Category Archives: history

Wild Earth Guardians/Project Coyote MT Wolf Lawsuit

On October 27, 2022, attorneys for two environmental organizations, WildEarth Guardians and Project Coyote, a project of Earth Island Institute, filed a lawsuit against The State of Montana, by and through the MT Dept of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the MT Fish & Wildlife Commission. The suit was filed in MT First Judicial District Court in Lewis & Clark County.

The case named, WildEarth Guardians v. FWP, Cause No. DDV-25-2022 DK, alleges that the state’s wolf hunting and trapping policies violate the Montana Constitution, Montana Administrative Procedure Act, Public Trust Doctrine, and several federal laws meant to protect wildlife on federally-managed lands.

On November 10, 2022, a motion was filed asking The Court to prohibit the start of the state’s wolf-trapping season, as well as immediately halt the on-going wolf-hunting season, while the merits of the lawsuit are being considered. The conservation groups filed the time-sensitive motion with the wolf trapping and snaring season set to begin on November 28, 2022. The hunting season began in September. This motion asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order, followed by a preliminary injunction, to stop all recreational killing of wolves in the state pending resolution of the lawsuit.

On November 15, 2022, District Court Judge Christopher D. Abbott, granted a partial Temporary Restraining Order, with a hearing set for November 28, 2022. It’s set to expire November 29, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. The partial TRO requires MFWP to return to 2020 regulations with respect to wolf hunting and trapping quotas and “bag limits”, prohibits the use of snares, and limits quotas in former WMUs 110 (bordering Glacier NP), 313, and 316 (bordering Yellowstone NP).

In the 2021-2022 season, 273 wolves were killed by hunters and trappers—including 19 Yellowstone wolves—with nearly 70 percent of the wolves killed, after the trapping season began. As of November 15, 2022, hunters had already killed 56 wolves, while regulations permit hunters and trappers to kill an additional 395 wolves before the season ends in March 2023. The motion alleges that the conservation groups’ interests will be harmed beyond repair, if the court allows the hunting and trapping season to proceed while they fully litigate their case.

The motion—and the underlying lawsuit—claim that there are significant flaws in the population model used to estimate the total number of wolves in the state, and that since the quota of 456 wolves for this season relies upon a flawed population model, reaching the quota could have devastating consequences on the state’s wolf population. The motion states, “Montana does not have an accurate picture of how many wolves are living in Montana, and cannot sustainably and legally manage the species through another wolf hunt this winter.”

A listener asked us to investigate, and we share interviews with four people knowledgeable about the issues, Lizzy Pennock, an attorney with WildEarth Guardians;

Greg Lemon, Administrator of MFWP’s Communication and Education Division;

Pat Byorth, MT Fish & Wildlife Commissioner for Region 3, below

Michael Waasegijig Price, of The GREAT LAKES INDIAN FISH & WILDLIFE COMMISSION, which joined six tribes, who sued the state of Wisconsin in September of 2021 to prevent further wolf slaughter there.

Documents, articles and links pertinent to this episode of Ecotones:

To find out more: http://wildearthguardians.org and http://fwp.mt.gov

Judge rules against suspending Montana wolf hunts while lawsuit proceeds https://montanafreepress.org/2022/11/29/wolf-hunting-regulations-reinstated-while-lawsuit-proceeds/

Montana Judge Won’t Halt Gov. Greg Gianforte’s Aggressive Wolf Hunt https://theintercept.com/2022/11/30/wolf-hunt-montana-judge/

Wildlife advocates sue to stop unscientific, senseless wolf slaughter in Montana https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/wildlife-advocates-sue-to-stop-unscientific-senseless-wolf-slaughter-in-montana/#:~:text=HELENA%2C%20MONTANA%E2%80%94Conservation%20groups%20WildEarth%20Guardians%20and%20Project%20Coyote%2C,laws%20meant%20to%20protect%20wildlife%20on%20federally-managed%20lands.

