Christopher Leonard – KOCHLAND: The Secret History of Koch Industries & Corporate Power in America

Since the death in 1967, of Koch patriarch, Fred Koch,

Charles Koch has governed the private corporation, Koch Industries, influencing the economy and politics of the United States as few individuals have ever done in history.

An early, lucrative investment was the acquisition of the Pine Bend Refinery, a “cash cow” for the Kochs for over 50 years. Conflicts with labor unions and violations of environmental laws marked Koch management of Pine Bend

In Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America (Simon & Schuster, 2019), business journalist, Christopher Leonard, delves deeply into the history of the Koch family and businesses, whose products are foundational to the U.S. economy – from fertilizer for food to energy for transportation, industry and homes, to the fibers we wear and more.

Among its numerous acquisitions over the past 50 years, Georgia-Pacific was one of its biggest, affecting many communities, including Ft. Bragg, CA. The former mill site was bought from Koch Industries by the City of Ft. Bragg. Many are concerned about the toxic residues, including lead, arsenic, dioxin and PCBs.

Kris Newby BITTEN: The Secret History of Lyme Disease & Biological Weapons

“…the US military has conducted thousands of experiments exploring the use of ticks and tick-borne diseases as biological weapons, and in some cases, these agents escaped into the environment. The government needs to declassify the details of these open air bioweapons tests, so that we can begin to repair the damage these pathogens are inflicting on humans and animals in the ecosystem.”

Those are the words written by award-winning science writer at Stanford University, Kris Newby, in her scrupulously researched and referenced, controversial new book, BITTEN: THE SECRET HISTORY OF LYME DISEASE AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, published by Harper Wave, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Kris Newby has two degrees in engineering, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s degree from Stanford University.
She was the senior producer of the Lyme disease documentary UNDER OUR SKIN, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was a 2010 Oscar semifinalist. Previously, she was a technology writer for Apple and other Silicon Valley companies.

In 1951, Swiss born scientist, Willy Burgdorfer began working at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, where he began researching ticks and tick-borne diseases. He began working with the US Biological Weapons program at Forth Detrick, MD. In 1981, Willy Burgdorfer discovered the spirochete, Borrelia brugdorferi, believed to cause Lyme Disease.

The area around the Long Island Sound where the sudden outbreak of three unusual tick-borne diseases – Lyme Disease, first identified near the township of Lyme, CT; Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a bacterial disease; and Babesiosis, a disease caused by a malaria-like parasite. The Plum Island Animal Disease Center is pinpointed.

The feeding apparatus of a female Ixodes ricinus. (Courtesy of Dania Richter, Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Germany)

John Taliaferro – GRINNELL: America’s Environmental Pioneer & His Restless Drive to Save the West

In this interview recorded on July 25, 2019, John Taliaferro discusses the extraordinary life of George Bird Grinnell, largely forgotten to conservation history. His book, Grinnell: America’s Environmental Pioneer & His Restless Drive to Save the West, is published by Liveright Publishing, a division of W. W. Norton.

Grinnell is credited with being the first person of European descent to explore what is today Glacier National Park, as well as being instrumental in its creation

He was a founder of the Audubon Society and published The Audubon Magazine.

Grinnell was a prolific writer on many topics, including hunting, conservation, the ethnology of numerous Native American tribes, and novels about Jack, a Western boy.

Childless himself, he wrote the “Jack” books for his nephews:

Anne Phillips – Born to Be Blue

In 1959, when she was 23 years old, Anne Phillips sang on her first album, BORN TO BE BLUE. It received excellent reviews, but the burgeoning Rock & Roll overshadowed it.

She has had a long and varied career since then, including back-up singer to Carole King and others, composing jingles for ad agencies, composing operas and liturgical music.

Her Nativity musical, Bending Toward the Light, has been produced for decades in Manhattan, featuring some of the jazz greats of the era.

Anne Phillips has been on the faculty of the Jazz Department at NYU, music Director for the 9AM service at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church and was a National Trustee of NARAS, the Recording Academy.

With her late husband, Bob Kindred, she formed a non-profit, Kindred Spirits, which created Children’s Jazz Choirs.

You can find out more about Anne Phillips and her work here:

http://annephillips.com/

Aric McBay: Full Spectrum Resistance Part 2

This is Part 2 of the interview with Aric McBay, originally recorded on July 3, 2019.

You can learn more about his work here: https://www.aricmcbay.org/

A Conversation with Local Eco-Warriors: Mike Mease & Doug Peacock

In this edition of Forthright Radio, we bring you a recording of a panel discussion from the 2019 BZN International Film Festival, featuring Mike Mease, co-founder of Buffalo Field Campaign, and Doug Peacock, writer, naturalist, filmmaker and Green Beret combat medic, who is founder of Save The Yellowstone Grizzly.

It was recorded in the Hager Auditorium of the Museum of the Rockies on June 8, 2019.

According to their website (https://buffalofieldcampaign.org):

Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working both in the field and in the policy arenas to stop the harassment and slaughter of America’s last wild buffalo.

Formalized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1997, we also protect the natural habitat of wild free-roaming bison and other native wildlife, and stand with First Nations to honor the sacredness of wild buffalo.

Our primary goal is to create permanent year-round protection for bison and the ecosystem they depend on—including respect for the migratory needs of this long-exploited and clearly endangered species.

According to their website (https://savetheyellowstonegrizzly.org/):

Save the Yellowstone Grizzly (STYG) was founded by Doug Peacock in 2016 as a response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) statement published in the Federal Register on March 3, 2016, recommending the removal of grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem from their “threatened” status under the Endangered Species Act.

On June 3, 2016, Peacock drafted a letter to President Barack Obama which emphasized the FWS’s tragic dismissal of the importance of climate change: In the last decade, climate change has decimated the Yellowstone grizzly’s most important food, the white bark pine nut.

Today, all grizzlies south of Canada are threatened by global warming, which has already decimated the Yellowstone grizzly’s most important food source, the whitebark pine nut. In August 2018, Save the Yellowstone Grizzly filed an amicus brief to address the most crucial issue and deficiency in the government’s case, climate change. Judge Christensen accepted the brief on August 29, the day before the federal hearing on delisting.