Environmental History Resources

Exploring Environmental History podcast

Exploring Environmental History is the podcast about human societies and the environment in the past. The periodic programmes feature interviews with people working in the field, reports on conferences and discussions about the use and methods of environmental history. You can listen to these audiocasts on your own computer simply by clicking on the "Listen to podcast " links in the list below. Podcast of previous years can be found in the annual archives. The following years are available: 2006, 2007, 2008.

If you use a podcast aggregator like iTunes or Juice, you can subscribe to the podcast feed to automatically download the files for syncing to portable audio devices. Once you subscribe to Exploring Environmental History, you will automatically receive the lastest episode each time a new podcast is published. For more information on how to subscribe and podcasting clients, view the subscription instructions.

You can also follow the podcast on Twitter @EH_Resources.

Do you have comments about or suggestions related to the podcasts? Send us your feedback.

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Podcast 32: Empire and Environmental Anxiety

Friday, 5 March 2010

At present there are many environmental anxieties related to pollution, species extinction, climate change, acid deposition and many others. However, environmental anxieties are nothing new and were also experienced during the colonial period of the 19th and early 20th century. Colonial authorities and settlers in the British Empire encountered unfamiliar environments and the combination with environmental changes caused by their activities led to widespread environmental anxieties. The most important concern was anxiety over climate change. In 19th century debates surrounding this issue, highly emotive, highly alarmist arguments were made that are very similar to the ones used today. In this episode, James Beattie, Senior Lecturer at the Department of History of the University of Waikato in New Zealand explores these anxieties of settlers, scientist and colonial officials in India, Australia and New Zealand.

Music credit
"Terra Incognita" by ditto ditto
Available from ccMixter

Listen to episode #32

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Podcast 31: Environmental History of the 2012 Olympic site: the Lower River Lea

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Former industrial sites worldwide are constantly reinvented and redeveloped reflecting changes in economies and societies over time. Nowhere else in Europe is regeneration of a former industrial site more spectacular than the 2012 Olympic site on the banks of the River Lea in West Ham, East London. The creation of the Olympic park promises the rehabilitation of the Lower Lea Valley by restoring its eco-system and revitalising the community of the area.

But the Lower River Lea has a long history, going as far back as the 11th century, of industrial development and associated environmental degeneration. Jim Clifford, a doctoral student at York University in Toronto, talks in this episode of the podcast about the environmental and social history of West Ham and the Lower Lea River. He highlights that there have been attempts in the earlier 20th century to improve the Lea River’s environmental and social conditions but that the high expectations of these schemes were not always met.

Blog mentioned in this podcast
Westham and the Lower Lea River - Blog by Jim Clifford

Music credit
"Trawnicing" by Pitx
Available from ccMixter

Listen to episode #31

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Podcast 30: Green Colonialism in Zimbabwe

Thursday, 7 January 2010

Environmental history of the British Empire seems to revolve around the theme of imperial forestry and Zimbabwe is no exception. In this edition of the podcast Vimbai Kwashirai, Lecturer in African History at Durham University, examines the debates and processes of woodland exploitation in Zimbabwe during the colonial period (1890-1980). He is doing this along the lines of Richard Grove’s thesis of Green Imperialism, but he goes beyond that by placing conservation and forest history into the broader social, political and economic history of Zimbabwe and the wider British Empire.

More information on Book Green Colonialism in Zimbabwe
Cambria Press website

Music credit
"Soon, this is it!" by DrGoldklang
Available from ccMixter

Listen to episode #30