Future Ecologies

Latest Episodes:

[TEASER] Miriam Quick and Duncan Geere // Data Sonification Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

Get to know our friends and collaborators, Miriam Quick and Duncan Geere — the hosts of Loud Numbers, a data sonification podcast.

How do data visualization and sonification differ? What are the possibilities and pitfalls? And how can you incorporate the practice into your life?

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Hear the entire conversation wherever you get podcasts — join our community at patreon.com/futureecologies

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Haven't heard our own data sonification yet? That's in Spiders Song (Part 2)

FE5.2 - Spiders Song (Part 2) Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

Spiders Song is a story about a quest to hear the greatest symphony on Earth: the music of evolution. Along the way, we get to know some of nature’s most surprising musicians — the paradise jumping spiders.

Part 1 is the Spiders

Part 2 is the Song

Headphones advised.

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For credits and much more, visit futureecologies.net/listen/fe-5-1-spiders-song

Missed Part 1? You can find it wherever you get your podcasts, or at futureecologies.net

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But there's more to this story than just a couple podcast episodes!

We're also releasing an open-source system which may be used to hear evolutionary patterns as music.

As you'll hear in Part 2, data sonification, the sonic equivalent of data visualization, has found applications in many scientific fields, but never before in phylogenetics: the study of evolutionary relationships.

This sonification system is intended as an experimental platform for evolutionary biologists to explore and communicate their data through sound, and for musicians to take inspiration from biodiversity. It is built in Max/MSP, and released under a GNU-GPLv3 license for customization and further development.

Find a lovingly illustrated explanation of our sonification at futureecologies.net/listen/fe-5-1-spiders-song#explanation

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Funding for this series was provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.

But ongoing support for this podcast comes from listeners just like you. To keep this show going and growing, join our community at patreon.com/futureecologies

Our patrons get early episode releases, exclusive bonus audio content, access to a fantastic discord server, 50% discounts on all merch, and more (eg. a livestream tour of the sonification system that we built).

FE5.1 - Spiders Song (Part 1) Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

Part 1 is the Spiders

Part 2 is the Song

Headphones advised.

— — —

For credits and much more, visit futureecologies.net/listen/fe-5-1-spiders-song

You can listen to Part 2 right now — find it wherever you get your podcasts, or at futureecologies.net

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Funding for this series was provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.

But ongoing support for this podcast comes from listeners just like you. To keep this show going and growing, join our community at patreon.com/futureecologies

Our patrons get early episode releases, exclusive bonus audio content, access to a fantastic discord server, 50% discounts on all merch, and more

Future Ecologies presents: Love and Radio Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

From Love and Radio:

Adam Zaretsky is a bioartist who explores the manipulation of DNA, the fringes of genetic modification, and butts up against the ethical boundaries of science and beyond.

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Future Ecologies season 5 arrives July 7. Listen early at patreon.com/futureecologies

Future Ecologies presents: Emergence Magazine May 19, 2023

Show notes

When the Earth Started to Sing

Produced by Emergence Magazine, this sonic journey written and narrated by David G. Haskell brings us to the beginning of sound and song on planet Earth.

The experience is made entirely of tiny trembling waves in air, the fugitive, ephemeral energy that we call sound. Spoken words combined with terrestrial sounds invite our senses and imaginations to go outward into an experience of the living Earth and its history. How did the vast and varied chorus of modern sounds — from forest to oceans to human music — emerge from life’s community? When did the living Earth first start to sing? We invite you on a journey into deep time and deep sound that will open your ears and your imagination.

Find many more stories exploring the intersection between ecology, culture and spirituality at emergencemagazine.org/

David Haskell’s new book: Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution's Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction

Cover artwork by Daniel Liévano

[TEASER] Jonathan Kawchuk // Paleo-Acoustics May 19, 2023

Show notes

We're trying out a new format of bonus content over on our Patreon feed: casual, conversational interviews that go behind the scenes of some of the content on the main feed.

In this first edition, our guest is Jonathan Kawchuk: composer, sound artist, and volunteer paleontologist. Jonathan's work is in both FE4.10 Geopoetics and the Emergence Magazine piece we recently featured When the Earth Started to Sing — music in the former, and paleo-soundscapes in the latter.

We discuss Jonathan's technical and creative process — assembling reconstructed choruses of ancient soundmakers (Parasaurolophus and Permostridulus), and creating music in conversation with the Rocky Mountains — as we nerd out on sound production and paleo art.

