Future Ecologies

• FE6.3 - Get Yer Ass Outta Here!

  In this very special donkumentary, we’re headed to the Mojave Desert — to Death Valley, in particular — where we find one animal at the centre of a heated debate in land management: the hardy wild burro (AKA donkey, ass, or Equus asinus).These feral burros, beloved by some and reviled by others, are an introduced species in the desert southwest, but are uniquely entangled in its human history. Since before the establishment of Death Valley as a national monument, they have been widely regarded as overpopulated on the Mojave landscape. In recent years, rising costs, public controversy, and some conflicting legislation have brought the sustainability of conventional burro management into crisis.But not everyone is convinced that they’re harmful. Could this crisis be avoided altogether if we looked at burros under a different light?Are they crowding out the native and endangered fauna? Or are they filling an ancient ecosystem niche? Join us as we meet the land managers, ecologists, and donkey racers all trying to do right by the desert.Find photos, credits, a transcript, and citations at futureecologies.net/listen/fe-6-3-get-yer-ass-outta-here— — —We rely on listener support to stay independent, ad free, and making the best podcast we can make.Help us keep the lights on at patreon.com/futureecologies — and get perks like early episode releases, bonus audio content, stickers, patches, a cozy hat, access to our community discord server, and your name on our websiteGet new episodes in your email: join our mailing listYou can also find us on Bluesky, Instagram, Mastodon, & iNaturalist

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• [UNLOCKED] Skye Augustine // Diving deeper into Sea Gardens

  We’re unlocking one of the conversations from our bonus feed.In this interview, building on episode FE6.2, Mendel speaks with Skye Augustine, a leading voice uplifting the science, history, and culture of Sea Gardens. In a time where so much of the future feels uncertain, the resiliency of Sea Gardens over millennia is (at least to us) a source of deep comfort and inspiration.What’s more, if you’re as inspired as we are, and you want to learn how your community could build a clam garden, we’ve got you covered. Don't miss our conversation with Joseph Williams, Community Shellfish Liaison for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, who constructed the first Clam Garden of the modern era — available for free on our Patreon.— — —The Future Ecologies bonus feed is where we release exclusive bits of audio to all of our supporters. There’s a whole back catalogue of silly mini episodes, long-form extended interviews with guests from the main feed, and a bunch of entirely new, fascinating conversations you won’t hear anywhere else. It’s one of the ways we say thanks for helping us make the show — we really can’t do it without you.You can get access to the bonus feed (on your podcast app of choice) and more, for less than the price of a cup of coffee at patreon.com/futureecologies or subscribe directly within Apple Podcasts.

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• Future Ecologies presents: Hark (from Threshold)

  We're borrowing an episode from one of our all-time favourite shows: Threshold, a Peabody Award-winning documentary podcast about our place in the natural world.Now in their 5th Season, "Hark", Threshold producer Amy Martin is exploring sound itself: investigating what it means to listen to the nonhuman voices on our planet — and the cost if we don’t. With mounting social and ecological crises, what happens when we tune into the life all around us?Other episodes from Hark cover the sounds of the primordial microbial ooze, of insects, of fish, and of plants. Today, we're featuring episode 3: on the sounds of coral reefs, and how listening to them may help them survive a warming world.Find Threshold (and the rest of Hark) wherever you get podcasts, or at thresholdpodcast.org

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• FE6.2 - SEA / GARDEN

  Food security, climate adaptation, and vibrant biodiversity all in one place — welcome to the ancient and diverse technologies of Sea Gardening.These widespread (but often overlooked) monumental rock features are proof positive of thriving Indigenous maricultural systems all around the Pacific Rim, since time immemorial. These spaces are not only simply stunningly beautiful spots to hang out, they're also a powerful symbol of ecocultural restoration; of Indigenous sovereignty, self-determination, and internationalism; of relationship building; and of the kind of future that is possible as we adapt to a changing climate and rising sea levels. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do.Join us as we visit a sea garden, learn about how they work, and meet a few of the people bringing them back to life.— — —Visit futureecologies.net/listen/fe-6-2-sea-garden for full credits, links, citations, photos, a transcript, and more.Support the making of this independent, ad-free podcast at futureecologies.net/join for as little as $1 each month, and get early episode releases and exclusive bonus content. Chip in a little more and we'll send you stickers, an embroidered patch, and a cozy hat.

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• FE6.1 - FOREST / TREE

  Season 6 kicks off in the deep dark woods: the simplified, post-industrial forests of the world — the only forests that many of us have ever known.Join us as we meet foresters in British Columbia, Vermont, and Scotland, all working to embrace the messy art of ecological forestry. Because if we want our forests to be old growth-ier, we might not be able to just wait and leave them alone. It might mean challenging some assumptions and getting out of our comfort zone, but that's what it'll take to see the forest for the trees.— — —With the voices of Ethan Tapper, Brian Duff, Keith Erickson, and Herb HammondMusic by Thumbug, Spencer W Stuart, Nathan Shubert, and Sunfish Moon LightSee also:FE3.4 - Dama DramaGaliano Conservancy AssociationNNRG's "A Forest of Your Own"FernGully: The Last RainforestFor photos from our time in the ancient old growth, citations, a transcript, and more, click here.– – –🌱 If you like what we do, you can help us to do it ✨Support the production of Future Ecologies by contributing any amount at futureecologies.net/joinOur entire community of supporters get early episode releases, bonus content, discord server access, and a 50% discount on all merch. Our biggest supporters get to show off with stickers, patches, and now toques (aka beanies).Thanks for keeping us independent and ad free!

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