Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous musician, author, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal, collective, and ecological healing. She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.

https://www.lylajune.com

https://www.rehuman.earth

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mother-earth-medicine-podcast/id1591832998

Professor Megan Mayhew Bergman is an award-winning fiction writer, conservation journalist, filmmaker, and cultural critic. She serves as Director of Creative Writing at Middlebury College and Director of the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference. She is the author of four books and her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Paris Review, Harper’s Bazaar, and elsewhere.

See more of Megan's work here: https://www.mayhewbergman.com

Born in Scotland at 318ppm CO2, Manda Scott trained as a veterinary surgeon, but is now an award-winning novelist, host of the Accidental Gods podcast and co-creator of the Thrutopia Masterclass. Best known for the Boudica: Dreaming series, her latest novel, Any Human Power, is a mytho-political Thrutopian thriller that explores the potential for a future we'd be proud to leave as our legacy. She believes that the way forward now is for everyone to craft open-hearted connections with all parts of ourselves, each other and the Web of Life. She lives with her wife in the Shropshire Marches.

Accidental Gods Podcast https://accidentalgods.life/our-podcast/

Accidental Gods Membership https://accidentalgods.life/join-us/

Thrutopia Masterclass https://thrutopia.life/the-thrutopia-masterclass/

Dreaming Awake https://dreamingawake.co.uk/

Manda - books https://mandascott.co.uk/ 

Manda Socials 
BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/mandascott.bsky.social

Mastodon https://mastodon.scot/@Eceni

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/accidentalgods.life/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandascottauthor/

We had the honor to speak with Jo and Yvonne. Jo Bjorgaard DNP, RN, PHN, CSSBB (she/her) is the Operations Director at the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA) North America Hub. She is a nurse leader based in St. Paul, Minnesota, specializing in health innovation, leadership, and planetary health. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of Minnesota and has extensive experience in planetary health education, climate advocacy, and healthcare sustainability. Her professional roles include Instructor & Teaching Specialist at the University of Minnesota, Senior Climate and Founder and Principal Consultant of RISE Climate + Health Collective and Board Member and Committee Chair with Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate.

Yvonne Monger is the co- Youth Director at the PHA North America Hub and an undergraduate Nursing student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities’ School of Nursing and serves as the Youth Director of the Planetary Health North American Regional Hub. Her work centers on health equity, environmental justice, and public health policy. She currently coordinates the Climate Resilience Public Health Task Force within the University’s Office of Sustainability, where she helps bridge climate action and community well-being.

In this conversation we speak with four incredible guests from the BLIS (Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty) Collective, Savannah Romero, Trevor Smith, George Galvis, and Lisa Holder.

Trevor Smith (he/him) is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the BLIS Collective. He is a writer, researcher, and strategist focused on racial inequality, wealth inequality, reparations, and narrative change.

Savannah Romero (she/her) is the Co-Founder and Deputy Director of the BLIS Collective. She is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and serves as the Director of Communications and Narrative Strategy at Tahoma Peak Solutions. Previously, she served as the Manager of Movement Building and Organizing at IllumiNative, a racial and social justice organization dedicated to building power for Native people by amplifying contemporary Native voices, stories, and issues. (Your'e invited to read more about Trevor and Savannah here: https://www.bliscollective.org/team)

Lisa Holder is President of the Oakland, Calif.-based Equal Justice Society. Known for her groundbreaking appointment as a member of the California Reparations Task Force and more than 20 years of experience as a civil rights litigator and scholar, Lisa has made EJS a leader and premier coalition partner in the reparations movement in California and nationally.  (Your'e invited to read more about Lisa here: https://equaljusticesociety.org/about/lisaholder/)

George Galvis is the Co-founder and executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ, pronounced “courage”). Since 1993, George Galvis has promoted restorative justice and healing to transform lives. (You're invited to read more about George here: https://curyj.org/our-people/george-galvis/)

BLIS Collective: https://www.bliscollective.org

In this conversation, we speak with Chenoa Scippio who is Santa Clara Pueblo and Navajo (Naschitti), and a proud daughter, granddaughter, and sister. She holds bachelors degrees in Population Health and Native American Studies from The University of New Mexico. Chenoa has years of formative experience in community organizing through working with non-profit organizations and student groups while at UNM. Her passions stem from promoting cultural preservation, social justice, and sustainability initiatives in tribal communities.

