Future Ecologies - the Podcast.
FUTURE ECOLOGIES IS A PODCAST ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS – BETWEEN, WITHIN, AMONGST, AND ALL AROUND US.
Made for audiophiles and nature lovers alike, Future Ecologies is a podcast exploring our eco-social relationships through stories, science, music, and soundscapes. Every episode is an invitation to see the world in a new light — weaving together narrative and interviews with expert knowledge holders.
The format varies: from documentary storytelling to stream-of-consciousness sound collage, and beyond. Episodes are released only when they're ready, not on a fixed schedule (but approximately monthly).
This podcast has 5 Seasons (as of May 2024) including a 7 episode podcast “SCALES OF CHANGE - THE DRAGONS OF CLIMATE INACTION.” LISTEN TO THEM ALL HERE
Episode 1.1 - DECOLONIZE THIS PODCAST
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 ever-present role that indigenous peoples will play in the stories to come. Also, Cease tells some great stories of her own.
Episode 1.2 - THIS IS WHERE IT BEGINS
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 centers of their worlds. Along the way, we ask a simple question: can the wrongs of the past be addressed, at least in part, by the return of stolen lands?
Episode 1.3 - THE LONELIEST PLANTS
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?
Episode 1.4 - LUCES EN EL CIELO
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 strange animal behaviour linked to seismic activity? We unravel the science – and controversy – of a new interpretation of geophysics, and we talk to two groups developing very different technologies with the same goal: saving lives from earthquake disaster.
Episode 1.5 - ON FIRE: CAMAS, CORES, AND SPORES (PART 1)
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 indigenous peoples play in lighting fires in the past?And how can we return prescribed burns to sensitive ecosystems?
To answer these questions, we talk to regional experts, including internationally renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Nancy Turner, in this first part of our two-part series, On Fire.
Episode 1.6 - ON FIRE: COMBUSTIBLE COMMUNITIES (PART 2)
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.
Episode 1.7 - HELP NOT HELPING
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 intellectual Gustavo Esteva guides us through his thinking on capitalism, disaster response, and what lies beyond development.
Episode 1.8 - JELLYFISHING FOR ANSWERS
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.
If you’d like to dive into more detail about a number of fascinating jellyfish species, we have a series of mini-episodes featuring Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin – released first to our Patreon supporters at www.patreon.com/futureecologies
Episode 1.9 - DAMS: SWIMMING UPSTREAM (PART 1)
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 partnerships) in pursuit of the deconstruction of 4 major dams.
Episode 1.10 - DAMS: RUSHING DOWNRIVER (PART 2)
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? This is the second episode of a 2-part series.
Episode 1.11 - FUNERARY ECOLOGIES
Forever is a really long time. This episode is about death, and its transformative power on the landscape. It’s also the last episode of Season 1.
It may be trivial to remind you that death is an unavoidable part of life. However, death is an act that leaves ripples in life. Some may last for thousands of years.
You might expect us to talk about new sustainable burial technologies (See: Jae Rhim Lee & Katrina Spade), and honestly so did we. As we started working on it, we realized that we would rather let TED Talks handle that sort of thing. Instead, this episode takes a broad view through the lens of ritual, urban planning, and ecological entanglements, with a distinct focus on the Salish Sea.
It’s been a huge honour to bring you all of these stories over the past 5 months. This seemed like the most appropriate way to close out our first season.