Text of the lawsuit: https://pdf.wildearthguardians.org/support_docs/Montana-Lewis-and-Clark-First-Judicial-Wolf-Lawsuit-10-27-2022.pdf

Text of the motion for temporary restraining order & preliminary injunction https://pdf.wildearthguardians.org/support_docs/2022-11-10-Petitioners’-Brief-in-Support-of-Preliminary-Injunction.pdf

Judge restores gray wolf protections, reviving federal recovery efforts https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/judge-restores-gray-wolf-protections-reviving-federal-recovery-efforts/

MT Wolf Conservation & Management Planning Doc 2002 https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/conservation/wildlife-reports/wolf/mt-wolf-conservation-and-management-plan.pdf

The Administrative Procedure Act: How the public can drive agency regulations https://wildearthguardians.org/brave-new-wild/opinion/the-administrative-procedure-act-how-the-public-can-drive-agency-regulations/

Improving Estimation of Wolf Recruitment & Abundance, etc. https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/conservation/wildlife-reports/wolf/1-montana-wolf-monitoring-study-final-report-compressed.pdf

Defend gray wolves in Montana https://wildearthguardians.org/brave-new-wild/opinion/defend-gray-wolves-in-montana/

Integrating basic and applied research to estimate carnivore abundance https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.2714

Montana Wolf Harvest https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/34fbb4c9509e45959f6291965388c345

One season, 456 dead wolves: that’s the reality in Montana right now https://wildearthguardians.org/brave-new-wild/opinion/one-season-456-dead-wolves-thats-the-reality-in-montana-right-now/

Wisconsin Tribes Sue the State for Treaty Violations Over Wolf Hunt https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2021/wisconsin-tribes-sue-the-state-for-treaty-violations-over-wolf-hunt

Into the History of Wolves https://intotheoutdoors.org/segments/into-the-history-of-wolves/

Indigenous activists look to Rights of Nature laws to stop fracking https://prismreports.org/2022/10/20/indigenous-rights-of-nature-stop-fracking/

FWP enforcement chief to retire after being placed on leave https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/environment/fwp-enforcement-chief-to-retire-after-being-placed-on-leave/article_a7b7e3ae-91a3-5d69-a504-1327dfaee03f.html

The Fight to Stop Republicans From Killing Wolves and Grizzlies https://theintercept.com/2022/11/05/wolf-grizzly-bear-hunt-endangered/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter

In Reviewing Wolves’ Endangered Status, Martha Williams Confronts Her Montana Past https://theintercept.com/2022/09/29/wolves-endangered-species-martha-williams/

ROCKY MOUNTAIN MASSACRE: Was Yellowstone’s Deadliest Wolf in 100 Years an Inside Job? https://theintercept.com/2022/07/20/wolves-yellowstone-ranger-montana-greg-gianforte/

H.R. 6784 (115th): Manage our Wolves Act https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr6784

Prominent Scientists Push Back Against Delisting Grizzly Bears: Op-Ed https://mountainjournal.org/prominent-scientists-say-removing-grizzly-bears-from-federal-protection-in-west-is-bad-idea

David Daley & Paul Pierson: Post-midterms 2022

This Forthright Radio is devoted to digesting the results of the 2022 mid-term elections. Days after the election, there are still many crucial races that are too close to call, and it is too early to know which parties will control either chamber of congress. However the predicted Red Wave – or what some were projecting as a Red Tsunami – has not occurred. So, we were delighted to welcome back two distinguished guests, David Daley and Paul Pierson.

Dave Daley was our guest in June of 2020, when his book, UNRIGGED: HOW AMERICANS ARE BATTLING BACK TO SAVE DEMOCRACY, came out. His earlier book, RATF**KED: THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE SECRET PLAN TO STEAL AMERICA’S DEMOCRACY, did much to educate us about the nationally organized, anti-democracy efforts to seize political control from the majority of voters via gerrymandering, and what citizens across the country are doing to wrestle majoritarian democracy back. His articles appear in many outlets, including The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, among others.

