Future Natures

About Future Natures

Conversations about nature, commons and enclosures with people involved in action, research and activism. This podcast is produced by the Centre for Future Natures. Find out more at futurenatures.org futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com/s/future-natures-podcast?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Future Natures

Category

society & culture · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Oct 2022

Latest episode

5 Feb 2025

Latest episodes

11 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Feb 2025

   Unearthing environmentalism and techno-capitalist vampires

   In this episode, we sit down with Patrick Bresnihan, co-author (with Naomi Millner) of the book All We Want is the Earth. We talk about counter-histories of environmentalism, and Ireland as a frontier of digital capitalism. We learn about how anti- and de-colonial thought and praxis are discounted from histories of Eurocentric environmentalism, followed by a deep dive into the unbearable heaviness of digital capitalism and its assumed ‘inevitability’. Patrick investigates how digital life relates to new waves of neocolonial, neoliberal capitalist enclosures. Focusing on Ireland, we explore how our widespread use of digital technologies is shaping our lives, and how it represents an outgrowth of green colonialism. The focus on Ireland also illustrates the convergence of monopoly tech, the energy transition and US imperialism. We then explore the undercurrents growing out of Ireland to respond to these convergences, demanding alternative futures to neocolonial capitalist and colonial projects. This includes movements connecting climate justice and Palestinian solidarity. Patrick can be found on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/pbresnihan.bsky.social) and is on the editorial board of the Ireland-based online magazine Rundale (https://www.rundale.org/). Links Some of the books, articles and initiatives mentioned in this episode are linked below. If you are viewing this episode on some podcast players, some links may not work: visit the original post on the Future Natures website. For full audio and show notes from this and all past episodes, visit futurenatures.org/podcast (https://futurenatures.org/podcast) Books * All We Want is the Earth: Land, Labour and movements beyond Environmentalism (https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/all-we-want-is-the-earth) (Patrick Bresnihan and Naomi Millner, 2023) * Upcoming book 'From the Bog to the Cloud. Dependency and Eco-modernity in Ireland'. By Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie. Due to be published in September 2025. Resonance * Zapatista Journey for Life comes to Ireland, October 2021 (https://medium.com/@vcenzac/the-zapatista-journey-for-life-comes-to-ireland-october-2021-42e133ea56c) by V’cenza Cirefice * Decolonising Palestine and Unsettling Environmental Justice (https://www.rundale.org/2024/04/25/decolonising-palestine/) by Bana Abu Zuluf, Patrick Bresnihan and Rory Rowan * Making Relatives Collective (https://www.instagram.com/makingrelativescollective/) * Indigenous Land and water protectors from the Zapatista and Turtle Island visit Ireland- Making Relatives and the Journey for Life (https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/2023/05/23/making-relatives-and-the-journey-for-life/), by V’cenza Cirefice and Lynda Sullivan * Turkish political education group, POLEN (https://www.polenekoloji.org/) (POLEN Ecology promotes international Marxist ecology literature and develops partnerships with movements in other countries) Data centres and digital capitalism * Data sinks, carbon services: Waste, storage and energy cultures on Ireland’s peat bogs (https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/18397/)(Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie, 2023) * Data Grab: The new Colonialism of Big Tech and how to fight back. (Nick Couldry and ‎Ulises Mejias, 2024) * Feeding an insatiable monster: Data centres in Ireland (https://rupture.ie/articles/feeding-an-insatiable-monster) with Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie * Energy Vacuums: Data Centres, Renewable Energy, and Rural Politics (https://rupture.ie/articles/severed-the-metabolic-rift-between-humans-and-nature-b5x6w) By Patrick Brodie and Patrick Bresnihan Extractivism resistance in Ireland * Save our Sperrins campaign (https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-our-sperrins-108907) * The fight against extractivism (https://rupture.ie/articles/save-our-sperrins-the-fight-against-extractivism) * Resistance to gold mining in Ireland * Women keeping Ireland's gold in the ground (https://theecologist.org/2021/jun/10/women-who-keep-gold-irelands-ground) , 2021 * Public inquiry into controversial Co Tyrone gold mine suspended (https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/public-inquiry-into-controversial-co-tyrone-gold-mine-suspended-for-second-time/a1547778607.html), 2025 Picture credits 1. The photo of the water protectors was taken by Patrick Bresnihan in May, 2023, in the Bee Park community centre in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, in the North West of Ireland. The three water protectors are Chas Jewett, Jeshua Estes, and Lewis GrassRope, visiting from the Lakota Nation, Turtle Island. The visit was organised by Making Relatives, a collective of water protectors in Ireland and North America, and supported by Friends of the Earth NI, Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM), the Derry Playhouse, and the Rundale collective. 2. ‘Hands Off Our Commons’ poster designed by Kate O'Shea with artwork by V'Cenza Cirefice. These posters were sold to raise funds for the Save Our Sperrins campaign (resisting the gold mine). 3. The turf sod photo is by Patrick Bresnihan, taken in Derrigimlagh, Connemara in April 2024. 4. Image from the book cover of All We Want is the Earth by V'Cenza Cirefice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   15 Nov 2024

