In this conclusion to our series on dam removal, we travel from the Klamath up to the Olympic Peninsula, and the site of the former Elwha and Glines Canyon dams. What did it actually take to bring the dams down, and what lessons can we take forward to other ambitious ecosystem renewal projects? For extended show notes, musical credits and more, head to www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe-1-10-rushing-downriver Corrections to this episode: While salmon fry may have to contend with hungry bass in ot...
Nov 22, 2018•40 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Dams remain one of the ultimate demonstrations of human power over nature. Wild rivers can be tamed to deliver energy for industry, lakes for recreation, and water for agriculture. But severing the link between land and sea has come with grave ecological costs. The impact of dams on salmon populations has been especially obvious and painful. This is part one of a two-part series on dam removals. In this episode, we return to the Klamath river to examine the fierce conflict (and unlikely partners...
Nov 08, 2018•48 min•Season 1Ep. 9
How are human activities changing our oceans, and why do these changes all seem to support a new age of jellyfish? What are these ancient, diverse beings: harbingers of doom, or simply the most well-adapted form of life in the sea? In this episode we go jellyfishing for answers with preeminent jellyfish researchers Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin and Dr. Lucas Brotz. Find show notes for this episode at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-8-jellyfishing-for-answers If you’d like to dive into more de...
Oct 25, 2018•49 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In the fall of 2017, a series of devastating earthquakes rocked southern Mexico. But what if it’s not the earthquakes themselves that pose the greatest threat to these communities? The conflict between institutional and grassroots disaster response in the aftermath of these earthquakes provides a powerful illustration of the tensions that have underlain the concept of development ever since President Truman’s second inaugural address in 1949. In this episode, Oaxacan deprofessionalized intellect...
Sep 28, 2018•50 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this second part of our two-episode series, On Fire , we look at ways to move our civilization forward – without continuing to deny the role of fire in our landscapes. We discuss how prescribed burns are currently conducted, radical new (and old) perspectives on land management policy, and practical techniques for everyone in fire country to protect their homes, their communities, and their forests. Find shownotes, sources, and musical credits at https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-6-o...
Sep 13, 2018•54 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The past two years have been the worst fire years on record across the west coast of North America, with whole communities being engulfed in flames and smoke enveloping major cities for weeks. But as the airways fill once again with stories of valiant fire-fighters and people who’ve lost their homes, we answer some burning questions that seem to always fly under the radar. For example: How long have fires been burning on this planet Have our ecologies always been adapted to fire? What role did i...
Aug 31, 2018•50 min•Season 1Ep. 5
During the devastating September 9, 2017 earthquake off the coast of southern Mexico, residents of Mexico City and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala witnessed mysterious bursts of light in the sky. These lights, however, were not UFOs, exploding transformers, or evidence of a mysterious government conspiracy - instead, they were examples of a long-documented phenomenon known as “earthquake lights.” Can these mysterious lights in the sky help us learn to anticipate earthquakes? Can physics explain the st...
Aug 16, 2018•54 min•Season 1Ep. 4
What do you do when you find the last individual of a species previously thought to be extinct? The two rarest plants on earth both live in the Presidio of San Francisco, they’re both in the same genus, and there’s only one left of each. Is there a future for these species, and if so, what does it look like? And what can species on the brink tell us about ourselves and the future of our ecosystems? Find show notes for this episode at www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-3-the-loneliest-plants – – ...
Aug 01, 2018•48 min•Season 1Ep. 3
The story of modern-day North America begins with the systematic genocide and displacement of indigenous peoples. The social and ecological consequences of this founding trauma have become clearer over time, but so far relatively little has been done to address this at the federal, state, and provincial levels. In this episode, we zero in on two violently displaced tribes in California - the Wiyot and the Amah Mutsun - and tell the stories of their respective journeys to return to the spiritual ...
Jul 20, 2018•57 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Future Ecologies is recorded on the unceded territories of the Musqueam (xwməθkwəy̓əm) Squamish (Skwxwú7mesh), and Tsleil- Waututh (Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh) Nations - otherwise known as Vancouver, British Columbia. But what does that mean? In this proto-episode of Future Ecologies, we talk to indigenous plant diva T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, about how, as non-indigenous people, we can podcast respectfully on unceded indigenous territory. It’s our way of acknowledging the the land we live on and the...
Jul 17, 2018•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1