Paul Pierson was our guest in July of 2020, when his book, co-written with Jacob Hacker, director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and a Political Science Professor at Yale University, LET THEM EAT TWEETS: HOW THE RIGHT RULES IN AN AGE OF EXTREME INEQUALITY, came out. Paul is is the John Gross Professor of Political Science at U. C. Berkeley. They have many earlier books, including, WINNER-TAKE-ALL-POLITICS: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class; and Off Center: The Republican Revolution and The Erosion of American Democracy.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

Will this Ohio judge’s retirement spell the end of fair elections in the state? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/26/ohio-judge-maureen-oconnor-republicans-gerrymandering-elections

Midterms bring major constitutional wins for abortion rights https://www.axios.com/2022/11/09/abortion-election-results-midterm-constitution-amendment

‘I never doubted it’: why film-maker Michael Moore forecast ‘blue tsunami’ in midterms https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/14/us-midterms-film-maker-michael-moore-blue-tsunami

Mike’s Midterm Tsunami Truth #41 https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/midterm-tsunami-truth-41?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=320974&post_id=83466690&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email

Critical Maine Congressional Race Heads To Runoff https://www.huffpost.com/entry/maine-race-runoff-golden-poliquin_n_636bea42e4b04925c8939612

Marijuana Is About to Be Legal for Half of the U.S. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/marijuana-legalization-midterm-results-1234628966/

‘Canary in the Coal Mine’: Did Elissa Slotkin’s Win Reveal Trumpism’s Self-Defeating Toxicity? https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/11/11/elissa-slotkin-michigan-election-00066278

Let’s talk about Republicans losing more than the youth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOwb_7cTf0

Young voters hailed as key to Democratic successes in midterms https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/11/young-voters-us-midterms-democratic-youth

Hispanics could make more historic gains in U.S. House https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/midterm-elections-latino-democrat-republican

New York Democrats spoil House party https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/new-york-democrats-house-majority

Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin admits interfering in US elections https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/07/putin-ally-yevgeny-prigozhin-admits-interfering-in-us-elections

See Which 2020 Election Deniers and Skeptics Won in the Midterm Elections https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/09/us/politics/election-misinformation-midterms-results.html

Trump Is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-is-the-gops-biggest-loser-midterm-elections-senate-house-congress-republicans-11668034869?mod=hp_opin_pos_4#cxrecs_s

The Fever Is Breaking https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/opinion/the-fever-is-breaking.html

Young Voters Helped Democrats. But Experts Differ on Just How Much https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/12/us/young-voter-turnout-election-democrats.html

The Biggest Election Wins And Losses For America’s Public Lands https://www.huffpost.com/entry/public-lands-wins-losses-2022-elections_n_636eb9aee4b002e88211aa66

The Supreme Court’s Hands Are All Over The 2022 Midterm Election Results https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2022-midterm-supreme-court_n_636ea0f2e4b002e882118a88

A Running List Of All The Election Deniers Heading To Congress In 2023 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/election-deniers-congress-big-lie_n_63694188e4b0eb51ab12d3cd

Adam Hochschild AMERICAN MIDNIGHT: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis

Award winning author and journalist, Adam Hochschild, is the author of eleven books. He returned to Forthright Radio to discuss his latest book, AMERICAN MIDNIGHT: THE GREAT WAR, A VIOLENT PEACE, AND DEMOCRACY’S FORGOTTEN CRISIS, published by Mariner Books.

While a college student in the early 1960s, Adam Hochschild worked on an anti-government newspaper in South Africa, and he was also a civil rights worker in Mississippi. He was a writer and editor for Ramparts magazine, and a co-founder of Mother Jones. He has been a lecturer in the UC Berkeley School of Journalism for many years. In 2014, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In our earlier interviews, he discussed his books, BURY THE CHAINS: PROPHETS AND REBELS IN THE FIGHT TO FREE AN EMPIRE’S SLAVES, and KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST: A STORY OF GREED, TERROR AND HEROISM IN COLONIAL AFRICA.

Military Intelligence Chief for NYC and virulent anti-immigrant proponent, John B. Trevor’s, *“ethnic battle map”* of upper Manhattan. Red for Jews, brown for Italians, grey for Blacks, blue for Irish. Circles are meeting halls. Stars are publication offices.

