquarters, and carbon trading seems to accomplish little to nothing — all while low-income communities of color continue to suffer the worst consequences.

Jenny Price’s latest book, 'Stop Saving the Planet, An Environmentalist Manifesto' [https://www.jennyjjprice.net/stop-saving-the-planet] says, enough already! She suggests a plan with 39 steps to get to cleaning up the toxic messes and rolling back climate change.

Buy the Book: https://www.jennyjjprice.net/stop-saving-the-planet#

Jenny Price is a writer and public artist, and a Research Fellow at the Sam Fox School at Washington University-St. Louis. She tells stories about environment and public space, and deploys a wide variety of public arts and humanities formats to do so. Her writings include Stop Saving the Planet: An Environmentalist Manifesto (2021); Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America; “Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A.” and other essays; op-eds in the NY Times and LA Times; and her not-quite advice column “Green Me Up JJ.”

She has created, co-created, and sometimes stumbled into public art projects to work for environmental justice, as well as to de-privatize essential public spaces. She has co-founded the LA Urban Rangers collective, led tours of the concrete LA River, designed the alternative Nature Trail in Laumeier Sculpture Park, co-launched the "What Are You Doing?! (stop saving the planet!)” video series, and co-created the popular Our Malibu Beaches mobile phone app.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Hosted by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Episode 125

Photo credit: Igor Heifetz

For an extended version of this interview, join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Since the pandemic began, and long before then, many would concur that capitalism in its current form is failing, here and globally. Rooted in inequity, exploitation, profiteering, and social injustice, capitalism exacerbates inequality, disempowerment, and poverty by benefiting only the few.

Currently, one out of every ten dollars spent in this country, goes to the top 1% without them ever "laboring" for it. But rather than demonize the 1%, we can change the paradigm by practicing renegade economics in our daily lives. We can choose differently. We can participate less in capitalism and instead, expand and vitalize alternative, non-capitalistic forms of economic activities that currently exist, whether that means: supporting worker-owned or energy cooperatives, forming land trusts, public or communal vs. private ownership, non-profits, rejecting growth as an absolute, consuming less, engaging in negative-interest, care, sharing, gift, New or Solidarity economics or simply purchasing from those dedicating 100% of earnings to causes and organizations benefiting the planet.

The options continue to grow. A primary catalyst is recognizing that capitalism is not an inevitability, nor are we resigned to its ruthless aspects. We can each become renegade economists and astute, wizened managers of our individual and planetary households. Ours is an opportune and urgent time to invoke systemic, inspired change.

In this show we interview Della Z. Duncan, Renegade Economist [http://www.dellazduncan.com], who invites all to ponder what is the purpose of the economy? What is capital? What is value? How is wealth created & sustained? Are we engaged in meaningful work that promotes planetary health? Can economics be woven into the social and spiritual fabric of our lives vs being treated as something academic existing outside of ourselves? How might we use our gifts, contribute to society, meet our basic human needs & thrive individually and collectively? Hear Della Duncan share provocative insights from the growing movement to revolutionize our perceptions, understanding and practice of renegade economics in our lives.

Della Z Duncan hosts the Upstream Podcast [http://www.upstreampodcast.org], uplifting stories of regenerative economics. She supports individuals working to align their values with their work as a Right Livelihood Coach. She is a Work that Reconnects facilitator, a Senior Fellow of Social and Economic Equity at the International Inequalities Institute in the London School of Economics, the Course Development Manager of Fritjof Capra’s Capra Course on the Systems View of Life, a Gross National Happiness Master Trainer, a founding member of the Doughnut Economics California Coalition (DECC), a former faculty member of Ecological Economics at Schumacher College, and a current faculty member at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Gaia Ed. She works with organizations as a cooperatives economic consultant, and facilitates courses and retreats around the world.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Hosted by Carry Kim

Intro by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Episode 124

Photo credit: Della Z. Duncan

In his book “An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States,” Kyle T. Mays [https://www.kyle-mays.com/], Assistant Professor of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History at UCLA, argues that the foundations of the United States are rooted in Anti-Black racism and settler colonialism, and that these parallel oppressions continue today.

