A year of protest, pandemic & politics
Kristine Mattis returns to the show as a co-host of this special year-end episode.
Kristine has PhD in Environmental Studies. As an interdisciplinary environmental scholar with a background in biology, earth system science, and policy, her research focused on environmental risk information and science communication. Before returning to graduate school, Kristine worked as a medical researcher, as a science reporter for the U.S. Congressional Record, and as a science and health teacher. She is no relation to the mad-dog general.
We hit a lot of subjects in our wide-ranging discussion, including where we spent the year; the question of whether 2020 was “the worst year ever”; the George Floyd uprising; the blindspots and biases of the mainstream media; censorship on social media; the presidential election; the lack of effective anti-war and pro-environmental movements in the US; the need for big picture thinking in the environmental movement; a nuanced look at the various opinions about COVID and vaccines; the provincialism of US culture; the ecological unsustainabiliy of the internet’s infrastructure; and the delusional hope that a change in the calendar date will make a positive difference all by itself.
Kristine’s blog (through May 2020)
Kristine on Medium (since April 2020)
This episode’s introduction & incidental music is assembled from two loops by Doctor Dreamchip. You can follow them here: Youtube | Instagram | Patreon
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