   Fungi, relationships and emancipatory futures

   Maymana Arefin is the founder of Fungi Futures (https://linktr.ee/fungi.futures), a project learning with fungi to map radical alternative futures. Maymana began Fungi Futures in part due to inspiration from the “wood wide web” which they value as a metaphor for our interconnectedness, our dependence on one another for mutual aid, care and transformation, “I sought to understand how we, as a collective can organise better, hearing the cries of our neighbour to mobilise and manifest webs of support ~ this wasn’t some cute, distant fantasy but a call to action ~ decolonisation is NOT a metaphor”. This episode challenges some deep-set assumptions around where ecological knowledge comes from and whose knowledge matters. Maymana explains how fungi are teachers and – if we pay attention – can show us different ways of being in relationship with our ecosystems and ourselves. In the discussion, we cover topics around the colonial history of botany and nature-based art, what ‘queering’ ecology means, and how fungi help bring community and healing. Links Some of the books, articles and initiatives mentioned in this episode are linked below. If you are viewing this episode on some podcast players, some links may not work: visit the original post on the Future Natures website. For full audio and show notes from this and all past episodes, visit futurenatures.org/podcast (https://futurenatures.org/podcast) Maymana’s website (https://maymanaarefin.com/@fungi-futures) Maymana’s poem: Communion with a shaggy inkcap (https://maymanaarefin.com/communion-with-a-shaggy-inkcap) The Misery Collective (QTBPOC mental health collective) - Misery Collective’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/miseryparty/?hl=en) - Misery Collective’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@misery4142) Land in Our Names (https://landinournames.community/) ‘Foragers’ (https://www.jumanamanna.com/Foragers) (documentary on Palestinian foraging) Further readings The Palestine Heirloom Seed Library (https://viviensansour.com/Palestine-Heirloom) Mushroom growing in Gaza and occupied West Bank: articles from Jinha Agency (https://jinhaagency.com/en/ecology/first-in-gaza-young-woman-grows-organic-oyster-mushrooms-27445) and Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/6/16/first-mushroom-farm-in-palestine-ends-israels-monopoly) Queer ecology: - Queer ecologies (https://www.amajosephine.me/queerecologies) (projects and resources) - A queer ecology reading list (https://longreads.com/2023/03/21/queer-ecology-nature-animals-vegetables-reading-list/) Botany and colonialism: - It’s time to re-examine the history of botanical collections (https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/time-to-re-examine-the-history-of-botanical-collections) (Kew.org) - Botanical colonialism and biocultural histories (https://www.greendreamer.com/podcast/catriona-sandilands-queer-ecologies) (Green Dreamer podcast with Catriona Sandilands) Ethical foraging (https://www.thegreatoutdoorsmag.com/skills/ethical-foraging-autumn-fungi-futures/), piece by Maymana Arefin in The Great Outdoors magazine This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   25 Sept 2024

