This was the year of Greta, so let’s enjoy a smorgasbord of topics – thankfulness, wind power in Wyoming, the new MarinaTex plastic-substitute material invented by Lucy Hughes, the importance of music and the muses, the electrical nature of the human nervous system, and how we can save energy over the holidays.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “Shadow – A Parable”, published in 1833 and set in the ancient past, is nonetheless frightfully relevant to the specter of our modern climate crisis. Some of us may feel shielded. But, the more we try to look away and distract ourselves, the more surely we’ll be visited by the shadow of death – those unhappy souls who, just a short while ago, were our fellow travelers upon the earth. After the story, we think about the multi-faceted emotion of fear, and have some fun with witches.

Adam Wells, Regional Director of Community & Economic Development for Appalachian Voices, is working to bring new energy to the local economies of Southwest Virginia, a region once sustained by the coal industry. There are now promising opportunities for solar power to be a catalyst for growth, attracting 21st Century business looking for low-cost, locally-generated energy.

In “What If We Stopped Pretending” Jonathan Franzen tells us that we need to get real: we’re doomed. It’s worth thinking through the reasons he’s wrong. We also look at the new temperature trends, illustrated by the heatwave last week. Finally, some things we can do for the birds, whose populations are plummeting. Word of the week – “autumn” – can you find two humans and two animals hidden in it?

When it comes to clean energy, Virginia is a hard regulatory and financial environment. But, Karla Loeb has been chipping away at it, and getting results.

On Friday, September 20, some 4 million people in 163 countries joined the global climate strike led by Greta Thunberg. Students at Emory & Henry College in rural Southwest Virginia held a coordinated rally to add their voices to the growing chorus of protest against the inaction of our leaders.

Tom discusses the Virginia Energy Reform Coalition, and why people from across the ideological spectrum support the effort to replace the old utility monopoly system with an energy market. Competition and consumer choice encourage efficiencies on the production side that translate into substantial economic and environmental benefits for the whole community. Later in the show, we hear the legend of King Philodemus and think about the nature of political wisdom.

Katherine Hamilton, a leading voice on energy and climate solutions, talks about the change of climate in Congress, a national green bank, grid readiness, eco-depression, and more. — Also, a thought-experiment about why the willful destruction of great art would be morally wrong, even if it violated no laws and infringed on no rights. Is there an analogy to the deliberate destruction of our holocene climate?

As part of our series on Leaders in Energy and Climate Solutions, we talk to architect and building scientist Monica Rokicki-Guajardo, founder and CEO of Better Building Works. Later in the show, we think about beauty and goodness, and how they’re related. Perhaps some evil things are also attractive, but are they beautiful?

The USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program announces the recipients of this year’s awards – seeds well sown in this case. Chesterfield County, Virginia wants to build a 30 MW solar farm. But, the dead zone of toxic algae along the Gulf Coast keeps growing – while back East refineries explode and coal trains wreck. We also listen to a bird story about immigration – Cocky Cockatoo wants to stop the Central American flycatchers at the border, proclaiming that “Nets Work.” Finally, can places like Europe and N. America, whose populations have formed from eons of immigration, say who the “true people” of their lands are?