Mongabay Newscast

Khatijah Rahmat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany, says she's trying to build legitimacy around the concept of animal temporality — the ability to experience time — specifically in elephants. Doing so could have implications for conservation and beyond. "How we envision an animal's relationship to time influences whether we see them as feeling, remembering beings. My aim is to encourage a more dynamic view of their place in the world when we recognize them as equally temporal beings." This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Rahmat explains three key areas of evidence for interpreting elephant temporal experience and how this knowledge could be folded into how we think about protecting elephants or animals in general. "I think it increases the depth of empathy we can have for animals," she says. "It can really push the concepts of policy … but it also can really challenge some of our current, basic assumptions about how we think about logic and evidence."

Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech clan (Wik) Lostmob Nungar) joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail the Aboriginal perspectives behind his latest book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. The book explains how stories shape society, how they can harm us and the environment, and how they may save our species and the natural world. Yunkaporta explains how Indigenous laws, systems and lore can help us improve modern society, specifically in how humans relate first to the land, then to each other, and why this shapes how we exploit nature and care for it. Identifying the "wrong story" is critical, Yunkaporta explains, to correcting harmful behaviors or ways of governing. Ultimately, it's a lie, he says. Personified by what he characterizes as narcissistic or selfish behavior, it's generally seen by those who exploit the natural world at the expense of community well-being. "It's a terrible thing to … misrepresent things, make false claims, bear false witness in a way that is b

Mongabay Latam's multiyear, *award-winning **investigation that uncovered 67 clandestine airstrips in the Peruvian Amazon used for drug trafficking sent waves across the local media landscape. It drew attention to the Indigenous communities impacted by these illegal airstrips and the 15 Indigenous leaders who were killed defending their territory. To communicate this story to a wider audience, Mongabay Latam director Maria Isabel Torres and managing editor Alexa Vélez adapted it into an interactive live theater performance for an audience of 100. They join this week's podcast to tell the "story behind the story" of what they, their reporters, and Indigenous leaders experienced during this investigation, and how their play adaptation brings that to the eyes and ears of a theatrical audience. "I think that all the journalists in these times, we are very worried [about] trying to find ways to understand our audience and to get their attention. We know that there are news avoiders. We know that there are fake new

National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyän returns to the Mongabay Newscast to share his experience creating his new book, Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet from specialty publisher Braided River. This book documents the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of nine Indigenous communities worldwide, featuring contributions and essays from many members of these communities, along with Yüyan's own photography. TEK, Yüyan says, isn't exactly traditional so much as it is ecological knowledge that is place-based. While it draws on thousands of years of knowledge, it also innovates in society as we know it, and can offer social, cultural and ecological benefits that neoliberal economics does not. Yüyan highlights that some of the most significant environmental victories of the past few years, such as the removal of the Klamath River dams in the United States — the largest dam removal project ever — were led by Indigenous people. Yüyan's imagery captures the e

A year ago, U.S. President Donald Trump shut down public access to the Development Experience Clearinghouse, a $30 billion database holding 60 years' worth of institutional knowledge from more than 150,000 projects administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. But before the closure, former USAID employee and artificial intelligence scientist Lindsey Moore used a large language model (LLM) to read all of the information in this database — rescuing critical lessons on development, environmental, economic and social projects in countries across the globe, all documented by USAID. The data also included information on conservation projects. Many of the challenges presented in these projects repeated over the years, but the lessons were rarely retained — something Moore's tech startup, DevelopMetrics, hopes to change. Moore joins this week's podcast to explain what those lessons are and what conservationists can learn from them. DevelopMetrics deploys an AI model capable of understanding not just

It's been more than half a century since the publication of Silent Spring by the scientist and creative writer Rachel Carson. The seminal volume caught the attention of U.S. presidents, artists and musicians, spurring the environmental movement and leading to the eventual ban of the toxic pesticide DDT. Joining the Mongabay Newscast is environmental writer and director of the creative writing program at Middlebury College, Megan Mayhew Bergman. She unpacks the impact of Carson's work, which came under public attack from chemical companies seeking to discredit her, and how, eventually, the truth broke through. "We don't change our minds usually based on data. We change our minds based on emotion, but historically, it's been pretty taboo for scientists to include emotion in the way that they write. And I feel like Carson risked that here in a way that was really powerful." Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Image: Megan Mayhew Bergman. Image by Cameron Russell. Environmenta

Across Mediterranean Europe, olive groves are in decline from a range of factors, from disease to depopulation. In Italy alone, there are roughly 440 million abandoned olive trees, and the ecological, cultural and socioeconomic impacts from the loss are devastating, explains the latest guest on the Mongabay Newscast. Still, solutions exist to help turn the tide of this under-discussed problem. Federica Romano is the program coordinator and UNESCO Chair on Agricultural Heritage Landscapes at the University of Florence. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast she discusses the drivers of the degradation and abandonment of olive groves, how ecological factors and human-induced climate change exacerbate these, and the consequences for biodiversity and wildlife in Europe, where olive oil isn't just an economic institution, but also a significant cultural one. "Olive groves hold [a] deep cultural significance that goes far beyond agriculture [and] food production across Europe," she says. "Olive trees have symboli

