Voices for Nature & Peace

Ep. 53: Breaking News: Activists Occupy Site of Proposed Mine in Nevada, feat. Will Falk In this special breaking news episode, I talk to Will Falk, who is at an occupation of public land in Nevada in order to stop a proposed lithium mine. The encampment was just announced on Monday, Jan. 18th, and I spoke with him by phone that day. The long and the short of the story is that the Bureau of Land M...

Ep. 52: "Everything Has to Change" feat. brenna bell BARK and bite in defense of trees brenna bell is the policy Coordinator & Staff Attorney at BARK, a grassroots environmental organization based in Portland, Oregon. BARK's mission is to transform Mt. Hood National Forest into a place where natural processes prevail, where wildlife thrives and where local communities have a social, cultural,...

Ep. 51: "Spark of Fury" feat. Tim Hermach A veteran forest defender speaks Tim Hermach is the founder and director of the Native Forest Council, based in Eugene, Oregon. Tim has been a forest defender since the late 1980s and at this point has ripened into a proper curmudgeon. We talked on January 9th, 2021, and our conversation covered his early days in the Sierra Club; Biden's dismal record; Cli...

"The Future is Relational" feat. Kitsuné Rêver Kitsuné Rêver is a resident of Alberta, Canada, where she is a nurse and a gardener among other things. This was her third appearance on the podcast and it was simply delightful to welcome her back to the show. In our wide-ranging conversation, we covered a lot of topics including a political scandal in Alberta where local office holders traveled in s...

Ep. 49: "Putting the Heart Back in the Valley by Putting the Fire Back in the Ground" feat. Bobby Fossek A place-based, indigenous approach to ecological restoration in eastern Oregon Cove, Oregon, is a tiny town in the eastern part of the state that most Oregonians haven’t heard of. Surrounded by fields of conventional monocrops in the heart of conservative ranching country, it seems an unlikely...

Ep. 48: "2020: The Year in Review" feat. Kristine Mattis Kristine Mattis returns to the show as a co-host of this special year-end episode. Kristine has PhD in Environmental Studies. As an interdisciplinary environmental scholar with a background in biology, earth system science, and policy, her research focused on environmental risk information and science communication. Before returning to gradu...

"Cattle vs. Elk at Point Reyes National Seashore" feat. Laura Cunningham Point Reyes National Seashore is the site of a conflict that is typical on US public lands: European-style agriculture vs. indigenous land management; private profit vs. public benefit; civilization vs. wildlife. Elsewhere it's logging vs. forest, mining vs. mountain or green energy vs. desert, and this podcast has been and w...

Ep. 46: "How Big Pharma & Psychiatry Gaslight Us" feat. Bruce Levine This episode might be the most controversial that I've produced so far. Please note that it is not intended to disrespect anyone who has suffered mental health issues; indeed, I have experienced episodes of depression throughout my life, some of them quite intense. However, this episode does refute certain popular beliefs abo...

Ep. 45: "In Defense of the Last Wild Buffalo" feat. Stephany Seay of the Buffalo Field Campaign Current battles in a centuries-long range war The last wild herd of Buffalo in North America spend most of the year in Yellowstone National Park. They are descended from a mere 23 individuals who survived the massive Buffalo slaughters of the late 19th Century by hiding out in a valley there. Today the...

"Capitalism on a Ventilator" feat. Sara Flounders Sara Flounders is a writer and an activist who has been involved in progressive and anti-war organizing since the '60s. She is a member of the Secretariat of the Workers World Party, co-founder of the International Action Center, and a frequent contributor to the Workers World newspaper. She has traveled, spoken and organized extensively on behalf...

Ep. 43: "Facing the Worsening COVID Crisis" w/ Eva Aaronson A long, dark winter is coming... It's early December, 2020, and we're in the middle of a worsening pandemic. Reported cases of COVID-19 in the US since early March are over 15 million. Total deaths are approaching 300,000 with current daily averages exceeding 2000. Hospitals across the nation are filling up, healthcare staff are being inc...

Changing of the Imperialist Guard, feat. Margaret Kimberley Margaret Kimberley is an Editor and Senior Columnist at the Black Agenda Report, which publishes news, commentary and analysis from the black left. She is author of the book, “Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents,” which is an eye-opening and very well researched volume published by Steerforth Press in February 2020. (Read my re...

