In Tune to Nature Podcast

Environmental communication scholar Dr. Hanna Morris shared her insights from "Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power," her 2025 book with Oxford Univ Press. This book meets the political moment in analyzing the way most mainstream news media actually lean moderate to right in climate coverage that "others" and villianizes the New Left activists and progressive politicians as too 'radical' or 'woke' (like A....

When you hear the term "animal welfare" you probably think cats, dogs, horses, maybe pet parakeets. But there is an organization called Wild Animal Initiative that is expanding the notion of animal welfare to include wild/free-living animal individuals. For my 100th podcast episode, my guest Cat Kerr with Wild Animal Initiative was here to talk about how scientists try to measure wellbeing in wild animals (you can guess some of the...

In this mass extinction era, can we save the Endangered Species Act? We discuss how engaged citizens can speak out against the trump regime's recent proposal to weaken the notion of what “harm” legally means (so the Endangered Species Act would essentially no longer protect animals’ habitats from exploitation, even though habitat destruction is the largest threat to species). Here's a link to a public comment opportunity for engage...

In honor of National Park Week and Earthday 2025, we are supporting OUR national parks by sharing stories about what we love about the parks that we all collectively own (the most beautiful and ecologically significant wild places/habitats in the nation...and in the world, as some earned UNESCO World Heritage Site designations), to help encourage Americans to ask for political support to stop trump and musk/DOGE from defunding OUR ...

We reframe the “egg crisis” (high prices and low supply of commercial hen’s eggs in a bird flu outbreak) as a crisis of mass farming of animals, proposing sustainable alternative food solutions that can replace eggs and reduce the spread of zoonotic diseases, pollution, and the killing and harm of millions of wild and domesticated animals. Jennifer and Carrie discuss this in the context of the bird flu outbreak, as avian influenza ...

Our National Park Service staff are under seige, as so many federal employees are, from trump and Elon Musk’s unfair attacks on our federal government agencies with haphazard and frankly cruel mass firings of public servants (not truly based on inefficiency or poor performance) along with spending and hiring freezes that are traumatizing and debilitating park employees and surrounding communities, creating a culture of fear and dem...

We gotta start eating plants not other animals. A 2025 article published in the journal “Oxford Open Climate Change” titled “Solving climate change requires changing our food systems” outlines the need for human societies globally to transition to plant-based food systems and phase out factory farming, offering pathways to make that vision a reality to reach climate mitigation goals and spare the worst warming and deforestation imp...

We discuss the concept of animal dignity – two words that don’t often get put together; we typically only hear of human dignity, as if it means we are dignified precisely because we aren’t animals, yet we humans are part of the animal kingdom and not the only animal species who possesses a dignity that should be respected.

In this special 55-minute podcast, host Carrie Freeman explores this novel ethical and legal concept with our ...

Carrie and Melody discuss how to incorporate animal and eco protection into your life in meaningful ways to meet your own life goals, priorities, and interests in big and small ways, syncing up with actions and virtues the world needs from us humans. 

Since the beginning of each new year is a time to reassess our own goals and priorities, it seemed a good time to have an In Tune to Nature show that focused on our own personal growt...

This Christmas, I thought it would be fun to analyze 6 popular Christmas songs referencing animals-other-than-humans (mostly mammals who are forced to pull people around the snow in sleds, and then some birds, mainly birds that humans kill and eat but sometimes birds humans admire for their beauty). The songs are  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Run Run Rudolph, Sleigh Ride, Jingle Bells, The 12 Days of Christmas, and Nat King Cole...

To have a greener holiday season (and beyond) and avoid buying a bunch of cluttering stuff your friends and family don't need (and probably don't want), this annual holiday show focuses not on eco-friendly products/items but more on eco-friendly experiences and services in order to avoid cluttering up our lives (and planet) with more items that land in our homes permanently and ultimately weigh us and our descendants down (or just ...

I decided animals needed an election postmortem after being erased from the political and media agenda by self-centered anthropocentrism; so I wanted to use this media platform with my friend from Oregon, Dr. Debra Merskin, to collectively grieve, vent, and discuss how we really feel this week as animal rights activists, vegans, environmentalists, social justice advocates, human animal earthlings, and feminists who were excited to ...

This election season is the ultimate time to consider that this decade is our last best chance to transition to a liveable planet instead of continuing to further recklessly degrade the sustainability of our own species’ future, and that of fellow earthlings, and our one Oasis Earth. Marine conservationist, former U of Alaska professor, and clean energy and wildlife consultant, Dr. Rick Steiner speaks with In Tune to Nature radio h...

We voters really do care about eco issues (it's aligned with our health and economy and love for other animals...and future generations), so I wanted to get us prepared, motivated, and confident for early voting in Georgia Oct 15 - Nov 1st, with resources and tips shared by Brionte McCorkle, Executive Director of the nonpartisan Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV) at  https://www.gcvoters.org/vote/

That GCV voter resource website inc...

Elections are about more than just the current economy. We citizens must consider longterm effects of policies on our climate stability, wild animal livelihoods, community wellbeing, ecosystem health, and sustainable economic opportunities for future generations. But "Project 2025," the Heritage Foundation's extreme right-wing policy plan for a trump presidency forecasts a grim future of handing over more power to industries for oi...

The Marine Protection Atlas maps the global conservation of ocean areas that are supposed to legally protect aquatic animals and plant life from industrial activities like commercial fishing, mining, and drilling, but they have varying levels of protection and effectiveness so far. In this 33-minute podcast, we discuss the status of legally protected marine ocean areas worldwide, some of which are called “blue parks,” based on a re...

Water is essential to life, yet factory animal farms have polluted freshwater and river and wetland ecosystems and rural neighborhoods for decades. But we can work to protect water, wildlife, animals, and community health. To tell us how, is our guest Larry Baldwin. He’s with the nonprofit group Waterkeeper Alliance   https://waterkeeper.org/ and serves as their Campaign Coordinator for the “Pure Farms, Pure Waters” program in Nort...

I love hearing about "wildlife equity" for the wild animals who are often an integral focus of tourists. As ecotourists, we long to see amazing wild animals, but how can we ensure we aren’t endangering or harming them and putting ourselves or tourism profit before the lives and wellbeing of local humans and other animals in these tourism hotspots? To tell us about her (and co-authors') concept of wildlife equity and multispecies to...

We talk with Catherine Ridley, VP of One Hundred Miles, about wildlife protection efforts in coastal Georgia, focusing on the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and Loggerhead Sea Turtles who breed here and are at risk due to fatal ship strikes, fishing gear entanglements, dredging, and noise and light pollution, as well as discussing ancient Horseshoe Crabs, who are especially under threat lately by pharmaceutical industries wh...