Story+World: Changing Stories for a Changing Planet

Alejandro Camacho (Professor of Law at UCLA) joins Jon Christensen (Director of LENS) to talk about his new book Lessons for a Warming Planet: A Vital History of US Environmental Law. Their conversation traces the history of US environmental law from the colonial period to the present and explores what practical lessons might be learned from this history that can help us understand and address today's challenges. Camacho identifies key turning points, from the rise of property law and resource extraction to the emergence of modern environmental regulation in the twentieth century. He reflects on how environmental law has become so contested in recent decades, and what kinds of legal imagination and policy innovation might be needed to confront climate change, environmental injustice, and new technological risks. Music: “Concrete River” by Elori Saxl. Courtesy of Western Vinyl. Used by permission.Cover image: Jonathan Fieber, «Klima Baumscheibe»

Episode 1 features a live conversation with climate journalist Sammy Roth, who recently left the LA Times to launch Climate Colored Goggles (climatecoloredgoggles.com). Roth reflects on his trajectory from covering energy policy and politics to examining how narratives in culture and entertainment shape environmental futures. He argues that cultural changes are crucial for climate action. To explore the issues and possibilities of climate narratives, we discuss political fragmentation and polarization, fake news, a shifting landscape of media consumption, and the responsibility of scholars and storytellers in the fight for better climate policy. Participants: Sammy Roth, Jon Christensen (LENS Director, IoES Professor, and environmental journalist), Ursula K. Heise (Distinguished Professor of English and in the IoES), and Liv Slaby (LENS podcast producer and English PhD student) Music: “Concrete River” by Elori Saxl. Courtesy of Western Vinyl. Used by permission.