For this episode, we sat down with Kate Rigby to discuss her new book Meditations on Creation in an Era of Extinction. The text is a reclaiming of the ancient theological meditation form, the hexameron, to consider the climate crisis and mass extinction. Meditating on a day of creation in each chapter, she tells us about the insights each day of creation has for the Anthropocene like contemplative practices in the First Day and the move from a "Kingdom" to a "Kindom" of species in the Fifth Day....
May 30, 2025•58 min•Ep. 53
We sat down with Melody Jue for a second episode to discuss her new work Coralations, a fascinating deep dive into the coral we know and the coral we need to know. Though tropical corals inundate perceptions of coral, there are other deep water and cold water coral that have different connections or coralations to anthropogenic climate change. By rethinking "normative coral," new media across photography, sci fi, and more come into the light. For more about Melody Jue: Website: Melodyjue.info Em...
May 02, 2025•46 min•Ep. 52
This month's episode is a podcast about a podcast! We sat down with Nate Otjen and Jessica Ng, two of the leaders of the audio story series "Mining for the Climate," to discuss the audio documentary series and its investigation of the rhetoric arguing for continued mining as essential to the "green transition." The first season, set in Gaston County, North Carolina, details the controversy surrounding a proposed lithium mine in the county, and the upcoming second season takes listeners to Nevada...
Apr 04, 2025•53 min•Ep. 51
In this month's episode, we spoke with Sarah Dimick about her new book Unseasonable: Climate Change in Global Literatures. It connects literature and the environment through an idea of seasonality and rhythm. Climate change can be understood as a time of unseasonableness, of environmental events and cycles being outside normal rhythms of time. Living today is defined by this arrhythmia, and Sarah charts new territory in studying literature for its reflections of this cyclicality, what she calls ...
Feb 28, 2025•37 min•Ep. 50
Today's episode begins a slight turn toward ecoaesthetics in the next few episodes, and we begin with Carolyn Fornoff's new book Subjunctive Aesthetics: Mexican Cultural Production in the Era of Climate Change (2024). Carolyn spoke to us about subjunctivity, a grammatical mood characterized by hypotheticals, and how its imaginative style has sprouted up in recent Mexican film, activism, and texts not to depict climate change in an "evidentiary" sense (a typical narrative style of eco-literature ...
Jan 29, 2025•45 min•Ep. 49
In the final episode of our extinction series, we chatted with two extinction biologists, Hope Sutton and Sara Schweitzer, who work for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Sara is the assistant chief and wildlife diversity program director and Hope is the eastern wildlife diversity supervisor. We discussed their challenges in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville and their triumphs in the successful rehabilitation of some of the more than 100 endangered animals under their...
Dec 30, 2024•47 min•Ep. 48
In this second episode of our ongoing extinction series, we sit down with Jean-Thomas Tremblay and Steven Swarbrick to discuss their thought-provoking co-written manuscript, Negative Life: The Cinema of Extinction. Our conversation with them touches not only on the concrete topics of extinction and cinema, but also explores the theoretical potential of negations and contradictions as frameworks for understanding the relationship (or not) between humans and the more-than-human world. For more fro...
Nov 29, 2024•50 min•Ep. 47
In this first episode of our extinction series, we met with Todd May to discuss his new book Should We Go Extinct? A Philosophical Dilemma for Our Times. This massive question is accessibly analyzed yet Todd also brings in issues underdiscussed in extinction discourse: Who is the inexact "we" behind the question, how do different humans contribute to ecological crisis and therefore human and nonhuman extinction, and what is the role of art in deciding whether humanity's existence should continue...
Oct 27, 2024•48 min•Ep. 46
In this episode, we met with Nadia Colburn to discuss her new poetry collection I Say the Sky! Deeply engaged with the ecological collapse happening around us while also reinvesting in our own existence, her poems range from the simplicity in appreciating the beauty of an onion to reassessing childhood trauma. We also talk through her multi-hyphenate pursuits and the continual search for the "symphony inside you". For more on Nadia: Website: nadiacolburn.com Email: nadia@nadiacolburn.com ASLE Ec...
Aug 26, 2024•41 min•Ep. 45
In our final episode of our polar environmental humanities series, we have Penn State English professor Hester Blum on to discuss her environmental humanities research on polar ecomedia! Dr. Blum discusses the ephemeral texts and productions aboard Arctic and Antarctic voyages including newspapers. Newspapers on polar voyages? Yes, you heard that right. These texts have contemporary and global lessons to teach in that their production took place while in extreme environments. For more on Hester:...
