Today it's one of my favorite topics -- the benefits of humans starting to embrace our animality and kinship with other animals, instead of falsely repressing our animality and continuing to think of ourselves as exceptional and above all animal life. We’ll talk about how we human animals can productively change our self narrative to be more honest with author and environmental philosopher Melanie Challenger who wrote the fascinating book “How to be animal: A New History of What it Means to be H...
Jan 14, 2024•30 min•Ep. 76
We focus on the creative process of several artists in the road ecology movement who have promoted safe passageways for wildlife to cross over and under human highways, via song, children’s literature, and documentary film. Our guests are writer Frances Figart of Asheville, NC and filmmaker Ted Grudowski of Seattle, WA, interviewed in this 30-minute podcast by host Carrie Freeman. Our discussion explores creative ways these artists have inspired humans to more safely and fairly share land with f...
Dec 18, 2023•30 min•Ep. 75
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 (airing in December 2023), I have Stephen read a few of his poems that ingeniously weave in the clim...
Nov 28, 2023•27 min•Ep. 74
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 (travel, parks, spas, etc.) or lending a helping hand (dog-sitting, babysitting/tutoring, lawncare, ho...
Nov 22, 2023•29 min•Ep. 73
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 thriving anymore (after tens of millions of years on this planet) and to profile the many unique and in...
Oct 24, 2023•28 min•Ep. 72
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 lovely designs at the book website https://www.naturedesignhealth.com/ . This 24-minute podcast is hosted...
Sep 12, 2023•24 min•Ep. 71
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 Tune to Nature for a longer format show (52 minutes). This gave us more time to discuss advice from the b...
Aug 25, 2023•52 min•Ep. 70
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'. Dr. Jennifer Jacquet , Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Univ of Miami, explains her...
Aug 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 69
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 recorded late July 2023, they explain why the bison are at risk of being killed by hunters and ranche...
Aug 03, 2023•25 min•Ep. 68
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 (especially via methane and deforestation). In this 25-minute podcast, In Tune to Nature host Carrie...
Jul 21, 2023•25 min•Ep. 67
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 (saving bears, elephants, wolves, leopards, whales, rainforests, and more) including kids shows, as...
Jun 23, 2023•25 min•Ep. 66
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 Georgia River Network. Their Executive Director, ecologist Rena Ann Peck talks to host Carrie Freeman in t...
Jun 12, 2023•26 min•Ep. 65
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 centuries the coyote has migrated to take the place of their wolf cousins. Also in this 26-minute In...
May 15, 2023•26 min•Ep. 64
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'Brien, leader of the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition . Nicola explains why we should NOT engage wi...
Apr 24, 2023•28 min•Ep. 63
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, noisy and explosive, mega law enforcement training center in a greenspace and forested area (a former pr...
Apr 10, 2023•27 min•Ep. 62
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 express opinions on this critical bill, as Senators and Representatives in the House would need to si...
Mar 26, 2023•49 min•Ep. 61
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 discusses the legal settlement. Additionally, bird flu isn't limited to birds, and it is spreading glo...
Mar 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 60
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 individual consumers experience -- that we can't stop factory farming through individual food choices and th...
Mar 06, 2023•26 min•Ep. 59
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 Carolina, in this 25 minute podcast recorded in February of 2023. We know these warehoused pigs are ...
Feb 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 58
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.emmamarris.com/ . Carrie Freeman, host of "In Tune to Nature," interviews Emma in this 26-minute po...
Feb 06, 2023•26 min•Ep. 57
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 lot to discover if we are willing to recognize the creative ways that other animal species choose t...
Jan 09, 2023•27 min•Ep. 56
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 nets and suffocation, pain from barbed hooks, catch (harass) and release, and ways to avoid all of...
Dec 24, 2022•28 min•Ep. 55
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 mix be in Georgia? How feasible is that clean energy transition and how can we get the political wil...
Dec 13, 2022•26 min•Ep. 54
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 27-minute podcast for In Tune to Nature, host Carrie Freeman talked with Stephanie Feldstein of T...
Nov 05, 2022•27 min•Ep. 53
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 November 2022 election, and how her organization vets Georgia political candidates to decide on whom...
Oct 23, 2022•28 min•Ep. 52
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 nature if we can urgently garner the political will and financial commitment from decision-makers to imp...
Oct 05, 2022•26 min•Ep. 51
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 podcast (from Sept 2022), Eugene shares his unconventional roots from artist to farmer and what it's ...
Sep 21, 2022•26 min•Ep. 50
An interview with Kristin Ohlson, author of "Sweet in Tooth & Claw," showcasing examples of how nature (including we human animals) thrive on cooperation and mutual aid between species, rather than focusing on the competitive or violent elements in nature that prompt us to try to tame and control species (and douse them with chemicals). The book “ Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World ” shows how when we look deeper and embrace the complex interd...
Sep 09, 2022•24 min•Ep. 49
Communication Professor Dr. Debra Merskin discusses her study of arguments for and against a ban on Oregon's coyote killing contests, including her recommendations for animal advocates to use approaches that are more likely to resonate with the rural residents arguing to keep the killing contests (although, other rural residents and some hunters also believe these killing contests should be banned). This 27-minute interview, hosted by Carrie Freeman for "In Tune to Nature," from August 2022, is ...
Aug 08, 2022•27 min•Ep. 48
From Cumberland Island up through Tybee Island, the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act of 1970 is the reason the Georgia coast is largely a protected natural marshland and not a polluted, exploited, and/or commercialized tourist trap. Historian & former GA congressperson Dr. Paul Bolster discusses the political lessons of getting this marshland protection act passed, as explored in his award-winning new book: “Saving the Georgia Coast: A political history of the coastal marshlands protection ...
Jul 27, 2022•26 min•Ep. 47