"Wildtending in the Colorado Rockies" feat. Kelly Moody & Gabe Crawford Kelly Moody produces the Ground Shots Podcast, which is an audio project that features conversations and storytelling about our relationship with ecology through creativity and philosophy. Gabe Crawford collects the seeds of native foods plants, fruit trees, berries and other exotics to plant feral orchards and wild garden...

"What is 'Sustainability,' Really?" feat. Kristine Mattis Kristine Mattis received her PhD in Environmental Studies. As an interdisciplinary environmental scholar with a background in biology, earth system science, and policy, her research focuses on environmental risk information and science communication. Before returning to graduate school, Kristine worked as a medical researcher, as a science...

"Climate: The Most Important Issue of Our Time" feat. Nick Humphrey Nick Humphrey is a meteorologist who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. He has a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from South Dakota State University and a Master's Degree in Geosciences--Applied Meteorology from Mississippi State University. Nick and I spoke on Sept. 2 about the unfolding climate crisis, includin...

"Cuban Health Care: The Ongoing Revolution" feat. Don Fitz Don Fitz is a Green Party activist who earned his doctorate degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1974. He taught Environmental Psychology at Washington University and Fontbonne University in St. Louis and was also a research psychologist at St. Louis State Hospital for 25 years. He was the Missouri Green Party candidate for Gov...

Ep. 37: "Facing the Climate Emergency" feat. Margaret Klein Salamon Margaret Klein Salamon, PhD, is a clinical psychologist turned climate warrior whose work helps people to face the deeply frightening, painful truths of climate change and transform their despair into effective action. She is the founding director of The Climate Mobilization and Climate Mobilization Project. Their mission is to in...

"The Mythical, the Political & the Sublime" feat. Phil Rockstroh Phil Rochstroh is a poet, lyricist and philosopher bard living in Munich, Germany. His mother escaped Nazi Germany after the Gestapo arrested her father. His father born on a Choctaw reservation and adopted out by white parents but did not learn about his origin until later in adult life. Phil grew up in Appalachia, lived in Manh...

"Thoughts from the Other Side of the Pond" feat. Alley Valkyrie Alley Valkyrie is a social activist, writer, artist, spirit-worker and co-founder of GODS & RADICALS Press. Though she is a US American citizen, she has been living in France for the last few years. We spoke on Sept. 3rd about American exceptionalism, religious fundamentalism, political differences between the US and Europe, the s...

"The US Clusterf*ck" feat. Forrest Palmer An electrical engineer by training, Forrest Palmer is an activist who lives in Houston, Texas. His work can be found at Wrong Kind of Green, which advocates an anti-capitalist approach to environmental work. We talked on September 5th, and touched on the clusterf*ck of 2020, the George Floyd protests, the plight of millennials, Bernie Sanders, the ongoing...

"Creating Cultural Transformation" feat. Riane Eisler Riane Eisler is a social systems scientist, cultural historian, and attorney whose research, writing, and speaking has transformed the lives of people worldwide. Dr. Eisler pioneered the expansion of human rights theory and action to include the majority of humanity: women and children. Her research provides a new perspective on our past, prese...

Ep. 32: "Right Wingers Descend on Portland" feat. Blank, a street journalist On-the-ground reporting from our local correspondent On Saturday, August 29th, right-wingers including Proud Boys and Trump supporters met up in the Portland area to stir up trouble with the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. Hundreds of them met up in a shopping mall parking lot outside the city and caravanned downtown...

Ep. 31: "The Liminal Space of 2020" feat. Jessica L'abbé Jessica L'abbé is a resident of Alberta, Canada, where she is a nurse and a gardener among other things. In our wide-ranging conversation, we talk about the challenges and possibilities of 2020 on both sides of the border. RADIO FREE SUNROOT: Podcasting by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume https://radiofreesunroot.com KOLLIBRI'S BLOG & BOOKSHOP...

Ep. 30: How "Defund the Police" was Blocked in Minneapolis In mid-July, Counterpunch published, “Minneapolis Ballot Measure to Dismantle the Police Will Test the Strength of Our Movement,” authored by Robin Wonsley & Ty Moore. Intrigued by this article, I contacted Robin, and less than a month later, I interviewed her for my podcast. But already the proposal—which had attracted so much nationa...

"Joy of Resistance" feat. Bette Lee Interview with an activist photographer Bette Lee is a 70 year-old Asian American activist who's been involved in the struggle for justice and equality for over 30 years. She is a substitute teacher at an alternative high school for mostly Black and Brown students. She currently resides (and resists) in Portland. In the early 2000s, when I was doing street journ...