Generation Anthropocene

Latest Episodes:

Livelihoods, Poverty, and Climate Risk May 24, 2016

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Perhaps you've noticed recently that there's been a shift in way experts are approaching climate change. While much of the focus (rightly) continues to be on "bending the CO2 curve downward," there's also been a growing literature on climate adaptation. The sobering reality is that climate change is already upon us – so given that we cannot escape some of the consequences, we're now faced with a whole new series of questions. Who is most at risk? What are the social, cultural, and political forces that render some people more vulnerable than others? And, maybe most importantly, what can we do for the people and places who will suffer most? On today's show, we feature an interview with Petra Tschakert by producer Mike Osborne and student Sarah McCurdy. Dr. Tschakert was the Coordinating Lead Author of the AR5 IPCC report chapter "Livelihoods and Poverty.” In this conversation, we examine the often surprising influence of social dynamics on who will be most vulnerable to climate change, and learn more about the emerging research agenda from an expert on the frontier of climate adaptation. Generation Anthropocene is supported by the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford.
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Rare Earth Elements May 17, 2016

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"Oil is the blood; steel is the body; but rare earth elements are the vitamins of a modern society." While many of us can't even pronounce elements such as praseodymium, yttrium, or gadolinium, these minerals drive our technology and our modern lifestyles. These aren't your run-of-the-mill "common" Earth elements, these are the "rare" earth elements. But... they aren't actually that rare. And their importance to modern life goes well beyond their unusual geology. On this episode, professor Julie Klinger speaks with producer Miles Traer about the geo-politics of rare earth elements, why they are considered rare, and the extreme lengths to which some people are planning to go in search of them.
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The Nature of Disney May 13, 2016

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Disney movies have captured the imaginations of children and adults for decades. The endearing characters, the colorful landscapes, and the epic tales of heroism carry a sense of wonder and playfulness. But what we rarely notice is that woven into many of these films is a deeper story about the natural world. In Disney movies we learn the rules of the forest, the hierarchy of the jungle, and humankind's relationship to nature. Underlying every film is an implicit morality, one that seems so logical and universal that, as the audience, we hardly ever question its origin or message. In this interview, environmental historian Richard White helps us see the world of Disney with fresh eyes. Along the way, he challenges our assumptions about nature, and exposes how the stories of Disney are really stories about ourselves. Generation Anthropocene is supported by Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and by Worldview Stanford Image by wbeem Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic
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Inside the Cloud May 11, 2016

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A core tension at the center of many environmental debates has to do with our relationship to technology. After all, the environmental movement that arose in the 1960s was propelled by a desire to "get back to nature," but these days we have an increasingly hard time escaping technology. It's somewhat ironic, therefore, that we use the language of nature to describe so many aspects of the digital universe. Probably the best current example is the mysterious "cloud," which has become so critical for modern computational systems. In this short piece, we examine the environmental footprint of the cloud, and we dig into the language the describes the products coming out of Silicon Valley.
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The Ecosystem Within May 02, 2016

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The microbiome is the term doctors use to describe the countless organisms each one of us carries in and on our bodies. In the last few years there's been an explosion of research around how the gut microbiome is linked with our health. As Microbiologist Justin Sonnenburg tells producer Anna Lee, our microbiomes are like the control center of our bodies, affecting cognition, digestion, mood, and overall wellbeing. It turns out that that much of the current research into our gut microbiomes is best examined through the prism of environmental sciences. The challenges we face in the Anthropocene are the same challenges faced by the ecosystems we carry within.
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The Planet Remade Mar 03, 2016

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In 2011, author and editor Oliver Morton wrote a cover article for "The Economist" titled: Welcome to the Anthropocene. Many credit this article with jumpstarting popular interest in the term. On today's show, producer Miles Traer sits down with Morton to discuss the anthropocene in the context of his new book titled "The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change The World." The conversation touches on everything from pitching stories at the Economist to U2 spy planes to why geoengineering doesn't scare Morton as much as some think it should. Listen along as we explore the Planet Remade.
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Scars of the Past Feb 10, 2016

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Beneath Cambodia's troubled history with the Khmer Rouge lies a complex agricultural legacy that reaches back centuries. Once the symbol of a thriving region, we see how a prolonged El Nino brought drought and increased human conflict, and how the ruthless Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge looked back to the temples at Angkor Wat and their proud agricultural heritage to motivate the atrocities of the Cambodian genocide. Producer Miles Traer speaks with mental health and water science experts to see how hundreds of years of agriculture have shaped the region. Traer shares his own thoughts on the relationship between food and conflict, and how he sees the standard historical narrative breaking down within Cambodia's borders.
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Vanishing Remains Feb 01, 2016

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Student reporter Reade Levinson travels to Mongolia in hopes of witnessing a practice known as sky burial, in which bodies of the dead are prepared for the afterlife. But as Reade learns in her journey, in Mongolia the forces of urbanization, modernization, and environmental change may be threatening this sacred ritual. This piece is a collaboration between Generation Anthropocene and the Stanford Storytelling project.
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The Big Data of Nature Jan 28, 2016

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As we hear over and over again, environmental issues are mounting, and the stakes are huge. So how might big data be used to tackle the issues of sustainability, climate change, habitat loss, and species extinction? And even more than that, can it offer us new ways of engaging in a relationship with nature? This episode comes from the Raw Data podcast, produced by our own Mike Osborne and Leslie Chang.
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Preparing For Paris Nov 25, 2015

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When the Conference of the Parties meets in Paris in the coming weeks, it will mark the 21st time the nations of the world have met to try to strike a deal to combat climate change. Given existing tensions between nations, and given that each country has a unique capacity to contribute to a comprehensive deal, we ask the question, "how can we measure success at the Paris negotiations?" Stanford researcher Aaron Strong and New York Time reporter Andy Revkin walk us through the history of previous negotiations to explore what went wrong, what we've learned, and why many are so optimistic about Paris. They point out the areas where progress has already been made and where the potential sticking points lie. As anthropogenic climate change continues to affect the world around us, success in Paris might look a little different than people have previously thought.
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