Mongabay Newscast

It's been more than half a century since the publication of Silent Spring by the scientist and creative writer Rachel Carson. The seminal volume caught the attention of U.S. presidents, artists and musicians, spurring the environmental movement and leading to the eventual ban of the toxic pesticide DDT.
Joining the Mongabay Newscast is environmental writer and director of the creative writing program at Middlebury College, Megan Mayhew Bergman. She unpacks the impact of Carson's work, which came under public attack from chemical companies seeking to discredit her, and how, eventually, the truth broke through.
"We don't change our minds usually based on data. We change our minds based on emotion, but historically, it's been pretty taboo for scientists to include emotion in the way that they write. And I feel like Carson risked that here in a way that was really powerful."
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Image: Megan Mayhew Bergman. Image by Cameron Russell.
Environmental writing and authors mentioned in this conversation:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Florida by Lauren Groff
The Home Place by J. Drew Lanham
Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Christopher Cokinos
How Strange a Season by Megan Mayhew Bergman
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert
Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald
The Wild Flag by E.B. White
Zora Neale Hurston
Other works and authors mentioned:
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray
Men We Reaped by Jasmyn Ward
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
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Timestamps
(00:00) Changing hearts and minds
(02:46) Rachel Carson's journey to Silent Spring
(08:22) Controversy and impact
(14:40) Room for a new voice
(20:55) Bioaccumulation and what it means
(24:07) "We don't change our minds based on data"
(26:43) Recommended reads
(35:21) The American South and environmental writing
(39:57) Lessons for writers

Across Mediterranean Europe, olive groves are in decline from a range of factors, from disease to depopulation. In Italy alone, there are roughly 440 million abandoned olive trees, and the ecological, cultural and socioeconomic impacts from the loss are devastating, explains the latest guest on the Mongabay Newscast. Still, solutions exist to help turn the tide of this under-discussed problem.
Federica Romano is the program coordinator and UNESCO Chair on Agricultural Heritage Landscapes at the University of Florence. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast she discusses the drivers of the degradation and abandonment of olive groves, how ecological factors and human-induced climate change exacerbate these, and the consequences for biodiversity and wildlife in Europe, where olive oil isn't just an economic institution, but also a significant cultural one.
"Olive groves hold [a] deep cultural significance that goes far beyond agriculture [and] food production across Europe," she says. "Olive trees have symbolized peace, resilience and continuity through thousands of years, appearing in religious contexts, but also in arts and historical narratives."
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Mike DiGirolamo is the host & producer for the Mongabay Newscast based in Sydney. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky.
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Timecodes
(00:00) Intro
(01:52) The degradation and abandonment of olive groves
(03:27) Ecological and cultural importance
(07:14) Rural depopulation
(11:00) Environmental threats to olive groves
(15:32) Solutions and adoption schemes
(17:29) Agroforestry and agroecology solutions
(24:03) Fake olive oil
(25:40) How you can help

Professional drag artist and environmental activist Pattie Gonia has more than 2 million followers on Instagram and has raised $1.2 million for environmental nonprofits by hiking 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, in full drag into San Francisco. She has gained international recognition for using drag artistry to advocate for the environment, in acknowledgment and celebration of hundreds of researchers and scientists in the field who identify as queer.
She joins Mongabay's podcast to explain why joy is a fundamental ingredient missing in the environmental advocacy space, how she prioritizes it in her work as a drag performer and activist, and why she feels the environmental movement must prioritize it to succeed.
"If we want people to join this movement, we have to make it freaking fun," she says.
The Mongabay Newscast is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and previous episodes are also accessible at our website's podcast page.
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Image Credit: Pattie Gonia. Image courtesy of Pattie Gonia.
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Timecodes
(00:00) Hiking 100 miles in drag for the climate
(04:50) The origins of Pattie Gonia
(12:53) Looking at science through a lens of humanity
(16:38) On drag artistry and nature
(21:10) Bridging the gap between culture and nature
(26:19) What can we build instead of burn?
(35:22) "We have to make it freaking fun"

Judith Enck is a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, appointed by President Barack Obama, and the founder of Beyond Plastics, an organization dedicated to eradicating plastic pollution worldwide. She joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss how governments can implement policies to turn off the tap on plastic pollution, which harms human health and devastates our ecological systems — solutions she outlines in her new book with co-author Adam Mahoney, The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late.
"We now have all of this evidence. We have no choice but to act. Because who's going to stand by and let us turn the ocean into a watery landfill? Who's going to stand by and read health study after health study about microplastics in our brains and breast milk and testicles? Not taking action is not an option," she says.
Image credit: Judith Enck holding a copy of The Problem with Plastic. Image by Jerrick Mitra
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Timecodes
(00:00) The Problem with plastic
(02:55) Unpacking the plastic recycling myth
(08:31) Health impacts of plastic pollution
(12:43) Government and policy solutions
(31:43) Individual actions
(37:22) Plastic pollution and wildlife impacts
(45:52) Plastics and climate change

Gregg Treinish didn't start out as an outdoor enthusiast, but found solace and purpose in nature during his youth. After years of enjoying the outdoors, he was left feeling a need to give something back to the world.
He found fulfillment by using his passion for outdoor adventures to gather critical data that researchers need for conservation and scientific research. That's how his nonprofit organization, Adventure Scientists, came to be.
"We harness the collective power of the tens of thousands of people that are outside every day — who love the outdoors and have a passion for exploring the outdoors — and we give them real scientific missions that they can do while they're out there that benefit conservation," Treinish says.
The Mongabay Newscast is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and previous episodes are also accessible at our website's podcast page.
Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here.
Image Credit: Gregg Treinish in the Oakavango. Photo courtesy of Adventure Scientists
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Timecodes
(00:00) From "at-risk-youth" to conservation professional
(19:03) Current initiatives and future plans
(26:25) Studying killer whales
(29:15) Tracking white bark pine
(32:12) Antibiotic resistance research
(35:55) Empowering people to make an impact