In Tune to Nature Podcast

Saving the Georgia Coast: Paul Bolster Tells a Political Success Story for Wilderness Protection

From Cumberland Island up through Tybee Island, the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act of 1970 is the reason the Georgia coast is largely a protected natural marshland and not a polluted, exploited, and/or commercialized tourist trap. Historian & former GA congressperson Dr. Paul Bolster discusses the political lessons of getting this marshland protection act passed, as explored in his award-winning new book: “Saving the Georgia Coast: A political history of the coastal marshlands protection act" (UGA Press). In this 26-minute interview with host Carrie Freeman, Dr. Bolster also discusses issues affecting the Georgia coast today and how the political lessons of the 1970s could create bipartisan support for environmental protection today. https://www.paulbolster.com/ 

In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50 year old independent progressive media station at www.wrfg.org 

Take care of yourself and others, including other species. 

 

Misuse of Land for Cattle Grazing: Transitioning to Sustainable Ag to Feed a Growing Population

The large proportion of agricultural land (the majority) allocated for grazing of farmed animals doesn't equate to a large amount of nutrients/calories produced and is thus a misuse of land that could be re-wilded or used to grow nutrient dense crops. Host Carrie Freeman interviews Dr. Jennifer Molidor, Senior Food Campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity to discuss how we can move toward more sustainable agriculture that allows for less grazing and feed crops, and more precious space designated to wildlife thriving and forests regenerating. This more efficient and smart use of land for organic plant based ag can increase food production necessary to nutritiously feed a growing human population. She discusses the https://grazingfacts.com/ website and its section on land use issues https://grazingfacts.com/land-use (see land map there) as well as how governments can help us make this sustainable agriculture transition that is needed.

In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50 year old independent progressive media station at www.wrfg.org 

Take care of yourself and others, including other species. 

 

”Eating animals is biting us back”: News Coverage of Pandemic Prevention to Reduce Future Zoonotic Diseases

Is the news helping us prevent future zoonotic disease pandemics by facilitating needed policy changes in animal and eco protection (namely the wildlife trade/hunting and agribusiness)? In Tune to Nature radio host and researcher Dr. Carrie Freeman, a professor of communication, shares her recent study in this 31-minute podcast analyzing the pandemic prevention solutions covered in the last 2.5 years of global news coverage of zoonotic disease and its relationship to meat (from wild animals hunted or domesticated animals farmed). She discusses findings and interesting quotes from the news stories and her recommendations of how the news media could cover this topic further (it dropped off the radar since spring of 2020) and help urge societies to curb risks they know are catalysts for pandemics (deforestation, hunting, farming, and trading in animal bodies), and cover solutions such as fostering plant-based foods as replacements and new livelihood practices for those affected by needed changes to business as usual with animals.

Experts predict it's not a matter of if but when we get hit with another pandemic that likely could be deadlier than covid (such as avian influenza/ bird flu). What have we changed in our interactions with other animal species and nature to prevent this?  For more information, check out an interesting documentary on this topic: End of Medicine. 

In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50 year old independent progressive media station at www.wrfg.org 

Take care of yourself and others, including other species. 

Image of factory farmed birds is from Getty Images in a recent story on the first American to contract Avian Influenza this spring in this latest bird flu outbreak.  https://www.everydayhealth.com/bird-flu/us-reports-its-first-human-case-of-bird-flu/ 

Animal Farming Whistleblower Vet Dr. Alice Brough on Pandemic Prevention and ”The End of Medicine” as we know it

This 25-minute interview features the whistleblower from The End of Medicine documentary (on Apple TV and itunes), former pig farm industry veterinarian Dr. Alice Brough in the UK who shares why she quit trying to reform animal ag from within, given its immense systemic problems with animal welfare, public health and antibiotic resistance, environmental racism, and environmental pollution and destruction. As a vegan, she now advocates for animal rights, human rights and public health, and environmentalism, and is pressuring the UK government to make policy changes to prevent future pandemics and continued antimicrobial resistance caused by animal agribusiness practices.  https://www.scrapfactoryfarming.org/

