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Hothouse is a podcast about design, ecology, and the way we garden now. Host Leah Churner sits down with experts and enthusiasts to talk about permaculture, the urban landscape, and how plants sometimes give us the feels. A meeting of the minds for plant people and the horticulture-curious, Hothouse is a different kind of gardening show: less of the how-to and more of the who, what, where, when, and why.

Aug 22, 2018

Capitalism: Can't live with it, can't live without it! Or can we? And what is the connection between capitalism and what we eat, how we work, and who bears the impacts of climate change? For a lot of us, the ecological consequences of our economic system are clear: factory farming, algae blooms, pollinator decline, and the Trump Administration's evisceration of the EPA. What, if any, are the alternatives?

In this two-part series, "Nothing Natural About Capitalism," the Starship Hothouse will boldly go where no gardening podcast has gone before, as Leah attempts to articulate some nascent ideas about how the design principles of permaculture, combined with the populist vision of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), might offer a ray of hope in these dispiriting times. In Part 1, Mike Moody, co-host of the Star Trek Discovery Pod (and the engineer of this show) interviews Leah about how she envisions a path between democratic socialism and environmentalism.

Also, Leah tracks down one of her podcasting heroes, Chenjerai Kumanyika, co-host of Gimlet's Uncivil, at the Podcast Movement Conference in Philadelphia. Kumanyika explains that capitalism is not just an economic system; it's a mindset, and he offers insight into why we are having these discussions right now.

In Part 2, Leah interviews activist and permaculture designer Ryan Rosshirt about why he joined the DSA, how he turned his backyard into a permaculture farm, how what civic engagement can improve our quality of life. From Co-ops, to city council meetings, to the joy of chickens, we're covering a lot of ground here, so bear with us!