For today’s show, we try to look for silver linings to the COVID-19 crisis. What can we learn from this moment to build a better world? First up, we talk to Rabbi Michael Lerner about his recent piece in Tikkun, “Don’t Waste an Economic Meltdown,” about using this time to usher in a movement for transformative social change.

Then, we take a look at what’s happening to wildlife while we humans are staying home with professors Adrian Treves and Stanley Gehrt. They talk about the effects of quarantine on animals and wildlife research along with their hopes and concerns for what the post-pandemic future holds.

Rabbi Michael Lerner is the editor of Tikkun, executive director of the Institute for Labor and Mental Health, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue-Without-Walls in Berkeley, chair of the international Network of Spiritual Progressives, and author of twelve books, most recently Revolutionary Love: A Political Manifesto to Heal and Transform the World (University of California Press, 2019).

Adrian Treves is a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and founder of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab.

Stanley Gehrt is a professor and wildlife extension specialist at The Ohio State University, the founder and principal investigator of the Urban Coyote Research Program, and senior editor of Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).