In Tune to Nature Podcast

We enjoy the poetry and photography in a new book Wild Atlanta: Greenspaces and Nature Preserves of “The City in the Forest” with the book author and poet Stephen Wing and the book’s photographer Luz Wright. Their 98-page full color poetic photo book is an artistic tribute to several dozen of Atlanta’s gorgeous public forests and parks for humans and wildlife to share.  In this 26-minute interview...

To have a more meaningful holiday season and avoid buying a bunch of stuff, this is a replay of my 28-minute annual green gift giving show -- this time focusing not on eco-friendly products but more on eco-friendly experiences in order to avoid cluttering up our lives with more stuff that lands in our homes permanently. So the emphasis is on gift-giving ideas for vegan food/meals or experiences (t...

Did you know one third of North America's birds have vanished over the last 50 years -- on our watch? That's 3 Billion fewer birds in our ecosystems, skies, trees, farms, and backyards! In their book "A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save our Vanishing Birds," journalists and bird lovers Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal went on an adventure to sound the alarm and help us discover why birds aren't thr...

Discussing his book "Nature, Design, and Health: Explorations of a Landscape Architect," David Kamp describes his nature-inspired design philosophy, and we specifically concentrate on garden project elements designed to enhance the wellbeing of older adults and people with special needs. We also discuss how wildlife can be encouraged and supported in our yards and landscapes. You can see his lovel...

This double-length show explains tips from the book " Advocating for the Environment: How to Gather Your Power and Take Action" by environmental lobbyist, public servant, teacher, and author Sue Inches from Maine. https://sueinches.com/   After meeting at the 2023 Conference on Communication & Environment and hearing about her book and vast experience, I invited Sue to be interviewed on In Tun...

We discuss the need for marine eco policies and "sustainable fishing" policies to move toward a non-industrial discourse that treats fish as subjects and as ecological beings rather than primarily objectifying them as human food/stock/seafood – basically sustainable fisheries rhetoric should stop reducing fish and other aquatic animal species to mere economic resources to be 'sustainably managed'....

The Buffalo Field Campaign has worked for decades restoring rights to the wild Bison of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to live and freely migrate in and outside of Yellowstone National Park in their rightful territory. Carrie Freeman's radio guests Mike Mease and Dallas Gudgell are from the nonprofit Buffalo Field Campaign and we discuss their achievements since the 1990s. In this 25-minute podcast r...

We discuss findings from a 2023 report “Animal Agriculture is the Missing Piece in Climate Change Media Coverage”. Given the policy agenda-setting role of the news media, this report details what coverage improvements are warranted to facilitate needed farming and dietary changes in the U.S. to help mitigate the climate crisis, given the large role that animal ag plays in greenhouse gas emissions...

Ecoflix.com is the first not-for-profit streaming channel of entertainment and educational shows and podcasts dedicated to saving animals and the planet. We talk with founder and CEO David Casselman about why he founded Ecoflix, how the non-commercial global programming is different from other animal channels (more advocacy oriented and family friendly, non-graphic), some of the most popular shows...

Due to the threat of titanium mining, the biologically rich and unique Okefenokee Swamp habitat at the GA/FL border has unfortunately been named one of America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2023 (by the organization America Rivers). But there's a wide alliance of bipartisan wilderness and water protectors at https://protectokefenokee.org/ defending this National Wildlife Refuge, including The Georgi...

To help us understand how coyote families live among us in urban/suburban areas as productive members of ecosystems, Berry College Professor of Biology, Dr. Chris Mowry (and co-founder of the Atlanta Coyote Project ) tells us about the natural history of wild canine species in the North America, specifically the Southeast region, where settler colonists drove out the native Red Wolf, and over the...

From taking selfies with wild animal individuals, to promoting them as pets, to faking animal rescues for clicks, content harmful to animals abounds on social media platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To help us identify what is inappropriate, harmful, or cruel content and what to do about it, in this 28-minute radio show, host Carrie Freeman interviews Nicola O'Brie...

