PODSHIP EARTH Jared Blumenfeld

Lisa Jackson grew up in New Orleans, trained and worked as an environmental engineer and was chosen by President Obama to lead EPA from 2009 to 2013. Lisa is now the Vice President for Environmental, policy and social initiatives at Apple. We talk about the influence of Parliament-Funkadelic, the power of faith, the importance of rebuilding EPA after four years of Trump’s vandalism, and how to make sure environmental justice impacted communities are given the resources to reshape their future.

At 18, my Grandfather was drafted into the German Army, and served as an ambulance driver in World War One. He wrote down the entire truly bizarre story with a great deal of irony and dark humor.  Erwin attempts to escape from military service (to meet his Dutch sweetheart), serves as an accountant in a military-sanctioned Red Cross brothel, was awarded the Iron Cross (for teaching his Sergeant French), and is witness to a butchery of horrific proportions.  Erwin’s trials reinforce the insanity of the human condition and yet, no matter how cold, how hungry and how barbaric the world around him, he just kept going.

Thousands of years of tribal ecological practice is the key to reconnecting us to the planet. We talk with Matthew Teutimez, tribal biologist with the Kizh-Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians, the aboriginal tribe of the Los Angeles basin, about plants, health and spirituality.

In 2015, 21 young people filed a climate lawsuit called Juliana v. United States, asserting that the government violated their rights to life, liberty, and property. We talk with plaintiffs Aji Piper and Tia Hatton; and journalists: Christi Cooper and Lee Van Der Voo about the ups and downs of this amazing lawsuit and the community it created.

Dr. Mark Hyman uncovers the path to personal and planetary health. For Mark, health is about connecting the soil, with the farmer, with the grocer, with our diet. We talk with Mark about his health-focused fixes to the food system.

Five of the six biggest fires in California’s recent history happened this year, resulting in 10,488 structures damaged and at least 31 fatalities. I talk with Justine Gude with the Texas Canyon Hotshot crew about what it takes to be tough, resilient and to plan for everything going to hell.