We spoke with him via telephone from his home in the Bay Area on October 25, 2022.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

A Forgotten Assault on the Constitution https://ucbjschool.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/A-Forgotten-Assault-on-the-Constitution.pdf

What You Don’t Have and Why https://tomdispatch.com/what-you-dont-have-and-why/

When Is a Lynching a Lynching? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/25/lynching-michael-williams-iowa-police-prosecutors

Supreme Court Declines To Take Case Aimed At Overturning 100-Year-Old Racist Precedents https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-insular-cases-racist_n_634d7c5fe4b051268c4c6a17

To change our future, we should change how we teach history to children https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/18/change-future-teach-history-children

Fiona Hill: ‘Elon Musk Is Transmitting a Message for Putin’ https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/10/17/fiona-hill-putin-war-00061894

Jailed for their words https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/JailedforTheirWords/

The Palmer Raids | The Bombing of Wall Street https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvFZmBJNZUc

Emma Goldman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTCMcO4WTjE

Utah Phillips covers Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ236CwhlPw

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones A Question of Standing: The History of the CIA

On September 18, 1947, the National Security Act, a major restructuring of the US Military and intelligence agencies went into effect. It created The National Security Council and The Central Intelligence Agency, headed by the Director of Central Intelligence. Our guest today on Forthright Radio is Professor of American History, emeritus, at the University of Edinburgh, Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones. His latest book, A QUESTION OF STANDING: THE HISTORY OF THE CIA, published by Oxford University Press, examines how the influence of the CIA has shifted with its standing with different presidents, Congresses, and the US as well as international public over time.

His reputation as an intelligence authority has been long established
with earlier books such as, THE CIA AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY; CLOAK AND DOLLAR: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN SECRET INTELLIGENCE; IN SPIES WE TRUST: THE STORY OF WESTERN INTELLIGENCE; and THE FBI: A HISTORY. We spoke with Professor Jeffreys-Jones on October 11, 2022 via Skype from his home in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

The inside story of the CIA v Russia – from cold war conspiracy to ‘black’ propaganda in Ukraine https://theconversation.com/the-inside-story-of-the-cia-v-russia-from-cold-war-conspiracy-to-black-propaganda-in-ukraine-188550

Has the C.I.A. Done More Harm Than Good? https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/10/has-the-cia-done-more-harm-than-good?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Magazine_Daily_100322&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9dcd924c17c6adf43abf9&cndid=24611174&hasha=a6252e8e1a4afcf8f16af402c223ed5a&hashb=41a28f2320837a2fbc8a7a5a890aad11f1bcae9f&hashc=c69dd0ac8ee9b9f68834963c34476bde472773e79c68ee6c6f59d276224b5c0d&esrc=&utm_term=TNY_Daily

Covert CIA websites could have been found by an ‘amateur’, research finds https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/29/cia-websites-security-sources-communication-safety

China ‘dismantled’ CIA spying operations and killed sources – report https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/20/china-dismantled-cia-spying-operations-new-york-times

64 Years Later, CIA Details Long-Hidden Role in Iran Coup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wihoBNG94QQ

Reece Jones NOBODY IS PROTECTED: How the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United States

Reece Jones is a Professor of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. His latest book, NOBODY IS PROTECTED: HOW THE BORDER PATROL BECAME THE MOST DANGEROUS POLICE FORCE IN THE UNITED STATES, is published by Counterpoint Press.

He is the editor-in-chief of the journal, Geopolitics, and co-editor of the Routledge Geopolitics Book Series with Klaus Dodds. He is best know for his work on border walls, the militarization of borders, and the rise in migrant deaths. His earlier books include Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move ; Open Borders: In Defense of Free Movement; and Placing the Border in Everyday Life . Among his numerous awards is a Guggenheim Fellowship.

In NOBODY IS PROTECTED: HOW THE BORDER PATROL BECAME THE MOST DANGEROUS POLICE FORCE IN THE UNITED STATES, he traces the history of the Border Patrol, from its creation, quietly tucked into The Labor Appropriation Act of 1924. He writes “Its sole mission was to enforce the new eugenics-derived rules about who could enter the United States.” For most of its existence it was a small, underfunded agency, a mere 1,500 agents in the 1970s, until the 21st century, when it has become “a modern, sophisticated paramilitary force of over19,000 agents that asserts the legal right to sweep people off the streets of an American city without a warrant or even probable cause that a crime was committed.” Citizens and noncitizen alike. As Justice Thurgood Marshall noted, NOBODY IS PROTECTED. We spoke with Reece Jones on September 20, 2022.