To hear the 47 minute conversation in its entirety (and get access to all our other bonus content, discord server, merch, and more) join our community at patreon.com/futureecologies

[UPDATE] FE4.2 - Terminal May 11, 2023

Show notes

At the heart of the Salish Sea lies the Fraser River Estuary: home to over half of the population of the Province of British Columbia, thousands of endemic species, and one world-famous pod of orcas. But as the human population of the region has grown, wildlife populations — including salmonids, orcas, and over 100 species at risk — have been plummeting.

As economic imperatives press up against ecological thresholds, a mega-project that has been in development for over a decade is poised to further alter the character of the estuary, with massive implications for the health of Salish Sea and its many residents.

In this episode, we ask: can we find ways to hear each other through all the noise?

This episode was originally published in March 2022. We've added a brief update about some recent developments in 2023. Read more about the news here

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This episode features Janie Wray, Misty MacDuffee, Steven Slə́qsit Stark, Marko Dekovic, and Stephanie Kwetásel'wet Wood

With music by Ruby Singh (with Dawn Pemberton, Inuksuk MacKay, Russell Wallace, Shamik Bilgi, Tiffany Ayalik, and Tiffany Moses), Thumbug, and Sunfish Moon Light.

This episode was produced by Mendel Skulski and Adam Huggins, with help from Megan Hockin Bennet and Lili Li.

A full list of citations and a transcript can be found at our website: futureecologies.net/listen/fe-4-2-terminal

[UPDATE] FE1.9 - Swimming Upstream May 11, 2023

Show notes

Dams remain one of the ultimate demonstrations of human power over nature. Wild rivers can be tamed to deliver energy for industry, lakes for recreation, and water for agriculture. But severing the link between land and sea has come with grave ecological costs. The impact of dams on salmon populations has been especially obvious and painful.

This is part one of a two-part series on dam removals. In this episode, we go to the Klamath river to examine the fierce conflict (and unlikely partnerships) in pursuit of the deconstruction of 4 major dams. Part 2 is here.

This episode was originally published in November 2018. We've added a brief update about some recent developments in 2022. Read more about the news here

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This episode features Ryan Hilperts, Erica Terrence, Bill Tripp, and Senator Jeff Merkley.

Music for this episode was produced by Brian D. Tripp, Loam Zoku, Kieran Fearing, Sour Gout, the Western Family String Band, the Clan Stewart Pipe Band, and Sunfish Moonlight.

A full list of citations and a transcript can be found at our website: futureecologies.net/listen/fe1-9-swimming-upstream

Future Ecologies presents: Drilled Apr 04, 2023

Show notes

We're sharing an episode from our friends over at Drilled. Four years ago, the Drilled podcast asked a question that changed how people thought about climate stories: What if we stopped acting like the climate crisis was inevitable and instead treated it like it truly is...the crime of the century? Now, the original true crime podcast about climate change is back with a new season all about the opportunistic oil industry.

The season is packed with high stakes court cases, intrepid journalists, and a whole lot of intrigue, set in the world's largest oil boom town.

We're dropping you straight into the action with Episode 4. Get all the background, and follow the rest of the story at https://link.chtbl.com/futureecologiesdrilled

Electrical Storms / Sympoiesis: The Music of Season 4 Mar 19, 2023

Show notes

We work hard to make sure our music doesn’t just complement our voices, but actually tells a story all of its own. Now that our 4th Season is complete, as per usual, we’ve compiled all the original music that went into it, and we’re releasing it as an album. This year, that album takes the form of two companion volumes.

Volume 1: Electrical Storms by Sunfish Moon Light

Volume 2: Sympoiesis by thumbug

Of course we're not responsible for all the music you hear on our show. We've borrowed tunes from so many truly great artists, often connected thematically or geographically to the content of that specific episode. You can discover each of them, and support their work at futureecologies.net/music

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We want to hear from you — take our brief listener survey and help make Season 5 the best yet.

💖 Join our community: support Future Ecologies on Patreon to access our discord server, an exclusive bonus podcast feed, stickers, patches, and more

Vancouver: Join mendel and friends for a PWYC panel on acoustic ecologies, ecopoetics, and biosonification, at the Lobe Spatial Sound Studio Spring Equinox Summit (Saturday March 25 @ 1PM)

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BTW: we release all of our original music from each season. Previous soundtracks (all PWYC CC-BY-NC-SA):