Dr. Brough's story is featured prominently in the new documentary The End of Medicine @theEndofMedicine, along with other experts on health and environmental and human rights issues caused by the raising and eating of animals for food. In the podcast and in the film, it discusses systemic solutions that can save lives and medicine as we know it. https://lockwoodfilm.com/unbound 

This podcast is an episode of a weekly radio program on Radio Free Georgia (wrfg.org) (airing Wednesdays at 6:30pm EST-Atlanta) called In Tune to Nature, hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, and/or Melody Paris. If you appreciate the publication of these important topics, please support independent, non-commercial progressive media like Radio Free Georgia www.wrfg.org 

Take care of yourself and others, including other species. 

Preventing Pandemics & Mistreatment of Animals via the Convention on Animal Protection, a global treaty (interview with Dr. Raj Reddy)

Law professor Dr. Raj Reddy explains an important new global treaty for animal welfare and pandemic prevention called “Convention on Animal Protection” found at https://www.conventiononanimalprotection.org/   This is a first draft of a treaty prepared by Lawyers for the Convention on Animal Protection, following the passage of a resolution on animal protection by the American Bar Association House of Delegates in February 2021 which “urges all nations to negotiate an international convention for the protection of animals that establishes standards for the proper care and treatment of all animals to protect public health, the environment, and animal well-being.” 

In this 26-minute podcast, host of In Tune to Nature, Carrie Freeman, speaks with Raj Reddy, JD, PhD who directs the Global Animal Law and Animal Law Advanced Degree Programs at the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School in Oregon, USA. He discusses the purpose and need for the Convention on Animal Protection global treaty that nations and international bodies could ratify that guides animal welfare policies to better protect the interests of nonhuman animals, as well as humans (via public health) and our mutual life-preserving interests in environmental sustainability. We especially concentrate on the One Health concept and how the treaty addresses the holistic approach to preventing future pandemics (and zoonotic disease transmission) by dramatically improving our interactions with fellow animals in wild and domesticated settings. If we go back to business as usual in trading in and confining and eating nonhuman animals, we will continue to see more frequent and probably more virulent pandemics in human society. Now is the time to leverage the political will to act to set standards for how we relate to the nonhuman animal world. This Convention on Animal Protection is one way to get started, so please do promote it with your political leaders. Check it out at www.conventiononanimalprotection.org

In Tune to Nature is an eco and animal protection radio program hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, and Melody Paris as part of Radio Free Georgia’s progressive indie media programming. It streams weekly on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on www.wrfg.org and 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and can also be subscribed to on streaming sites via podcasts and shared at https://cpfreeman.podbean.com/.

Please consider making a financial donation to support non-commercial, indie media with a mission at www.wrfg.org (40+ years strong).

Take care of yourself and others, including other species!

Bird Flu outbreak mass killing methods in industrial farms: An interview with Farm Sanctuary’s animal welfare expert

A highly pathogenic bird flu is causing the premature deaths of millions of birds in 2022, including wild birds but especially domesticated birds on industrial egg farms, since U.S. factory farms are conducting horrific mass killings of tens of millions of birds exposed to the virus. Unlike most news stories that focus on avian influenza from a human economic or agricultural perspective, we are going to talk about it from the perspective of those who are most affected and are suffering painful deaths – the birds themselves – and we will talk about the three main ways these grotesque mass killings are being conducted in the sheds, proving there is no way for large farms to protect individual animal welfare, especially not in crisis situations.

In this 27-minute podcast, "In Tune to Nature" Host Carrie Freeman interviews Lauri Torgerson-White, an animal welfare scientist and research director at the nonprofit Farm Sanctuary. https://www.farmsanctuary.org/  For over 35 years, Farm Sanctuary has fought the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, social justice, and public health through farmed animal rescue, education, and advocacy. 

