We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments
Society & Culture
Groundwater poisoned from fracking, toxic coal sludge, and industrial pollution can sicken those who live near the source, and ruin land for generations to come. Often those most acutely affected are also those with the least resources to fight for environmental justice.
So, Emily Collins did something about it, founding Fair Shake, the nation’s first nonprofit law firm devoted to providing environmental legal services regardless of the client’s ability to pay.
Hear about Emily's journey from the woods of her family’s Ohio homestead to the courtroom where she and the Fair Shake team work with individuals, community groups, nonprofit organizations and farmers to give them a fighting chance in their environmental battles.
And those battles have increasingly higher stakes, too. “I used to work on cases about impacts to one waterway,” Emily says. “Now, I find myself writing sentences like ‘the project will disturb 246 acres, resulting in impacts to 14 wetlands, one pond and 67 streams.’”
Emily shares the very first environmental “citation” she gave – she was in elementary school – and explains why she and her Fair Shake team have run and cycled thousands of miles on the land of those for whom they advocate.
“The environmental fights many are facing are not just David versus Goliath, but more like David versus two Goliaths,” Emily says.
Hear how Emily is helping even those astronomical odds in this episode of “We Can Be.”
“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant, and produced by the Endowments and Treehouse Media. Theme music by Josh Slifkin, with incidental music by Giuseppe Capolupo. Guest image by Josh Franzos. Audio clips at marks 23:51 and 25:29 feature the voice of environmentalist and “Silent Spring” author Rachel Carson. For guest consideration, contact Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org.
Love Canal’s accidental environmentalist Lois Gibbs on the movement she sparked & what today’s activists need to know to save our world (S01EP17)
What the Eyes Don't See: Mona Hanna-Attisha & Flint’s lead water crisis. (S01EP16)
The 45 Words that Define Us: Max King on a First Amendment under fire, why we let rights slip away & how we can save them (S01E15)
Environmental justice superhero Mustafa Santiago Ali and the Hip Hop Caucus are shifting minds and votes one community at a time. (S01EP14)
Born for Storms: Angela Blanchard was a rock during Houston’s Hurricane Harvey & now she’s out to change the world for good (S01EP13)
New Power: Author Henry Timms explains what it is, how to get it & why it’s changing our hyper-connected world. (S01EP12)
Brick by brick: Steve Shelton got his second chance & now he makes certain others have a shot at their own redemption (S01EP11)
Spinning our moral compass: Rabbi Ron Symons on why centuries-old traditions may be the secret to navigating race, wage & immigrant issues. SE01E10
R2-D2, Illah & Ethics: How robotics & AI genius Illah Nourbakhsh was inspired to use his superpowers for good SE01E09
Circles of love: Tammy Thompson draws on her own remarkable journey in her work to break poverty trauma cycles (S01EP08)
Humor, Rap, Poetry & Love: the New Muslim Cool of Hamza Perez (S01E07)
A Story of Two Wilsons: Janis Burley Wilson grew up in an arts-loving family in playwright August Wilson’s hometown, and now she leads his namesake Center for African American Culture. (S01E06)
From Miami to the Midwest: Change Agency’s Betty Cruz has made it her life’s work to make her city a welcoming place for immigrants. (S01E05)
Center for Coalfield Justice’s Veronica Coptis and her fight for one rural America county’s environmental justice (S01EP04)
Actor/writer David Conrad’s long journey home, identity of place, and the key role artists play in shaping our future (S01 EP03)
Kazakhstan candy, a Wisconsin dairy farm, PBS and innovative investigative news: the fantastic journey of PublicSource Exec. Director Mila Sanina (S01EP02)
Post-9/11 vets' unique role in a more perfect union w/ Nick Grimes of Veterans Breakfast Club (S01EP01)
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