Beautiful Sludge as Queer Ecology
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Quinn Luthy found refuge in the Newtown Creek, a superfind site in New York City. Its toxic sludge and dandelion wilds harbor queer ecology and nonbinary resistance.
Tagged: Toxicity
Lukas Marxt Lets the Toxins Speak
Juntao Yang examines how Lukas Marxt renders the specter of toxicity visible and knowable in his experimental film, Among The Palms The Bomb (2024). The film, they argue, is a study of the technology of witnessing and a call for deep attunement to the land.
Living with Lead in Milwaukee
In 2021, rates of childhood lead exposure in Milwaukee were nearly double the state average. In this episode of Ground Truths, Juniper Lewis and Carly Griffith learn more about this public health crisis.
Phosphate Mining and the Paradox of Abundance
Phosphorus fertilizes the land. Phosphate mining poisons it. Artist Christian Danielewitz visits sites of extraction in western Senegal and considers the Plantationocene.
Rachel Carson Joins the Literary Canon: A Conversation with Sandra Steingraber
The acclaimed author and activist, who has edited the new Library of America edition of “Silent Spring,” reflects on how Carson changed her style of writing to become “defense attorney for the Earth.”
Toxic Bodies and the Wetter, Better Future of “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Most Hollywood catastrophe films offer neat endings and the promise of a fresh start. Fury Road asks what happens when the broken world cannot be made whole.
