August | 2022 | Forthright Radio

Returning to Forthright Radio, award winning science journalist, broadcaster and author, Gaia Vince, has a new book out from Flatiron Press, NOMAD CENTURY: HOW CLIMATE MIGRATION WILL RESHAPE OUR WORLD.

We last spoke with her in 2020 when her book, TRANSCENDENCE: HOW HUMANS EVOLVED THROUGH FIRE, LANGUAGE, BEAUTY AND TIME, came out. That interview can be heard here: https://forthright.media/2020/04/01/gaia-vince-transcendence-how-humans-evolved-through-fire-language-beauty-time/

Her first book, Adventures in the Anthropocene: A Journey to the Heart of the Planet We Made, won the 2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, making her the first woman to win that prize outright.

We spoke with her via Skype on August 22, 2022.

The original broadcast included audio excerpts from the 100th birthday programs honoring James Lovelock, whose Gaia Theory revolutionized the way we approach global crises. Links to the full programs can be found below.

Articles/videos pertinent or referred to in the program can be found here:

Does climate breakdown mean we’re doomed? No: if we’re brave, big change can happen fast https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/11/climate-breakdown-climate-crisis-solutions-idea

Lovelock Centenary Panel 1: What can we learn from Gaia (towards Gaia 2.0) (Gaia Vince’s portion begins at 5:40) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUPJcXDVOgY

How to save humankind (according to James Lovelock) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuGj5n_vYz4

Song for Gaia Official – Plant for the Planet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLR–gK9-cQ

The century of climate migration: why we need to plan for the great upheaval https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/aug/18/century-climate-crisis-migration-why-we-need-plan-great-upheaval

Cloud Wars: Mideast Rivalries Rise Along a New Front https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/28/world/middleeast/cloud-seeding-mideast-water-emirates.html

Are 15-minute cities the future? https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/are-15-minute-cities-the-future/p0cqty38

The floods tell us the river is sick. We should listen to Indigenous knowledge to help Country heal https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/18/the-floods-tell-us-the-river-is-sick-we-should-listen-to-indigenous-knowledge-to-help-country-heal

Taking Action on Climate Change Requires Coming Together https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2022/08/11/climate-change-coming-together

‘Extreme Heat Belt’ Forming in U.S. South, Midwest, Report Says https://www.huffpost.com/entry/extreme-heat-belt-south-midwest_n_62fc9837e4b077bb77a6d886

China deploys cloud-seeding planes and cuts electricity use as record heatwave takes toll https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/18/china-deploys-cloud-seeding-planes-and-cuts-electricity-use-as-record-heatwave-takes-toll

Make it rain: US states embrace ‘cloud seeding’ to try to conquer drought https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/23/us-stated-cloud-seeding-weather-modification

Cloud spraying and hurricane slaying: how ocean geoengineering became the frontier of the climate crisis https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/23/cloud-spraying-and-hurricane-slaying-could-geoengineering-fix-the-climate-crisis

Tree loss due to fire is worst in far northern latitudes, data shows https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/17/tree-loss-due-to-fire-is-worst-in-far-northern-latitudes-data-shows

Weeks of heat above 100F will be the norm in much of US by 2053, study finds https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/15/extreme-heat-risk-temperatures-2053-study

Every Dollar Spent on This Technology Is a Waste https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/opinion/climate-inflation-reduction-act.html

Climate activists fill golf holes with cement after water ban exemption https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62532840

A majority of Americans see an ‘invasion’ at the southern border, NPR poll finds https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1117953720/a-majority-of-americans-see-an-invasion-at-the-southern-border-npr-poll-finds

US government diet guidelines ignores climate crisis https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/26/usda-diet-guide-myplate-climate-crisis

In 2019, we interviewed Dahr Jamail when his book, THE END OF ICE: BEARING WITNESS AND FINDING MEANING IN THE PATH OF CLIMATE DISRUPTION, was published by The New Press. In addition to interviewing scientists from around the world, he consulted with Indigenous people as well, investigating some of the cultural and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis.