We end the program with the poem with which Amanda Gorman opened the 2022 United Nations General Assembly on September 19, 2022.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

Who is on the frontline of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/19/donald-trump-immigration-crackdown

Arrests at Southwestern Border Exceed 2 Million in a Year for the First Time https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/19/us/politics/us-border-arrests.html

‘The numbers kept going’: the forensic office identifying human remains at the border https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/19/arizona-migrants-remains-border-forensics

The Border Patrol Invited the Press to Watch It Blow Up a National Monument https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/border-wall-construction-organ-pipe-explosion/

“This Is America Motherfucker”: Witnesses Describe Border Patrol Killing of Mexican Migrant https://theintercept.com/2022/05/12/border-patrol-migrant-killing-coverup/

Border Patrol Agents Are Trashing Sikh Asylum-Seekers’ Turbans https://theintercept.com/2022/08/02/sikh-turban-border-patrol/

A Pastor’s Legal Fight Against CBP Exposes a Reckless Surveillance Operation https://theintercept.com/2022/03/06/cbp-border-surveillance-migrant-caravan/

U.S. poet Amanda Gorman opens 2022 U.N. General Assembly week https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf3xEgVsgJo

David Andes: Great-Great Grandson of John E. Reese

David Andes’ ancestry goes back farther than most of European descent here in the Gallatin Valley. David shared his family’s stories with us on September 13, 2022. And what stories they are…

John E. Reese
Gallatin History Museum Photograph Archives. P5318N.

His Great-Great Grandfather, John Reese, moved his family from Wales, after having been converted to Mormonism by Brigham Young, himself. The Reese family narrowly escaped being executed in the new Salt Lake City… after refusing to give their young daughter over to be a 3rd or 4th wife for a Mormon bishop, trying to leave, being captured by the Dannites, Brigham Young’s quasi-military police force, returned to Salt Lake City and scheduled for execution, but they were rescued by the US Cavalry, & moved to Montana, where they eventually settled north of Bozeman, along what is now known as Reese Creek.

Tintype of John E. Reese and Mary Davis Reese

View of Reese Creek taken from Cemetery Hill, looking East.
(Gallatin History Museum Photograph Archives, Frank Norman, donor. P7608N)

There the family history continued: A run-away bride, a posse chasing the groom with intent to kill, and more.

Mary Jane Reece Wells and John Harvey Wells

Andes House in Andes, MT (c.1913). The sod kitchen is on the right behind the house. The room to the left was a bedroom added for David’s grandparents. 6 of the eventual 10 children are shown. The photo’s frame was made from wood from the barn his grandfather built in 1911, salvaged and chosen to feature a bullet (lodged in the lower left) likely shot by one of his uncles, who were known for often shooting guns around the house.

His grandson, young Reese, is the seventh generation to live here in Gallatin Valley. You can read more in his article, Stories My Mother Told Me, in the Gallatin History quarterly, Volume 43, No. 4, from 2020. You can also find his photo next to that of Alan Turing at the American Computer & Robotics Museum.

https://www.gallatinhistorymuseum.org/

https://acrmuseum.org/

Thom Hartmann Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness

Broadcaster, journalist, author, and four time winner of the Project Censored Award, Thom Hartmann returned to Forthright Radio with his latest book in The Hidden History Series: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF NEOLIBERALSIM: HOW REAGANISM GUTTED AMERICA AND HOW TO RESTORE ITS GREATNESS.

This is number eight in the series, and it joins his more than thirty other books.

After the interview with Thom Hartmann, we share excerpts from a speech by Bernie Sanders at a rally of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers in the UK on August 31, 2022.

Articles/videos pertinent to this interview:

“Tell The Oligarchs They CANNOT Have It All!” – Bernie Sanders At RMT Rally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjnPpxMx5Wk&t=1s

Will America See a 2nd Major Renewal of the Middle Class? https://hartmannreport.com/p/will-america-see-a-2nd-major-renewal

A Personal Apology to Young Americans for Failing to Stop Ronald Reagan https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/07/13/personal-apology-young-americans-failing-stop-ronald-reagan?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter_op

When Will Americans Again Believe in America? https://hartmannreport.com/p/when-will-americans-again-believe

It’s Time to Enforce the Constitution & Ban Seditious Republicans from Congress https://hartmannreport.com/p/its-time-to-enforce-the-constitution

