Have you ever had an eye-to-eye encounter with an animal that changed your life? It turns out a lot of people have, including Aldo Leopold, Jane Goodall and Paul Watson, three pioneering figures in environmental history. We tell their stories in the first episode of a new project we’re working on — an exploration of what it means to feel and practice kinship with the more-than-human world.
Some people believe there’s an emerging ecological worldview that could change the way we relate to the natural world. It challenges the notion that only humans have the capacity to think and reason, to feel pain and pleasure, to have agency. It’s a big, complicated idea, and fortunately, there are also a lot of wonderful stories that sound great on the radio, so we’re excited to dive into this project.
We’re especially pleased to be partnering with the Chicago-based Center for Humans and Nature. In fact, you’ll hear the Center’s Gavin Van Horn in the first show. He’s an environmental writer and former divinity student who’s editing a book on this concept of kinship. Anne and I recently drove down to Chicago to talk with Gavin and ecological artist Jenny Kendler about her 40-foot sculpture “Birds Watching.” We took our 13-year old corgi, Toby, with us — and yes, you’ll hear him in our radio piece.
–Steve