Earthbound

More Than Enough Light What is more addictive than fentanyl, cocaine, or heroin? Evan Jaqua’s answer is power. And once people have it, they will do almost anything to keep it. This is a solo episode, a short essay built around the ideas of Evan Jaqua and the Solutions Party, the political reform organization he founded. The interview tape didn’t meet the bar for broadcast, so I took his thinking...

Your Brain is the Algorithm A conversation with David Beckemeyer We are a storytelling species. Long before we had data, we had narrative. But in a media environment engineered to trigger our most primitive threat responses, even the most compelling story struggles to find its audience. The amygdala doesn’t care about nuance. It cares about survival. So how do we talk about climate change to peopl...

What if the problem isn’t that the people with the most power don’t care? What if it’s that they’ve lost the capacity to? That’s the question at the center of Diana Colleen’s debut novel, They Could Be Saviors . A group of the world’s wealthiest men is kidnapped and brought to a facility where they’re offered a choice: undergo psychedelic-assisted therapy, or stay put indefinitely. It sounds far-f...

Novelist Lee Schneider completes the Utopia Engine Trilogy with a story of climate collapse, AI dominance, and the stubborn possibility of liberation. What if the Earth pushed back? That’s the question at the heart of Liberation, the final book in Lee Schneider’s Utopia Engine Trilogy . Schneider is a novelist, screenwriter, futurist, and podcast producer, and in this episode, he sits down with me...

A Shift in Perception What if the climate crisis isn’t just about what we’re doing to the planet, but how we see it? What if it is our flawed perception of the world and our place within it that separates us from nature and drives our destructive actions? In this contemplative conversation, writer and wilderness guide Bridget Lyons explores how perspective shapes our relationship with the living w...

Do We Need to Colonize Mars to Survive? A Book Review of Dr. Peter Solomon's 100 Years to Extinction In 2017, Stephen Hawking warned that humanity had just 100 years to move beyond Earth or face extinction. That bold prediction frames my Earthbound podcast conversation with Dr. Peter Solomon, physicist, serial entrepreneur, and author of 100 Years to Extinction . We dig into the triggers threateni...

Climate, Energy, Morality, and How We Thrive as a Species on a Finite Planet We tell ourselves stories to help us cope with existence, but too often we bend our stories to fit a misguided, destructive, and utterly unsustainable worldview. In this revised audio version of a 2019 article I published in Medium, we begin with a tight shot on Venezuela and the Trump administration’s recent military act...

This bonus episode features a short reading from my Thinking Out Loud section of my newsletter. Is empathy a strength or a weakness? How do we respond to forces that hide behind masks and seek to coerce, intimidate, and terrorize? In the midst of the chaos, how do we make sense of living in a warming world? There are lessons we can learn from the citizens of Minneapolis as they resist the masked m...

What if the sun, the same star that’s powered life on Earth for billions of years, could finally free us from the fossil fuel stranglehold that’s choking our future? That’s the question at the heart of this episode’s conversation with legendary climate activist and author Bill McKibben. In his latest book, Here Comes the Sun , McKibben delivers a message that's equal parts urgent and unexpectedly...

In a world of either-or thinking, where you’re expected to choose between hugging trees or hugging flags, Katherine Lacefield offers a refreshing alternative. The founder of Just Be Cause Consulting and host of the Just Be Cause Podcast joins us to dismantle the false binaries that plague environmental and animal rights movements. With candor and hard-won wisdom, she shares her journey from "crazy...

With this bonus holiday episode, I revisit a short article I originally wrote for a now-defunct website and republished on Medium back in 2022. Blood and Cigarettes takes us back to Christmas Eve and the trenches of World War I, and how redemption can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Ever since I heard the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 , it has intrigued me. The poignant tale of the 1...

What Would The Ocean Say If You Could Ask It A Question? Exploring the intersection of art, science, and environmental activism, this episode features thought provoking conversation with Joshua Harrison , director of the Center for the Study of the Force Majeure based at the University of California, Santa Cruz.  The art-science environmental research collaborative challenges us to rethink ou...

