Anthropocene Podcast

Host: Isabel Bailey

The Anthropocene is a contentious term, one whose defintion has been debated across disciplines for over twenty years. It can be understood scientifically as a geological era, or in a popular sense, as a concept which expresses humanity’s impacts on the planet. While important for unravelling our past and bettering our future, such debates can complicate information which should be delivered to a broader, non-academic audience. Increasing accessibility of such knowledge is a key component in addressing planet-altering situations that require collective action. In today’s society, many people have learned to identify themselves as visual, tactile, or auditory learners, and engage primarily with media that reflect this. The auditory nature of this podcast aims to capture the attention of those who become disengaged while consuming traditional written formats of academia. This piece seeks to lay the groundwork for understanding discourse surrounding the Anthropocene, as well as introducing alternative concepts which address the more controversial aspects of using a term which implicates the entirety of humanity. While it is difficult to conceptualize the massive geological timescale of the Anthropocene, it is by grasping that futility that we can begin to understand the dramatic nature of this phenomenon. Equally, we must understand the systems and practices that have created this situation, which many engage with and benefit from today. By creating a podcast that is interesting and fun, I hope to draw in learners from all walks of life while expressing powerful ideas of what it means to live in the age of humans.

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