Season Three

This episode of Spotlights features our host, Sam Mickey, discussing ecological existentialism, particularly in light of his book on the topic, Coexistentialism and the Unbearable Intimacy of Ecological Emergency (Lexington Books, 2016). Ecological existentialism (also called coexistentialism) extends insights from existential philosophy about meaning-making amid the paradoxes, absurdities, and uncertainties of mortal existence, applying those insights to living and dying in a time of mass extinction. Coexistentialism finds productive alliances and tensions amidst many areas of inquiry, including environmental humanities, eco-spirituality, object-oriented ontology, feminism, phenomenology, deconstruction, new materialism, and more. More information can be found on the publisher's website: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498517669…
Posted 6/5/2023

This week’s episode of Spotlights focuses on metamodernism—an emerging cultural movement that recovers sincerity and big picture thinking following the postmodern focus on irony and skepticism. Our host Sam Mickey provides some context for thinking about metamodernism, especially as it relates to postmodernism. He notes how postmodern theory already includes metamodern ideas in several ways, both in constructive postmodernism (e.g., Alfred North Whitehead) and deconstructive postmodernism (e.g., Jacques Derrida). While there is much to praise about metamodernism, it is important not to perpetuate confused misreadings of postmodernism. Furthermore, it is important to continue attending to the postcolonial and postindustrial conditions that postmodern theory addresses.
Posted 5/8/2023

This episode of Spotlights features Gopal D. Patel, a faith-based environmental activist, campaigner, and consultant. He is co-Founder and Director of Bhumi Global, an international Hindu faith-inspired NGO that works to promote environmental care. He is also a senior advisor for the Center for Earth Ethics, co-chair of the United Nations Multi-faith Advisory Council, and an Advisor to the World Wildlife Fund Beliefs and Values Programme. We discuss his personal experience of Hinduism, his background with multi-faith dialogue, and the challenges and opportunities facing religious environmentalism around the world, including some ways that religious environmentalism can facilitate constructive responses to climate grief and eco-anxiety.

This episode of Spotlights features Mallory McDuff. She is an author, educator, and mother, teaching environmental education at Warren Wilson College outside Asheville, North Carolina. Her writing stems from ordinary life–raising children and teaching students–amidst the enormity of our uncertain times, especially our changing climate. She talks about her new book, Love Your Mother: 50 States, 50 Stories, and 50 Women United for Climate Justice (Broadleaf Books, 2023). The book tells stories about women of diverse ages, backgrounds, and vocations–one from each of the fifty US states–as inspiration for a new kind of leadership focused on the heart of the climate crisis. More information about the book is available on the publisher's website: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/… More information about the author can be found on her website: https://www.warren-wilson.edu/people/…
Posted 3/13/2023

This episode of Spotlights features Larry Rasmussen, PhD, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, emeritus, at Union Theological Seminary.  He discusses his new book, The Planet You Inherit: Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty's a Sure Thing. The book is composed of a series of letters that he wrote for his grandchildren. The letters talk about the uncertain future that his grandchildren will live through, including the myriad challenges facing the Earth community during the Anthropocene, not least of which is the ongoing task of understanding the place of human beings in the universe. You can find more information about the book on the publisher's website: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/…
Posted 2/13/2023

This episode of Spotlights features Michael S. Northcott, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He talks about his new book, God and Gaia: Science, Religion and Ethics on a Living Planet (Routledge, 2023), which explores the overlap between traditional religious cosmologies and the scientific Gaia theory of James Lovelock. The book engages with traditional cosmologies from the Indian Vedas and classical Greece to Medieval Christianity, including case material from Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, and Great Britain. He discusses how it is possible to repair the destabilizing impacts of contemporary human activities on the Earth community, particularly by drawing on sacred traditions and honoring the differential agency of humans and nonhumans. More information about the book can be found on the publisher's website: https://www.routledge.com/God-and-Gai
Posted 1/16/2023

This episode of Spotlights features Kimberly Carfore, PhD, co-chair of the Religion and Ecology unit of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The annual meeting of the AAR happened at the end of November. Dr. Carfore talks about the various panels hosted by the Religion and Ecology unit this year, including a panel on Dr. Christopher Carter’s book The Spirit of Soul Food, which was featured on this podcast earlier in the year. https://fore.yale.edu/blogs/entry/164…Dr. Carfore also gives a preview of what the Religion and Ecology unit is putting together for the 2023 meeting of the AAR. Overall, they are continuing their efforts toward a more decolonial, international, and multicultural approach to studying the intersection of religion and ecology. Posted 12/19/2022

This episode of Spotlights, which aired on November 21, 2022, features our host, Sam Mickey, discussing eco-anxiety, which is generally defined as a chronic worry, distress, or fear concerning ecological devastation. Struggles with eco-anxiety have increased in recent years, and they have been exacerbated by the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. Sam reflects on two recently published anthologies that he edited with Douglas A. Vakoch, Eco-Anxiety and Pandemic Distress: Psychological Perspectives on Resilience and Interconnectedness (Oxford University Press, 2022), and Eco-Anxiety and Planetary Hope: Experiencing the Twin Disasters of COVID-19 and Climate Change (Springer, 2022). You can find more resources for understanding eco-anxiety at the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology website: https://fore.yale.edu/Resources/Eco-a….
Posted 11/21/2022

This episode of Spotlights pays tribute to the French philosopher and social theorist, Bruno Latour (1947-2022). His work has been widely influence for science and technology studies, philosophy, and ecological thought. Religion also figures into his work, although it is not as well known as his writings on science and ecology. Several good overviews of his life and thought have been published since his passing. Here is one from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/202…Posted 10/24/2022

This episode of Spotlights features Andreas Karelas, the founder and executive director of RE-volv, a nonprofit organization that empowers people around the country to help nonprofits in their communities go solar and raise awareness about the benefits of clean energy. He is also the author of Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America. Andreas talks about new developments in renewable energy, particularly in light of the Inflation Reduction Act in the USA. Signed into law in August 2022, the IRA includes almost $400 billion in spending on energy and climate change. Along with the IRA, Andreas discusses some new projects he is working on, including a partnership with Green The Church and Interfaith Power & Light, aimed at accelerating the deployment of solar energy in underserved communities by assisting BIPOC houses of worship around the country go solar. You can learn more about Re-volv here: https://re-volv.org/ More information about Climate Courage is available here: https://climatecourage.us Go here for more information about the Solar for BIPOC initiative: https://re-volv.org/solar-for-bipoc
Posted 9/26/2022