Anthropologist/author Wade Davis (@authorwadedavis) on optimism, decency, public service and saving America with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). Part two of our special two-part election edition of Skaana featuring National Geographic’s Explorer-in-Residence and author of Magdalena: River of Dreams.

“Whatever happens in November, it won’t mean the end of this incredible schism between the two halves of the American reality.” – Wade Davis

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

For more about Wade Davis and his work:

USA Voter Information: https://www.usa.gov/voting

Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

 Music:

Wille Thrasher- “Wolves Don’t Live By the Rules”

Timecodes

  • 0:00– Intro
  • 04:29– How Wade Davis maintains hope
  • 05:08– “I’m always optimistic because I think pessimism is an indulgence.”
  • 06:22– Discussing the American military
  • 08:05– Factual divisions in America and the role of media
  • 10:17– “The end of America, the unraveling of America is no time to gloat. It’s no time for celebration. You should always remember that the military and industrial might of America literally saved civilization in the lifetime of my father.”
  • 13:26– Discussing gun control
  • 17:06– “America always swings between the wild extremes of the human heart and soul and spirit.”
  • 19:31– The evolution of how we consume news reports, and the role this plays.
  • 22:05– The fault in American democracy
  • 24:31– “40% of Americans feel so left out of what America’s become and is becoming that they simply don’t believe what is in front of them. The truth has lost all currency
  • 28:23– Discussing Trump and the environment
  • 30:14– “You know, the deeper thing that COVID has shown us is that we’re biological beings on a living planet.”
  • 34:03 – “You don’t vote your grievances, indulging your own indignations. The vote is something more serious than that. It’s a vote as to the destiny of your country.”
  • 35:56– Discussing rivers being granted personhood status and the river Magdalena
  • 40:27– “We need to change the way that we view our place on the planet. We are not apart from nature. We are a part of nature. And if COVID isn’t going to teach us that, COVID is going to teach us nothing.”
  • 42:38– “Wolves Don’t Live by the Rules” by Willie Thrasher

 

Anthropologist/author Wade Davis @authorwadedavis talks about wading into US politics to warn about the end of the American era & the Trump virus with Skaana (@skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@leirenyoung). A special two-part election edition of Skaana featuring National Geographic’s Explorer in Residence, the real-life Indiana Jones. For links on how/where to vote visit our show notes.

“America was the land of Walt Whitman and the Grateful Dead. Abraham Lincoln couldn’t tell a lie. The current president cannot recognize the truth. If Lincoln called for charity for all and malice toward none, this dark troll of a buffoon advocates malice towards all and charity for none.” -Wade Davis

Skaana connects you to stories about oceans, eco-ethics and the environment.

For more about Wade Davis and his work:

USA Voter Information: https://www.usa.gov/voting

Books on Amazon

**Amazon links are affiliate links and support our podcast, thanks for clicking!

 Music:

Timecodes

  • 0:00– Intro
  • 05:30– Discussing life during the pandemic
  • 07:06– “I travel in pursuit of stories. I’m a storyteller.”
  • 08:30– How the Rolling Stones article took off
  • 10:52– “Holding the mirror” to America’s face to see how far they’ve fallen
  • 13:33– “Every kingdom is born to die.”
  • 15:00 How Wade Davis’s father-in-law almost became Richard Nixon’s Vice President
  • 18:56– “COVID reminds us of a number of things. First of all, we’re living biological beings on a biological planet. Our lives were brought to a standstill by a parasite 10,000 times smaller than a grain of salt that commandeered the mechanisms of reproduction of ourselves. Forcing us to create it, not us.”
  • 20:45– Discussing the US’s WWII production records
  • 22:40– “Since 1970, China’s never been at war and America has never been at peace.”
  • 25:10– America’s income disparity
  • 28:03– I would argue that advocates for a wall are committing treason
  • 28:05– “Treason is also the acts that betrayal the very essence of your own country.”
  • 32:02– When you look at americans who deny the science… until… the fortitude to defeat it…
  • 33:10– Discussing the 2016 election
  • 36:17– That is a psychotic act… ending on chapel of the nation
  • 36:20– Americans viewing the federal government as a core problem
  • 40:00– Wade Davis’s own experience with the Canadian health care system
  • 42:10– Canadian patriotism and what sets Canada apart from the USA
  • 45:23– “Autumn in New York” by Diana Krall