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Seventh Generation: The Voice and Leadership of Indigenous Youth – Ep. 88
In this episode, hear from emboldened and empowered youth activists, Alexis (Lex) Saenz and Yulu Wek of the International Indigenous Youth Council. Listen to their stories of reclaiming and living into their cultural identities, empowering community, preparing for non-violent direct action, engaging in artivism, fulfilling the 7 Demands for 7 Generations, modeling circular leadership, prayerfully serving Mother Earth, and training up youth to potentiate themselves for the benefit of the collective’s highest good. READ MORE…
Amazon Defenders Part Three: Fires, Corruption, and Resistance in the Brazilian Amazon – Ep. 86
In Part 3 of “The Amazon Defenders,” we focus on the Eastern Amazon and the Brazilian Rainforest where the issues of deforestation, road development, forest fires, cattle ranching, land invasion, soy farming, mining, and COVID-19 are impacting the health and viability of the rainforest and its peoples. We hear about the vital stewardship by an Indigenous-led movement for human and environmental rights, and efforts to demand accountability for the six US-based financial institutions funding the destruction.
Ana Paula Vargas, who goes by Paula, has been advocating for more than 20 years with communications and culture, human rights, and social justice in Brazil. As Program Manager at Amazon Watch, she has collaborated with international institutions to support and promote projects from popular associations, social movements, and grassroots organizations. READ MORE…
A Farm Grows in LA: Urban Farming with Avenue 33 – Ep. 85
Listen to Eric Tomassini and Ali Greer of Avenue 33 Urban Farm share their insights, successes and challenges farming an urban hillside in arid Southern California. Learn how regenerative farming restores the hydrologic cycle, promotes biodiversity, sequesters carbon, mitigates climate change, and accelerates the return of health and biology to the soil.
Avenue 33 Farm [on Instagram] is a 1.2 acre hillside farm in Lincoln Heights, just outside of Downtown Los Angeles. They focus on selling nutritious produce and flowers, establishing healthy soil, and empowering others to grow food. READ MORE…
Amazon Defenders Part Two: Criminalizing Activism – The Steven Donziger Case – Ep. 84
In Part Two of our special Four-Part series on “Rise of the Amazon Defenders,” we investigate the story of New York based attorney Steven Donziger [donzigerdefense.com] who represented Ecuadorian communities demanding justice from Chevron-Texaco for one of the largest-ever oil disasters. In an historic judgement, Chevron was found liable by Ecuadorian courts and ordered to pay $9.5 billion.
Chevron says it will never pay. Instead, they have turned our guest Steven Donziger into a corporate political prisoner, placed under house arrest, bankrupt, disbarred. We look into how Chevron, supported by US federal judges, is using retaliatory attacks against Mr. Donziger and the Ecuadorian Peoples, and how their actions set a dangerous precedent and represent a growing and serious threat to the ability of civil society to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds around the world. READ MORE…
Fire as Medicine: The Indigenous Way of Cultural Burning – Ep. 83
Native peoples have used the tool of fire as medicine. Fire was understood to be a spirit, a healer and sacred in its own right. Traditional Native controlled burning, called cultural fire, utilizes ancient agro-forestry practices, technology developed through time by the Karuk tribe and Indigenous Peoples around the world.
Tune in to hear Elizabeth Azzuz, Secretary of Cultural Fire Management Council, discuss her work using Traditional Native Karuk methods of prescribed burning to protect forests, heal degraded ecosystems, and reestablish forest-grown food, medicine, and products. READ MORE…
Amazon Defenders Part One: Protecting Biodiversity from Big Oil – Ep. 82
We present Part One of our special Four-Part series on “Rise of the Amazon Defenders,” beginning in the Western Amazon to understand how activists are confronting the dirty legacy of oil extraction, stopping the expansion of new oil leases, and protecting the rainforest biodiversity.
Paul Paz y Miño, Associate Director of Amazon Watch, provides an overview of the rich significance of the Amazon, expands upon what is happening in the Western Region and the connection to California, and speaks to the growing resistance protecting the rainforest and the rights of Indigenous peoples. Hosted by Jessica Aldridge. READ MORE…
The Fight for Self Determination between Armenia and Azerbaijan – Ep. 81
In this episode, we seek to gain a broader understanding of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We dive into the history of these countries and the land occupation, how Turkey and Russia have influenced and benefit from an ongoing conflict, and why there exists an intergenerational, emotional connection for Armenians around the world. We speak with Vaché Thomassian, Glendale Board Member of Armenian National Committee of America and Dr. Djene Rhys Bajalan, Assistant Professor at Missouri State University. READ MORE…
Broken Trust: LA Public Utility Methane Leak Poisons Sun Valley Community – Ep. 80
Recently, the City of Los Angeles public utility admitted that its Valley Generating Station had been leaking methane gas into the community for three years. Pacoima Beautiful, a grassroots organization that had been working for decades for environmental justice for the San Fernando Valley, stepped up to organize protests. Gas plant neighbors include Sun Valley and Pacoima which are predominantly people of color. The environmental contamination and health impacts from the leaking methane are compounded by area landfills, trains, airplanes, industry pollution, and freeways.
Pacoima Beautiful’s push to secure a clean energy future for the Northeast San Fernando Valley has resulted in LA Council President, Nury Martinez, submitting a motion calling for a sunset date for gas operation at the Valley Gas Plant.
Our host, Jessica Aldridge, speaks with Veronica Padilla-Campos, Executive Director for Pacoima Beautiful. Veronica attended UCLA where she received her urban planning degree knowing that she would return to her community of the Northeast San Fernando Valley to help allocate the right resources they deserve, demanding environmental justice and accountability. READ MORE…
Radical Mycology: The Future is Fungi – Ep. 79
This week we speak with Peter McCoy, Founder of Mycologos, the world’s first mycology school, and Founder and Creative Director of Radical Mycology, a mushroom and fungi advocacy foundation. He and host Carry Kim discuss the grassroots movement and social philosophy behind using regenerative natural mushroom farming to promote ecological restoration and create food and medicines.
Peter McCoy is a mycology educator and farmer, author, and artist from Portland, Oregon. He is the visioneer behind the first annual Fungi Film Festival. In 2016, Peter published the book ‘Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing and Working With Fungi’ detailing his nearly two decades of experience in promoting fungi for the health of people and the planet. READ MORE…
After the Burn: The Benefits of Bioremediation – Ep 78
Listen to applied mycologist, educator, and ecosystem restoration practitioner Taylor Bright [@symbiiotica], speak in detail about post-fire remediation and regeneration, particularly mycoremediation, where fungi-based technology is used to decontaminate the environment and heal the water and soil.
Since August 2020, hundreds of fires have burned and are still burning in Oregon, Washington, and California. To date, over 4.5 million acres have burned.
Taylor Bright is currently an officer and researcher for Bay Area Applied Mycology [bayareaappliedmycology.com], as well as a project facilitator and educator for CoRenewal [www.amazonmycorenewal.org]. Both are applied mycology non-profit organizations that focus on community education and research, implementation of post-wildfire soil regeneration, and mycoremediation efforts in both California and Ecuador. READ MORE…