In his discussion with EcoJustice Radio, he explores how Black and Indigenous peoples (sometimes together, sometimes apart) have always sought to disrupt, dismantle, and re-imagine US democracy. He uses examples of the Black Power and Red Power movements of the 60s and 70s, as well as collaborations for the Standing Rock Sioux and Black Lives Matter. Dr. Mays’ work seeks to illuminate how we can imagine and put into practice a more just world.

Kyle T. Mays is an Afro-Indigenous (Saginaw Chippewa) writer and scholar of US history, urban studies, race relations, and contemporary popular culture at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Mays is an author of 3 books, 'Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in Indigenous North America' (SUNY Press, 2018), 'An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States' (Beacon Press, 2021), and 'City of Dispossessions: Indigenous Peoples, African Americans, and the Creation of Modern Detroit' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022).

Order 'An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States': http://www.beacon.org/An-Afro-Indigenous-History-of-the-United-States-P1731.aspx

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Hosted by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Episode 123

Photo credit: Kyle Mays

This is an encore presentation of Part One of our Amazon Defenders series from the end of 2020.

The Amazon River Basin of South America is home to half of the world's tropical forests, with 33% of all plant and animal biodiversity thriving in impenetrable wildernesses. In this episode, we focus on the Western Amazon to understand how activists are confronting the dirty legacy of oil extraction, stopping the expansion of new oil leases, and protecting the rainforest biodiversity.

Oil corporations and their governmental enablers are pushing to drill deeper into the rainforest by building roads and railroad lines, cutting old growth trees, and invading indigenous sovereign territories and protected biospheres.

Yet the international resistance is building and communities are fighting back. Can this incredible ecosystem be protected, allowing Indigenous societies and wildlife to thrive?

On this show, guest Paul Paz y Miño, Associate Director of Amazon Watch [https://amazonwatch.org/] provides an overview of the rich significance of the Amazon, expands upon what is happening in the Western Region and the connection to California and Texas, and speaks to the growing resistance protecting the rainforest and the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Paul Paz y Miño has been at Amazon Watch since 2007. He has been a professional human rights, corporate accountability and environmental justice advocate since 1993. He has worked with various human rights NGOs including Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch/Americas. Paul has lived in Chiapas, Mexico and Quito, Ecuador, promoting human rights and community development and working directly with Indigenous communities.

Links:

Amazon Watch: https://amazonwatch.org/

Chevron Toxico: https://chevrontoxico.com/

Make Chevron Clean Up Their Ecuador Mess: https://www.makechevroncleanup.com/

More Information

On Misrepresentation of Steven Donziger's case against Chevron in Ecuador: https://medium.com/@paulpaz/response-to-nov-6-2021-dealbook-article-about-steven-donziger-by-joe-nocera-6a3bbb076b72

Donny Rico: https://youtu.be/CjxGALDuuc0

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/

Hosted by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer: Blake Quake Beats

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Original Music: Javier Kadry

Episode 82

Photo credit: Paul Paz y Mino

This is an encore presentation of an interview we did with Dr. Gary Shapiro from 2020.

Palm Oil is touted as a “miracle ingredient,” found in more than 50% of all packaged products consumed in the US. It renders makeup smooth, keeps ice cream from melting, and moisturizes our hair and skin. It is a hot commodity; giving rise to plantations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. At 66 million tons annually and 10% of permanent global cropland, palm oil is a prevalent, economically appealing crop.

Although popular, the cultivation and expansion of this supposed cash crop can come at the expense of the Indigenous peoples, critical habitat, endangered species, and the climate. Almost 90% of the world's oil palm is grown on a few islands in Malaysia and Indonesia, home to the most bio-diverse tropical forests found on Earth.

