Voices for Nature & Peace

Ep. 28: "Update from Strawberry Rock Treesit" feat. Lupine In this special breaking news episode, I talk again with Lupine, a tree sitter in Northern California, who I originally interviewed for episode 19, back in early June. Forest defenders have been occupying trees around Strawberry Rock, north of Eureka/Arcata since April 1st, and in the last week, Green Diamond, the logging company, has resu...

"Remembering the Freedom Rides" feat. Max Pavesic A first-hand account of protest & imprisonment In 1961, bus stations in much of the South were still segregated by race, in spite of a 1960 Supreme Court case that had declared the practice illegal. The Freedom Rides were a campaign in which whites and Blacks rode the buses together to defy the Southerners and force them to change. Many activis...

Solidarity in Portland feat. Cammie Pavesic Cammie Pavesic is an actor, director, producer, activist and union thug. She has been attending the Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Oregon, as a participant with the "Wall of Moms." She was born in Denver, grew up in Idaho, earned a Bachelors degree at Boise State University and attended the National Shakespeare Conservatory in NYC. She is marri...

Ep. 25: "Portland vs. The Feds" feat. Blank First-hand report from the tear-gas filled streets Federal officers have been in Portland, Oregon, for the last few days, on Trump's orders. They have been abducting people off the streets into unmarked vehicles and attacking protesters with a variety of "less than lethal" weapons including tear gas, pepper pellets and flash-bang grenades. George Floyd p...

Ep. 24: "How Trump Stole 2020" feat. Greg Palast "Voter suppression is simply class war by other means." Greg Palast is an investigative journalist who has written for the Guardian, BBC Television, Democracy Now!, Rolling Stone, and more. In 2001, he exposed how Florida was stolen from Al Gore, and since then, one of his main focuses has been voter suppression in the US. On this topic, he has few...

Episode 23: "A View from France of US Collapse" 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 July 6th, mostly about the many ways in which French and European culture differs from the US. Specifically: ideas o...

"The Necessity of Creating a Political Crisis" 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....

Episode 21: The Corruption of the Democratic Party, featuring Ted Rall Ted Rall is a graphic novelist, a syndicated columnist and the author of many books of art and prose, including biographies of Edward Snowden, Bernie Sanders and Pope Francis. You've probably seen his political cartoons, which are often published in urban weeklies. His newest book is called, "Political Suicide: The Fight for th...

We Are All Prey, featuring Joanna Pocock Joanna Pocock is an Irish-Canadian writer living in London. Her writing has notably appeared in the LosAngeles Times, the Nation and on the Dark Mountain blog. Her most recent book is entitled, "Surrender," and is a memoir that mostly focuses on her adventures in the western United States. There, as she experienced menopause, she explored the history and na...

"Interview with a Tree-sitter" feat. Lupine Episode 19: Interview with a Tree-sitter, featuring Lupine When I first moved to Portland, Oregon, in the spring of 2001, I happened to end up living across the street from the Cascadia Forest Alliance (CFA). CFA was involved in direct action protests to stop logging in the Pacific Northwest, including tree-sits. I covered their efforts as an Indymedia r...

The Unsustainability of Civilization Itself Will Falk is a biophilic essayist, poet, and lawyer. He believes the intensifying destruction of the natural world is the most pressing issue confronting us today and he aims his writing at stopping this destruction. His work has been published by Earth Island Journal, the Dark Mountain Project, CounterPunch, Whole Terrain, and the San Diego Free Press,...

"Advocating for Mexican Gray Wolves" feat. Amy Harwood On June 2nd, 2020, I interviewed Amy Harwood of Lobos of the Southwest about her organization’s advocacy for the Mexican Gray Wolf, and particularly for its reintroduction into the wild. Lobos of the Southwest is a joint outreach and education initiative of several different environmental organizations and individuals who live in the southwest...

"The Need to Smash the System" 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 repor...

