FE6.8 - For Peat's Sake

FE6.8 - For Peat's Sake

Bogs are our absolute favourite places to be. They’re not only tremendously important ecosystems, rich in exquisite biodiversity and massive stores of carbon, they’re also uniquely beautiful. These serene, colourful spaces jumble land and water into something at once both alien and familiar.

In this episode, we explore the wonders and the mysteries of peatlands, through the story of one very special (and threatened) bog just outside of the city of Vancouver. We meet the scientists who fought for its protection, and some of the folks who are studying it and working on restoring it to this day.

Plus, we answer a tricky question: should we still be extracting peat to help grow plants?

In Conversation with Threshold and Drilled

In Conversation with Threshold and Drilled

We had the opportunity to hang out with two of our favourite podcasters: Amy Martin of Threshold, and Amy Westervelt of Drilled.

We've previously featured both of their work on the Future Ecologies feed, and we couldn't pass up the chance to talk shop about the latest (fantastic) seasons of their respective shows, and get to know more about their personal journey. That's this episode: Part 1

In the supporter-exclusive Part 2, we get into more of a roundtable on the practice of environmental journalism and podcasting in these especially scary and chaotic times. For the two of us, unschooled and unqualified in anything resembling journalism, it was a blast to have the privilege of what ended up being a private consulting session with two of our heroes. Interested? You can find it on our Patreon

FE6.7 - Critical Mast

FE6.7 - Critical Mast

What do you call it when a population of podcasts mysteriously drop episodes on the same topic at the same time? It's Critical Mast! We're so proud to present this nutty experiment in community podcasting, with its roots going back to the very beginning of our show (and to the beginning of our dedication to silly puns).

Thanks to help from our pals at Jumpstart Nature, Golden State Naturalist, Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast, Nature’s Archive, and Outside/In, it's time for a bumper crop of podcasts about (or inspired by) the mysterious phenomenon known as masting: where plants somehow synchronize their seed production across staggering distances.

Future Ecologies presents: Green Dreams (from Cited)

Future Ecologies presents: Green Dreams (from Cited)

Our friends over at the podcast Cited have a new series out called “Green Dreams” — covering stories of radical environmentalist thought leaders, and the ripples they’ve left on the present day. We wanted to share with you the very first episode from this series, called “The Green Cosmos”, covering Gerard O’Neil’s 1970s vision for humanity’s passage to the stars.

FE6.5 - The Method

FE6.5 - The Method

The Miyawaki Method of micro-forestry is a viral sensation: sprouting tiny, dense, native tree cover in neighbourhoods all around the world. With the promise of afforestation at a revolutionary speed, this planting technique has become the darling of green-space enthusiasts, industry, and governments alike —yet few professional or academic ecologists have commented on its efficacy, or even seem to have heard of it!

In this episode, we debate the legacy of Dr. Akira Miyawaki: the man, the myth, and the method.

Future Ecologies presents: Nature's Genius (from Bioneers)

Future Ecologies presents: Nature's Genius (from Bioneers)

Imagine an underground web of mind-boggling complexity, a bustling cosmopolis beneath your feet. Quadrillions of miles of tiny threads in the soil pulsate with real-time messages, trade vital nutrients, and form life-giving symbiotic partnerships. This is the mysterious realm of fungi. Acclaimed visionary biologists Toby Kiers and Merlin Sheldrake guide us through the intricate wonders of the mycorrhizal fungal networks that make life on Earth possible.

FE6.2 - SEA / GARDEN

FE6.2 - SEA / GARDEN

Food security, climate adaptation, and vibrant biodiversity all in one place — welcome to the ancient and diverse technologies of Sea Gardening. These widespread (but often overlooked) monumental rock features are proof positive of thriving Indigenous maricultural systems all around the Pacific Rim, since time immemorial.

FE6.1 - FOREST / TREE

FE6.1 - FOREST / TREE

Season 6 kicks off in the deep dark woods: the simplified, post-industrial forests of the world — the only forests that many of us have ever known.

Join us as we meet foresters in British Columbia, Vermont, and Scotland, all working to embrace the messy art of ecological forestry. Because if we want our forests to be old growth-ier, we might not be able to just wait and leave them alone. It might mean challenging some assumptions and getting out of our comfort zone, but that's what it'll take to see the forest for the trees.

Future Ecologies presents: The Merry Monarchs

In this piece, originally broadcast in 2 parts on The Wind (one of our favourite podcasts), producer Eleanor Qull is taking us on a pilgrimage in honour of, and in tribute to that most collective monarch — the monarch butterfly. Through those lepidopteran migrants, it’s a story of scale, agency, and spiritual offering in a changing world.

Future Ecologies presents: The Right to Feel

Future Ecologies presents: The Right to Feel

From UBC Centre for Climate Justice, Future Ecologies presents "The Right to Feel," a two episode mini-series on the emotional realities of the climate crisis. The first episode, “Climate Feelings” is a collection of students’ non-fiction essays and reflections on their personal realities of living with and researching the climate crisis. The first episode opens with an introductory conversation between Naomi Klein and series producer Judee Burr that contextualizes how this class was structured and the writings it evoked. The second and final episode, “Eulogies” is based on fictional writing from the class. Students imagine and eulogize something that could be harmed by the climate emergency, and then imagine a speculative future in which action was taken to mitigate that harm.

FE5.10 - Everything Will Be Vine

FE5.10 - Everything Will Be Vine

On this episode: Zoë Schlanger (author of the newly-released, New York Times bestselling book The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth) takes us to the misty rainforests of Chile and back to report on what might just be the world’s most extraordinary plant — hidden in plain sight.

FE5.9 - Home on the Rangelands: Where the Deer and the Antelope Play (Part 3)

FE5.9 - Home on the Rangelands: Where the Deer and the Antelope Play (Part 3)

In this conclusion to our trilogy, we're looking at a proposal to move beyond the concept of "rangelands" through the rewilding of the American west — meaning, the return of forgotten landscapes, species, and ecologies not commonly seen in generations (not to mention improved water and carbon storage). But at least one thing isn't compatible with this vision: grazing cattle on public lands.

 
 

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Future Ecologies thanks all of our amazing Patrons for their ongoing support, as well as the Vancouver Foundation’s Small Arts Grant for helping us launch our first season, and the Sitka Foundation for helping support our fourth and sixth seasons.

Our illustrations are by Amanda Cassidy. Our wordmark is by Christopher Heffley. The podcast is recorded and produced on the unceded and asserted territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh), as well as the Penelakut, Hwlitsum, and other Hul'qumi'num-speaking peoples (otherwise known as Vancouver and Galiano Island, British Columbia)

Future Ecologies podcast episodes and the content of this website are released under CC-BY-SA 4.0 license, 2025

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