Mothering Earth Podcast
Science & Ideas
About
Dr. Salwa Khan is a media producer and educator with a deep and abiding interest in protecting our Mother Earth. The podcast program Mothering Earth featured here is her latest effort to spread the word that we all need to mother Earth by learning to live gently and sustainably.
Episodes
- Mothering Earth-141-Iowa Farms Pollution
Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times Pilot, discusses environmental damage from agriculture and climate in Iowa. His book, "Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest," focuses on the impacts on soil, water, and air.
- Mothering Earth-140-Plant-Based Meals
Jennifer Behr, Director of Plant-Based Initiatives at Mercy For Animals, discusses the organization's mission to end factory-farming and promote plant-based food systems that benefit people, animals, and the environment. MFA collaborates w…
- Mothering Earth-139-Fenceline Watch
Yvette Arellano and Shiv Srivastava of Fenceline Watch discuss the daily toxic harm faced by residents in Houston, Texas, due to nearby petroleum and petrochemical facilities. They highlight the environmental injustice and the conditions t…
- Mothering Earth-138-Ripple: Reintegrating With Nature
This episode discusses humanity's perceived superiority over nature and the resulting separation, contrasted with the innate human need for connection. It features author William Powers, who shares insights from his book 'Ripple,' which do…
- Mothering Earth-137-CoolEnvironment
This episode addresses the difficulty of cooling living spaces on a warming planet, given the reliance on fossil fuels that worsen global warming. An architect is consulted for ideas on designing highly energy-efficient environments.
- Mothering Earth-136-World Wildlife Fund & the Rio Grande
A changing climate with hotter and drier weather is a challenge for people, but also for lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The Rio Grande river, which runs from Colorado into Mexico, crossing several U.S. states, continues to shrink and to run…
- Mothering Earth-135-Homegrown National Park
Whether your outdoor space is a large garden or a tiny apartment balcony, you can plant plants that are native to your part of the world. For those with lawns, you can reduce or eliminate the lawn and replace those areas with native plants…
- Mothering Earth-134-Return of the Rio Grande
The Rio Grande river has been immortalized in movies and in songs, but sadly, the river itself has shrunk and now regularly runs dry in certain areas. The World Wildlife Fund has prioritized restoring the river and to that end is funding p…
- Mothering Earth-133-Grass Isn't Greener
Many people spend hours on their lawns, running the sprinklers, pouring on the “weed and feed”, driving large riding mowers back and forth and using another noisy machine to makes the edges perfect. Why do we have an obsession with lawns?…
- Mothering-Earth-132-Nature At Night
Many of us feel uncomfortable going out into nature once the sun goes down. The natural world after dark is something of an unknown, mysterious and perhaps dangerous. In this program, we meet naturalist and author Charles Hood, who wants u…
- Mothering Earth-131-From Hogs To Mushrooms
What happens when a man who grew up on a factory farm learns about environmental sustainability? In this case, he was driven to make changes on the farm that would benefit the environment, and his search for alternatives was nurtured when…
- Mothering Earth-130-ZeroWaste
When you throw something away, it’s gone as far as you are concerned. But in fact, it’s still around and will most likely end up in a landfill. Landfills are where solid waste goes to build up into unpleasant mounds and where organic waste…
- Mothering Earth-129-Wonderful Bats
Bats are pretty amazing little creatures, yet for years they have been pictured as evil animals associated with witchcraft and the devil. In. this program, you’ll meet behavioral ecologist and bat biologist Alyson Brokaw who’s written a bo…
- Mothering Earth-128-Chemicals in Cosmetics
Most people use several different personal care products every day. For example, you may use a shampoo and conditioner, creams or lotions, shaving cream, fragrances, toothpaste and some makeup, including lipstick, eyeliner and eyeshadow. I…
- Mothering Earth-127-Transfarmation
What if farmers who feel trapped in an agricultural system where large corporations make all the decisions, even down to how many animals the farmer will raise, what he or she will feed them and when the animals will be slaughtered; what i…
- Mothering Earth-126-Insect Epiphany
There are quintillions of insects in our world. Some are harmful to humans, but most are not. In fact, most insects provide vital ecosystem “services”, such as pollination of food crops and decomposition of animal and other wastes. They pr…