Jul 28, 2024•51 min•Ep. 44
In our second episode of our polar environmental humanities series, we jump from the landscape paintings of the circumpolar north to the southern continent of Antarctica and speak with Dr. Elizabeth Leane at the University of Tasmania! As a Professor of Antarctic Studies, we discuss her work on perceptions of Antarctica historically and also sensorially. From pandemic misconceptions of cleanliness and silence on the continent to science fiction and Antarctic tourism, Leane walks us through the c...
Jun 27, 2024•42 min•Ep. 43
This is the first episode in our polar environmental humanities series with Dr. Isabelle Gapp from the University of Aberdeen! We met to discuss her new book, "A Circumpolar Landscape", and the fascinating comparisons between Scandinavian and Canadian landscape painting beyond national borders. We discuss the way the paintings can often exhibit masculine performativity in their erasures and how the painters are nostalgically reminiscing about a landscape changing in front of their eyes from colo...
May 27, 2024•54 min•Ep. 42
Our conversation with Professor Angus discusses her brand-new book Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography. As the title suggests, Angus connects photography with the materials that make it possible: bitumen, silver, platinum, iron, uranium, and rare earth elements. Each has been used at various points in photography's history to physically produce an image, and Siobhan tells us how photography doesn't exist without the mine and extraction. If, in Rob Nixon's words, capitalism "ext...
Mar 26, 2024•44 min•Ep. 41
Our conversation with Professor Goode explores her recent book Agrotopias: An American Literary History of Sustainability. Two recent phrases form the impetus of her book: "We Can't Solve the Climate Crisis Unless Black Lives Matter" and "Climate Change Is also a Racial Justice Problem". Goode traces these back to the enigmatic Thomas Jefferson to illuminate and enmesh the supposedly protoecological American past with its racist and eugenic histories by analyzing agrotopias. She defines agrotopi...
Feb 26, 2024•41 min•Ep. 40
This episode is a goodbye and a hello. Brandon Galm, the creator of EcoCast in 2020 and co-host since its inception, is now stepping away from the podcast to make more time for his new roles at Cloud County Community College in North Central Kansas. We say hello to Alex Tischer, a recent graduate from Wright State in English who is now applying to English Ph.D. programs. Brandon and Alex are on either side of the Ph.D. process, and this episode discusses the co-host transition, Brandon's next en...
Feb 01, 2024•45 min•Ep. 39
Many apologies for the whale pun in the title, but Brandon can never resist. This month he and Lindsay chat with Jamie L. Jones, author of Rendered Obsolete: Energy Culture and the Afterlife of US Whaling. Jamie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We discuss the fascinating history of whaling in the United States, ranging from the environmentally destructive to the culturally traditional. Moby Dick may or may not be discussed;...
Jan 15, 2024•40 min•Ep. 38
This month’s episode was recorded live throughout the ASLE/AESS Conference in July 2023 in Portland. Brandon had the opportunity to set up a table at the conference and the five wonderful people who you’re getting to listen to on this episode stopped by and shared their work with him (and now you!) Guest List: Rajendra Ponde, Man, Nature, and Wildlife Depicted in the Jungle Literature of Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson Lori DiPrete Brown, Montañas and 3 or 4 Rios: Antología Bilingüe, ebook avai...
Dec 22, 2023•37 min•Ep. 37
In this episode, Lindsay and Brandon are joined by Laura Wright and Jessica Cory to discuss their recent edited collection Appalachian Ecocriticism and the Paradox of Place. The episode kicks off with some gleeful sharing of a love for cryptids, but then gets into the heart of what it means to be from Appalachia, the common misconceptions of the area, and the important role those perceptions play in understanding the environmental issues facing the region. For more on Laura and Jessica: Appalach...
Sep 10, 2023•52 min•Ep. 36
EcoCast heads back to the ocean again as its theme, this month to discuss Ryan Poll’s recent book Aquaman and the War Against Oceans. He and Brandon examine the character’s evolution, the comics’ role in an oceanic imaginary, and how Aquaman comics can help bring attention to the issues facing the environment. ASLE is also looking for new showrunners! If you’re interested in taking over as a co-host, editor, and/or producer, please send an email to ASLE.EcoCast@gmail.com with a short bio and exp...
Jul 02, 2023•41 min•Ep. 35
This month Lindsay and Brandon are joined by Christina Gerhardt, Associate Professor and Founder of the Environmental Humanities initiative at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and the Editor-in-Chief of ISLE. We discuss Christina’s recently released book (it comes out the same day as this episode!) Sea Change: Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean, which challenges us to re-consider the idea of mapping in a world increasingly affected by global warming. For more on Christina: Sea Change: https://...
