In her new book, Caring for Glaciers: Land, Animals, and Humanity in the Himalayas (University of Washington Press, 2019), Karine Gagné explores how relations of reciprocity between land, humans, animals, and glaciers foster an ethics of care in the Himalayan communities of Ladakh. She explores the way these relations are changing due to climate change, the growth of the wage economy at the expense of traditional agricultural and pastoral lifestyles, and increased military presence resulting from Ladakh's status as a border area. This book will be of interest to those who are interested in the anthropology of ethics, ethics in Buddhist communities, and the anthropology of climate change.
Kate Hartmann is a PhD candidate in Buddhist Studies at Harvard University. Her work explores issues of perception and materiality in Tibetan pilgrimage literature, and she can be reached at chartmann@fas.harvard.edu.
What does it mean to live through war? And can someone who’s experienced
war ever get over it? These are questions NPR’s Quil Lawrence has been
asking himself for years. A decade ago, Lawrence did a story on David
Carlson, a veteran who’d excelled at being a soldier but struggled at
home with PTSD, drugs and finally incarceration. Could Carlson find a
way out or would the trauma of war come to define his life? Listen to Part 2 here.
“The more we look into social structures, the more many of us realize we don't fit into them," says So Mayer, author of the new book Bad Language, "So each phrase or set of vocabulary is another piece of that dismantlement.” We discuss finding vocabulary for oneself, coming out as a speech act, growing up under Section 28, busting through oppression and shame, and joyous listening.
Content note: in the episode we refer to sexual abuse or crimes against consent, and to suicide, but we do not go into any detail about these things, or describe any experiences. Also there are some category A and B swears.
Visit theallusionist.org/disobedience for more information about So's work and today's topics, plus a transcript of the episode.
Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes info about every episode; livestreams with me reading from my ever-growing collection of dictionaries, and the charming and nurturing Allusioverse Discord community, where among daily sharing of thoughts and amusements, we're watching The Princess Bride, the current season of Great Canadian Baking Off, and Game of Wool.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Martin Austwick. Download his own songs at palebirdmusic.com and on Bandcamp, and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.
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Part 2: In part two of Carlson’s War, we find Dave Carlson locked up in prison while tormented by PTSD from his time serving in Iraq. Alone and in pain, Carlson reverts back to a combat mindset and finds himself in a dark place. From here, Carlson sets out on a mission to turn his life around. What can we learn from one veteran’s journey to recovery?
Tesla shareholders just approved a trillion dollar (with a t!) pay package for Elon Musk. Is it enough incentive to keep him around the company and away from verbal spats with government officials? Because the whole Musk empire is still reeling from that dalliance.
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Iran says water supplies in Tehran will suffer scheduled cuts, as the country struggles with severe shortages. The announcement came after President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of rationing and suggested the capital might have to be evacuated if there's no rainfall in the next two weeks. Also: Bolivia and the United States agree to restore diplomatic relations - at ambassador level - after a 17-year break; a storm bearing down on the Philippines has intensified to a super typhoon; and Saudi Arabia's plans to attract 150 million tourists a year.
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The Iranian government says water supplies in the capital Tehran will suffer periodic cuts, as the country struggles to cope with its worst drought in decades. The announcement came two days after President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested Tehran might have to be evacuated, if shortages continue. His comments have prompted widespread criticism in Iranian newspapers and on social media, with the president accused of scaremongering and conducting "a narrative of despair." We speak to a resident in the capital and a former Environment Department official.
Also in the programme: Curtis Sliwa who came 3rd in this week's election for New York mayor tells us he was offered bribes to pull out of the race; and the woman who took up golf in her 50's and hit three holes in one in a month.
(Photo: Iranians picnic inside an almost dry river, which was once full, in the Fasham area, north of Tehran, Iran, 25 August 2025. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock)