   Urban heat justice

   Urban heat justice is a topic that traverses both how people experience and suffer from heat, especially in the context of evolving climate crisis and its impacts on cities around the world. In this episode we talk with Panagiota Kotsila about urban futures, climate related suffering and heat injustice – an issue entangled with disability injustice, racial justice, labour justice, housing justice and, in many cases, differentially experienced along lines of age, gender, and class. We talk about the continuities of colonial histories and their presence in the health of migrants in cities who are differentially affected by urban heat - focusing on experiences from Barcelona, Spain. We discuss how ‘green isn’t always good’, drawing on examples from Panagiota’s work around social justice issues of urban green spaces and the political ecologies of cities. We also learn about migrant knowledges as central to creating ‘emancipatory’ cities where the diverse needs of residents are met through active participation. You can follow Panagiota on X/Twitter at @PKotsila (https://x.com/pkotsila). Links Some of the books, articles and initiatives mentioned in this episode are linked below. If you are viewing this episode on some podcast players, some links may not work: visit the original post on the Future Natures Substack. Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (https://www.bcnuej.org/) (website) Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (https://www.youtube.com/@bcnuej?cbrd=1) (YouTube channel) Undisciplined Environments Collective (https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/) Book: Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Justice (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/321259/inflamed-by-patel-rupa-marya-and-raj/9780141995236) by Raj Patel and Rupa Marya Book: Insurgent Ecologies: Between Environmental Struggles and Postcapitalist Transformations (https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/insurgent-ecologies). Edited by Undisciplined Environments Collective. Published by Fernwood Publishing - see especially Part 4: Feminisms (by Panagiota Kotsila, Ilenia Iengo and Irene Leonardelli) The ‘Climate Refuge’ concept (https://www.bcnuej.org/projects/climate-refuges/) Journal article: Expanding the Boundaries of Justice in Urban Greening Scholarship: Toward an Emancipatory, Antisubordination, Intersectional, and Relational Approach (https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1740579). 2020. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 110(6), 1743–1769. Book chapter: Immigrant communities in Europe as situated knowledge holders for postcolonial and feminist urban adaptation to climate health risks (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9789048554805-012/html?lang=en). From the book Urban Movements and Climate Change (2023) Panagiota’s upcoming research project: Embracing Immigrant Knowledges for Just Climate Health Adaptation (IMBRACE) (https://www.uab.cat/web/sala-de-premsa-icta-uab/detall-noticia/panagiota-kotsila-receives-an-erc-consolidator-grant-1345819915004.html?detid=1345902388547) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

4. 

   9 Aug 2024

   Shepherding schools and reviving rural futures

   The ‘rural’ is a doing word. This is a key take-home message from this interview with Fernando Garcia Dory, set deep in the mountains of northern Spain. This episode explores how livestock shepherding relates to commoning and enclosures in an ongoing project, Inland: Campo Adentro (https://inland.org/). Inland is a shepherd school, or ‘agroecological lighthouse’, with a three-word manifesto: art, agriculture and territory. We talk to Fernando about how he has created a space to reclaim ecological relationships, whilst also challenging regressive concepts around territory, identity and emotions often associated with the countryside. The ‘rural’ is not simply a genre of study, says Fernando. In the wake of farmer unrest in Europe, neoliberal markets, rural depopulation and a need for renewed interest in slow agriculture, he and his community contend with intersecting issues affecting the future of shepherding in Spain. They focus on the everyday ‘doing’ and making of diverse, creative and lively futures for extensive agriculture. Links Some of the publications and initiatives mentioned in this episode are linked below. If you are viewing this episode on some podcast players, the links may not work: visit the original post on the Future Natures Substack. Inland: Campo Adentro (https://www.instagram.com/inland_campoadentro) on Instagram Inland: Campo Adentro (https://inland.org/) (main website) More information about Inland’s shepherding school (https://escueladepastores.es/abierto-el-plazo-de-inscripcion-para-la-escuela-de-pastores-2024/) (in Spanish) Seasonal Matters, Rural Relations (https://www.onomatopee.net/exhibition/book-launch-of-seasonal-matters-rural-relations-by-seasonal-neighbours/) – booklet by Seasonal Neighbours Micribiopolitics of milk (https://inland.org/product/micribiopolitics-of-milk/) (an offer to buy the book and Campo Adentro cheese!) Book: The Rural (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537162/) (MIT press 2019) Transhumancia y Naturaleza (https://trashumanciaynaturaleza.org/en-gb/about-us) – founded by Jesús Garzón Transhumance map (https://trashumanciaynaturaleza.org/en-gb/transhumance-map) Confederancy of Villages (https://confederacyofvillages.org/) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

5. 

