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- Today22 min
Threshold Conversations | Water and War with Kaveh Madani
Like many countries, Iran has struggled with major water scarcity in recent years. Last summer its capital, Tehran, came very close to “day zero,” the day when the whole city runs out of drinking water. Now, with the United States at war with Iran, President Donald Trump has further threatened the country’s civilian water infrastructure, including dams, water treatment plants, and the electrical grid.Dr. Kaveh Madani is a water scientist and the former Deputy Head of the Department of Environment in Iran. He now leads the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. He joins us to talk about his work on the concept of ‘water bankruptcy,’ his experience working on environmental issues in Iran, and the links between water and conflict.Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer.Resources and Links: Kaveh’s major new report on water bankruptcyThe United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
- 4 weeks ago21 min
Threshold Conversations | Coyotes in the City with Christopher Schell
As surprising as it may be to encounter a coyote in the big city, these wild carnivores aren’t passing through—they’re right at home. Whether it’s a quiet grassland or a downtown Quiznos, they’re adapting to their environment, and to us. Dr. Christopher Schell is an ecologist who studies city-dwelling carnivores at UC Berkeley, and he joins us to think about how wild animals live in the built environment, how human social dynamics shape the behavior of our nonhuman neighbors, and what lessons we can take from these resilient creatures. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: The Schell Lab One of Chris’s papers: The ecological and evolutionary consequences of systemic racism in urban environmentsChris’s upcoming events in SeattleMapping Inequality, an interactive history of Redlining in America
- Mar 17, 202617 min
Threshold Conversations: Walking Like a Curlew with Matthew Trevelyan
All around the Northern Hemisphere, the evocative call of a curlew is a telltale sign of spring. With their tall, skinny legs and long, curved bills, this group of migratory shorebirds has earned a reputation in many different cultures—but now they’re facing serious threats, and one species is already extinct. Last spring, one man became so concerned about the plight of these iconic birds that he walked for two days across the English countryside inside a giant curlew costume. His name is Matthew Trevelyan, and in his day job he works to protect the pastoral grasslands of Nidderdale, a landscape in Northern England where Eurasian Curlews love to nest. Matthew joins us to talk about his long walk, the challenges facing curlews in the UK and worldwide, and why so many of us find the song of this slender bird to be so moving. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Matthew in the BBC in his giant curlew costume Matthew’s new plan to climb the Yorkshire Peaks in the curlew costume The Nidderdale National Landscape where Matthew works to conserve curlewsCurlew conservation and news at curlewaction.orgCurlew Moon by Mary Colwell
- Feb 17, 202631 min
Threshold Conversations | Feminism in the Wild with Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer
How much of what we know about animals is actually just an assumption? From dominant males and passive females to stigmas around same-sex sexual behavior, ideas from our human world influence our understanding of the nonhuman one.Ambika Kamath is a behavioral ecologist and evolutionary biologist, and Melina Packer is a scholar of race, gender and sexuality. Together they wrote the book Feminism in the Wild: How Human Biases Shape Our Understanding of Animal Behavior. They join us to unpack some long-held ideas in biology, explain why these ideas are so powerful, and imagine how we might open our eyes to animal behavior that defies our expectations.Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer.Resources and Links: Episode transcriptFeminism in the Wild from MIT PressThe paper on female birdsong by Michelle Hall and colleaguesAmy’s Substack, Letters to Earthlings
- Jan 13, 202630 min
Threshold Conversations | Climate Negotiations with Lina Yassin
Thirty-four years ago, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established the annual “conferences of the parties,” known as COPs, where almost every nation on earth comes together to negotiate a solution to climate change. But this past November, for the first time ever, the United States did not send a delegation to COP, and this month, the Trump Administration announced its intention to withdraw from the UNFCCC entirely. Lina Yassin has been to nine COPs, including the most recent, COP30, in Brazil. Originally from Sudan, Lina provides support for some of the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable nations at these negotiations. She joins Amy to talk about what happened at this year’s conference, and why, despite the U.S. withdrawal, she believes it’s essential to keep this multilateral process alive. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Lina’s work at the International Institute for Environment and Development Key outcomes of COP30 from Carbon BriefAmy will be writing more about recent developments in climate diplomacy at her Substack, Letters to Earthlings
- Dec 9, 202522 min
Threshold Conversations | Climate Emotions with Audrey Martin
All over the world, small groups of complete strangers are getting together to share their feelings about climate. These gatherings are called Climate Cafes, and they’re carving out space for some big emotions we might prefer to avoid. But what if talking about our feelings can also help us address the climate crisis? Audrey Martin is a Bay Area psychotherapist and one of the leaders of the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America. She also happens to be Amy Martin’s sister. Audrey joins us to unpack some of our complicated, scary emotions around climate, and to make the case for why this kind of self-reflection isn’t just comforting—it’s crucial. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Climate Psychology Alliance of North America
- Nov 18, 202524 min
Threshold Conversations | The Roadless Rule with Ben Goldfarb
Last June, the U.S. the Secretary of Agriculture announced that the Trump administration intends to repeal something called the “Roadless Rule”—a policy implemented in 2001, which protected some of the Forest Service’s wildest lands from logging, mining, and road-building. Author Ben Goldfarb examined the impacts of road and roadless areas in his 2023 book, Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. We talk with Ben about why our Forest Service lands already have so many roads, and what building more would actually mean for wildlife and for people. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Ben’s book, “Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet” at W.W. Norton To read more of Ben Goldfarb’s ecological writing, go to his website, bengoldfarb.comA map of Forest Service Roadless Areas in the United StatesThe Forest Service website about Roadless Areas and the new rule40 Years a Forester by Elers Koch
- Nov 11, 20252 min
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About Threshold
Threshold is a Peabody Award-winning documentary podcast about our place in the natural world. Each season, we take listeners on a journey into the heart of a complex environmental story, asking how we got here and where we might be headed.In our latest season, Hark, we hand the mic over to our planet-mates and investigate what it means to truly listen to nonhuman voices—and the cost if we don't. With mounting social and ecological crises, what happens when we tune into the life all around us?Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced.
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