Student Loan Debt Is an American Malignancy Born of Ronald Reagan https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/08/26/student-loan-debt-american-malignancy-born-ronald-reagan?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter_op

What Is It that Republicans Actually Do Love? https://hartmannreport.com/p/what-is-it-that-republicans-actually?triedSigningIn=true

Santa Claus Is About To Drop a Bomb On Biden https://hartmannreport.com/p/santa-clause-is-about-to-drop-a-bomb

Gaia Vince NOMAD CENTURY: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World

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

Stan Rushworth WE ARE THE MIDDLE OF FOREVER: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth

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

Jacob Grumbach LABORATORIES AGAINST DEMOCRACY: How National Parties Transformed State Politics

Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington, Jacob M. Grumbach, is a Faculty Associate with the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. His research focuses on the political economy of the United States, with an emphasis on public policy, racial and economic inequality, American Federalism, health policy, climate change and statistical methods.

His book, LABORATORIES AGAINST DEMOCRACY: HOW NATIONAL PARTIES TRANSFORMED STATE POLITICS, which investigates the causes and consequences of the nationalization of state politics since the 1970s, is published by Princeton U. Press.

You can access Professor Grumbach’s State Democracy Index here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qe9pkneyt93i6cs/grumbach_state_democracy_index.csv?dl=0

Thanks to Mother Jones for Ari Berman & Nick Surgey’s article: Leaked Video: Dark Money Group Brags About Writing GOP Voter Suppression Bills Across the Country – “We did it quickly and we did it quietly,” said the executive director of Heritage Action. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/05/heritage-foundation-dark-money-voter-suppression-laws/

Articles pertinent to this interview:

Inside the Secret Working Group That Pushed Anti-Trans Laws Across the Country https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/03/anti-trans-transgender-health-care-ban-legislation-bill-minors-children-lgbtq/

Just 27 billionaires spent $90 million to buy GOP Congress: report https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/18/just-27-billionaires-have-spent-90-million-buy-gop-congress-report

The Supreme Court Just Rolled Democracy Back. You Can Measure How Much. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/30/court-made-america-less-democratic-00043549

How Ohio Republicans dodged court rulings to keep gerrymandered maps https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/21/ohio-republicans-gerrymandered-maps

Federal judge blocks Biden’s directives to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination – The temporary block coincides with a lawsuit claiming that the directives infringe upon states’ rights https://www.salon.com/2022/07/17/blocks-bidens-directives-to-protect-lgbtq-people-from-discrimination/

The Supreme Court’s Role in the Degradation of U.S. Democracy https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/CLC%202022%20SCOTUS%20Report_final.pdf

Could the US supreme court give state legislatures unchecked election powers? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/07/us-supreme-court-state-legislature-power

Our Fourth of July nightmare: A republic in the tightening grip of minority rule https://www.salon.com/2022/07/01/our-fourth-of-july-nightmare-a-republic-in-the-tightening-grip-of-minority-rule/

‘We don’t have to pretend anymore’: Greens ready to bail on D.C. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/30/greens-readying-to-bail-on-d-c-00043591

Political Violence Is The New American Normal https://www.huffpost.com/entry/political-violence-the-new-american-normal_n_62c07c37e4b0ffe00a1260a6

Children Should Not Have to Suffer the State’s Injustice https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/11/opinion/tennessee-schools-transgender-bathroom-laws.html

ALEC Focuses on “Woke Capitalism,” Bodily Autonomy and More at Annual Meeting https://truthout.org/articles/alec-focuses-on-woke-capitalism-bodily-autonomy-and-more-at-annual-meeting/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=b8da5b6e-f3cd-4b2b-9187-bb4382560860

Conservative push to recruit election deniers as poll workers causes alarm https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/30/republican-recruit-poll-workers-election-integrity

Wisconsin Court Validates a Republican Strategy to Preserve Power https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/29/us/wisconsin-supreme-court-natural-resources-board.html

Voting is significant determinant of health, US medical association declares https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/14/voting-health-us-medical-association

The Israel Lobby’s New Campaign Playbook https://jewishcurrents.org/the-israel-lobbys-new-campaign-playbook