In Tune to Nature Podcast

Recorded on my mom, Cathy Packwood’s, birthday, I'm covering a topic she has become passionate about – microplastics and how and why society should end the production and circulation of plastics, for the health of humans and other animals and our shared habitats – and how can we work individually in our homes (that's hard), and collectively as engaged citizens (that's hard too, especially in this administration), to create a healthier existence free from plastics; even recycling plastics causes toxins and can perpetuate reliance on plastics! See Greenpeace's Forever Toxic recycling report (not recycling is a hard one for me since I have spent so many hours cleaning and recycling plastic for decades -- should we just throw plastic containers in the trash when we can't avoid getting them?!) It's time to replace this chemical-filled, unhealthy (albeit convenient) product with something sustainable, reusable, nontoxic, and non-polluting (especially around our food and drink items); we discuss how plastics are made of fossil fuels (petroleum) that adds to the climate crisis, so a plastic-free future goes hand in hand with a clean-energy future, where communities could be more resilient from the fluctuating oil market inflated prices, like now with the U.S. war with Iran, if we weren't so reliant on plastics. To tell us about this herculean personal and public effort is our guest Lindsey Jurca, Senior Plastics Campaigner at Greenpeace. Lindsey talks about their work with nations worldwide developing a "Global Plastics Treaty" with some teeth in it, to turn off the plastic cycle that is drowning us all in toxins. Join us to talk solutions in this 49-minute conversation in honor of my mom Cathy's birthday (I got her a lot of bamboo kitchen utensils and natural sponges and glass spray jars for a plastic-free kitchen). A resource is https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/fighting-plastic-pollution/ "In Tune to Nature" is an hour-long radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or friend Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ While there, consider donating to Radio Free Georgia, a 50+ year old progressive, non-commercial, indie radio station, run largely by volunteers like me and Melody. And remember to take care of yourself and others, including the other animals, who don't want to live with plastic pollution in and around us anymore. Enough already! Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff, or volunteers. Photo Credit: courtesy of Greenpeace

Travel along with me through my first fun trip to the gorgeous, dry, red rock canyons of Zion National Park in Utah, on my unique weekend "vegan basecamp" camping experience with my friend Deb and 30 other vegan folks in mid September 2025 (so different from the green, humid Atlanta region I came from). We go together on the iconic "narrows hike," sloshing through the rocky Virgin River in a beautiful slot canyon and later on a night hike under the stars. I also share audio and musings from the Weeping Rock trail, the Emerald Pools trail, Wildcat Canyon trail (and a few birds, bees, squirrels, a turkey, a tarantula, crickets, and mule deer...some folks saw endangered California Condors but I didn't). In this 51-minute "In Tune to Nature" episode that I pieced together from my phone audio, you'll also enjoy lively banter around the campfire (and in line for the Zion shuttle) with people like Tara, Ashley, John, Nova, Elizabeth, and Deb sharing their nature experiences in Zion and why they are continuously inspired to be vegan and help fellow animals (whether it's adopting a dog who was going to end up in the food system or getting stuck on a Las Vegas highway next to a slaughterhouse truck filled with panicked pigs). Elizabeth and Colt put together these community vegan group camping experiences as a labor of love https://theveganbasecamp.com/ cooking us delicious plant-based meals and coffee over a grill, and it might inspire others to do the same in their own park regions. On the trip, I didn't see that many Zion Park Service employees, but I always thanked them for their service and expressed my discontent with the insulting budget and hiring cuts that are making their lives so stressful. So at the end of the show, I remind us how to support the park service by contacting Congress and also joining conservation advocacy groups like the National Park Conservation Association. https://www.npca.org/. Plus there is a new public lands journalism outlet (nonprofit) that can keep us informed: Re:Public at https://www.republic.land/ "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly hour-long radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or friend Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ While there, consider donating to Radio Free Georgia, a 50+ year old progressive, non-commercial, indie radio station, run largely by volunteers like me. Take care of yourself and others, including other animals from tarantulas to condors to mule deer. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers. Photo Credit: Selfie with Carrie Freeman and Debra Merskin, Zion NP.

