Episodes

On the finale of Season 2 of Just Sustainable, Julian Agyeman and I talk about a broad range of topics that include: (1) the importance of fostering a sense of belonging for work related to sustainability and social justice, (2) hiring and representation within universities and colleges, and (3) the steps that communities have taken to become more justly sustainable. Julian Agyeman is a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and the Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate at...

There’s an aphorism that suggests that one should not meet one’s heroes. That aphorism is without doubt incorrect when it comes to Dr. Julian Agyeman FRSA FRGS. Julian is certainly one of my heroes (indeed, the title of this podcast derives from the concept of just sustainabilities that — I believe — he coined roughly 20 years ago) and meeting him was very much a delight! During our conversation, which was recorded late spring in 2020, Julian offered an abundance of gems about how he thought ab...

In the second episode featuring Gabe Desrosiers, Gabe and I discuss how institutions of higher-education within the United States might better support language and cultural reclamation by appreciating the full personhood of students. We also talk about what it means to live in a good way from an Anishinaabe perspective. Gabe Desrosiers is an award winning singer and dancer, he is a translator and a voiceover artist for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and he runs the Anishinaabemowin ...

I was initially acquainted with Gabe Desrosiers as a fellow Canadian amongst the faculty at the University of Minnesota Morris. Indeed, I first learned of Gabe as the result of one of our mutual colleagues saying something to me like: “Oh, you’re Canadian? You should meet Gabe. He’s Canadian too!” However, in the 9 years that we’ve been colleagues, Gabe has become a good friend and a teacher. He’s taught me about Anishinaabe life ways and history. Through many hours of conversation, he’s helped...

On this episode we return to my conversation with Erika Bailey-Johnson. We talk about a workshop series at Bemidji State University aimed at providing students with a range of practical skills (many of which are related to sustainability and Indigenous lifeways), the hierarchies in higher-education, how we need to be conscientious of the effects of those hierarchies, and being better at change. Erika Bailey-Johnson serves in a number of roles related to sustainability, she’s: the Sustainability...

I first met Erika Bailey-Johnson about 8 years ago when she chaired the organizing committee for the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (aka UMACS). It took one conversation with her to convince me of two things: First, Erika is a force of nature — if one looks up “change-maker” in the dictionary, one won’t find a picture of Erika in the entry but one really should. I’m fairly certain that Erika is involved in one way or another with every single project in the Upper Midwest tha...

When Cathy Jordan was previously on Just Sustainability, she mentioned that she was about to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 26th Conference of the Parties meeting in Glasgow. In this episode she tells us about her experience leading the University of Minnesota’s delegation to that meeting and some of her thoughts about climate governance. Links: https://www.ipcc.ch/ https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop26 https://unfccc.int/conference/glasgow-climate-change...

On the second part of Amanda’s conversation with Evelyn Brister, they speak about efforts aimed at reintroducing American chestnuts to the wild and some of the ethical questions underlying those efforts. Dr. Brister is an environmental philosopher and a philosopher of science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She’s written about a range of topics, including: climate governance, the problem of disciplinary capture in interdisciplinary areas (i.e. pretty much anything related to sustainab...

On the first episode of our new special series, Just Sustainability – Socially Engaged Philosophy at the Intersection of Sustainability and Social Justice, Amanda introduces us to Evelyn Brister. Dr. Brister is an environmental philosopher and a philosopher of science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She’s written about a range of topics, including: climate governance, the problem of disciplinary capture in interdisciplinary areas (i.e. pretty much anything related to sustainability), ...

It’s my distinct pleasure on this episode to introduce you to a new contributor to Just Sustainability, Amanda Corris. Starting at the beginning of 2022, Amanda will start hosting a series of special feature episodes of Just Sustainability about socially-engaged philosophy at the intersection of sustainability and equity. Amanda is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Prior to her current appointment Am...

