Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of the environment about their new books.

Katharine K. Wilkinson, "Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home" (Amber Lotus Publishing, 2026)

April 8, 2026

Climate Wayfinding

Katharine K. Wilkinson
Hosted by Patricia Houser

When maps come up short and the path ahead is uncertain, how do we find our way? Visionary climate leader Katharine K. Wilkinson offers a compassionat…

Priyanka Kumar, "Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit" (Island Press, 2025)

April 6, 2026

Light Between Apple Trees

Priyanka Kumar
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

As a child in the foothills of the Himalayas, Priyanka Kumar was entranced by forest-like orchards of diverse and luscious fruit--especially apples. T…

Tim Altenhof, "Breathing Space: The Architecture of Pneumatic Beings" (Zone Books, 2026)

April 5, 2026

Breathing Space

Tim Altenhof
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Breathing Space: The Architecture of Pneumatic Beings (Zone Books, 2026) is a compelling and wide-ranging analysis of pneumatic phenomena in modern cu…

Wout Saelens, "Fossil Consumerism: Energy, Ecology and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Low Countries" (Leuven UP, 2026)

April 4, 2026

Fossil Consumerism

Wout Saelens
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Fossil Consumerism: Energy, Ecology and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Low Countries (Leuven UP, 2026) by Dr. Wout Saelens explores how the homes o…

Caroline Tracey, "Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History" (W. W. Norton, 2026)

April 3, 2026

Salt Lakes

Caroline Tracey
Hosted by Zeb Larson

Salt lakes are some of the most beautiful and unusual landscapes that you can find on this planet, even as they can be quite alien to people used to f…

Vojta Hybl, "Rocks: A Guide to the Stones Around Us and the Stories They Tell" (Frances Lincoln, 2026)

March 30, 2026

Rocks

Vojta Hybl
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

What is that rock you’ve just picked up? Which minerals is it made of, what’s unique about it and what can it reveal about Earth’s deeper story? …

Nikita Kaur Simpson, "Tension: Mental Distress and Embodied Inequality in the Western Himalayas" (Duke UP, 2026)

March 29, 2026

Tension

Nikita Kaur Simpson
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Tension: Mental Distress and Embodied Inequality in the Western Himalayas (Duke UP, 2026), Dr. Nikita Kaur Simpson examines the effects of rapid de…

On Our Continuing Age of Oil with Journalist Stanley Reed

March 28, 2026

On Our Continuing Age of Oil

Stanley Reed
Hosted by Paul Starobin

Stanley Reed has been covering energy and the Middle East from London for more than three decades, most recently for The New York Times. With the war …

Becca Voelcker, "Land Cinema in an Age of Extraction" (U California Press, 2025)

March 21, 2026

Land Cinema in an Age of Extraction

Land Cinema in an Age of Extraction considers nonfiction filmmakers and film collectives whose work advances an understanding of land as a locus of so…

Gods and the State: Environmental Change in the Blang Mountains, China

March 20, 2026

Gods and the State

What happens to the environment when the state enters previously self-governed villages in rural China? We explore this question in the Blang mountain…

Charles G. Curtin, "Place-Based Solutions: The Power of Regenerative Thinking in the Face of Crisis" (JHU Press, 2026)

March 19, 2026

Place-Based Solutions

Charles G. Curtin
Hosted by Michael Simpson

Place-Based Solutions (JHU Press, 2026) offers a bold and practical response, charting a path toward what Charles G. Curtin calls "prosilience"—the ca…

Andreas Malm and Wim Carton, "The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late" (Verso Books, 2025)

March 18, 2026

The Long Heat

Andreas Malm and Wim Carton
Hosted by Cody Skahan

A scathing critique of proposals to geoengineer our way out of climate disaster, by the bestselling authors of Overshoot The world is crossing the 1.…

Joseph Weiss, "Irreconcilable: Indigeneity and the Violence of Colonial Erasure in Contemporary Canada" (UNC Press, 2026)

March 17, 2026

Irreconcilable

Joseph Weiss

Since the early 2000s, the Canadian government has attempted reconciliation with Indigenous Nations through varied efforts: treaty processes, governme…

Courtney Humphries, "Climate Change and the Future of Boston" (Anthem Press, 2026)

March 16, 2026

Climate Change and the Future of Boston

Courtney Humphries
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Like many of the world’s iconic coastal cities, Boston faces potentially severe impacts from climate change. Depending on global emissions, Boston cou…

Lauren M. MacLean, "Negotiating Power and Inequality in Ghana: Electricity and Citizenship as Reciprocity (Indiana UP, 2026)

March 15, 2026

Negotiating Power and Inequality in Ghana

Lauren Morris MacLean

In Ghana, much as in other parts of the Global South, postcolonial leaders aimed for industrial growth through the establishment of affordable hydroel…

Marianna Dudley, "Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain by Marianna Dudley" (Manchester UP, 2025)

March 14, 2026

Electric Wind

Marianna Dudley

Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain by Marianna Dudley (Manchester University Press, 2025) is a cutting-edge history of wind power in B…

Cheng Li, "Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China" (Stanford UP, 2025)

March 12, 2026

Contested Environmentalisms

Cheng Li
Hosted by Yadong Li

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid incr…

Selina Nwulu, "Black Climates: Notes on Race, Our Environment, and Visions for Equitable Futures" (Chatto & Windus, 2025)

March 11, 2026

Black Climates

Selina Nwulu

Brought to you by the BISA Environment and Climate Politics Working Group. Globally, Black people are among the most affected by the climate crisis,…

Geoffrey Jones and Sabine Pitteloud eds., "The Cambridge Companion to the History of Multinationals and Society" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

March 10, 2026

The Cambridge Companion to the History of Multinationals and Society

Geoffrey Jones and Sabine Pitteloud

Geoffrey Jones and Sabine Pitteloud present the latest research on the global history of multinationals and their impact on society and the environmen…

George Frazier, "Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

March 10, 2026

Riverine Dreams

George Frazier
Hosted by Michael Simpson

Dr. George Frazier is currently an assistant professor of Computer Information Sciences at Washburn University, where his research focuses on such top…