Knox Pods

Todd Witcher discusses Every living thing : man's obsessive quest to catalog life, from nanobacteria to new monkeys, by Rob Dunn. The author reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters. In a series of vivid portraits of scientists as interesting as the mysteries they chase, Dunn introduces the reader to breakthroughs that have changed the world and others that might still. Mr. Witcher is the Executive Director of Discover Life in America, the organization that is cataloging the biodiversity of the Great Smoky Mountains. (Recorded November 4, 2010)

Charles Maynard, author and founding Executive Director of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, discusses Eaarth: making a life on a tough new planet by Bill McKibben. Twenty years ago, with his previous book The end of nature, Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that we've waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen. We've created, in very short order, a new planet, still recognizable but fundamentally different. We may as well call it “Eaarth.” (Recorded January 26, 2011)

Matt Hinkin, meteorologist at television station WATE, shares some of his favorite selections from the book The weather of the future : heat waves, extreme storms, and other scenes from a climate-changed planet by renown climatologist Heidi Cullen. The author projects a future in which the world's weather has drastically changed. Regions of the planet are affected in various ways, with some winners and some losers. (Recorded February 16, 2011)

Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, discusses The Climate war: true believers, power brokers, and the fight to save the Earth by Eric Pooley. The author reveals the powerful interests engaged in the fight over capping pollution contributing to climate change and the international effects of America's political battle. (Recorded March 23, 2011)

Harold Denton, a nuclear physicist and former Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, provides his perspective on three accidents in nuclear power generation: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. There was no book selected for this meeting, but Nuclear energy  what everyone needs to know is a good overview of the subject. (Recorded April 29, 2011)

Edye Ellis, former co-anchor of television station WBIR-TV Channel 10, talks about surviving cancer and the importance of understanding the risks of exposure to toxins. The book Living downstream: an ecologist's personal investigation of cancer and the environment by Sandra Steingraber suggests that reducing our dependence on coal and petroleum not only makes sense from a green-energy perspective, but it would also reduce the amount of toxins in our environment. (Recorded May 18, 2011)

The bridge at the edge of the world: capitalism, the environment, and crossing from crisis to sustainability by James Gustave Speth suggests that our current emphasis on economic growth does not allow for critical environmental protections. Columnist Frank Cagle responds to some of the ideas in the book. (Recorded June 15, 2011)

Forbidden creatures: inside the world of animal smuggling and exotic pets, looks into the motivations of owners of exotic pets and the consequences of the lucrative and illegal trade in dangerous animals or endangered species. The discussion of the book is led by Dr. Marcy Souza of the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine. (Recorded August 24, 2011)

Climate cover-up: the crusade to deny global warming by James Hoggan presents a detailed analysis of how business organizations and conservative think tanks orchestrate campaigns to question global warming. Jesse Fox Mayshark, Communications Manager for the City of Knoxville, discusses the book. (Recorded September 21, 2011)

The current debate about the causes of climate change is polarizing enough. When we extend the discussion to what our moral response to it should be, the discussion becomes even more challenging. Nina Gregg, Independent Organization Consultant, contemplates the book Moral ground: ethical action for a planet in peril, edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson. (Recorded October 19, 2011)