Spontaneous Vegetation

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Dr. Akilah Martin is a Chicago-based environmental scientist rooted in the practice of enhancing soil, water, and overall environmental quality that contributes to a more sustainable NOW. As a scholar and professor, she crafts impactful learning experiences that in turn offer opportunities to create a more just and equitable society. In this episode, Nance and Akilah discusses Akilah's lifelong involvement with the Sciences as a woman of color.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Michael Swierz is a writer, land steward and participatory ecologist born in Chicago, IL. His work synthesizes aspects of poetry, farming, wildcrafting, ecological restoration and interspecies communication. He lives on a rural homestead with a 15-acre native prairie reconstruction, 72 miles southwest of Chicago as the crow flies. In this episode Nance and Michael discuss the perennial joys and challenges of stewarding land and that humans can have a meaningful and positive ecological footprint on landscape despite the institutional resistance.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — The prairie ecosystem has been a guide for Terry Evans since 1978. She photographs the prairies and plains of North America, the urban prairie of Chicago and landscapes threatened by climate change. Combining both aerial and ground photography, she delves into the intricate and complex relationships between land and people, especially where local people’s landscape is threatened by corporate industrialization. In this episode, Nance and Terry discuss Terry’s recent project - photographing Southeast Chicago, Illinois and the activists who fight petcoke storage in their neighborhood on the banks of the Calumet River and Terry's changing connection to the prairie.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Joshi Radin is an artist from Ithaca, NY. She is also a divinity school dropout with some monastic training under her belt. She has worked as a wheatgrass farmer, Buddhist book publishing editorial/production assistant, editorial and commercial photographer, community activist, educator and researcher. She is currently finishing up graduate work in Chicago. www.joshiradin.com In this interview, Nance and Joshi discuss growing up in a rural commune, alternative currencies, cooperatives and the foresight of the artist Agnes Denes.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Ayako Kato is a Japanese-native and award-winning Chicago-based dancer, choreographer and improviser who has performed extensively in Europe, Japan and the United States. Influenced by a Japanese view of nature and the philosophy of Tao, Ayako's ongoing practice is to embody the intangible, the beauty of being as it is, as “The Way” of nature through movement. www.artunionhumanscape.net In this interview, Nance and Ayako discuss the Tao, the radioactive disaster in Fukishima, collaborating with live musicians and her ritual of foot massage.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Sarita is a student of ecology from an earth-based spiritual perspective. She is a plein air painter capturing the systems and memory of place. She received an MFA from UCLA in 2012 and teaches with the University of Redlands and Cypress College. Her heart is currently on a mountain in Yangna (Los Angeles) where she lives and works with her partner and baby. www.roomportraits.com In this interview, Nance and Sarita speak about healing through decolonizing aesthetics, ecology and education and her achievement of off-grid living in downtown Los Angeles.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Leila Darwish is a community organizer, author, and permaculture designer with a deep commitment to environmental and social justice, and to providing accessible and transformative tools for communities dealing with toxic contamination of their land and drinking water. She has also had the opportunity to support frontline communities dealing with environmental disasters such as oil spills and fracking contamination. She is the author of the book “Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide to Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes", and is currently finishing a Master’s degree in Disaster Resilience Leadership at Tulane University in New Orleans. www.earthrepair.ca In this interview, Nance and Leila discuss the growing need for and interest in community-based emergency preparedness, the shaky ground of our social institutions and urban infrastructure and the challenges to developing true resilience.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — Meghan Walla-Murphy is a professional animal tracker and wildlife ecologist who strives to help people connect to their external and internal landscapes though her workshops, trainings and writings. www.meghanwallamurphy.com In this interview Nance and Meghan speak about traditional Chumash plant medicine, tracking bears for the California State Park and how humans if they choose to make the effort, can positively contribute to their environment.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — In this episode Olga speaks with Nance about mushroom foraging, her wild food CSA, and her widespread fungal education efforts that have built her community-based mushroom cultivation business. Olga Tzogas is a wild mushroom forager and master mushroom cultivator. She owns & operates Smugtown Mushrooms in Rochester NY. For more info: smugtownmushrooms.com

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — In this episode Kristina speaks with Nance about her long-term commitment and on-going challenges to being part of the Medic + Healer Council of the Sacred Stones NoDAPL Camp in Standing Rock, N.D. Kristina Golden is an EMT, herbalist, community organizer, puppeteer and accordion player based in Minneapolis.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — In this episode, durational performance artist, M.P.A. speaks with Nance about the privatization of space, her collaborative research about travel to and living on Mars concluding with her extensive exhibition and performance ‘Orbit’ at the Whitney Museum in NY. M.P.A. is an internationally recognized performance artist and concerned magician of "the energetic" who currently resides in the Mojave Desert. We will be talking about her current exhibition and durational performance 'Red In View' at The Whitney which embodies her long ranging inquiry into the practical limitations of the Earth and the impending colonization of Mars, the Red Planet.

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — In this episode, Kim speaks about the grit and faith it takes to organize around environmental issues that have specific impact to a large, tight-knit, immigrant community in Chicago. Kim Wasserman is the Director of Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. Since 1998 Kim has worked with LVEJO on community organizing and policy work in Chicago. She is the 2013 recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for helping close down two coal plants within city limits. For more info: LVEJO.org

Nance Klehm, Radical Ecologist — In this episode, Corinne talks with Nance about her research on wide-spread trauma within our society and the resultant development of her trauma activism through clay work. Corinne Peterson is a community elder, psychotherapist and professional ceramicist who has exhibited widely. Her abstract pieces are in various private and public collections. For more info: cdpeterson.com