In Tune to Nature is a radio show on WRFG (Radio Free Georgia), an indie station in Atlanta for progressive issues, hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, and Melody Paris, airing Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on wrfg.org and 89.3FM-Atlanta. Please support independent, noncommercial progressive radio like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/

Take care of yourself and others, including other species (like hens).

Photo Credit: Animal Outlook photo of egg laying hens in standard cages in U.S. egg farms.

 

Wild Animal Trapping Investigation by Born Free USA: Dr. Liz Tyson Exposes Cruel Reality and Calls for a Ban

We discuss an undercover investigation (in Iowa) of the wild animal trapping industry in the U.S., conducted by Born Free USA and the Humane Society of the U.S., where the investigator witnessed how animals are beaten to death, if not dead already, when found suffering in leghold traps or snares (with callous disregard and even joking), along with the role that government agencies like the DNR play in protecting (poorly regulating) this cruel and unnecessary practice (much of which is to steal and sell their fur). In Tune to Nature host Carrie Freeman interviews Dr. Liz Tyson, Program Director of Born Free USA, about the investigation report and video, the legal issues, and how and why we can work to ban trapping, such as banning it in on public lands or in federal wildlife refuges (yes, despite being called a "refuge," animals are often hunted or trapped in these refuges). (23 minute podcast, free of adverts)

See the trapping report and video at https://www.bornfreeusa.org/campaigns/trapping/trappingexposed/ 

Action: Support the "Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act" https://www.bornfreeusa.org/action-center/rfcta2021/

https://www.bornfreeusa.org/trapfreetrails/ (wildlife refuge page).

Action: Tell the Dept of Interior to ban trapping on public lands https://bornfree.salsalabs.org/notrapping/index.html

This Born Free page on trapping has resources like the 2017 report that grades each state on their trapping policies, so you can work locally to protect animals. https://www.bornfreeusa.org/campaigns/trapping/resources/

The photo is a still shot from the Born Free investigation of a trapper about to club to death a raccoon who got stuck in his leg hold trap. There is no humane or quick death for anyone crushed in these traps and snares.

In Tune to Nature is a radio show on WRFG (Radio Free Georgia), an indie station in Atlanta for progressive issues, hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, and Melody Paris, airing Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on wrfg.org and 89.3FM-Atlanta. Please support independent, noncommercial radio like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/

Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

 

Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network: An interview with founder Osprey Orielle Lake

Women, especially women of color, are highly impacted by the climate crisis and the fossil fuel industry and also are leaders (and increasingly should be) in promoting a clean energy transition and healthy communities. Osprey Orielle Lake discusses the nonprofit she founded and directs -- WECAN -- Women's Earth & Climate Action Network International in this 25-minute podcast recorded in March 2022 (for Women's Herstory Month) for "In Tune to Nature" radio show, with host Carrie Freeman. https://www.wecaninternational.org/ 

In addition to answering questions about 'why focus on women?' and 'what is your vision for climate solutions?' Osprey also shared some results of WECAN's latest report Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions: A Call to Action for the Health of our Communities and Nature in the Climate Crisis. The report can be found here;

https://www.wecaninternational.org/2021-divestment-report

“In Tune to Nature" broadcasts every Wednesday at 6:30pm Eastern Time online at www.wrfg.org and on Atlanta radio station 89.3FM. It is hosted by either Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. The views and opinions expressed on this show do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff, or volunteers. We hosts are volunteers.

Please support independent, non-commercial media like Radio Free Georgia.

Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species.

Photo credit: WECAN

 

Cattle Grazing on Public Lands: We all Pay as Ecosystems & Wildlife Suffer

Chris Bugbee, SW Conservation Advocate of the Center for Biological Diversity, discusses the ecological problems with cheap permits allowing cattle grazing across so many millions of acres of public lands in the U.S. West -- the largest commercial use of public lands. This is especially damaging in riparian zones along rivers, reducing biodiversity and threatening the other animals and plants who live there. We discuss how government land management agencies are not fulfilling a responsibility to serve public and conservation interests as long as they continue catering to ranchers' economic interests (equating to a long-time taxpayer subsidy of the beef industry). We end by discussing some recent victories of The Center for Biological Diversity in its efforts to fight this destructive ranching practice. Host Carrie Freeman interviewed Chris Bugbee in February of 2022 (24 minutes). https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/ 

“In Tune to Nature" broadcasts every Wednesday at 6:30pm Eastern Time online at www.wrfg.org and on Atlanta radio station 89.3FM. It is hosted by either Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. The views and opinions expressed on this show do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff, or volunteers. We hosts are volunteers.

Please support independent, non-commercial media like Radio Free Georgia.

Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species.

Photo credit: Greg Shine/BLM

”Like an Animal” Dehumanization & Speciesism in Immigration Discourse: Interview with Dr. Natalie Khazaal

This provocative discussion on Dr. Khazaal's book "Like an Animal" explores the intersection of immigration, discrimination, the problematic human/animal divide, and speciesism, within the context of advancing a mutual concern for human rights and nonhuman animal rights. In this 27-minute podcast, "In Tune to Nature" host Carrie Freeman interviews Dr. Natalie Khazaal, Assistant Professor in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), discussing the book she co-edited with Spanish scholar Nuria Almiron, called “Like an Animal: Critical Animal Studies Perspectives on Borders, Displacement, and Othering” (Brill 2021).

“In Tune to Nature" broadcasts every Wednesday at 6:30pm Eastern Time online at www.wrfg.org and on Atlanta radio station 89.3FM. It is hosted by either Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. The views and opinions expressed on this show do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff, or volunteers. We hosts are volunteers.

Please support independent, non-commercial media like Radio Free Georgia.

Remember to take care of yourself and others, including other species.  

Humanity‘s Quest for Immortality Triggering Denial of Animality: An Interview with Dr. Lori Marino

Based on humanity's subconscious anxiety at admitting we are mortal animals, we seek immortality through a denial of death and our animality. Dr. Lori Marino discusses this topic in her research paper with Michael Mountain on terror management theory explaining studies showing that human recognition of our animality and our mortality (as fellow vulnerable creatures) makes us prone to creating out-groups and discriminating against them, particularly nonhuman animals (as a survival mechanism of sorts).  Host Carrie Freeman discusses with Dr. Marino the implications these research findings have for how we should proceed in protecting animals from this discriminatory bias caused by humanity's psychological self-protective need to exalt ourselves above other animal species, leading to exploitation.

Neuroscientist and former Emory Professor Lori Marino, PhD is the Founder and Executive Director of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy. https://www.kimmela.org/  A link to her co-authored study can be found here: https://www.kimmela.org/2021/11/26/i-am-not-an-animal-kimmela-white-paper/ 

This 26-minute interview was recorded in December of 2021 for Radio Free Georgia’s “In Tune to Nature” program. The show airs every Wednesday from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta radio station 89.3FM and https://wrfg.org/   (please go to that website to support this indie progressive radio station with a donation. Thanks)

Take care of yourself and others, including other species.

Forecasting nightly bird migrations to go Lights Out to save lives: Julia Wang of Birdcast

Did you know that birds tend to migrate at night, and light pollution from our homes and buildings can mess up their navigation and cause deadly collisions? Birdcast.info is a website and a research/outreach project that has maps that forecast bird migrations across North America, which are especially prevalent in spring and fall. In this 25-minute interview, host Carrie Freeman talks with Project Leader Julia Wang of Birdcast as she explains how we can reduce light pollution across our cities to save the lives of birds, reducing their needless suffering and species loss. Let's go lights out after 11pm in homes and commercial buildings and put our outdoor lights on timers. 

