Caring for Complexity (PART 2): A Tree Tender and an Artist Talk Maintenance (With Marcus Ferreira)

PART TWO: MARCUS FERREIRA

What does it mean to maintain something? How do we practice long-term care for the natural world?

Connected by their urgent efforts to tend to the environment, lawyer and Philadelphia-local Marcus Ferreira and eco-artist Aviva Rahmani talk about their varied approaches to eco-activism. Though they work at very different scales — Ferreira walks the streets of South Philly with pruners in his pocket and Rahmani writes symphonies for forests — they are both deeply attuned to the need for ecological restoration. In this conversation, we discuss the necessity of long-term thought, and the effects of planting and maintaining a single tree.

In part two of the conversation, Marcus speaks with me about his experiences as a volunteer tree tender, how he fell in love with caring for trees, and exactly what kinds of trees we should be planting and tending to.

Music for this episode is by local guitarist and composer Nick Millevoi, from the album Streets of Philadelphia.

Check out our website to read more about the guests, and follow their collaborations together.

Thank you to technical director Eric Carbonara at NadaSoundStudio, and to the Center for Humanities at Temple University for supporting this podcast.