

Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature
Bioneers
The Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature is an award-winning series featuring breakthrough solutions for people and planet. The greatest social and scientific innovators of our time celebrate the genius of nature and human ingenuity. The kaleidoscopic scope covers biomimicry, ecological design, social and racial justice, women’s leadership, ecological medicine, indigenous knowledge, spirituality and psychology. It’s leading-edge, hopeful, charismatic, provocative, timely and timeless – like nothing you’ve heard before.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 7, 2022 • 28min
Real Change: The Political Gets Personal | Danny Glover & Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
How can we manifest the world we want, and who we want to be? Actor-activist Danny Glover and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, former CEO of Green For All, show how one sure path to resilience is to build community and social movements. That requires learning how to reach out across our differences – and it gets really personal.FeaturingDanny Glover is an award-winning actor, producer, humanitarian and political activist with a performance career that spans more than 30 years. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is a social justice advocate and businesswoman. Ellis-Lamkins is the co-founder and CEO of Promise, modern payment technology platform that provides alternative payment solutions for cities, counties, states and utility companies across the country and simplifies how people manage government payments, such as utilities, child support and parking tickets by offering customizable plans and providing digital payment options.This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.

May 31, 2022 • 28min
Got Dirt? Get Soil! Ditch the Plow, Cover Up and Grow Diversity
The profit-hungry agribusiness empire of the 20th century institutionalized farming practices that continue to degrade soils across the U.S. and globally. We face a fork in the road: collapse or regeneration? The good news is that we know what we need to begin an agricultural and ecological renaissance – a literal rebirth. Biologist Ann Biklé and geologist David Montgomery share one of the good news stories that show how the solutions residing in nature surpass our conception of what’s even possible.FeaturingDavid R. Montgomery, a Seattle-based MacArthur Fellow and professor of Geomorphology at the University of Washington and the author of award-winning popular-science books that have been translated into nine languages, is an internationally recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies.Anne Biklé, a biologist, science communicator, and public speaker, investigates and writes about connections between people, plants, food, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared in magazines, newspapers and radio, and her soil-building practices have been featured in independent and documentary films.ResourcesLearn more about David and Anne’s work and books at their website, dig2grow.com.Explore Bioneers’ Regenerative Agriculture media hub to learn more about practices that increase biodiversity, build and enrich soil, improve watersheds, enhance ecosystem services, and increase soil carbon storage.Subscribe to The Food Web, our food-and-farming newsletter sharing the stories and celebrating the people whose work builds local food systems that serve people and embed ecological stewardship into agricultural practices.This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.

May 18, 2022 • 28min
Sharkskin, Hippo Sweat and the Wood-Wide Web: From Flat Earth to Whole Earth Thinking |
The genius of nature’s design, recipes and principles is serving as the inspiration for redesigning human civilization. This Biomimicry revolution is spawning a next industrial revolution. Biomimicry masters Janine Benyus and Jay Harman illuminate the forefront of nature-inspired design, including human organization and the power of networks.Featuring:Janine Benyus is a biologist, author, innovation consultant, and self proclaimed “nature nerd.” She may not have coined the term biomimicry, but she certainly popularized it in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.Jay Harman is a pioneering scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur dedicated to creating breakthrough technologies through biomimicry.In Biomimicry, she names an emerging discipline that emulates nature’s designs and processes (e.g., solar cells that mimic leaves) to create a healthier, more sustainable planet. Since the book’s release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, speaking around the world about what we can learn from the genius that surrounds us.Resources:biomimicry.org/Explore the Bioneers media collection: bioneers.org/biomimicry/This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.

May 10, 2022 • 29min
Laboring for Justice: See No Stranger | Valarie Kaur
In a world that’s unraveling from climate disruption and gaping inequality, another climate crisis confronts us: the climate of hate and othering. Award-winning scholar and educator Valarie Kaur says to overcome racism and nationalism, we must not succumb to rage and grief. As someone who has spent much of her life challenging horrific injustices and intolerance, Kaur learned the lesson that historical nonviolent change-makers understood: social movements must be grounded in an ethic of love. She founded the Revolutionary Love Project, and has emerged as one of the most important voices of the American Sikh community, and a highly influential faith leader on the national stage.
Valarie Kaur, born into a family of Sikh farmers who settled in California in 1913, is a seasoned civil rights activist, award-winning filmmaker, lawyer, faith leader, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, which seeks to champion love as a public ethic and wellspring for social action.This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.For transcript and more about this program, visit: https://bioneers.org/laboring-for-justice-see-no-stranger/CreditsExecutive Producer: Kenny AusubelWritten by: Monica Lopez and Kenny AusubelSenior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie WelchHost and Consulting Producer: Neil HarveyProducer: Teo GrossmanProgram Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris

May 3, 2022 • 29min
No More Stolen Sisters: Stopping the Abuse and Murder of Native Women and Girls
May 5 will mark National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.The date was designated in a 2017 resolution by U.S. Sens. Steve Daines, R-Montana, and Jon Tester, D-Montana, in response to the murder of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who disappeared in 2013 from Lame Deer, Montana, and to highlight other abductions and killings of Native American women in the United States.*******************************Jessica Alva. Khadija Rose Britton. Hanna Harris. Anthonette Christine Cayedito. If you haven’t heard of these women, it’s no surprise.They’re four of the untold number of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered, kidnapped or gone mysteriously missing. A significant number of victims are from communities that are subjected to the harmful presence of fossil fuel and mining companies. The extractive industry is ravaging Native nations where oil and blood have long run together.Add to this a dysfunctional police and legal hierarchy that leaves Indigenous women and their families with little support during the first crucial hours when they go missing, and little recourse to prosecute predators for their crimes.In this program, powerful Native women leaders reveal the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and describe how they are taking action and building growing movements, including with non-Native allies. Morning Star Gali, Ozawa Bineshi Albert, Simone Senogles, Kandi White, and Casey Camp Horinek.These stories are shocking, harrowing and heartbreaking. But then again, when your heart breaks, the cracks are where the light shines through.For more information and transcript, visit our episode page.This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.RESOURCESSovereign Bodies InstituteThe Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native WomenThe Intercept: A New Film Examines Sexual Violence as a Feature of the Bakken Oil BoomRestoring Justice for Indigenous Peoples: MMIW InitiativeThe Mendocino Voice: Community groups begin painting mural honoring Khadijah Britton and highlighting MMIW in Ukiah

Apr 26, 2022 • 28min
Nourishing the Future: Creating a Just and Healthy Food System for All
Communities around the country are working to create a new food future founded in health, justice and ecological wellbeing. Community activists Malik Kenyatta Yakini and Oran Hesterman are transforming Detroit through urban agriculture and helping low-income and working families access healthy food. Cathryn Couch works with young people to cook and deliver healthy meals to people who are ill and struggling to put food on the table with a model program using food as medicine.This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.

Apr 19, 2022 • 28min
Ecstatic Revolt: The New Mythos of Eve | V, formerly Eve Ensler
As the creation story of Judeo-Christian beliefs, the biblical recounting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden has long had profound influence around the world. So what’s it like to be named Eve? World-renowned playwright and activist V, formerly Eve Ensler, explores her own personal journey into her namesake. The provocative author of “The Vagina Monologues” and founder of V-Day to end violence against women suggests there’s another story beneath the traditional story. For her, it’s both very personal – and very political.

Apr 12, 2022 • 29min
Plastic Planet: Stopping Big Oil, Big Plastic, and Big Misdirection
After World War II, the U.S. government worked with industry to create a single-use, disposable consumer culture as a way to ensure ongoing market prosperity. Who benefited? Consumer product companies like Coca-Cola, and the fossil fuel industry, whose petrochemicals are at the source. The result? Plastic pollution is now found in virtually every living organism – including humans – and is one of the worst threats to ocean ecosystems. Now, a global resistance movement is rising to abolish petrochemical plastics and to shift to a zero-waste, circular economy.Featuring:Anna Cummins, Deputy Director and Co-Founder of the Five Gyres Institute. With more than 20 years experience in environmental non-profit work—including marine conservation, coastal watershed management, community relations, and bilingual and sustainability education—Anna is an expert in the field.For more information and transcript, visit: bioneers.org/plastic-planet-stopping-big-oil-plastic-misdirection/This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.CreditsExecutive Producer: Kenny AusubelWritten by: Monica Lopez and Kenny AusubelSenior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie WelchHost and Consulting Producer: Neil HarveyProducer: Teo GrossmanProgram Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris

Apr 5, 2022 • 29min
Building the Solidarity Economy: Awakening to Our Mutuality and Shifting the Terrain of Power | Manuel Pastor
At the core of our civilizational breakdown is an extractive economy that wastes both nature and people, at the same time it is Hoovering extreme wealth up to the billionaire class. But with breakdown comes breakthrough. Professor Manuel Pastor believes we’re living through a moment of profound transformation. It will come down to what we do – or don’t do – at this moment of radical change.In this episode, we hear from Pastor on how shocks to the system are precipitating a great awakening and growing movements to transform the economy to our economy. For more information and transcript, visit: https://bioneers.org/building-solidarity-economy-awakening-mutuality-shifting-terrain-power/Resources:Manuel Pastor keynote address for Bioneers Virtual Conference 2021Manuel Pastor keynote address Bioneers Conference 2014Manuel Pastor, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at USC and Director of its Equity Research Institute, has long been one of the most important scholars and activists working on the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities and the social movements seeking to change those realities. He has held many prominent academic posts, won countless prestigious awards and fellowships for his activism and scholarship, and is the author and co-author of many important, highly influential tomes.This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.Credits
Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel
Written by: Kenny Ausubel
Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch
Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris
Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey
Producer: Teo Grossman
Production Assistance: Monica Lopez
Special thanks to Status Coup News for use of their interviews with workers on strike

Mar 29, 2022 • 28min
Breaking the Male Code: The Tyranny of Masculinity | Tony Porter, Dallas Goldtooth, George Lipsitz and Eve Ensler
To transform our culture from its focus on dominance and hierarchy to one of connection, empathy and collaboration, it’s vital that we re-envision the essential (or archetypal) masculine, which changes everything. This rarely tackled topic is the subject of a deeply authentic dialogue among Playwright and activist V formerly, Eve Ensler, and three men working to change men and change the story: Tony Porter, co-founder, A Call To Men; Dallas Goldtooth, Indigenous activist, actor and member of the 1491’s Native American comedy troupe; George Lipsitz, board president, African American Policy Forum. To see a clip from the recorded panel at the Bioneers Conference, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0nhQWA_5HUThis is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast.