Mark Pingree is a PhD candidate in comparative literature with a background in philosophy. Inspired by his experience with cancer, his research explores the possibility that illness and disability offer new ways of thinking about what it means to be human in the age of ecological collapse. He has taught college courses in philosophy, film and literature and is currently also in training to become a psychoanalyst. Mark lives in queens New York with his orange tabby named Phaedo.

The cover art for this episode is a photograph of the Mayak Power Plant in Russia. The surrounding area is one of the most radioactive regions of the world and, as you'll hear, plays an important element in Mark's cancer journey. 

Mark’s Reading List

1. Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag

2. The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde

3. Plutopia by Kate Brown

4. Notes from the Sick Room by Steve Finbow

5. Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor by Rob Nixon

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