Today we explore some new paradigms for thinking about our environmental future. And, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of death of the great environmentalist, Rachel Carson.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Rachel Carson, a pioneer of the environmental movement. Rob Nixon holds the Rachel Carson chair in English at the UW-Wisconsin. He says she was something of a reluctant activist.
Ernest Callenbach’s “Ecotopia” was the bible of a certain kind of environmental activist, back in the 70’s. Producer Charles Monroe-Kane was one of them. He tells us what it was like to try to live the dream.
Lauret Savoy believes too many nature writers focus on pristine wilderness and neglect the gritty reality of the places where people actually live - in cities, for instance, maybe even near toxic waste sites. And writing about these places means grappling with difficult questions about race and poverty.