UnDisciplined

For decades, we’ve known that climate cycles like El Niño affect regional crop yields. But even though our food system is increasingly global, we haven’t done a great job of thinking at a planetary scale.

Herbs have a wide range of uses. A new book explores how plants connect us to the earth, to each other, and to ourselves.

Rising global temperatures are already impacting human health. One survey suggests that most Americans haven’t yet felt this connection in their own lives or seen it in their own communities. But that might change — and soon.

On July 6, 2018, listeners who were tuned into UPR heard UnDisciplined for the first time. Now, nearly seven years later, we’ve shared 300 episodes.

Zach Mack’s father was falling into the abyss. That’s what it felt like, at least, as Zach watched his dad become more and more susceptible to conspiracy theories and prophecies from religious zealots. But when his dad bet him $10,000 that ten different predictions would come true by the end of 2024, Zach thought he found a way to bring his dad back.

Drought and water shortages are major concerns for many Arizona cities. And there have been many potential solutions approached to try and handle these concerns. Advanced Water Purification (AWP), also known as water reuse or water recycling, is one of them. But it can be a difficult subject to broach. Christy Spackman is using an interesting medium to open the conversation: AWT-r Popsicles.

The wildfires in Southern California are on track to become the costliest disaster in U.S. history, and a lot of people are already recognizing that this conflagration is going to send a shockwave through the insurance market. But, as it turns out, the economic impact won’t stop there. Wesleyan University economist Gary Yohe says that the fires have the potential to be a contagion that sends a sickness through the system.

David Roberts clearly isn’t happy about the political direction of this country especially as it pertains to climate. But if you read his newsletter and listen to his podcast, you’ll realize that there are still a lot of cool people, doing cool stuff, with a chance to cool our world.

Rep. Kera Birkeland spent much of her political career writing and passing legislation aimed at trans Americans — legislation that many people view as cruel. And Birkeland most recent electoral opponent, Kris Campbell, says Birkeland’s actions and words have caused trans people like him to feel fear, anxiety and anger. But while many people have responded to Campbell with contempt, Birkeland has publicly called for grace.

Social psychologist Nilanjana Dasgupta says our bottom-up approach to DEI training is likely ineffective, but there are simple, straight-forward and research-based steps that actually work to create more equitable institutions.