While the nation & the state have veered into conservative and even regressive social directions, there has been refuge & hope locally in the Eau Claire City Council, which included a strong progressive majority as of spring, 2018. Even while others were dragging their feet, work was proceding locally on sustainability, reducing the incarceration system, and increasing responsiveness to citizen concerns.

Too many people ignore the power of local government to transform the most crucial aspects of our world, focusing only on our national government. A groundswell of local activism tilted the county board of Eau Claire, WI, in the progressive direction, and the lessons & possibilities are promising around the country. We speak with 3 recent members of the board of supervisors about their experience & motivations: Martha Nieman, Sandy McKinney, & Don Mowry.

Ecologist Huda Alkaff is a founding member and director of Wisconsin Green Muslims, a volunteer environmental justice group based in Milwaukee. She uses her advanced education and her Muslim faith to educate others and forge interfaith collaborations in the service of sustainability.

Host Peterson Toscano visits with 3 Evangelicals fighting climate change, Kyle Meyaard-Shaap, Corina Newsome, & Rev. Josh Gibson. Comic creation, Tony Buffusio from the Bronx, talks climate change in the Bible. Scientist Dr.

Bias & prejudice are hard-wired in us, we've got the studies to prove it, so what can we do about bias, hate, & division? In Our Search For Belonging: How Our Need to Connect Is Tearing Us Apart by Howard J. Ross we explore the mind, our behavior, & our possibility of acting better than we're programmed for.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Eastern, Jewish, Non-affiliated

Henna Hundal of Harvard Radio hosts Spirit In Action this week. Her first guest is Paul Hoffman, an American coxswain who competed in the 1968 & 1972 Summer Olympics, and a supporter of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR). Her second guest is Dr. Howard Bauchner, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), concerning initiatives to expand the digital reach of JAMA and the publishing in JAMA of President Obama's piece on US Health Care Reform.

Jerry Edwards acts as an educational conduit between the medical system and Plain Communities (Amish, Mennonnite & other people who cautiously engage with mainstream technology & practices). In particular, he has been sharing in medical circles an inexpensive & effective technique for burn & wound treatment, innovated among the Amish about 30 years ago. A significant issue is trust & mutual respect for the different priorities & decisions of Plain folks accessing medical services.

There are many aspects to care for the Earth, experiencial & experimental. Sam Thayer of Forager's Harvest in one of the preminent experts in harvesting from the Earth's bounty. He shares here the concluding essay of his new book, 3rd in a series, called Incredibile Wild Edibles: 36 Plants That Can Change Your Life, speaking of Ecoculture instead of Agriculture. Our second guest is Crispin Pierce, Prof of Environmental Public Health at UW-EC, and member of Eau Claire's Sustainability Advisory Committee, speaking of his research & paper on Monitoring of Airborne Particulates Near Industrial Silica Sand Mining & Processing Facilities.

We mostly take it for granted in the USA, but many places in the world are risking their lives to have a drink of water. In the midst of rape, war, & crushing poverty, Friendly Water for the World performs & witnesses miracles. Using appropriate technology & native ingenuity, the organization helps people in decimated areas of Africa & India to find new, transformed life. David Albert is co-founder and board chairman.

We want a better world, and Gordon Whitman shows us how in Stand Up! How to get involved, speak out, and win in a world on fire. With 25 years experience in Chile & the USA, and as deputy director of Faith in Action, Gordon is well-situated to see what works and how to guide willing hands to more powerful work.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:

Jewish