Sustainability Now! on KSQD.org

Mar 30 2025 138 ep. 54 mins 12
Sustainability Now! on KSQD.org Podcast artwork

Are you concerned about the Earth's future? Are you interested in what is being done in Northern California and the world to address environmental issues? Do you want to act? Then tune in every other Sunday to "Sustainability Now!" on KSQD.org to hear interviews with scientists, scholars, activists and officials involved in the pursuit of sustainability. Sustainability Now! is underwritten by the Sustainable Systems Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, California

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Let the Salmon Swim Freely--The Klamath Dam Removal project with Brook Thompson

Mar 30 2025 53 mins  
Until very recently, salmon and other fish attempting to spawn in Northern California’s Klamath River found a number of dams in their way. Over the past several years, in the largest project of its kind to date, those dams have been removed. Now, the watershed is being restored to let the salmon swim upriver and allow other plants and animals to return. Join host Ronnie Lipschutz

Fire, Fire at Moss Landing--Why the batteries burned and what that means

Mar 16 2025 54 mins  
On January 16th, 2025, a fire broke out at the Vistra plant in Moss Landing, California burning for two days and scattering heavy metals and other toxic materials across the plant’s surroundings, including Elkhorn Slough. What happened there and why did the batteries burn? What are the impacts of the fire and on the future of renewable energy?Join host Ronnie Lipschutz for three

Food Apartheid and Food Hubs A Visit with Saba Grocers and co-founder Lina Ghanem

Mar 02 2025 49 mins  
Food insecurity and food apartheid are a common challenge in many low-income and minority neighborhoods across the United States. Big supermarket companies avoid those areas because stores are unprofitable and small stores find that they make the most money on junk foods, sodas and liquor. Saba Grocers is an Oakland-based organization, founded in 2019, that works with those small s

American Environmentalism, Then and Now (1965-2025) With Mark Dowie

Feb 16 2025 50 mins  
Mark Dowie describes himself as “Cowhand, guitarist, investigative historian, poet” and journalist. He’s probably best known as cofounder, editor and staff writer forMother Jones, but during his more than 50-year career, over his he’s also written for many other magazines, newspapers and publications, written eight books and received no less than 19 journalism awards. In 19

Life and Death Decision-making through Algorithms, with Professor David Rehkopf and Derek Ouyang, Stanford University

Feb 02 2025 53 mins  
Over the past few years, we’ve heard a lot about artificial intelligence and the algorithms that support public policy, decision making and resource allocations. By processing reams of presumably neutral data, the algorithms are supposed to produce unbiased results. But we’ve also heard concerns about the algorithms themselves: what unrecognized assumptions go into their constr

From the Ground Up: The Women Revolutionizing Regenerative Agriculture with Stephanie Anderson

Jan 19 2025 53 mins  
What is regenerative agriculture? Who is practicing regenerative agriculture? And what are its prospects? In two weeks, join host Ronnie Lipschutz for a conversation with Stephanie Anderson, author of From the Ground Up: The Women Revolutionizing Regenerative Agriculture, which explores how women are leading the movement to transform the U.S. agricultural system and inspiring hope

Will the U.S. Environment Survive Trump 2.0? With Dr. Andrew Rosenberg, University of New Hampshire

Jan 02 2025 53 mins  
On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as President of the United States for his second term. There is considerable trepidation in the environmental policy and activism sectors across the country and, indeed, the world. Trump’s appointees are committed to deregulation across the board, especially where the environment is concerned, to gutting funding for renewable

Eco-utopia or eco-catastrophe?

Dec 22 2024 56 mins  
As California looks forward (!) to the beginning of a new Presidential Administration, there is growing trepidation about what it might mean for the state. Is it time to secede and join with other West Coast states to create a new country? Fifty years ago, Ernest Callenbach published Ecotopia, a vision of a new country dedicated to protecting people and the environment. In 2015, on

A Just Transition for All: Workers and Communities for a Carbon-Free Future with Dr. J. Mijin Cha

Nov 24 2024 52 mins  
To avert the worst impacts of climate change, a transition away from fossil fuels is necessary. However, what this transition looks like and what would make a transition “just,” remain open questions. What workers are missing from “green” economy discussions? What role do workers play in the fight for a future without fossil fuels? How can workers and communities ensure the

What Does the Chicken Know? And other Animal Stories with Sy Montgomery

Nov 07 2024 54 mins  
Frequent listeners to Sustainability Now! know that, from time to time, interviews focus on animals, mostly from the perspective of animal rights and whether animals are people, too. Join host Ronnie Lipschutz for a conversation with Sy Montgomery, adventurer, naturalist and author, who has been engaging with and writing about animals since the 1980s. She asks questions like “wha