On behalf of Atlanta's biggest in-town forest, its resident wildlife, and nearby human neighbors, we discuss the 'Save The Atlanta Forest' movement also known as the 'Stop Cop City' movement, in Southeast Atlanta, comprised of many allied groups of citizens, especially Black residents, who over the last several years are working to stop the installation and building of a multi-million dollar, nois...

In this double-show, Leah Garces, President of Mercy for Animals , discusses initiatives to protect taxpayers, farm workers, chickens, and pigs in an unprecedented and long-overdue marker to the 2023 Farm Bill -- the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act -- to be considered in the U.S. Congress in Fall 2023. After learning about these issues, U.S. citizens can contact their Congresspeople to e...

Mercy for Animals' Managing Director AJ Albrecht updates us on the state of the Avian Influenza crisis and the tens of millions of factory farmed birds who have been inhumanely killed/suffocated in an attempt to stop the spread (largely at U.S. taxpayer expense); she outlines a joint lawsuit Mercy for Animals filed against the USDA for their inadequate response to this massive outbreak, and she di...

Guest Eva Hamer discusses a recent study of American attitudes toward using animals for food that suggests how best to strategically frame campaign messages promoting a path to evolving together toward animal freedom and plant-based food systems. We discuss what those new policies might be that Americans can support through collective action to get past this feeling of futility that we as individu...

The stench and pollution of pig factory farms is devastating Black rural neighborhoods, but, despite intimidation, NC residents are fighting back in court against the world's largest pork corporation, as documented in "The Smell of Money" a full-length documentary film winning awards at festivals. Radio host Carrie Freeman interviews the film's writer and producer, Jamie Berger, a native of North...

We take on some tricky ethical dilemmas in how we should treat animals in nature, especially “non-native” species (more respectfully called 'Introduced species'), and when and how we should interfere in the lives of animals in a 'post wild' world, based on her thoughtful and nuanced book “Wild Souls: Freedom & Flourishing in the Non-Human World, by environmental writer Emma Marris  https://www.emm...

We should begin to see multiculturalism as including the creativity and morality found in the cultures of fellow animal species (besides just us humans). In this 27 minute interview, host Carrie Freeman talks with Dr. Carol Gigliotti who shares insights and examples from her book “The Creative Lives of Animals” by NYU Press (2022), from whales to dogs to chimps to birds, mice, and ants. There is a...

How are individual fish (as sentient beings) affected by industrial and recreational fishing practices? We find out by talking with the best selling author of “What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of our Underwater Cousins.” biologist, Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, who also recently authored a children's book about a boy and a fish "Jake & Ava". In this interview, we discuss crowded fish farms, death by ne...

What would a clean, renewable energy future look like in Georgia? Neil Sardana, Beyond Coal rep from the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club provides a hopeful yet feasible vision. For energy independence and less pollution and less greenhouse gas emissions, we know we need to move away from dependence on fossil fuels like coal and gas, but could we be 100% renewable, and what would the new energy...

In time for winter wardrobe & gift-giving, we review the many eco problems with the wool industry and what materials fashion-makers and consumers can support instead (like organic cotton and bamboo). The role of raising, killing, and processing farmed animals, like sheep, for fiber/clothing is often overlooked in environmental discourse (as we tend to just focus on the meat industry). So in this 2...

In support of eco-friendly candidates who are climate champions, Georgia Conservation Voters advocates for all citizens in GA to exercise their right to vote, with their "Democracy for All" initiative. In this 28-minute podcast, host Carrie Freeman interviews Brionte McCorkle, Executive Director or Georgia Conservation Voters about issues with voting in Georgia, how to make a plan to vote in this...

Lead report author Lucy Haskell explains BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds 2022 report (it comes out every 4 years), finding that nearly half of the world’s bird species are in decline, painting the most concerning picture yet for the natural world,  But it also identifies all the many human-caused drivers of species loss and the critical solutions we desperately need to save nat...

Food justice activist and veganic farmer Eugene Cooke shares an aspirational vision for why he practices agro-ecology in urban ag at Grow Where You Are farms around Atlanta and how this can be scaled up for widespread regenerative agricultural practices that the U.S. needs to stay viable and sustainable to feed our human population and nurture our soil naturally not chemically. In this 25-minute p...