Chenoa is an Environmental Justice Project Coordinator at Tewa Women United. Outside of work, Chenoa loves to spend time with the land through hiking, farming, or dreaming of ways to become an even better advocate for precious homelands.

https://tewawomenunited.org

In this podcast, our guest is Rachel Donald, who investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Her independent journalism work reaches 30,000 subscribers in 184 countries. She leads Planet: Critical and Planet:Coordinate, two media projects offering podcasts, newsletters and films documenting stories from the frontline of the crisis.

Rachel speaks internationally and her work has been featured in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Mongabay, The Intercept, Byline Times and the New Republic.

Links to Rachel's work: https://www.planetcritical.com

https://www.planetcoordinate.com

Today's guest is Professor Heba Gowayed (click here for pronunciation) who is a writer and associate professor of sociology at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center, and a current Carnegie Fellow (2025-2027). She will have an opportunity to introduce herself, but to briefly summarize her work: she research and writings center the lives of people who migrate across borders and the unequal and often violent institutions they face. Her award-winning book Refuge, published with Princeton University Press, takes readers into the lives of displaced Syrians who sought refuge in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Their experiences reveal that these destination countries are not saviors; they can deny newcomers’ potential by failing to recognize their abilities and invest in the tools they need to prosper.

She is currently working on her second book, The Cost of Borders, and would love to feature her again because there are so many topics we didn’t have the chance to explore. She has also been published in academic journals as well as public outlets including The Guardian and Slate and she has been featured in podcasts including Code Switch. 

Learn more about Professor Heba Gowayed here: https://www.hebagowayed.com

Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network, International (WECAN). She works nationally and internationally with grassroots, Indigenous and business leaders, policy-makers and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a clean energy future. Osprey is Co-chair of International Advocacy for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the visionary behind the International Women's Earth and Climate Summit, which brought together 100 women leaders from around the world to draft and implement a Women's Climate Action Agenda. She teaches international climate trainings and directs WECAN’s advocacy work in areas such as Women for Forests, Rights of Nature and UN Forums. She has served on the board of the Praxis Peace Institute and on the Steering Committee for The UN Women’s Major Group for the Rio+20 Earth Summit. Awards include the National Women’s History Project Honoree, Taking The Lead To Save Our Planet, and the Woman Of The Year Outstanding Achievement Award from the California Federation Of Business And Professional Women.  Osprey is the author of the award-winning book, “Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature" and the book "The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis".

https://newsociety.com/book/the-story-is-in-our-bones/?srsltid=AfmBOoon6gZaClI4_g4CxxWBbls97lKVsPtxMyAZVEqcDsuR99UwIqC2

https://www.wecaninternational.org

Today's guest is Shavanna Spratt, who is the owner of Da Hood Talks Entertainment and also Da Hood Doula, LLC as a Certified Full spectrum Doula and Birth Advocate. The show she launched December 12, 2020 addresses many topics that educate, inspire and represent the community that she has been a part of for years.

Shavanna has spent the majority of her early years living in the county of Saint Louis and has been a resident of Ferguson, MO since 2012.

Da Hood Talks Podcast is quickly gaining momentum and has been featured in the Saint Louis American. Shavanna uses her voice through the podcast to engage the community, educate the community, and be a constant resource to the community.

Shavanna also recognizes the importance of dismantling racial disparities; she has a passion for empowering others, advancing racial equity, and an advocate for promoting community voices first.