There has been a lot of news lately about the presence of microplastics in everything from our food and water to our bodies. How did this even happen? Guests: Mary Kosuth, Research Assistant and PhD student at the U of M School of Public Health Episode sponsor: Susie Osaki Holm - thank you for your generous support! Show Notes:  Mary Kosuth’s paper: Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt Microplastics: What are they and why should we care?   The World’s Plastic Pollution Crisis, Explained Waste Land - an episode of Planet Money ​​Plastic Pollution is Killing Sea Turtles Your Laundry Sheds Harmful Microfibers. Here’s What You Can Do About It What Companies Are Behind the Global Surge in Single-Use Plastic Loop’s Revolutionary Reusable Packaging System - Coming to Some Big Stores Bottle Bill States and How They Work Oregon Bottle Deposit ($ .10) and Bottle Drop Redemption Centers Oregon Governor Signs Country’s Second EPR Law For Packaging  The Race to Develop Plastic-Eating Bacteria   Episode Managers: Susie Osaki Holm and Bruce Anderson Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook Featured Songs: Hollow Inside - Daxten Ocean Flow - West & Zander

This year’s United Nations Climate Conference, COP 26, will - for the first time - center the impact of climate change on human health. From the very urgent severe weather crisis that has seen an uptick in storms and wildfires to the more long-term effects of climate impacts on our food systems, there is a lot to discuss. Today, however, we want to know: How is climate change affecting the health of our youth here in Central Minnesota? Guest: Cathy Kulus, MD, FAAP, Pediatrician and Medical Director of Pediatric Hospital Medicine Program at the St. Cloud Hospital Show Notes: TedxStCloud Presentation by Kathy Kulus, MD and John Mahowald, MD., Oct. 30, 2020 How climate change impacts health Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change And Say Governments Are Failing Them  Climate Changes Children’s Health Climate change and child health: a scoping review and an expanded conceptual framework Episode Managers: Eve and Gary Wallinga Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook Featured Songs: I Need Nature - Alex Ora Playground Fun - Alex Ora

Over the past several months we’ve covered a variety of environmental and agriculture topics, from water quality to soil health to forest sustainability. Today, I’m interviewing a guest who takes these threads and weaves them together in the story of the practice of silvopasture. Guest: Tyler Carlson, Owner and operator of Early Boots Farm, and Silvopasture and Agro-Forestry lead for the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota. Show Notes: Early Boots Farm   Silvopasture Learning Network  Sustainable Farming Association’sAgroforestry page  The Savanna Institute - Non-profit working on silvopasture in the Upper Midwest based in  Madison, Wisconsin.   Soil Health Case Studies - Silvopasture   Grassland 2.0 Scholarly articles recommended by Tyler: A reconceptualization of open oak and pine ecosystems of eastern North America using a forest structure spectrum Recognizing loss of open forest ecosystems by tree densification and land use intensification in the Midwestern USA Episode Manager: Bruce Anderson Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook Featured Songs: In the Grass - Jon Algar Birds and Trees - Eric Feinberg

Stewardship is defined as the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.   We are in the midst of a series on environmental topics. As the United Nations Global Climate Conference is nearing, we thought it was important to emphasize the issues that will be discussed there, and relate them back to our own lakes, streams, forests, and pastures.   How do we, in our small corner of the world, ensure that we are being good stewards of the land Guests: Laura Schreiber, Land Stewardship Project Policy Organizer, soil health Show Notes: Land Stewardship Project 2021 Legislative Session Wrap-Up: Good News for Soil Health, Local Foods, Emerging  Farmers — Bad News for Healthcare Land Stewardship Project - Five Year Plan (2019- 2024…A Vision for the Future) The Board of Water and Soil Resources survey -  Implementing BWSR Climate Change Initiatives: Healthy Soils, Cover Crops and Water Storage and Treatment >>>Accepting responses through November 12th, 2021

The effects of our changing climate are visible all around us. Over the past six months we have discussed how climate change is impacting our weather, our forests, our waters, and our food supply. I was a child in the 1980s. I have spent my whole life listening to arguments about the reality of events that are measurable, verifiable, and happening around us. Forty years. We have had forty years to address this issue from a basic standpoint of good stewardship of the earth. All arguments aside, shouldn’t we be conducting our industry and our lives in such a way that we minimally impact the home we will be passing on to our children?  Guests:  Kristen Poppleton, Senior Direct of Programs for Climate Generation - A Will Steger Legacy Zaria Romero, Youth Climate Activist Show Notes: Climate Generation - A Will Steger Legacy Climate Generation -  A Window Into COP26 United Nations COP 26  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Current State of Climate Crisis Activists ‘born into the climate crisis’ face another challenge: Fear of the future Past Episodes That Deal With Climate: Episode 3: Out For Adventure Episode 4: Our Changing Waters Episode 5: On The Farm Episode 9: I’m In Love With My Car Episode 10: What’s the Buzz? Episode 14: Migrating Forests Episode 18: The Climate of Fishing Episode 21: A Bipartisan Solution to Climate Change Episode 26: The Dirt on Soil Health For conversations: Episode 28: How to have hard conversations State of Minnesota - Climate Conversations    Episode Manager: Bruce Anderson Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook Featured Songs: Something's Coming - Dye O Shadows Fade Away (Instrumental Version) - Kit Maizy I Let Your Smile Fade Away (Instrumental Version) - Loving Caliber

