How It Looks From Here

Listen to how it all looks to Dr. J. Drew Lanham - ornithologist, scholar, activist and author of the celebrated memoir, The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. Drew Lanham and Mary cover a lot of ground - from childhood, to the truths of American history, to the way the world looks to a Mississippi kite flying overhead.

Read Drew's incredible poem Joy Is The Justice We Give Ourselves, here: https://emergencemagazine.org/poem/joy-is-the-justice-we-give-ourselves/

Find more information about Mary and Gary's new book, Full Ecology, here: https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/full-ecology-repairing-our-relationship-with-the-natural-world/

Music this week by Alexei Desmarais and Gary Ferguson.

For the second episode of Season 2, Mary interviews Pamela Reed Sanchez, the president and CEO of the Seneca Park Zoo Society in Rochester, NY. Pamela holds close the connection of people with the natural world - with their truest nature. She sees supporting that connection as activism of the highest order. As a public leader and a writer of literary nonfiction, she describes what it means to be part of the solution.

Music this week by Cedar Mathers Winn and Gary Ferguson. Find us online, at https://howitlooks.captivate.fm/

In our first episode of Season 2, Mary talks with her co-author and partner Gary Ferguson about their shared work, and recently published book, Full Ecology: Repairing our Relationship with the Natural World. Season 2 expands the focus of our podcast to larger questions about climate change. We look at how living through the COVID-19 pandemic bridges into circumstances of climate breakdown and presents us with opportunities of repair.

Everyone who Mary interviews has their own perspective on what climate change means for their lives, their work, and the world. So tune in, to find out how it looks from here.

Full Ecology: Repairing our Relationship with the Natural World is available now from Heyday Books at: https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/full-ecology-repairing-our-relationship-with-the-natural-world/

In this episode, Mary Clare speaks with Jon Trapp, a wildland firefighter and fire behavior analyst, emergency search and rescue volunteer, and wolf biologist. Jon describes his experience working on wild fires during COVID, being challenged by exposure events, social distancing at fire camps, and increased mental health struggles among his teams and patients.

Find out more about Jon's work at https://travelmontana.com/yellowstone-wolf-experience-with-jon-trapp/

Also, keep an eye out for the release of Full Ecology, the new book from Mary Clare and Gary Ferguson, out on Earth Day, April 22, 2021 from Heyday Books. Attend the virtual launch with Sister Helen Prejean by signing up here: https://www.wildboundlive.com/events/walkinthewild

In this episode, Mary talks with Graham Stacy just a few days before his 16th birthday. Graham lives in Gardiner, Montana. Gardiner has grown up around the Yellowstone Arch - the original entryway to the world's first National Park, established March 1, 1872.  

Graham is a musician, an actor, an artist and a scholar. He loves history and is becoming increasingly fluent in Mandarin. He's clear that the land on which he and his friends live makes a difference in everything they do. Graham's perspective on his small town in COVID and his extension of that perspective into matters of climate health open windows for all of us. In particular, Graham kept coming back to the idea of deliberate diversity - a topic he's been exploring lately for it's expression among people and in the natural world. He came upon this term in his application for a spot in the United World College which has advanced him into final interviews.

Find out more about Graham's community here - https://www.visitgardinermt.com/

And about United World College here - https://www.uwc-usa.org/ 

Also referenced in the show is our soon-to-be released book, Full Ecology - Repairing our Relationship with the Natural World. Forthcoming April 20, 2021 from Heyday Books. Find it here: https://heydaybooks.com/catalog/full-ecology-repairing-our-relationship-with-the-natural-world/

Music this episode by Graham Stacy and Gary Ferguson. Editing by Joe Loviska.

In this episode, Mary talks to Meagan Lannan, a regenerative rancher, mother, and sustainable foods advocate in Paradise Valley, Montana. Meagan describes her work on the land, with her cows, goats, sheep, ducks, husband, and children. Life took a turn when COVID hit last year, but Meagan, her family, and her ranch have remained resilient.

Find out more about Meagan's ranch at: https://www.barneycreek.com/

Also referenced in the show is The Eight Master Lessons of Nature by Gary Ferguson. Find it locally here: https://www.countrybookshelf.com/book/9781524743383

Or find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eight-Master-Lessons-Nature-Teaches-ebook/dp/B07N5GRGWF

CORRECTION: Music this episode by Alexei Desmarais, EJMJ, and Gary Ferguson.

Mary speaks with artist, alternative tour guide, and activist Michelle Browder. Based in Montgomery Alabama, Michelle Browder comes from a long line of civil rights and community activists. Michelle uses her artistic flair to build brands, send messages of truth, and heal the souls and psyches of the students she works with.

Find Michelle's work at https://www.anarchalucybetsey.org/. You can donate to her team's effort at https://www.fundraisingbrick.com/online-orders/anarcha/

Additional audio in this week's episode is used courtesy of www.unstrippedvoice.com

Music this week by Cedar Mathers-Winn and Gary Ferguson.

In this episode, Mary Clare speaks with healer, activist, and artist Sara Mapelli about her life in Oregon and her work with bees. This year, Sara has endured hardships ranging from the immanent threat wildfire at their home in the Columbia River gorge, to the collapse of her bee hives due to pesticides, to the challenges of working through the coronavirus pandemic. Through it all, Sara maintains her wellbeing in unique ways.

Find out more about Sara Mapelli at her website: https://www.saramapellibeequeen.com/ You can also find many intriguing videos of Sara dancing with bees on YouTube.

Music this episode is by Cedar Mathers-Winn and Gary Ferguson. Gary has a new book called Full Ecology coming out in April of 2021, co-authored by our host Mary Clare. You can pre-order a copy now: https://www.amazon.com/Full-Ecology-Repairing-Relationship-Natural/dp/1597145181

Mary and Paris continue their conversation, this time focusing on the intersections of the environment and social movements. Our social ecologies inform environments large and small, from global climate change to our individual well-being. Paris describes his strategies for finding wellness in stressful times. 

Music this episode by

Cedar Mathers-Winn: https://cedararran.bandcamp.com/ 

Gary Ferguson: www.fullecology.com

Alexei Desmarais: https://medium.com/@alexeidesmarais

In the first of our two-part interview with public health worker and activist Paris Mullen, Mary and Paris talk about the recent protests for racial justice in Chicago and the ways in which the coronavirus pandemic is perpetuating inequities in public health for black and brown communities. With hope held high, Paris outlines his vision for equality and freedom in the context of health in America.