Professional drag artist and environmental activist Pattie Gonia has more than 2 million followers on Instagram and has raised $1.2 million for environmental nonprofits by hiking 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, in full drag into San Francisco. She has gained international recognition for using drag artistry to advocate for the environment, in acknowledgment and celebration of hundreds of researchers and scientists in the field who identify as queer. She joins Mongabay's podcast to explain why joy is a fundamental ingredient missing in the environmental advocacy space, how she prioritizes it in her work as a drag performer and activist, and why she feels the environmental movement must prioritize it to succeed. "If we want people to join this movement, we have to make it freaking fun," she says. The Mongabay Newscast is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and previous episodes are also accessible at our website's podcast page. Please take a minute to let us know what you think

Judith Enck is a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, appointed by President Barack Obama, and the founder of Beyond Plastics, an organization dedicated to eradicating plastic pollution worldwide. She joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss how governments can implement policies to turn off the tap on plastic pollution, which harms human health and devastates our ecological systems — solutions she outlines in her new book with co-author Adam Mahoney, The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late. "We now have all of this evidence. We have no choice but to act. Because who's going to stand by and let us turn the ocean into a watery landfill? Who's going to stand by and read health study after health study about microplastics in our brains and breast milk and testicles? Not taking action is not an option," she says. Image credit: Judith Enck holding a copy of The Problem with Plastic. Image by Jerrick Mitra ——- Timecodes (00:00) The Pr

Gregg Treinish didn't start out as an outdoor enthusiast, but found solace and purpose in nature during his youth. After years of enjoying the outdoors, he was left feeling a need to give something back to the world. He found fulfillment by using his passion for outdoor adventures to gather critical data that researchers need for conservation and scientific research. That's how his nonprofit organization, Adventure Scientists, came to be. "We harness the collective power of the tens of thousands of people that are outside every day — who love the outdoors and have a passion for exploring the outdoors — and we give them real scientific missions that they can do while they're out there that benefit conservation," Treinish says. The Mongabay Newscast is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and previous episodes are also accessible at our website's podcast page. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Image Credit: Gregg Treinish in the Oakavango

Mongabay senior editor Philip Jacobson joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss a two-part investigation published this year in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center about how state governments in Brazil have been procuring shark meat — which is high in mercury and arsenic — served to potentially millions of schoolchildren and thousands of public institutions. With Mongabay's Karla Mendes and Pulitzer's Kuang Keng Kuek Ser, Jacobson spent a year digging into public databases of government shark meat orders, called tenders.  "It's quite widespread," Jacobson says. "We found shark meat tenders in 10 states and shark meat being served or being procured for more than 500 municipalities." Government nutritionists were also found to be recommending shark meat for school lunches because it has no bones, and even when one school official raised concerns about heavy metal contamination in the meat, her concerns were not heeded. Critics' concerns extend beyond vulnerable populations like schoolkids, too, since shark is al

Bill Gates recently claimed that protecting nature or improving human health is an either-or choice, but former national leaders like Russ Feingold, a retired U.S. Senator, and Mary Robinson, former Ireland President, disagree. As chair of the Global Steering Committee of the Campaign for Nature, a nonprofit organization uniting prominent politicians in support of nature protection, Feingold emphasizes that supporting both nature and people is essential, and that these are not mutually exclusive goals. On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, Feingold discusses the campaign's mission and why he believes nonpartisan conservation efforts are essential. " We need to work as citizens — not as Democrats or Republicans — but as citizens, to say 'Whatever else you think, let's do this together,'" he says. The Mongabay Newscast is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and all previous episodes are accessible at our website's podcast page. Please take a minute to let us know what you think

Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon and Aaron Naparstek realized that no one was discussing the many cultural factors that have played a role in humanity's car dependency, or the negative impacts this reliance on motor vehicles has on human health and the planet. So they started their own show to do exactly that, The War on Cars. Gordon joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss just how human society got here — and how we might get ourselves out of it — which is also the subject of a new book he co-authored with Goodyear and Naparstek, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile. "We felt that nobody was really covering the car as this overwhelming determinative force in the life of you as an individual, the life of society and nature, politics, culture, everything," he says. Take a minute to let us know what you think of our audio reporting, which you can do here. The Mongabay Newscast is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and all previous episodes are accessible