If you like eco-therapy and/or Australian accents, you'll get both in this episode, as Carrie interviews John Seed, Deep Ecology father, founder/activist of the Rainforest Information Centre and co-author of the open-access book "Thinking Like a Mountain: Toward a Council of All Beings," and Dr. Tema Milstein (American turned Australian), Fulbright Scholar, and environmental communication Professor at Univ of New South Wales in Sydney. Both are co-facilitators of Deep Ecology workshops, that help reconnect us with each other and nature and heal our separation, like the compelling workshop I attended with them in Hobart Tasmania this June (you'll hear brief audio clips from that workshop of a kookaburra bird, Tema ringing bells, and my reflections after an emotional exercise). In this 56 minute interview, we describe some of my favorite workshop exercises like the council of all beings, breathing with trees, a solar system planetary walk, and the truth mandala (honouring our pain for the world). John also recites two poems by Robinson Jeffers. You can find out more about this eco-philosophy and everyday practice of Deep Ecology at John's websites below, and in the U.S. through "The Work That Reconnects" https://workthatreconnects.org/ https://www.facebook.com/johnseed.deepecology https://www.instagram.com/johnseed_deepecology/ https://substack.com/@johnseed Occasional blog posts at htpps://johnseed.net Podcasts, essays, films etc https://rainforestinfo.org.au/johnseed.htm Plus follow Tema at https://www.instagram.com/temamilstein/ "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly hour-long radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ While there, consider donating to Radio Free Georgia, a 50+ year old progressive, non-commercial, indie radio station, run largely by volunteers like me. Take care of yourself and others, including other species because we are all connected. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers. Photo of Tema Milstein and John Seed was taken by Carrie Freeman at the Tasmania Deep Ecology Workshop. June 2025.

I was excited to have longtime food and animal activist (and local Atlantan) Leah Garces, CEO of Mercy for Animals, join me in the WRFG studio to share interesting stories from her latest book “TransFARMation: The Movement to Free Us From Factory Farming.” In this 49-minute podcast (recorded July 2025), we discuss all kinds of animals, including many humans, who are affected by industrial animal agribusiness -- from animal farmers, to rural communities, to slaughterhouse workers (many of whom are immigrants), to pigs, chickens, and cows -- everyone fighting exploitation in this broken system. Since we all are part of this food system and are affected by factory farming, we are all involved in creating what Leah calls a “transFARMation.” Her book, and our talk today, is focused on how people are making this necessary and positive transition happen. We hope you'll be part of this movement to a just, humane, and sustainable foodsystem. TheTransFARMationProject.org is the website to explore this effort to positively transform the rural economy with Leah’s nonprofit group Mercy for Animals. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly hour-long radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ Tell me about any factory farming stories of yours that I might share on the show. Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like chickens, pigs, and cows. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.