   7 May 2024

   Land, democracy, identity

   Antonia Malchik is the author of a forthcoming book entitled ‘No Trespassing: How the ancient struggle for ownership, private property and the rights of the commons will define our future’. Antonia regularly writes online about ownership, property and what we lose in the privatization of the commons through her Substack newsletter, ‘On the Commons’ (https://antonia.substack.com/). In this episode, we trace the histories of enclosure into the current structures of ownership and privatization. Focusing primarily on the United States, Antonia raises some nuanced and refreshing insights into how enclosure relates to urban mobility, contemporary environmentalism, and democracy. With a knack for telling stories, Antonia regularly relates issues to her own experiences, and draws on the work of a range of activists, writers, campaigners and thinkers. This episode is a journey with many roots and branches, including a discussion on the influence of the far right in relation to land politics, always coming back to the roles of ecological values, power and ideologies. Links Some of the books, articles and initiatives mentioned in this episode are linked below. If you are viewing this episode on some podcast players, the links may not work: visit the original post on the Future Natures Substack. Antonia Malchik: A Walking Life: Reclaiming Our Health and Our Freedom One Step at a Time Antonia’s article in Aeon Magazine: Who owns the Earth? (https://aeon.co/essays/is-it-time-to-upend-the-idea-that-land-is-private-property) Andro Linklater: Owning the Earth: The Transforming History of Land Ownership Jonathon Stalls: WALK - Slow Down, Wake Up & Connect at 1-3 Miles Per Hour Walk2Connect (https://americawalks.org/programs/walk2connect/) Girl Trek (https://www.girltrek.org/) Rail-volution (now called Mpact Mobility (https://www.mpactmobility.org/about/)) David Harvey: The Right to the City (https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii53/articles/david-harvey-the-right-to-the-city) Henry George: Progress and Poverty Revealed: the insidious creep of pseudo-public space in London (https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/24/revealed-pseudo-public-space-pops-london-investigation-map) - The Guardian Stop Cop City (https://stopcop.city/) in Atlanta What is the 15-minute cities conspiracy theory? (https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-10-04/what-is-the-15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theory/) Soulfire Farm (https://www.soulfirefarm.org/), United States David Bollier’s ‘Frontiers of Commoning’ podcast (https://david-bollier.simplecast.com/episodes/mihnea-tanasescu-on-the-need-for-ecocene-politics) Nick Estes: Our History is the Future (https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/600-our-history-is-the-future) Laughing at extremism won’t make it go away (https://antonia.substack.com/p/laughing-at-extremism-wont-make-it) – Antonia Malchik Betsy Gaines Quammen: True West and American Zion Joe Wilkins: Fall Back Down When I Die Andreas Weber: Enlivenment: Toward a Poetics for the Anthropocene Leah Sottile: Bundyville and Stories that Need to Be Told (https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-11-15/crazy-town-bonus-leah-sottile/) (Crazy Town podcast) Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass Nick Hayes: The Book of Trespass This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

6. 

