Mining Episodes

Conservation work can be exhausting, especially when environmental setbacks seem relentless. In this personal episode, Chris reflects on activist burnout, the emotional challenges of protecting the desert, and the encouraging successes that remind us why the work is still worth doing.

Extreme drought and catastrophic flooding can seem like opposites, yet both are becoming defining features of the modern Southwest. This episode examines recent events in Death Valley and the Great Salt Lake, exploring what they reveal about climate change, water management, and the future of desert landscapes.

Summer monsoons shape life across the deserts of the Southwest, bringing relief from extreme heat and sustaining plants and wildlife. This episode explores how the North American Monsoon works, why it varies from year to year, and what scientists are learning about its future in a changing climate.

Edward Abbey remains one of the most influential—and controversial—writers ever to write about the American desert. This episode takes a thoughtful look at Abbey's ideas, his enduring influence on environmentalism, and the ways his legacy continues to inspire both admiration and debate.

Phil Klasky devoted decades to protecting California's deserts, including the successful effort to stop a radioactive waste dump in Ward Valley. This episode honors his life and legacy while revisiting one of the most important environmental victories in modern desert conservation.

Cima Dome was once home to the world's largest Joshua tree forest—until the 2020 Dome Fire transformed the landscape. This episode tells the story of one of the Mojave Desert's most iconic places, the fire that changed it forever, and the surprising signs of renewal now emerging across the burned landscape. It's a story about resilience, ecological change, and hope.

The Dixie Valley toad lives in just one warm spring in Nevada, making it one of North America's rarest amphibians. This episode explores the conservation fight to protect the species from geothermal development and examines how a tiny desert toad became the center of a much larger debate about renewable energy and biodiversity.