Broken Ground

Dec 18 2024 42 ep. 25 mins 445

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Broken Ground is a podcast produced by the Southern Environmental Law Center digging up environmental stories in the South.

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Rural Justice: The Power of Coalitions

Dec 18 2024 14 mins

This season of Broken Ground we spend time in the rural South with the people who call it home. Often celebrated for the quiet life close to nature, and a region that defines many perceptions of the South, it’s also a place polluting industries target, betting what they do will be out of sight and out of mind. Sometimes these polluters are even invited to town by local officials

The Landfill Next Door

Dec 10 2024 34 mins

We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about where our trash ends up but, when you live next door to a landfill, you don’t have that luxury. The burning smell of chemicals, the flocks of circling vultures, the constant rumble of truck traffic and the accompanying exhaust are just the most obvious impacts of living near acres of garbage, especially when that garbage isn’t manag

After the River Rises

Nov 01 2024 40 mins

"Inland flooding" was a phrase that often needed explanation. Now all you need to say is "Helene". The storm that ravaged Appalachia was a stark reminder of a phenomenon that’s becoming more and more common – residents living far from the coast watching as their local river jumps its banks and inundates yards, homes, and businesses. For small towns with even smaller budgets, di

The Wood Pellet Paradox

Oct 10 2024 34 mins

How can a power source that creates more climate warming emissions than coal be called renewable? This is the paradox of wood pellets, a type of biomass being burned at industrial scale to produce electricity overseas. And it’s not just the global climate that’s paying the price for this greenwashing. Pellet producers are fanning out across the southern U.S., razing forests, an

The Fishers' Right To Know

Sep 19 2024 33 mins

Is that fresh-caught fish safe to eat? In too many rivers across the rural South, the answer is a hard 'no.' Failing sewage systems, agricultural runoff, and politically powerful polluters have all contributed to worrisome water quality in some of our most treasured southern waterways. And, too often, state regulators are little help. It begs the question: Do people enjoying that w

The Strip Mine and The Swamp

Sep 04 2024 32 mins

To call the Okefenokee swamp a treasure is to undersell just how special this watery world is. Tucked into the rural southeast corner of Georgia, this 438,000-acre swamp is one of the most ecologically intact places in our nation. Its shallow black waters not only provide habitat to a menagerie of flora and fauna, but also contain a massive peat-filled carbon sink – on a planet d

Jonathan Vigliotti on Connecting the Climate Dots

Aug 08 2024 24 mins

CBS News journalist and author Jonathan Vigliotti joins Broken Ground host Leanna First-Arai to dig into his on-the-ground coverage of breaking climate stories across rural America, particularly in the South. Vigliotti translated this experience into the book Before It's Gone: Stories From the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small Town America, published in April 2024. Support the

Cornell Watson on Justice Through Photography

Sep 28 2023 30 mins

Photographer Cornell Watson's images recognize the camera can be a tool for connection, and action. Whether its pollution from hog farms, efforts to gut Black neighborhoods, or racism at the state’s flagship university, Watson's lens points us to see what so many choose to ignore. Support the show

Victoria Bouloubasis and Paola Jaramillo on Bridging Language Barriers

Sep 14 2023 28 mins

Whether its natural disasters or shifting political winds, Victoria Bouloubasis and Paola Jaramillo make sure Spanish-speakers in North Carolina have access to it. Ensuring that access fuels their work as a reporter and editor, respectively, at Enlace Latino NC. The outlet uses traditional journalism, podcasts, WhatsApp, social media and comics to connect North Carolina's Spanish s

Cameron Oglesby on Collecting Community Stories

Aug 31 2023 27 mins

Listen to environmental journalist Cameron Oglesby discuss how highlighting Black joy and centering community narratives in her writing drives action. Support the show