250. The Founders Loved the Land - and Left One Thing Unfinished

In this milestone 250th episode, Matt Matern goes solo for the final installment of our “250 for 250” series - tracing what the people who founded the country actually believed about land, soil, and stewardship. From Thomas Jefferson’s near-daily weather diary and George Washington’s soil-saving crop rotations, to the myth of endless abundance baked into the American character, Matt lays out what the founders left us: a genuine love of the land, and a dangerous belief that it could never run out. This episode is part of our “250 for 250” series, marking America’s 250th anniversary by revisiting the figures and stories in our environmental history when ordinary people changed everything. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. EPISODE RESOURCES Thomas Jefferson’s Weather Observations (Monticello): https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/weather-observations/ George Washington and Agriculture (Mount Vernon): https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-washington-and-agriculture Held v. Montana - Montana Supreme Court ruling (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2024/12/19/nx-s1-5218285/montana-supreme-court-backs-youth-plaintiffs-in-groundbreaking-climate-trial Green Amendments For The Generations: forthegenerations.org A Climate Change on Apple: https://bit.ly/accapplepodcast A Climate Change on Spotify: https://bit.ly/accspotifypodcast A Climate Change on YouTube: https://bit.ly/ACCvids