I’m so excited to share my three-week ecotourism trip through Tasmania, Australia. This 50-minute podcast is the first of a multi-part podcast series I created from the audio that I took along my June 2025 trip (and you can pair that with the gorgeous photos I posted on https://www.facebook.com/InTunetoNature ) to get a feel for this extraordinary place, and its animals, like wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, seals, whales, sheep, cows, and birds like cockatoos, forest ravens, magpies, wrens, and kookaburras. Often I’m adding in my own audio commentary and context as an American traveler and animal and environmental advocate, but other times I’m just quietly recording the voices and sounds around me, particularly the other animals there. Across the full series exploring Tasmania (or lutruwita, as the Aborignal Palawa people have called their homeland for 40,000 years), the itinerary I’ll take you on is first a quick visit to Melbourne on the front end of the trip (hello city Cockatoo), and then we spend a week traveling through Northern and Eastern Tasmania, starting at beautiful Dove Lake in Cradle Mountain National Park (where I see my first wombats), through the second largest city, Launceston, and the wine and agricultural region, over to the East Coast to the iconic wineglass bay in Freycinet National Park (this is Part 1). And then in future podcasts, I take the ferry to Maria Island (with so many wild animals, including kangaroos) and Port Arthur historic convict site, then South, over to the largest city, Hobart, for a week for my participation in the Conference on Communication and Environment at Univ of Tasmania, and a post-conference on Deep Ecology with esteemed activist John Seed (and we also get to meet two of their biggest environmental activists who started the Green Party in Australia, Christine Milne and Bob Brown). Then before flying out of Melbourne, on the mainland of Australia, I share my tour of the Great Ocean Road where I got to see my first wild koalas up in the eucalyptus trees, and a kookaburra, black and white magpies, and kangaroos at their gorgeous national parks. Note: all the animal audio and photos here are of wild/free-living animals (no one was captive in a zoo or sanctuary), which did limit the number of other animal species I interacted with (no Tasmanian Devils or platypuses this time), but I felt it was a more natural and respectful way to interact (it was the animal individual's choice to get near me or allow me nearer to them). And I had an amazing time, and was elated for every wild animal I saw (even wrens or swamp hens at outdoor bistro tables), plus I enjoyed the human Aussies I met as well. Love their accents! As part of my compensation for the resources used and greenhouse gas emitted from my international trip, I made some donations to the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania and the Friends of Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ Tell me about wild life experiences you have had in Australia or any comments on my Tasmania trip, and I might mention it on a future show. Thank you, friends! Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like wombats! Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.

When you hear the term "animal welfare" you probably think cats, dogs, horses, maybe pet parakeets. But there is an organization called Wild Animal Initiative that is expanding the notion of animal welfare to include wild/free-living animal individuals. For my 100th podcast episode, my guest Cat Kerr with Wild Animal Initiative was here to talk about how scientists try to measure wellbeing in wild animals (you can guess some of the criteria) and why we have not often done that in scientific research on a regular basis (it's different from veterinary research and conservation research). Cat and host Carrie Freeman talk for 50 minutes in the Radio Free Georgia studio in Atlanta in April 2025, sharing some stories about a one-eyed squirrel on Carrie's porch, wild bird welfare, how scientists are helping house sparrows live better lives (despite how some folks don't like sparrows, go figure), what wild birds with bird flu are going through, and how to promote wild animal welfare research and policies, including what we can do to improve our animal neighbors' lives. Check out https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/ to read and support their research (they also offer grants to researchers...since science funding is getting hard to come by these days). "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/ Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like one- or two- eyed squirrels and house sparrows. Photo Credit: cute House Sparrow photo from Wild Animal Initiative website. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.

In honor of National Park Week and Earthday 2025, we are supporting OUR national parks by sharing stories about what we love about the parks that we all collectively own (the most beautiful and ecologically significant wild places/habitats in the nation...and in the world, as some earned UNESCO World Heritage Site designations), to help encourage Americans to ask for political support to stop trump and musk/DOGE from defunding OUR parks and to stop firing our hard-working park rangers and staff who are our park defenders. In this 28 minute episode I talk about an Atlanta group of women I'm working with on National Park support projects via an Intown Women's Resistance group. They helped send in stories from people around the nation of people talking about parks they love and why (like Cumberland Island NP in GA, and Arches NP in Utah, and me talking about seeing bison and interviewing wolf biologist Rick McIntyre in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley). We encourage you all to share your own park memories with friends and on social media, and to contact your federal Senators and Representatives to demand they protect park employee jobs and fully fund the national parks, and any park programs associated with climate mitigation and DEI, and protect all OUR public lands (some of which are now threatened with being sold to private owners/industries, snuck into a recent Republican budget bill). We must stay vigilant. Here are some organizations that support parks and their employees and can keep us educated on issues and action items, recommended by friend and retired Forester from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Kristine Johnson: PEER: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks The National Park Conservation Association "In Tune to Nature" is a weekly radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or Melody Paris. The show's website and action items can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/ Please support nonprofit indie media like our Radio Free Georgia station at https://wrfg.org/ Thank you! Take care of yourself and others, including our park employees and the wild animals who rely on our public lands. Photo Credit: Resist Destruction Smoky Bear sticker from the Alt National Parks group. Check them out on FB. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff or volunteers.