Can palm oil can be produced in a responsible, sustainable, and regenerative manner that protects the environment, bio-diverse species, and communities where it is cultivated?

On this episode, we discuss what is happening in Indonesia and elsewhere around Palm Oil extraction, expansion, and exploitation. Dr. Gary Shapiro has been involved with orangutans for 46 years and has been working to secure and protect the orangutan populations through creating more regenerative and equitable solutions around Palm Oil production.

We welcome Dr. Gary Shapiro, President of Orang Utan Republik Foundation & The Orangutan Project-USA.

https://www.orangutanrepublik.org/

https://www.theorangutanproject.org/

https://www.facebook.com/OrangUtanRepublik/

http://twitter.com/OURF

Gary L. Shapiro, Ph.D. has dedicated most of his life to understanding and supporting the well-being of individual and populations of critically endangered orangutans through research, conservation, advocacy and education. He was the first person (1973-1975) to teach a symbolic communication system to an orangutan and the first person to have taught sign language to orangutans in their natural environment, the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park, Indonesian Borneo (1978-1980; 1981). Shapiro further assisted in the rehabilitation efforts of dozens of orangutans confiscated from the illegal pet trade and monitored the phenology of local rain forest ecosystem.

Shapiro received his doctorate in Zoology in 1985 from the University of Oklahoma then returned to Indonesian Borneo (1986) to conduct post-doctoral freshwater ecology studies in Tanjung Puting National Park. He spent 28 years as a government scientist and retired in 2014. Shapiro was the co-founder and vice president of the first orangutan support organization, the Orangutan Foundation International, from 1986-2004 where he administered and oversaw the activities supporting research and conservation in and around Tanjung Puting National Park. In late 2004, Dr. Shapiro and his Indonesian wife, Inggriani, were inspired to create the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI), a nonprofit project, in response to the education needs underscoring the Critically Endangered status facing orangutans today, particularly in Sumatra. In 2007, the Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) was established as a legal organization to support the programs of OUREI in Indonesia. In 2015, OURF partnered with The Orangutan Project (TOP) to serve as their US chapter. Shapiro also serves on the board of TOP and administers the funds collected and distributed to dozens of organizations conserving orangutans.

Hosted by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer: Blake Lampkin

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Music: Javier Kadry

Episode 50

Phot Credit: Dammer Saragih

What is now known as Alabama and the environs of the Deep South, boast exceptional biodiversity and capture the imagination with its rich cultural and historical significance. It is the ancestral home of Cherokees, Choctaws, Muscogee or Creeks, and numerous lesser known Native nations and also the place where civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael planted the seeds of Black Power. Moreover, Dr. King famously marched from Selma to Montgomery, weaving along the Alabama River to manifest a dream of unity.

Listen to rich stories of ecological restoration and preservation of places of civil rights history that is Alabama. We welcome Bill Finch of Alabama River Diversity Network and the Paint Rock Forest Research Center, and Phillip Howard, Project Manager of Civil Rights People and Places Initiative. They share the vision and mission of these non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving and promoting the extraordinarily diverse natural and human heritage of this essential region.

Bill Finch is the founding director of Paint Rock Forest Research Center [https://paintrock.org] and founding partner of the Alabama River Diversity Network [https://alabamarivernetwork.org]. Finch is author of Longleaf, Far As the Eye Can See, an exploration of the potential in North America’s most diverse forest ecosystem. He is former conservation director for the Nature Conservancy’s Alabama Chapter, and an award-winning writer on gardening, farming and environmental issues.

Phillip Howard is Project Manager for The Conservation Fund’s Civil Rights People and Places Initiative. He recently produced a film about the Campsites of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail called 54 Miles to Home.

54 Miles to Home: https://vimeo.com/591288364

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Interview by Carry Kim

Intro by Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Show Created by Mark and JP Morris

Episode 122

Image: EJR with thanks to Bill Finch and Phillip Howard