After THE END OF ICE came out, he joined with writer and teacher, Stan Rushworth, in interviewing 11 Native women and 9 men from different generations and walks of life to solicit their perspectives. This collaboration has resulted in the book, WE ARE THE MIDDLE OF FOREVER: INDIGENOUS VOICES FROM TURTLE ISLAND ON THE CHANGING EARTH, also published by The New Press.

Stan Rushworth was a full time, tenured professor at Cabrillo College from 1992 til 2008, where he taught Native American Literature and Critical Thinking. He continued teaching and developing Native classes there until 2022. He is the author of three earlier books, GOING TO WATER: THE JOURNAL OF BEGINNING RAIN; SAM WOODS: AMERICAN HEALING; and DIASPORA’S CHILDREN.

Stan and Dahr told their interviewees: “Our focus is the disruption of Earth; how did we get here? how do we move on in the right way? What’s in the way of that? And no matter the outcome, how do we carry ourselves?”

We spoke with Stan Rushworth on August 3, 2022 via Skype.

Links to articles and videos pertinent to this interview:

“WE ARE THE MIDDLE OF FOREVER” is from a poem by John Trudell, The Cleansing (from his first album, Tribal Voice).

The Cleansing (Red Earth Song) – John Trudell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rYxUjedmNM

We Are Shapes of the Earth (John Trudell) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK6tP23oCes&list=PLOnzFQVEgXSRNdJSYF4KWAJm_nnzsX-dW&index=3

From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers’ Warning – Kogi Message to Humanity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRgTtrQOiR0

HOPI PROPHECY – Thomas Banyacya – Two Paths: Destruction or Survival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkHwjz4i1k&t=0s

Fawn Sharp: Quinault Indian Nation – President of The National Congress Of American Indians (NCAI) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUBaGfzjcg8

Climate Disruption Presentation – Gregg Castro & Dahr Jamail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oAkR3-H_YI

Ilarion Merculieff – The Womb at the Center of the Universe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rycqVPANBKQ

Lyla June Johnston on Forgiveness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBWEBt7nk0

SHANNON RIVERS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM THROUGH AN INDIGENOUS LENS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imLGYFWL4zQ

Melissa Nelson – Revitalizing Indigeneity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwsg_tRiBjo

Indigenous Insights & Decolonization with Kanyon Sayers Roods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAKCZ5mdJBk

Corrina Gould You Are Not In California https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6OgBsl7mc

Natalie Diaz: Post Colonial Love Poem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm6poGV9H_Q

Natalie Diaz: Manhattan is a Lenape Word https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEGxc9ZeCPk

A Just Transition to an Equitable Future – Melina Laboucan-Massimo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3WF_AgnnCM

Power to the People – Melina Laboucan-Massimo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QriDgfmyqqA

Native Land in Native Hands: Why the Land Back Movement Makes Economic Sense https://greenamerica.org/divided-we-fall/native-land-native-hands-why-land-back-movement-makes-economic-sense

‘A stepping stone’: Indigenous-led initiative at MSU helps bolster native food sovereignty https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/agriculture/a-stepping-stone-indigenous-led-initiative-at-msu-helps-bolster-native-food-sovereignty/article_291fdf99-feb8-549c-a30c-0ab9a5d96e2f.html

Tim Giago, Native American Newspaperman, Is Dead at 88 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/tim-giago-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

James Lovelock, Whose Gaia Theory Saw the Earth as Alive, Dies at 103 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/climate/james-lovelock-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

James Lovelock talks about his Gaia hypothesis and climate change in 2014 interview – video https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2022/jul/27/james-lovelock-talks-about-his-gaia-hypothesis-and-climate-change-in-2014-interview-video

State of Alaska Recognizes 229 Tribes in Historic Bill https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/state-of-alaska-recognizes-tribes-with-historic-bill

‘We’re dwindling like the salmon’: the Indigenous nations fighting for water rights https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/26/california-indigenous-water-rights-bay-delta