   29 Nov 2023

   Folk horror and English commons

   Andy Thatcher is a photographer, film-maker, writer and researcher who is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Bristol. Andy’s research includes using ‘folk horror’ as a lens to understand the contested histories of English commons. [Content Warning: This podcast includes a discussion of violence in a historical context.] In our conversation, we talked about histories and folk legends linked to historic commons in the southwest of England, and how Andy uses research and film making to explore their atmospheres and stories. Folk traditions have long ways for local people to assert claims to the land. Though many historic English commons are obscure and little-known, they can reveal histories of conflict and trauma. Our conversation touched on ideas about how the ‘weird’, the ‘eerie’ and haunting can help us think differently about places. And we discussed how folk horror of the 1970s and beyond – from the Wicker Man and Penda’s Fen to Candyman and examples from other countries and cultures – can open up deep histories, clashes between tradition and modernity and moral ambiguity. Links: Andy Thatcher’s website (https://andyjthatcher.com/) – see also the films Clouties and Common Place, mentioned in the podcast Oak Apple Day at Wishford Magna (https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/371244063507103/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v) – archive footage from 1949 Folk Horror Revival (https://folkhorrorrevival.com/) – articles, essays and resources on folk horror The Wicker Man (1973) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070917/) – IMDB Penda’s Fen (1974) (https://archive.org/details/pendas-fen-1974) (video at Internet Archive) Candyman (1992) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103919/) – IMDB Strange Natures (https://futurenatures.org/season-strange-natures/): Season of art, essays and reflections from Future Natures Cover image: Still from Penda’s Fen This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

7. 

   13 Nov 2023

   Forgotten places and the field of memory

   Cansu Sönmez talks to us about her research on people’s responses to large infrastructure projects, like dams and railways, that disrupt their lives and the spaces where they live. Cansu shares the story of what happened in the old town of Hasankeyf in Turkey, which was recently flooded by a large dam built to provide hydroelectric power. She also describes the ongoing resistance in Italy against the TAV high speed railway, and how people link memories with places in ways that challenge the visions of developers and the state. We discuss the idea of ‘organised abandonment’ and what it means for people and places who are left behind. Cansu Sönmez is a PhD candidate at the Gran Sasso Science Institute in L’Aquila, Italy. The interviewer is Nathan Oxley, Centre for Future Natures / IDS. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

8. 

   16 Oct 2023

   Mining and resistance in Covas do Barroso, Portugal

   Covas do Barroso in Portugal is in a region that’s famous for traditional ways of life and sustainable agriculture. It’s also right next to a site that’s targeted for Europe’s largest open-cast lithium mine. Local people have been campaigning against the mine now for several years, through a series of consultations, challenges and assessments. In this episode, Anoushka and Nathan speak to two people with insights into the struggle: Carla Gomes and Francisco Venes. To find out more about the movement, visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UnidosemdefesadeCovasdoBarroso (https://www.facebook.com/UnidosemdefesadeCovasdoBarroso) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

9. 

   10 Feb 2023

   Open source seeds

   Anoushka talks to Almendra Cremaschi about seeds and the multiple forms of enclosure that have affected the seed sovereignty of farmers in Argentina and across the world. We talk about Bioleft, an initiative based in Argentina that challenges the concentration of seed markets and makes space for knowledge, imagination, and art to grow an open-source system for seeds. For more information about Bioleft, visit the website: https://bioleft.org (https://bioleft.org) Read more: https://futurenatures.org/seeding-the-commons-in-argentina/ (https://futurenatures.org/seeding-the-commons-in-argentina/) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

10. 

    19 Dec 2022

    Food that’s not for sale

    Anoushka Zoob Carter talks to Sam Bliss, who is involved in activism and research on 'food that's not for sale'. As well as the topic of enclosure, Anoushka and Sam explore the paradoxes of food waste in the food commons. The conversation also takes a provocative dive into the role of private property rights in producing food as a commons. Read more: https://futurenatures.org/food-thats-not-for-sale/ (https://futurenatures.org/food-thats-not-for-sale/) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

11. 

    21 Oct 2022

    Commoning in a Palestinian refugee camp

    Yafa el Masri was born as a Palestinian refugee in Beirut. In this episode, Anoushka talks to Yafa talks about the importance of commoning in refugee camps in Lebanon, drawing on her recent research there, and her own experience of refugee camp life as a young person. Read more: https://futurenatures.org/commoning-in-refugee-camps-in-conversation-with-yafa-el-masri/ (https://futurenatures.org/commoning-in-refugee-camps-in-conversation-with-yafa-el-masri/) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futurenatures.substack.com (https://futurenatures.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

6,535

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 55 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

68

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

32

Contact Future Natures

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.