"George Floyd Protests in Chicago" feat. Dan Hanrahan Ep. 15: "George Floyd Protests in Chicago" feat. Dan Hanrahan This is a special breaking-news edition. Dan Hanrahan is a Chicago-based musician, translator, poet, performer, and teacher of Latin American literature. He has written essays for Counterpunch, El Beisman, The Mantle, and OpEd News, and stage music for Chicago’s Spanish-language thea...

"George Floyd Protests in Portland" feat. Blank Special breaking news edition! I speak with "Blank," an old Indymedia comrade in Portland, Oregon. Blank attended the last two evenings of George Floyd protests there. The second night he was teargassed. Blank gives blow-by-blow accounts of both evenings, and in the final third, we talk about some of the larger issues behind the protests. [Photo cred...

Beyond Organic: "Regenerative" Agriculture, feat. Melissa Hoffman of Sho Farm Melissa Hoffman is a co-owner with Shawn Smith of Sho Farm, LLC, in Vermont. Sho Farm is a unique place where regenerative farming, agroforestry, rewilding and a duck sanctuary all mix in what Melissa calls a “living laboratory.” Melissa and I talked shop about the various experiments and methodologies they are trying ou...

"Beyond the War on Invasive Species" feat. Tao Orion Tao Orion is the author of "Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration." We conversed on May 18, 2020, and we talked about: the difficulty of defining the term "invasive;" the dangers of the pesticides that are used against them; the question of whether they need to be eradicated at all; understanding in...

"Radical Womb Sovereignty" feat. Samantha Zipporah Episode Eleven: "Radical Womb Sovereignty" Samantha Zipporah is a reproductive and sexual health educator who provides counseling on everything from ovulation to orgasms, abortions to births, and menstruation to yeast infections. Sam brings a holistic approach to her work, seeking to deindustrialize all aspects of women's reproductive health. She...

"For People, Planet & Peace ...from the state of Maine" feat. Lisa Savage Lisa Savage is running for Senate in the state of Maine against Republican incumbent, Susan Collins. Lisa is long-time antiwar and environmental organizer, as well as being a public school teacher and a grandmother. Although she has been an active member of the Green Party, Lisa is running as an independent candidate due...

"The Pandemic as a Lesson in Humility" feat. Gilbert Mercier Gilbert Mercier is a is a French journalist, photojournalist and filmmaker. He founded the News Junkie Post in 2009 and is its Co-Editor-in-Chief. Over the years, he has been a guest analyst on television and radio programs for RT, BBC World News, the Progressive Radio Network, Sputnik, Al Hurra TV, CounterPunch Radio, and Radio Islam. M...

"Society of Strangers" Jessica L'Abbé is a registered nurse who lives and works in Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada. I know her only from social media, where I have been appreciating her perspectives and knowledge, especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke on April 29th, 2020, by Skype. We talked about US / Canadian differences in health care, governance and the culture at large. She also...

The Persistence of White Supremacy in the US 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. She contributed to the ant...

Rivera Sun is a change-maker, a cultural creative, a protest novelist, and an advocate for nonviolence and social justice. She is the author of many novels including The Dandelion Insurrection and The Way Between and other novels. She is also the editor of Nonviolence News, a free weekly newsletter. I first discovered Rivera's writing on Counterpunch and began following her on social media. A coup...

As the Western Watersheds Project’s Biodiversity Director, biologist Katie Fite has monitored more public ground than arguably any other single person in the Western United States. Her work has repeatedly set her against the anti-environmental bureaucrats at the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. She is currently Director of Public Lands at Wildlands Defense, an Idaho-based organiza...

Basin and Range Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to conserve the deserts of Nevada and California and to educate the public about the diversity of life, cultures, and history of the desert, as well as sustainable local renewable energy alternatives. They seek to protect desert wildlands and species, groundwater resources, dark night skies, culturally important landscapes, local...