Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature | Bioneers Radio Series

Are plants intelligent? If we knew their language what might they tell us? Potawatomi Indigenous ecologist and author Robin Kimmerer and evolutionary ecologist Monica Gagliano merge Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Western science for a surprising trip into the minds of mosses and chili seeds and the songs of corn. They agree what we really need today is a revolution in values, an “Honorable Harvest” of gratitude and reciprocity with our plant kin.

As the world’s eighth largest economy, California is emerging as the potential game-changer for global climate leadership. Using strategic alliances and smart policies that integrate ecology, economy and justice, these climate leaders show how: Tom Hayden, lifelong activist and former California State Senator; Vien Truong, Environmental Equity Director, Greenlining Institute; Wade Crowfoot, Senior Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown.

As the world’s eighth largest economy, California is emerging as the potential game-changer for global climate leadership. Using strategic alliances and smart policies that integrate ecology, economy and justice, these climate leaders show how: Tom Hayden, lifelong activist and former California State Senator; Vien Truong, Environmental Equity Director, Greenlining Institute; Wade Crowfoot, Senior Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown.

Transformational women leaders are restoring societal balance by showing us how to reconnect relationships – not only among people – but between people and the natural world. This astounding conversation among diverse women leaders provides a fascinating window into the soulful depths of what it means to restore the balance between our masculine and feminine selves to bring about wholeness, justice and true restoration of people and planet. Join Alice Walker, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Nina Simons, Sarah Crowell, Joanna Macy and Akaya Windwood to imagine a future where women, children, men and the planet can thrive.

A handful of global business leaders are blazing trails to a biologically based "eco-nomics." They are fundamentally recalculating core assumptions to allow business to make good returns killing the planet. Ray Anderson, leading-edge founder and CEO of Interface, the world's largest modular carpet company, articulates his bold vision to operate the company to take from the Earth only that which the Earth can renew rapidly and naturally. His mission is a zero footprint by the year 2020. He calls on the entire industrial system to join him on the remarkable path to Mt. Sustainability.

Wounded warriors have walked through fire. They carry the scars forever, yet many have somehow managed to heal even the most horrific of their emotional wounds. Rather than turning away from those unimaginable traumas of war, abuse and violence, what can we learn from looking respectfully at their wounds? Our veterans and other survivors are on a transformational, ethical, and spiritual journey. Aqeela Sherrills, Ed Tick, and Eve Ensler share their inspiring stories to help us discover how we might keep the peace.

As the consumer feeding frenzy has gone global, each seemingly innocuous purchase of stuff we make today leaves behind a devastating legacy of waste that will envelop and even poison future generations for centuries to come. Ironically, it's not like all this stuff is making us any happier. Acclaimed filmmaker and environmental advocate Annie Leonard says we have choices to make, right now. Are we consumers? Or are we citizens of planet Earth? How can we change the self-destructive story before it's too late? And won't we be happier if we do?

As we navigate the onset of climate change, we're witness to the rapid obsolescence of the human systems built on the assumption of cheap oil. The clock is running out on expensive (and vulnerable) practices such as the long-distance, fossil-fueled global supply chains that transport the average bite of food 1,200 miles to reach our plates. Inevitably communities are moving toward a greater re-localization of such basics as food, energy and water. And that makes sense because that's how nature is organized. Famed restaurateur and local food advocate Judy Wicks is at the forefront of the movement to redefine business practices, grow greater security and nourish sustainable communities.

Would you believe, here at the beginning of the 21st century, that every order of fast-food served with a slice of tomato is part of a system of slavery and labor abuse that exists right here in the United States? The intense demand for cheap food from the largest corporate buyers drives farm workers into the ground. The courageous labor organizer Lucas Benitez calls for reform at all levels of the food supply chain -from growers and buyers to fast-food corporations and organic grocery chains. And he includes everyone who eats, because we have the market power to demand better treatment of those who harvest our food.

For a decade, the award-winning play "The Vagina Monologues" has pro­ vided a startling window into the conflicted complexity of women's relationships to their bodies and pervasive worldwide violence against women. By revealing the deeply personal stories of women and their private parts, world-renowned playwright and women's rights activist Eve Ensler gave birth to a global movement to end violence against women and girls with the non-profit organization V Day. V Day has raised more than $60 million to support grassroots anti-violence groups around the world through performances of this ground breaking theater work.

Just how dumb do they think we are? Who would believe that destroying the ecosystems on which all life depends, while dis-employing more and more people, is somehow good for the economy? But exactly that fiction of jobs versus the environment has been successfully marketed to us. Community organizers Van Jones and Majora Carter propose a radically simple solution for both environmental destruction and social inequality: Bring the rising green revolution to low-income, urban America.

For thousands of years, First Peoples have successfully managed the complex reciprocal relationships between biological and human cultures using Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Yet no prior human civilization has ever faced the globalized ecological collapse occurring now. In the face of unprecedented pressures on their homelands and ways of life, indigenous leaders Enei Begaye, Dune Lankard and Hawk Rosales are organizing in new ways to protect the environment-and spread their knowledge for the sake of all life on Earth and future generations.

Most American schools are flunking out when it comes to how well they integrate ecological literacy across the curriculum. And many are doing no better than a C average with the idea that schools should be actively engaged in sustaining the natural and social communities in which they exist. Fritjof Capra, co-founder of the Center for Ecoliteracy, Cheryl Charles, from the Children and Nature Network, and leading environmental educator David Orr explore what's working for the A+ schools that are successfully integrating ecological awareness, understanding and practices throughout the curriculum and the community.

Some of the best minds on the planet are busy cataloguing possible solutions to the crisis of climate chaos. Scientists, entrepreneurs and educators on technology's cutting edge offer a broad array of bio-based solutions that are already working to transition us to a truly sustainable civilization. Biomimics Janine Benyus, Stephan Dewar, David Orr and Jay Hannan offer a smorgasbord of startling solutions based on nature's genius.

Bathing suits modeled on sharkskin that win the Olympics. Low-energy display screens based on peacock feathers. Nature has done everything human societies want to do technologically-without mining the past or mortgaging the future. Acclaimed author, naturalist and biomimicry leaders Janine Benyus, Jason McCiennan and Bob Hawkins uncork a mind-boggling bouquet of breakthrough innovations that, like nature, create conditions conducive to life. This genuine scientific revolution shows why preserving nature and biological diversity is our best survival strategy.