Episode Summary:
In the 1930s when America was deep in the disaster of the Dust Bowl, Wisconsin professor and wildlife expert Aldo Leopold brought a new way of thinking about how people engage with nature. Studying the dynamics of soil erosion and people’s behavior, he made suggestions for change that led him to the White House to meet the President.
Leopold faced a personal crisis too, while writing his way toward a new understanding of our relationship with nature. When the Federal Writers’ Project recruited him to write for the WPA Guide to Wisconsin, the picture he described in the guide’s section on Conservation marked a path toward the modern environmental movement. In this episode, Leopold’s biographer, Curt Meine, connects the dots to Earth Day and a new generation of environmentalists.
Speakers:
Curt Meine, biographer
Douglas Brinkley, historian
Tim Hundt, journalist
Links and Resources:
Gaylord Nelson announces the first Earth Day
Human Powered Podcast, episode on The Driftless region
Reading List:
WPA Guide to Wisconsin
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work by Curt Meine
You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited by Ada Limón
Credits:
Host: Chris Haley
Director: Andrea Kalin
Producers: Andrea Kalin, David A. Taylor, James Mirabello
Writer: David A. Taylor
Editor: Ethan Oser
Story Editor: Michael May
Additional Voices: Tim Lorenz and Susanne Desoutter
Featuring music and archival from:
Joseph Vitarelli
Bradford Ellis
Pond5
Library of Congress
National Archives and Records Administration
Wisconsin Humanities
Also featuring the song “Wisconsin” performed by Madilyn Bailey. Written by Madilyn Bailey, Martijn Tienus, John Sinclair and Clifford Golio, and produced by Clifford Golio and Joseph Barba. Find the full song here and visit her Spotify artist page to hear more.
For additional content, visit peoplesrecorder.info or follow us on social media: @peoplesrecorder
Produced with support from:
National Endowment for the Humanities
Wisconsin Humanities
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