In the final part of our conversation, Cathy Jordan and I talk about the emphasis on addressing disparities and harms within much of the literature about environmental justice. Cathy suggests that those of us who work on environmental justice need for to be more aspirational and be better at envisioning a more utopic future. Cathy also tells me about the skills that she believes everybody should practice to be better listeners. Cathy Jordan is a pediatric neuropsychologist that teaches at the U...

Cathy and I had so much fun during our live-recording for the IonE Annual meeting that we decided to follow that discussion up with a longer conversation. Reconvening allowed us to take some more time to go into greater detail about scholarship that empowers communities. During the first part of our follow-up conversation, Cathy and I chatted about community-based participatory research (CBPR), how CBPR might be a tool that land grant universities might use to better pursue their charge to serv...

This episode, where I have the pleasure of introducing you to Cathy Jordan, was recorded live as part of the 2021 annual meeting of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota. It was a really fun experience to get to record the podcast with a live (albeit virtual) audience and I must thank Courtney Peters, Julie Hanus, Sofia Leyva, Kellcee Baker, Ben Fink, and — of course — Cathy for helping to make it happen. It was really cool to record the first live episode of Ju...

During the concluding half-hour of our conversation, Janiece Watts and I spoke about: finding common cause with one another across the silos of our work, what institutions of higher education might learn from activists, and the importance of the narratives and perspectives of marginalized folks. Janiece Watts is the Director of Culture and Partnerships at Fresh Energy, a board member of the Headwaters Foundation and MN350, and is a member of the St. Paul Climate Justice Advisory Board. Links: ...

In this episode Janiece Watts and I talk about the importance of “connecting the dots” when thinking about the relationships between place, race, equity, and sustainability. We also discuss strategies for building coalitions to make social and political change. Janiece Watts is the Director of Culture and Partnerships at Fresh Energy, a board member of the Headwaters Foundation and MN350, and is a member of the St. Paul Climate Justice Advisory Board. Links: https://fresh-energy.org/our-team/j...

In this episode of Just Sustainability it’s my distinct pleasure to introduce you to Janiece Watts. I first learned about Janiece through Troy Goodnough (whom you might have listened to on the final episode of season 1 of Just Sustainability). I’m not sure how Troy became acquainted with Janiece but I clearly remember him excitedly telling me about how he just met someone that is a rising star among the young leaders working to achieve a more sustainable energy future. Moreover, this rising sta...

We’ve reached the conclusion of the conversation that I had with Taylor Brorby. When I asked him about whether there were topics that he wanted to talk about that we had not as of yet broached, he asked me about the things that were presently driving my work. That led us to a long conversation about climate change, social and restorative justice, and the need to attend to histories and narratives that are often ignored. Taylor Brorby is an essayist, poet, short storyist (or whatever one calls f...

In the third part of our conversation, Taylor and I spoke about how he works personal stories about growing-up in a rural community, being gay, and being diabetic into social commentary about discrimination and the harms associated with our extractive economy. Taylor Brorby is an essayist, poet, short storyist (or whatever one calls folks who write short stories), educator, and activist. https://blackearthinstitute.org/staff/2171/ https://www.wofford.edu/academics/majors-and-programs/environme...

In the second part of our conversation, Taylor Brorby and I pick-up where we left off at the end of the previous episode. Speaking about our childhoods growing-up in rural oil towns led us to talk about how biases affect one’s work and strategies to overcome those biases. Later in this episode, Taylor and I switch topics to storytelling and strategies for telling stories that resonate with broad audiences. Taylor Brorby is an essayist, poet, short storyist (or whatever one calls folks who write...

Taylor Brorby is an essayist, poet, short storyist (or whatever one calls folks who write short stories), educator, and activist. I invited him onto Just Sustainability for several reasons. First, Taylor’s just a fun person to chat with. He’s thoughtful, irreverent in the best way possible, and draws connections that challenge me to think in new ways (that I would likely never get to on my own). Second, and relevant to the topic of drawing surprising and fruitful connections, Taylor’s work ofte...