This podcast started with a vision of elevating voices and stories of folks who live in, work in, and influence the region of Central Minnesota. Some of our topics stretch across the world, tying us to faraway people and places. Others are very much a matter of local interest, but are stories that just about anyone in a rural community could relate to. We have delivered twenty eight episodes so far, and have plenty more in the works. Our core group of volunteers is small but mighty, and I want to thank them for making all of this possible. I also want to thank you, listeners, for making this worth our time. Every single time you tell another person to listen, you’re elevating our educational messaging and broadening the reach of local, independent media. We’re off this week - after ten months straight of weekly meetings, interviews, and production, we’re going to take a breather. But we’ll be back next week with more great content! If you’re still new here, go ahead and dig through that back catalog. Our interviews touch on urgent yet timeless matters, so they are as relevant today as they were four months ago. And we’d love to hear feedback from you! We see the numbers and know you’re listening, but we want to know more about YOU! Send us feedback at [email protected]. Thanks again for making all this work worthwhile, and for being curious about how you can positively impact the world around us! 

As the 2021 holiday season approaches, many of us are looking forward to seeing our beloved family and friends gather around the table together once again after a long time apart. Many  of us are also dreading the possibility of having hard conversations at these gatherings. How can we prepare to have hard conversations with people we genuinely care about? Guests: Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Conference panelists: Wendy Bjorklund, St. Cloud State University   Pam Secklin, St. Cloud State University   Jennifer Senchea, St. Cloud State University   Suzanne Stangl-Erkens, St. Cloud State University   Scott Wells, St. Cloud State University Show Notes: Book: Talking across the divide: How to Communicate with People You Disagree with and Maybe Even Change the World   Bridge Alliance More in Common Common Ground Committee Episode Manager: Scott Wells Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook YouTube (for closed captioning) Featured Songs: I'm Still Listening - Justnormal Meet You There - Eric Feinberg

Today I’m joined by State Auditor Julie Blaha to discuss what exactly it is that a state auditor does, and what we can expect from changes to Minnesota’s Civil asset  Forfeiture laws that passed the legislature this past session. Guest: State Auditor Julie Blaha Show Notes: Changes to Minnesota's civil asset forfeiture laws pass Legislature Office of the State Auditor   Episode Manager: Theresa Meis Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook YouTube (for closed captioning) Featured Songs: Odd Numbers - Frank Jonsson Lucky Number Ten - Martin Klem

It’s fair to say that most of us go day to day without giving a second thought to how healthy the soil is beneath our feet. But for our friends and neighbors in the agriculture industry, the health of their soil is quite  important. What is soil health, and why is it so important? Guests: Jim Chamberlin, Conservationist Show Notes: Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota Happy Dancing Turtle - based in Pine River, MN: From soil health and regenerative agriculture to nature play and environmental education we aim to provide programs, experiences, and learning that changes lives. Slake test - NRCS Agronomist Ray Archuleta demonstrates a simple way to test the  health and stability of your soil.  Symphony of the Soil - Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, Symphony of the Soil is an  artistic exploration of the miraculous substance: soil. (2 hrs 17 min)   Conquest of the Land - Commissioned by the first chief of the Soil Conservation Service during the Dust Bowl,  Conquest of the Land Through 7000 Years looks at the history of agricultural  conservation and how it has determined the survival of civilizations over time.   Articles from Natural Resources Defense Council   Dirt to Soil: Proving the Power of Regenerative Agriculture (October 2018)   Why Regenerative Agriculture   SECOND STATE OF THE CARBON CYCLE REPORT   SOCCR2 is an authoritative decadal assessment of carbon cycle science across North  America, developed by over 200 experts from the U.S., Canadian and Mexican governments,  national laboratories, universities, private sector, and research institutions.  Kiss the Ground - Netflix documentary on regenerative agriculture - 84 minutes  Episode Manager: Bruce Anderson Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook YouTube (for closed captioning) Featured Songs: Into the Earth - King Peaks Silent Earth - Walt Adams

The pandemic has shone a light on how much we rely on our ability to connect to one another online when we are unable to connect in-person. And, as with many other areas of our infrastructure, it exposed where our communities fall short at connecting the public to businesses, schools, and services across the digital divide.  Where does Minnesota stand when it comes to providing accessible high speed internet service state-wide? Guests: Diane Wells, Office of Broadband Development  Show Notes: Minnesota Office of Broadband Development A look at Minnesota's digital divide during a pandemic Minnesota lawmakers agree to spend $70 million on improving broadband access across the state Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Minnesota Population Trends Infrastructure Bill Passed by Senate Includes Historic, Bipartisan Broadband Provisions Episode Manager: Bruce Anderson Become a Patron of our show! Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook YouTube (for closed captioning) Featured Songs: Divine Wire - Martin Klem Digital Dreams - Nylonia Digital Jungle - Lucention