- Mothering Earth-125-Environmental Photography
Photographs showing environmental devastation caused by humans can have a powerful impact, and can change minds and drive people to take action. In this program, you’ll meet an acclaimed National Geographic photographer who has spent much…
- Mothering Earth-124-Factory Farming
Most of the animal food products you buy come from what are called factory farms. That includes beef, chicken, turkey, and pork, as well as eggs and dairy products. The animals in these “farms” live miserable lives in horrible conditions a…
- Mothering Earth-123-Pesticides on Produce
Perhaps later today, you will head to the grocery store to get some fresh fruits and vegetables, which are important for a healthy diet. In this program, we’re looking at the issue of pesticide use on our produce, with Dr. Alexa Friedman o…
- Mothering Earth-122-Celebrating Trees
Do you have a favorite tree? Whether you do or not, almost all of us have enjoyed the shade of a tree or eaten fruit or nuts that came from a tree. Trees provide us with numerous “services” while just standing there, looking stately, for t…
- Mothering Earth-121-Dairy-Calcium
Are milk, cheese and other dairy products really the best source of calcium in our food? You may be surprised to learn that plants are a better source of calcium and the many other nutrients we need for bone health. In this program, we tak…
- Mothering Earth-120-EcoPsychology
A recent survey commissioned by the Arbor Day Foundation found that ninety percent of Americans say time spent in green spaces makes them happier and less stressed. Practitioners of ecopsychology wouldn’t be surprised. Ecopsychology has lo…
- Mothering Earth-119-Climate Change Hits Home Insurance
The extreme weather we've been experiencing lately has it roots in climate change according to most scientists. Intense heat, extreme storms that bring damaging winds and hail and that result in flooding, or raging wildfires all have human…
- Mothering Earth-118-Road Ecology
Humans have created millions of miles of roads all over the planet. Roads are useful to move goods and people, but they are also intrusions into what were once wild places, where animals roamed free. The millions of vehicles that drive on…
- Mothering Earth-117-Insects Part Two
Insects have superpowers and unique ways of communicating with each other, without the use of cell phones. They have ways of settling disputes, no United Nations required. If you don’t believe this, listen as Dr. Scott Solomon, provides th…
- Mothering Earth-116-Insects Part One
Insects, bugs, pests, whatever you may call them, and whether you love or hate them, they are vital to our planet and by extension to us humans. They provide important ecosystem services by recycling dead things, by pollinating our food cr…
- Mothering Earth-115-MadeSafe Part Two
In our second show with Amy Ziff of MADE SAFE®, a nonprofit organization that provides certification for nontoxic products, we examine the process companies must go through in order to have their products certified as safe. Ziff also provi…
- Mothering Earth-114-MadeSafe
The numbers vary, but we can safely say that there are at least forty-thousand chemicals used in consumer products in the United States. They are found in everything from food and water to furniture, household and personal care products, c…
- Mothering Earth-113-Food Waste
Billions of pounds of food go to waste every year in the United States and in other parts of the world. It is an astounding number, especially when you consider all the precious resources, like water, that goes into producing that food. Th…
- Mothering Earth-112-Protecting Ocean Life
The world’s oceans are suffering from pollution by everything from plastics to dangerous chemicals and oil spills, and from industrial overfishing. Fish populations are being depleted almost to extinction. Plastics and their progeny, micro…
- Mothering Earth-111-Perennial Grain Crops
When you think of perennial crops, you may think of fruit or nut trees, not plants like wheat or rice, which are traditionally planted every year. An organization called The Land Institute, based in Salina, Kansas is hoping to change that.…
- Mothering Earth-110-Black Lives Veggies
People who live in cities in marginalized neighborhoods rarely own land on which they can grow their own food. Generally, their food comes from corner stores which may not stock fresh fruits and vegetables. They may not own a car, and so c…
- Mothering Earth-109-Reforestation
Most people may not think much about where the wood they use in building projects comes from, but Jordan Zettle aims to change that. Zettle is the Green Markets Manager at an organization called Sustainable Northwest and their focus is in…