How I Felt Ridiculous When I Ordered Same-Day Delivery In this short bonus episode, I briefly examine the complexities of modern consumerism and the often-overlooked hidden costs of our convenience-driven shopping habits. As we rush into another holiday shopping season, I revisit a 2018 article that explored the darker side of online shopping convenience, particularly during events like Cyber Mond...

The 1970s “Crying Indian” campaign, as it came to be known, with its poignant imagery and simple message about littering, has left an indelible mark on American culture. Yet, as we unpack the history and implications of this campaign, we discover that not all was as it appeared. It served as a brilliant marketing tactic by corporations to shift the onus of pollution onto individuals, effectively m...

Feed the inner duck Not with human news Or greedy things that suck, But give it quiet views; Comments from the moon. Opinions from the sky. The insights of a tune. The wisdom of a sigh. -Michael Leunig History Doesn’t Repeat, But It Rymes In a world hurtling toward what feels like an inevitable cliff, our daily algorithmically fed news cycles have evolved from continuous to relentless, reaching a...

Here Comes the Apocalypse! Panicked or Prepared? The art of preparation in today's polycrisis, conspiracy-driven world is far from straightforward. In all cases, it is an art that encompasses, among other things, science-based common sense and community-oriented planning. Just as important is a sense of humor. With preparation, we can laugh in the face of the Apocalypse! As we navigate the eerie a...

The Golden Toad If you’re like me, by the time you first heard about the Golden Toad, it was already gone. A flash of gold high in the damp cloud forest of Costa Rica. This mysterious and elusive species, native to a tiny habitat in the misty clouds of Costa Rica, serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of our ecosystems and the impacts of climate change.  In this episode, I chat with...

The Mountain Valley Pipeline and Stories of Resistance in Appalachia Amidst the Appalachian dawn, our exploration of community resilience and environmental justice unfolds through the lens of Denali Sai Nalamalapu, author of ‘ Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance .’ The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) stands as a stark reminder of the battles waged by local communities against encroaching c...

Vanquish the Storm Lords and Anthrogs! The power of stories to shape our understanding of the world is a central theme explored in this episode. We welcome Laurel Colless , an author dedicated to igniting the imaginations of young readers through her Peter Blue series of fantasy-adventure novels . By infusing her narratives with real-world environmental issues, Laurel not only entertains but also...

Wildfire Days "Wildfire is actually a natural part of our ecosystems and our landscape, particularly in the American West. Fires had been burning naturally for millennia and keeping the forest healthy." "It's the most incredible job. It's so fulfilling and exciting and fascinating... just seeing how fire moves on the landscape and how we can use fire intentionally to stop wildfires." -Kelly Ramsey...

Raising Children in a Climate-Changed World My conversation with Bridget Shirvell, author of 'Parenting in a Climate Crisis', explores the challenge of raising children in an era defined by environmental uncertainty. Acknowledging the universal desire of parents to leave behind a livable world for the next generation, we discuss how to balance hope and reality in parenting amidst climate anxiety....

A Sound Environment Exploring the multifaceted nature of sound, this episode features an enlightening conversation with Chris Berdick about his book, Clamor: How Noise Took Over the World and How We Can Take It Back . Berdick discusses the physiological and psychological implications of noise pollution, drawing connections between our increasingly chaotic soundscapes and various health issues, inc...

Find your place in the world. Dig in, and take responsibility from there. -Gary Snyder When the world faces existential threats like climate change, how do we make ethical choices that matter? In this thought-provoking episode, host Tom Schueneman explores philosopher Thomas Rieder's groundbreaking book "Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices." Opening with a powerful s...

It's 3:00 AM. All is quiet, the world is asleep. But is it? In this illuminating episode, we journey into the darkness to explore the vibrant and often overlooked world of nocturnal creatures, guided by the passionate insights of naturalist Charles Hood. His book, Nature at Night , serves as our compass, leading us through a landscape where life thrives under the stars. Hood paints a vivid picture...

Taking It to the Streets Protests and social movements are often seen as spontaneous eruptions of public sentiment. What drives people to take to the streets? What motivates them to take their anger and frustration offline, out in the open? In this insightful conversation with sociologist Dana Fisher , we explore the motivations behind collective action, especially in today's political climate of...