May 23, 2023•45 min•Ep. 34
This month Lindsay and Brandon are joined by Joshua Trey Barnett, assistant professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, to discuss his recent book Mourning in the Anthropocene. We talk about extinction, what it means to grieve nature, and even get a little personal with the idea of naming and loss of pets. Joshua’s Info: Twitter: @joshuatbarnett Email: barnett@psu.edu Mourning in the Anthropocene: Ecological Grief and Earthly Coexistence: https://msupress.o...
Apr 09, 2023•41 min•Ep. 33
This month’s episode is no slog. It’s no slug, either. This month is all about the wonderful world of snails! Lindsay and Brandon are joined by Thom Van Dooren, Deputy Director at the Sydney Environment Institute and an Associate Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of Sydney, Australia. Thom joins EcoCast to discuss his most recent book, A World in a Shell: Snail Stories for a Time of Extinction. Thom’s Info: https://www.thomvandooren.org/ A World in a Shell: https://mitpress...
Mar 01, 2023•37 min•Ep. 32
Eleana Kim, professor of anthropology and Asian American studies at UC Irvine, joins Lindsay and Brandon to discuss her work that examines the unique liminal space of the Korean DMZ, and the natural, militaristic, and hybrid ecosystems within it. Eleana argues that this particular space helps us better understand the impacts of war on the natural world, but that it also helps us better connect with the natural world and each other when we explore that space. To contact Eleana: https://faculty.si...
Jan 03, 2023•43 min•Ep. 31
This month we dive deep (pun intended) into the work of Melody Jue, Associate Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara. Melody joins us to discuss her most recent book Wild Blue Media, and we get below the surface (pun intended) of how important oceans are, the human fascination with them, and how they serve as a space for orientation. The episode is a real splash (no pun intended)! For more on Melody: http://www.melodyjue.info/ Wild Blue Media: https://www.dukeupress.edu/wild-blue-media ASLE Ec...
Nov 17, 2022•40 min•Ep. 30
The laughs are aplenty in this episode, which highlights the recent book by Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann: Film, Environment, Comedy: Eco-comedies on the Big Screen. Both Robin and Joseph are Professor Emeritus at Eastern Illinois University, in English and in Communications, respectively. In between the ha-has, we discuss what makes a comedy an eco-comedy, why laughter is important, and how comedy and activism might connect. For more on Robin and Joseph: Film, Environment, Comedy: Eco-c...
Oct 10, 2022•51 min•Ep. 29
It’s a full house this month! Lindsay and Brandon are joined by the six-member superhero team that makes up the Anti-Creep Climate Initiative to discuss their webzine, “Against the Ecofascist Creep” The Initiative is made up of the following: April Anson, Assistant Professor of Public Humanities at San Diego State University, core faculty for the Institute for Ethics and Public Policy, and affiliate faculty in American Indian Studies. Cassie Galentine, doctoral candidate in English at the Univer...
Sep 08, 2022•51 min•Ep. 28
This month Lindsay and Brandon are joined by Rina Garcia Chua and Jeffrey Santa Ana to discuss their recent edited collection Empire and Environment: Ecological Ruin in the Transpacific. Rina is an incoming Jack and Doris Shadbolt Fellow in the Humanities at Simon Fraser University and she completed her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Jeffrey is an associate professor of English and affiliated faculty in Asian and Asian American Studies and Wome...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 27
Another episode and another year older! That’s right, this episode marks TWO years of ASLE EcoCast! Thank you so much to everyone who’s joined us on this ride and to our incredible guests for sharing their awesome work with us. This month is a special episode just to celebrate: we have excerpts from a wonderful short story by Cynthia Zhang, “what the water gave.” After Cynthia introduces us to the story and her work, Lindsay does an excellent reading of the story (with a little character voicewo...
Jul 07, 2022•49 min•Ep. 26
This month’s episode is something a little different and something a little bittersweet. Brandon says, “See you soon,” to Jemma, and welcomes Lindsay S.R. Jolivette to the podcast. Lindsay will be taking over for Jemma on EcoCast, and while we’re very sad to see Jemma go (she’ll still be around when she can!), we’re also very happy to have Lindsay on board. We spend some time talking about Lindsay’s background (she also introduces us to her new segment on folklore), hearing about Jemma’s plans, ...
Jun 01, 2022•49 min•Ep. 25
This special episode features the audio recording from ASLE's Spotlight Series second 2022 episode, Entangled Geographies, recorded on April 22, 2022. Co-hosts: Matt Henry and Jennifer Ladino Panelists: Elizabeth Carolyn Miller, Lynne Heasley, Amanda M. Smith, and Katarzyna Beilin For more information on ASLE, including registering for the next ASLE Spotlight on May 20, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. US Eastern time, visit: https://www.asle.org/stay-informed/asle-news/ CC BY-NC-ND 4.0...
May 16, 2022•58 min•Ep. 24