- Mothering Earth -108-Amphibians
Like many other creatures, populations of frogs, toads and salamanders, which are classified as amphibians, are in decline. Amphibians have many important functions in the environment. For example, their permeable skin which is affected by…
- Mothering Earth-107-CAFOs and the EPA
What if you knew that a particular industry was polluting our waterways, land and air, yet nothing was being done about it? The industry is animal agriculture, specifically CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations, with cows, chickens…
- Mothering Earth-106-Citizen Scientists
If you are curious about nature and would enjoy observing and reporting your observations, this is the show for you! Citizen scientists are needed in many different fields of science. Citizen science is when people who aren’t trained scien…
- Mothering Earth - 105 - Water Conservation
Water is essential to life in so many ways, and water is the focus of the Wyland Foundation. You may know of the artist named Wyland, who has spent years creating enormous murals featuring whales and other marine life on the walls of build…
- Mothering Earth - 104 - Ocean Plastics
Pollution of the Earth’s waterways and oceans by discarded plastic products and by microplastics that soak up toxic chemicals is a growing problem that is harmful to ocean and river life and to humans. It is not going away soon. In fact, t…
- Mothering Earth - 103 - Green Alleys
Alleys have a reputation for being places to avoid. We may think of them as dangerous, dark, uninviting, places where you do not want to linger for long, if at all. But alleys are experiencing a dramatic makeover, turning them into environ…
- Mothering Earth -102- Sustainable Diet
Compared to meat-based diets, plant-based diets are significantly less harmful to the environment in terms of greenhouse gases produced, and air, soil and water pollution, and use far fewer natural resources such as soil and water. With th…
- Mothering Earth -101- Sustainable Housing
We all need a place to live, but the type of housing we choose has an effect on the environment. Ideally, our housing choices have minimal impact on the environment, on the land, the quality of the air and water and on the wildlife that ar…
- Mothering Earth - 100 - Homegrown National Park
Imagine if everyone who has a garden area, whether vast or tiny, decided to reduce or eliminate their lawn, and planted plants that are native to their part of the world. The result would be a greater sequestration of carbon by those plant…
- Mothering Earth -99- E-Waste
We count on them to guard our homes, to play our music and television shows, to entertain us with games, to call and chat with friends, relatives and colleagues, to clean our clothes, to keep our food cold, to pay our bills, to get our wor…
- Mothering Earth -98- Native Plant Society
Native plants are local plants. They have been growing in a particular region for possibly thousands of years. They grow well without much “care” because they are well adapted to the habitat. They like the type of soil in that region. They…
- Mothering Earth- 97 - Pesticides Are Poison
When large populations of grasshoppers and crickets appear in western rangelands in the U.S., the government sprays those areas with pesticides to kill the targeted insects. The spraying program also kills many non-target species. The area…
- Mothering Earth - 96 - Repurposing Plastic
As we all know, there are far too many plastics in our world and unlike most materials, plastics do not readily break down. It is estimated that plastic takes 500 to 1000 years to decompose. Only about nine percent of plastic in the United…
- Mothering Earth -95- Habitat-Enhancing Land Management
Land stewardship is about taking care of the soil, of native grasses, trees and shrubs, and of sources of water, such as rivers, lakes, creeks and streams. The aim is to preserve and maintain the biodiversity and health of natural ecosyste…
- Mothering Earth - 94 - Citizens' Climate Lobby
Putting a tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels isn’t a new idea. Many governments worldwide now implement either direct taxes on fossil fuels, or have set up cap-and-trade programs. This includes Canada, Mexico, many European countrie…
- Mothering Earth -93 - Compassion in World Farming
Most of the animal food products you buy come from what are called factory farms. That includes your beef, chicken, turkey, and pork, as well as eggs and dairy products. The animals in these “farms” live miserable lives in horrible conditi…
- Mothering Earth - 92 - Food Access
Food is clearly an essential item for all of us, but for some people buying food, especially things like fresh fruits and vegetables, is an impossibility. That's where places like food pantries and organizations like the Sustainable Food C…