In this week’s segment of It’s Hot Out There, flautist Taya Konig-Tarasevich joins us in studio to teach our listeners about flutes. She explains the differences in pitch, sound, and history between the classical, baroque, and modern flutes, each made from distinct materias. Her visit came just before her masters recital, In a Living Memory. The video cannot do her immense talent justice, and is only a small and playful sample of her work, now happening at Julliard in Manhattan. How lucky we were to have her with us for a moment in Michigan!
Category Archives: It’s Hot Out There
Learning from the Locals: Community-Based Conservation with Nils Christoffersen
This week’s It’s Hot Out There segment features an exclusive interview with Wallowa Resources Executive Director Nils Christoffersen. Our guest visited the School of Natural Resources and Environment for the Wyss Speaker Series to share his experiences with community based conservation in the American West. Nils shared the Bundy militia standoff in Oregon as an example of how these conflicts represent the broader tensions between conservation and communities in the West. Wallowa Resources has been working to provide communities with an alternative process for community-based management that helps overcome these conflicts. With the final militia men turning themselves in on February 11th, this interview comes at an extremely relevant time. Continue reading Learning from the Locals: Community-Based Conservation with Nils Christoffersen
Craig Packer: Real Price Tags for Wild Lion Prides
This week’s It’s Hot Out There brings Craig Packer, conservation ecologist and professor at the University of Minnesota, into our den. Though given his expertise on lions, this segment may be better characterized as within his den and not ours. We caught up with Craig on his visit to the School of Natural Resources and Environment, where he discussed the keys behind conservation ecology in Africa.
Continue reading Craig Packer: Real Price Tags for Wild Lion Prides
Aaron Mair’s Hope for Climate Justice
This segment of It’s Hot Out There features Aaron Mair, the President of the Sierra Club. Aaron visited the School of Natural Resources and Environment on MLK Day as a part of the university-wide celebration of the late, great Martin Luther King, Jr. Our exclusive interview with him complements our show on “Diversity in Environmental Organizations” as his election on May 16, 2015 to the post of President of the Sierra Club marks a first for an African American in the history of that organization.
Capturing “The Last Animals” with Kate Brooks
This week’s It’s Hot Out There segment features Kate Brooks. We reached her in Geneva, at the CITES (or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) meetings, where she is shooting a final for her film on wildlife poaching (a topic we talked about on last Friday’s episode Its Hot in Here). Talking to kate brings back memories for Rebecca:
We are sitting in the Sweetwaters Cafe on Ashley one winter afternoon in 2013, watching fat snowflakes fall on the wreaths outside Ann Arbor’s Downtown Home and Garden. Kate Brooks is missing her apartment in Beirut, and nursing a cold in the Michigan winter. She wraps her hands tighter around a hot mug of tea and lets loose these words: “I don’t know, this title just came to me last night: The Last Animals. I love it because–listen to this–here is the definition of animalis..it is having the breath of life or life force….We are literally destroying the most ancient life force on the planet with this wave of poaching and I think I could make either a series or a feature length documentary about it. Will you help me?”
Continue reading Capturing “The Last Animals” with Kate Brooks
Christmas with the Krampus
This episode of It’s Hot Out There brings us to downtown Ypsilanti for the annual Krampus Ball. This free holiday event, open to the public, includes several DJs, a puppet show, and a walk down Michigan Avenue. An amazing party, with many working to make it happen: from steadfast Mark Maynard at the tap, to the DJ’s flinging confetti on the dancers while pointing the strobe at the outlandish costumes; the puppeteer used both hands to make his creatures dance on the beat while his friends speared sausage chunks into his mouth.
Drinking Sustainably with the Locals
This week’s episode of It’s Hot Out There takes us to the bar manager at Ann Arbor based Restaurant, Sava’s, as a follow up to our “Please, Drink Sustainably” series. Managing Bartender Mike Sweet gives us the inside scoop on the Michigan based drinks served at all three of Sava Lelcaj’s restaurants, the other two being Babo and Aventura.
Mike eloquently discusses the touch that the mitten has had on his bar, specifically its beer, but warns of the trouble it may cause for bartender’s in the state. Nevertheless, he continually celebrates the great deal of progress and versatility amongst Michigan’s growing beer and spirits scenes.
For more information on all three facets of the mitten’s alcohol scene, be sure to check out our beer, wine, and spirits episodes of our “Please, Drink Sustainably” series along with our exclusive interview with Matt Gacioch!
Don’t forget to tune in this Friday, as we will be addressing the COP talks currently going on in the wine rich country of France! And as always, keep it hot!
Josh Fox on Enduring the Change
In this week’s It’s Hot Out There segment we sit down with banjo-wielding, Academy Award nominated director, Josh Fox, who presented his film Gasland at the University of Michigan’s Rackham Auditorium last week.
In his talk, Fox called climate change a “bottom line,” linking a number of dramatic current events and indicted the media for its “architecture of denial” in failing to identify changing climate as a factor. He expanded on these remarks our face-to-face conversation, suggesting that “what kind of society do we want to be?” is the pressing question of our time, and identifying strong communities as our best tool for enduring and mitigating the climate crisis as it unfolds.
Fox’s insights directly resonate with current events. The attacks in Paris occurred just days after our conversation–as France prepares to host the International Conference of Parties to consider global agreements on climate change. The international community has come together to offer condolences to the victims in Paris and many have committed to attend the COP meetings despite the recent upheaval. This courage and commitment in the face of tragedy underscores, yet again, the importance of building community both globally and locally.
More Beer! with Matt Gacioch
With the first segment in our New Series, It’s Hot Out There, Harry Rice interviews SNRE and Ross School of Business Masters Student, Matt Gacioch. This interview is a continuation of our show on beer last Friday, and Matt’s experience at Short’s Brewing, Left Hand Brewing, and the Brewer’s Association provide more great insight on the industry, much of which we did not cover in last week’s episode.
Give it a listen to hear more about the work Matt did at those locations, the importance of malt in the brewing process, and the craft beer revolution.
Thanks to Arbor Brewing Company for allowing us to conduct the interview in their Ann Arbor location.