In Tune to Nature airs every Wednesday from 6:30-7pm EST on wrfg.org and 89.3FM-Atlanta on Radio Free Georgia. It is hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please support non-commercial indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Subscribe to In Tune to Nature on major streaming sites.

Take care of yourself and others, including other species -- like birds!

Wildlife Corridors Connecting Yellowstone USA to Yukon Canada: Y2Y with Hannah Rasker

North America’s animals can’t be restricted to living within park boundaries and must migrate freely. The vision of Y2Y is an interconnected system of wild lands and waters stretching 2,000 miles from Yellowstone National Park in Montana to the Yukon region near Alaska in Northern British Columbia, Canada. The nonprofit’s U.S. Program and Adaptive Management Coordinator, Hannah Rasker, explains how the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) works with a network of partners, collaboratively, to knit this landscape together from one jurisdiction to the next. Their website is https://y2y.net/

In this 23-minute this interview in October 2021 with “In Tune to Nature” host Carrie Freeman, Hannah explains how wildlife corridors out west benefit species like grizzlies and wolves and elk, especially the highway overpasses and underpasses that are being built to funnel wildlife into safe crossing zones to traverse highways without deadly vehicle collisions. We discuss ways we can make these wildlife crossing bridges a priority across all regions.

In Tune to Nature airs every Wednesday from 6:30-7pm EST on wrfg.org and 89.3FM-Atlanta on Radio Free Georgia. It is hosted by Carrie Freeman, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. Please support non-commercial indie media like Radio Free Georgia at https://wrfg.org/   Subscribe to In Tune to Nature on major streaming sites.

Take care of yourself and others, including other species!

An ecofeminist take on interspecies justice and animal law with rhetoric scholar Dr. Marek Muller

We talk about interspecies justice, animal rights, personhood, and earth jurisprudence from a legal and ecofeminist perspective, putting animal rights in context of intersectional social justice activism, with guest Dr. S. Marek Muller, Associate Professor of Rhetoric at Florida Atlantic Univ and author of the book “Impersonating Animals: Rhetoric, Ecofeminism, and Animal Rights Law” (Michigan State Univ Press). She ends by describing how a critical vegan rhetoric can be a transformative and inclusive communicative perspective to advance interspecies justice (for all of us).

This 33-minute podcast was recorded in Sept 2021 and is hosted by Carrie Freeman, for the In Tune to Nature eco radio program airing Wednesday nights from 6:30-7pm EST on Radio Free Georgia (wrfg.org 89.3FM-Atlanta, an indie, non-commercial, progressive radio station). Hosted by Carrie, Sonia Swartz, or Melody Paris. 

 

 

We are Human and So Much More: An Interview with ”Four Fifths a Grizzly” Author Doug Chadwick

Wildlife biologist and journalist Doug Chadwick talks with host Carrie Freeman about his latest conservation book “Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just might Save us All" promoting the genealogical kinship we have with fellow animals and even plants and microbes. This beautiful book (part photo book, part nonfiction natural science book, part biographical storytelling book) helps us gain a perspective as part of the animal kingdom and natural world in the hopes we might work harder to save animals and their habitats from extinction. "Four Fifths a Grizzly" shares positive examples such as the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative that connects many wilderness regions to allow needed migrations for many species, including grizzly bears (the book's inspiration). 

This 26 minute podcast is hosted by Carrie Freeman for Radio Free Georgia's In Tune to Nature program, which is broadcast each Wednesday from 6:30-7pm EST on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streams live on wrfg.org (hosted by Carrie, Sonia Swartz or Melody Paris). Please consider supporting this indie, noncommercial progressive radio station at www.wrfg.org  Many of the "In Tune to Nature" podcasts hosted by Carrie can be found at https://cpfreeman.podbean.com/ 

For more information on Doug Chadwick's book and his interesting bio, see the Patagonia book publisher website.