Planet: Critical

“This is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the field of bioacoustics,” our guest on this episode says, and she's right: if you care about wildlife conservation, or really like technology and interesting solutions to big challenges, this episode is for you.

Laurel Symes is assistant director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's bioacoustics lab, which was founded in the 1980s to study whale songs and elephant rumbles, and it just received a massive $24 million gift and changed its name to the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics. 

The Cornell program is therefore about to expand this field in many ways, from technology development to implementation, so we discuss their plans and the implications with this repeat guest, who previously joined the show to discuss her own fascinating work on the soundscapes of rainforests (episode 86).

Many bioacoustics researchers like her have been featured by this show, so after discussing Laurel's exciting news, we feature some of our most popular acoustic ecology segments: get ready for an absorbing crash course on what people are learning about animal behavior and ecosystem health with these increasingly affordable and ubiquitous listening devices!

If you want to hear any of the episodes featured in full, look up the episode numbers listed here in your podcast app of choice, or click its link to hear it via the Mongabay website:

• Elephant Listening Project, episode 95
• Indri lemur choruses, episode 107
• Gibbon songs, episode 82
• Humpback whales sharing songs, episode 77
• Right whales discovered singing for the 1st time, episode 72
• Rainforest frogs, episode 54

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay.

This week I speak with Ugandan entrepreneur, Trinity Heavenz, a former street child who now employs over 25 people, many of whom were living in poverty before working at Era92, the company that “builds brands to build lives”.

This is a startling conversation about the benefits of the free market in a nation where people are afforded little opportunity. Trinity makes the case for business in Africa as a tool of empowerment, and says he believes the continent will learn from Western mistakes to come out as a superpower in the decades ahead.

Don’t miss it. You can also listen on Apple or Spotify.

Platform is a newsletter and podcast for people pissed off with capitalism. Subscribe to get episodes like this delivered to your inbox every week.

This week I am joined by acclaimed poet, Joelle Taylor, the spoken word artist credited for bringing slam to the U.K. Joelle has a profound analysis of class and artistry that she threads through her work and this conversation; it is a startling investigation into privilege, poetry, and the literati. Buckle in—and enjoy.

Watch this episode on Satellite, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Get your copy of Joelle’s latest collection, C+nto & Othered Poems.

Platform is a newsletter and podcast for people pissed off with capitalism. Subscribe to get episodes like this delivered to your inbox every week.

The U.S. has been M.I.A. on many environmental issues for the last few years, but the new Biden Administration has been announcing positive policies regularly.

Among the most important is the “America The Beautiful” plan, laying out a vision for conserving 30% of its lands and waters by 2030, making it the latest country to release what’s called a 30×30 plan.

But is it enough? Despite a lack of specifics, many are celebrating renewed American leadership on this front, which can encourage other countries to get aboard the 30x30 bandwagon, in addition to other green policy objectives.

Joining us to discuss is Joe Walston, executive vice president of global conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society--we talk about how the plan has been received, the most important details of the plan needing to be fleshed out, the important role of Indigenous people and farmers it advocates for, and why the U.S. joining the 30×30 movement could have sweeping global impacts.

Other conservation initiatives are also afoot that aim to make profound changes in the way Americans live on the planet. One is through agricultural solutions to the climate crisis, so we're also joined by science writer Sarah Derouin, who recently covered agroforestry programs in the U.S Midwest and Pennsylvania for Mongabay.

Derouin shares the goals and accomplishments of these programs, the vision of trees becoming integral to farming even in areas dominated by monocultures, and how agroforestry can factor into the U.S. meeting the 30×30 targets.

Articles discussed during this episode:

• Biden lays out vision for protecting 30% of US land, waters by 2030
• Nuts about agroforestry in the U.S. Midwest: Can hazelnuts transform farming?
• In Pennsylvania, agroforestry holds a key to cleaning up waterways and Chesapeake Bay

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay.

When it comes to the world’s forests, two commonly asked questions are “How many trees are on Earth?” and “How many are cut down each year?” A study in the journal Nature proposed answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion.

Mongabay Reports is a new series that shares evergreen articles like this from Mongabay.com, read by host Mike DiGirolamo. This episode features one of our most read stories of the last several years: "How many trees are cut down every year?" Though it was published in late 2015, the information is quite relevant today. 

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay.

On this week’s episode is Jens Trier, COO of We Make Change, a platform that partners skilled volunteers from all around the world with social enterprises. We discuss the politics of volunteering before taking a wonderful left turn into whether or not Scandinavia is as progressive as most of us believe.

You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We Make Change: https://www.wemakechange.org/

Platform is a newsletter and podcast for people pissed off with capitalism. Subscribe to get episodes like this delivered to your inbox every week.

On this episode we discuss how newly released data shows deforestation rose in 2020, even while tree planting initiatives took root all around the planet.

Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler joins us to discuss the 2020 deforestation data, how that fits into broader trends affecting the world’s forests, and what good news there is to take from last year’s deforestation numbers.

We also welcome Mongabay staff writer Dr. Liz Kimbrough to the program to discuss our new database of hundreds of reforestation projects from around the world she helped assemble that aims to help donors find the most effective tree-planting initiatives to support.

Find this new Reforestation Directory and app to learn about tree planting projects you might want to study or support at Reforestation.app.

Articles discussed in this episode:

• “Global forest loss increased in 2020” (31 March 2021)
• “A Madagascar-sized area of forest has regrown since 2000” (12 May 2021)
• “Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?” (13 May 2021)
• “How settlers, scientists, and a women-led industry saved Brazil’s rarest primate” (14 May 2021)
• “How to pick a tree-planting project? Mongabay launches transparency tool to help supporters decide” (17 May 2021)

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay.

On this week’s episode is designer and activist Charlie Waterhouse. Charlie has done fantastic work for both the Brixton Pound and Extinction Rebellion, and we had a fascinating discussion around alternative currencies and the power of communities before delving into how to design a movement.

Watch the episode here: https://www.satellite.earth/pub/@rachel:designing-rebellion

You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Charlie’s website: https://www.thisaintrocknroll.com/

Platform is a newsletter and podcast for people pissed off with capitalism. Subscribe to get episodes like this delivered to your inbox every week.

On this special edition of Platform Enterprise, Intellectual Property journalist, Charlotte Kilpatrick, returns to discuss why Biden's recent announcement to waive COVID-19 vaccine IP rights is too little too late for the developing world—and what we must learn from Big Pharma's refusal to produce a people's vaccine.

Watch the episode here: www.satellite.earth/pub/@rachel:pharmageddon-the-destruction-of-the-peoples-vaccine

You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Platform is made for people who are pissed off with capitalism. Subscribe to receive episodes delivered straight to your inbox every week.

This week I am joined by economic anthropologist, Julio Linares, to discuss Circles, a cryptocurrency project tackling world poverty.

Circles provides users with a Universal Basic Income in Trust tokens, meaning accounts are topped up every day with new tokens. The aim is to build economies around communities—and trust.

Watch the episode here: https://www.satellite.earth/pub/@rachel:circles-the-cryptocurrency-taking-on-world-poverty

You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Circles website: https://joincircles.net/

Julio’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Julio_Linares_

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