Nonette Royo is a lawyer from the Philippines and executive director of The Tenure Facility, a group of "barefoot lawyers" working to secure land tenure for Indigenous, local and Afro-descendant communities across the world. To date, the organization has secured more than $150 million in funding and has made progress in securing land rights covering 34 million hectares (84 million acres) across 35 projects, an area larger than Greece. Royo joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss the organization's success, its recognition as a finalist for the 2025 Earthshot Prize, and why land rights are so crucial both for cultural survival and slowing the pace of global ecological degradation. "This work is really about land tenure, and about land and people. And it is very important because at this point in our world, where we are breaching planetary boundaries, we are still hesitating to invest in the people who protect our land, our forests and our diverse systems," she says. Take a minute to let us know what you think of

Patricia Wright, a pioneering primatologist who established the Centre ValBio research station in Madagascar, began her work there in 1986. As the person who first described the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) to Western science, her contributions led to the creation of Ranomafana National Park, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her conservation breakthroughs and the challenges the island faces during political instability and widespread poverty. Wright has participated in the making of numerous documentaries over the years, including Island of Lemurs: Madagascar, narrated by Morgan Freeman, and recently Ivohiboro: The Lost Forest and Surviving Alone: The Tale of Simone. In this conversation, she describes key findings from the latter two films, including how Ivohiboro, a montane tropical forest surrounded by desert, was unknown to Western science until Wright set foot there in 2016. Films like these are a crucial part of marketing conservation, wildlife and p

Hello listeners. This week on the Mongabay Newscast, we ask that you take a few minutes to fill out a brief survey to let us know what you think of our audio reporting, which you can do here. Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler was recently awarded the Henry Shaw Medal by the Missouri Botanical Garden and named to the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders list alongside conservation greats such as David Attenborough. The credit for this success belongs to Mongabay, Butler says on this week's podcast. "While my name is on the award, it's for Mongabay. All that Mongabay achieves is not necessarily me. I'm the figurehead," Butler says of receiving the Henry Shaw Medal. Butler also shares his thoughts and reflections on the passing of his longtime friend, and conservation icon, Jane Goodall, through whom he learned to see the value in hope and optimism. "The biggest thing I took away from my relationship with Jane … is the importance of hope," he says. "She was truly a messenger for hope." You can read Butler's

News of Australia's "humpback comeback" is making waves globally. Numbers of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the nation's east coast have rebounded to an estimated 50,000 from a historic low of just a few hundred before commercial whaling was outlawed in the 1970s. And wildlife scientist and whale expert Vanessa Pirotta joins the podcast to discuss this inspiring conservation achievement. Pirotta emphasizes this is a good news story that deserves to be celebrated, and that it could also bolster action for other whale species that are struggling, including the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) and blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). However, she stresses that vigilant protection for all whale species remains necessary. This good news is tempered by the fact that the key food source for humpbacks in this part of the world is Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), which is now being heavily harvested by industrial fishing fleets after protections for the species recently lapsed. Pirotta notes

Psychologist and true crime presenter Julia Shaw joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss her latest read, examining some of the highest-profile environmental crimes and why they occur, in Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet and How to Stop Them. She details the commonalities behind six major cases, and what can be learned from them, as described by six motivating factors: ease, impunity, greed, rationalization, conformity, and desperation. "As a psychologist, I was like, ‘What if we create a psychological profile of the various people involved with these various big crimes?’ And so that's how I came to the Six Pillars because I was using a model from criminology, which is called Situational Crime Prevention Theory, and of looking at the factors that contribute to a crime being committed," she says. Find the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify. All past episodes are also listed here at the Mongabay website. Related Listening & Viewing: Watch M

Policies enacted by seven nations and one international agreement have been recognized by the World Future Council for “top policy solutions for [humans], nature and generations to come.” On this edition of Mongabay’s podcast, the council’s CEO, Neshan Gunasekera, shares key highlights of the eight World Future Policy Award laureates. Under the theme of “Living in Harmony with Nature and Future Generations,” the winners for 2025 “bring to light the future orientation of the way we take decisions at [a] time that there are multiple crises facing ourselves as a species, but also the planet,” he says. The winning legal and legislative initiatives span seven nations, from South Africa to Uganda, Panama, Spain, Aotearoa New Zealand, Bhutan and Austria. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (BBNJ), which establishes a binding U.N. treaty on the use of ocean resources beyond national borders, was among the initiatives awarded. The movement that granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River in

Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. NGO National Wildlife Federation joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for underserved communities in urban areas, and provides an accessible way for people to connect with nature and drives impactful change. “Birding is an opportunity [for] people to fill in data gaps where they live [to] help direct investments that come from the world of conservation … from federal to state to local levels that have usually been funneled away from their communities,” she says on this episode. Newsome says that birding changed her own life, and she’s hopeful it can also change the world, because bird health has direct implications for biodiversity health at large. “ What birds require of us will benefit us in ways that are far beyond bird conservation. We can work together to solve problems and think about the ecological emergency and environmental harms are taking place across landscapes, across boundaries