Watch the Trailer for my Latest Project: SLAPP'd

Hi loves! I know I’ve been MIA for a bit. It’s because I’ve been busting my ass trying to get my latest project off the ground. Well I finally have a little something to show for it. Here’s our trailer for SLAPP’d, a Drilled podcast series that I reported and am hosting. It’s about the pipeline giant Energy Transfer’s massive lawsuit against Greenpeace.

I’m going to continue to be wildly busy for the next several weeks, but I’ll put out Eco Files posts as we drop new episodes, so you can follow along. The first one should be out week after next.

It’s not all I’ve been up to, though. I also finished up our last episode in Drilled’s the Real Free Speech Threat series. If you want to understand how environmental activists are criminalized internationally you HAVE to look at the Philippines. So I spent some time with an Indigenous environmental activist from the archipelago, who the government has repeatedly branded as a terrorist. I didn’t realize when I started reporting this that it would lead me right back to the U.S. After 9/11 the US government put pressure on other countries to crack down on terrorism. In the Philippines – as is true in many other places – that meant going after environmental and Indigenous activists and organizers. You can listen here.

Other stories I’m following:

“Settlements have destroyed the vegetation, bulldozed the land, and replaced the picturesque, natural views with concrete blocks.”

There’s a valuable piece up in The Nation documenting eight locations in the West Bank where green spaces, including nature preserves, have been illegally occupied by Israeli settlers. It’s a powerful example of the links between the genocide of Palestinians and the climate crisis.  

“They’re willing to say up is down, down is up, water is dry.”

When I was reporting in North Dakota in March, this one particular conversation stuck with me. I was chatting with a community member in Mandan and told him I’m from the Twin Cities. He mentioned a documentary called “The Fall of Minneapolis” and told me it supported the conclusion that the officer who killed George Floyd was using a police tactic he'd been trained to use. I'd never heard of this documentary.

Now rumors are swirling that Trump is going to pardon the officer involved, Derek Chauvin. I felt a little relieved to see a deep dive in the local Star Tribune on the swirl of misinformation – including that documentary – that led to this potential pardon. Reporters Andy Mannix and Liz Sawyer went point by point and fact-checked the misleading narrative that’s being pushed about what happened to George Floyd – that he wasn't actually murdered. They also traced where this new narrative came from. In an era where the truth is being twisted and blurred, just posting the video of the medical examiner's testimony was a serious public service on the reporters' part. Makes me lament even more the fact that there were no cameras or audio recorders allowed in Energy Transfer vs. Greenpeace trial.

Palate Cleansers

I cover topics that are heavy and distressing to take in, so I'm ending these posts with things that make me feel grounded: food, nature, community.

Something Delicious: Rhubarb Oolong Tea

Obsessed with this rhubarb oolong tea right now. Tea Source fuels my life.  

Garden Update: a little brightness

There’s been so little time for gardening, but a window box of flowers is brightening these long work days.

Community Bulletin Board:

My colleagues at the Freelance Solidarity are wrapping up a fundraiser for the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate, a union that represents (you guessed it) Palestinian journalists. It would mean a lot if you’d contribute. The raffle is over so just mark “I’d just like to donate.” And if you read this after the fundraiser is closed, you can donate to the IFJ Safety Fund instead.