Episodes

Drawing on geographer Diana K. Davis, Chris challenges the idea that deserts are failed landscapes, traces the colonial politics embedded in ‘desertification’ and argues for precise descriptions of degradation in drylands.

Chris explores desert quiet as an ecological soundscape rather than emptiness, showing how noise pollution masks wildlife, displaces animals and makes ecological loss harder for people to recognize.

John Dougherty of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas explains how Hudbay’s Copper World proposal would expand open-pit mining, deplete groundwater, damage cultural and wildlife resources and exploit the 1872 Mining Law.

Chris contrasts AI-generated misinformation and political certainty with the desert’s stubborn complexity, arguing that truth requires attention, humility and a willingness to slow down long enough to see what is actually there.

Conservation biologist Nick Graver explains how climate change, invasive grasses and human-caused fire undermine Joshua tree recruitment—and why shutdowns and federal cuts obstruct the long-term research and coordination recovery requires.

Andrea Hoerr explains why 27 miles of border wall through the San Rafael Valley would fragment a major wildlife corridor, damage waterways and threaten exceptional grassland biodiversity—and how residents are organizing resistance.

Mandy Culbertson explains how state wildlife agencies and commissions govern most American wildlife, why special interests often outrank biodiversity and how public participation can make wildlife policy more democratic.

During the 2025 federal shutdown, Chris urges visitors to avoid understaffed national parks because reduced protection increases risks to landscapes and people, while suggesting nearby public lands and local businesses as alternatives.

A 1,600-mile journey from the Mojave through Tucson to El Paso reveals shared threats, passionate local defenders and the possibility of a cross-desert movement built through relationships and regular communication.

Michael E. Ketterer's plutonium fingerprinting reveals that eastern California received Nevada Test Site fallout comparable to recognized downwind areas, strengthening the case for expanded mapping and compensation.

Responding to the assassination of Charlie Kirk and its political aftermath, Chris rejects political violence, examines corporate media power and argues that independent outlets must defend truth and solidarity in desert communities.

For his father's 91st birthday, Chris revisits an essay connecting a formative 1966 desert journey, the mutual dependence of Joshua trees and their moths, and the literal kinship joining every generation of life.

A monsoon in Twentynine Palms becomes an exploration of how scarce water shapes desert land and life, why rain smells so extraordinary, and how to stay safe when celebration turns into flash flooding.

Brendan Cummings explains California's Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan, the compromises behind the 2023 law and the difficult work of protecting climate refugia while development and fire continue.

On the Dome Fire's fifth anniversary, Chris returns to Cima Dome to confront the loss of its vast Joshua tree forest, the spread of invasive grasses, uncertain restoration and his own enduring solastalgia.

Poet and former wildland firefighter Ruth Nolan reads work about Ruby Mountain, the Dome Fire, invasive grasses and renewable-energy development, joining personal memory to the desert's ecological wounds.

Rubén Martinéz reads an essay connecting the deadly U.S.–Mexico border desert with the spiritual desert of monastic retreat, exploring migration, silence, trauma, faith and the possibilities of refuge.

Journalist David Morales explains how Tucson residents stopped Project Blue, a proposed Amazon data center whose enormous water and electricity demands exposed Arizona's tax incentives and longer history of extraction.

Cameron Mayer reads poems about honey mesquite, Mojave aster and travels through the Great Basin, showing how botany, photography and language can deepen attachment to overlooked desert places.

Writer Morgan Sjogren reads from Path of Light, tracing the beauty of Glen Canyon alongside the lasting damage uranium mining has inflicted on Indigenous communities, wildlife, water and public lands.

Mason Voehl celebrates Rover Critical Minerals' withdrawal from lithium exploration near Ash Meadows and explains how local residents, conservation groups and legal advocacy produced a rare desert-protection victory.

In the 99th episode, Chris explains how the elimination of federal public-broadcasting grants threatens rural and tribal stations that provide emergency information, local culture and community connection across the desert West.

Prompted by the loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge, Chris shares nine desert destinations he hopes to experience—from Kofa and El Pinacate to the Ruby Mountains and the Wave—and reflects on visiting while we can.

Basin and Range Watch co-founder Kevin Emmerich explains how Nevada's Greenlink West transmission project threatens desert tortoise habitat, rare plants, cultural sites and intact landscapes while serving industrial growth.