"There's a big day coming, I can hardly wait." Yo La Tengo at Pappy & Harriet's.

Delighted to share some very, very big and good news. The Court of Appeal ruled in our favor directing Metro to decertify the EIR for billionaire Frank McCourt's gondola to Dodger Stadium. Read all about it here: mailchi.mp/stopthegondo.... And join us to save the park and the historic heart of LA.

Earth Day in the high desert.

Glad to be back on my bike for the first time since my ill-fated ride of January 28. Happy to report that everything seems to be in working order after 10 miles along Ballona Creek.

Our Environment + Justice Donor Circle at Liberty Hill Foundation got a perceptive, useful, cautionary, and hopeful "Environmental Justice Landscape Update for SoCal and Beyond" from Angelo Logan and Sean Hecht today. Interested? Ping me, or check us out here: www.libertyhill.org/form/environ...

Back to California.

Ursula K. Heise champions the power of storytelling to strengthen social awareness in the face of the global environmental crisis during her Biophilia Award lecture at the Fundación BBVA in Madrid. www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/noticias/...

Ursula Heise, pionera en humanidades ambientales: “El aviso del desastre funciona solo si se combina con una visión de lo que se puede hacer.” Incide en que “es imposible no cambiar o una vuelta al pasado." Interview in El Pais today. Ping me if you'd like a PDF. elpais.com/clima-y-medi...

As seen on the street in Madrid today. Looking forward to the talk and celebration tomorrow at the Fundación BBVA!

If, like me and Ezra Klein, you're interested in a progressivism that can get things done and build things, join us for a discussion about the missing piece in Klein's new book "Abundance" — strategies to organize, build power, and win. April 2, 5:30pm Pacific: www.libertyhill.org/form/liberty...

The war on science is here. Kim Stanley Robinson says it’s just the beginning. Widely regarded as the greatest living sci-fi writer, he’s spent decades crafting visions of the future. Now, he warns a real dystopia is unfolding, in a talk to our Lab for Environmental Narrative Strategies at UCLA.

"Environmental Futures and the Challenges of Biophilia," a lecture by Ursula K. Heise and presentation ceremony of the 6th Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences on March 27 at 7pm at the Fundación BBVA in Madrid: www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/eventos/e...

"Trump Can’t Kill California Values," a guest essay by Sissy Trinh and me, at LA Progressive: www.laprogressive.com/los-angeles-...

"LA Launches National Park Equity Model," a story by Selen Ozturk at Ethnic Media Services, on our briefing on the city's launch of a best in the field park needs assessment that will run through this year: ethnicmediaservices.org/greening-com...

"Los Angeles Asks Residents to Help Plan the Future of City’s Parks," a story by Sophie Craypo on the city's new park needs assessment, part of our collaboration with Ethnic Media Services covering urban greening with translations in Spanish, Chinese, Korean: ethnicmediaservices.org/environment/...

We're excited to be bringing Kim Stanley Robinson back to UCLA to talk about "Optimism, Optopia, and Climate Change Stories" on March 6 from 2 to 5pm. Join us: www.ioes.ucla.edu/event/optimi...

Happy to share a paper published in print in the Journal of Urban Affairs. @jonchristensen.bsky.social and I found that the implementation of equitable green space policies is another key step in achieving tangible equity outcomes. We identified several facilitators and barriers in LA County

If spring break finds you in Madrid, join us in celebrating Ursula K. Heise's Biophilia Award from the Fundación BBVA on March 27 for a discussion of "Environmental Futures and the Challenges of Biophilia" followed by cocktails: www.biophilia-fbbva.es/eventos/futu...

I've been working my way through Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac and Sketches from Here and There" in preparation for moderating this conversation about "The Land Ethic" and Ojai Valley conservation next Saturday, February 1, sponsored by the Agora Foundation and Ojai Valley Land Conservancy.

Excellent op-ed on Mike Davis' "Case for Letting Malibu Burn" and finally not just agreement, but a clear-sighted alternative vision by our outstanding UCLA colleague Liz Koslov @koslov.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/o....

Home from Lisbon after a wonderful trip to Portugal over the holidays and fall quarter in Ghent, Belgium. Full gallery at www.facebook.com/jon.allan.ch...

The gondola's CEQA analysis was challenged in court by the LA Parks Alliance, but struck down by a judge. For yesterday's story I spoke to Jon Christensen, founder of the LA Parks Alliance, who says their appeal is in process and a trial could happen next year www.torched.la/the-no-build...

"There was no opportunity for community members to voice their concerns other than a form that asked them to list the concessions they wanted in exchange for the gondola permanently ruining the park." Here's that form: lastatehistoricparkgpa.com/pdf/Forms/LA... bsky.app/profile/awal...

In order to accommodate the proposed Dodger Stadium gondola, Los Angeles State Historic Park requires a general plan amendment from the state. 28 organizations sent a letter to state officials yesterday to "express alarm" about how California State Parks is managing the engagement process

My review of "Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness" @nhmla.bsky.social just came out in the jorunal Science alongside reviews of five other exhibitions in @gettymuseum.bsky.social's "PST ART: Art & Science Collide": www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

LA folks, next time you pass a tree, consider what that tree gives: shade, cooling, calming, a moment of stillness in this manic world. Think, too, of the hands that planted it, knowing it would be there for future generations. @jonchristensen.bsky.social ethnicmediaservices.org/greening-com...

Thankful on this day for this stimulating conversation with a multidisciplinary group of students and researchers at Ghent University's Green Hub today about "Science and Its Stories," and diving deeper into how we can all tell the stories that our times need.

"How Brunch Came to a Backyard Farm in Compton." A beautiful story by Meghan McCarron and Adali Schell @nytimes.com Headway Initiative. Thrilled that our Environment + Justice Donor Circle at Liberty Hill Foundation is supporting Alma Backyard Farms this year. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/h...

A nice Sunday to be a tourist in Ghent, where we have been living this fall.

"How the Arrival of an Endangered Bird Indicates What’s Possible for the L.A. River. Could the waterway that the city was built around make a comeback?" Darren Orf @smithsonianmag.bsky.social www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Mood. And new profile pic.

On the importance of "on the other hand...." — Nick Cave, The Red Hand Files. Happy new year! www.theredhandfiles.com/three-single...

Merry Christmas! To the sound of Morning Becomes Eclectic on @kcrw: www.kcrw.com/music/shows/...

Christmas in the desert.

Spiraling. #ngram: books.google.com/ngrams/graph...

What do you call the historic center of Los Angeles today? El Pueblo, La Plaza, La Placita, Olvera Street, something else?

Half a billion: That’s the latest price for a gondola to Dodger Stadium. www.latimes.com/sports/dodge...

A historic occasion: Rudy Ortega, president of the Fernandeño @tataviam Band of Mission Indians, signs an MOU with Armando Quintero, director of @CAStatePark @LosEncinosSHP, site of the tribe's historical Siutcanga village. The MOU is a first in the Angeles District in SoCal.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's that sound? Nick Cave's Red Hand Files. www.theredhandfiles.com/singing-coul...

"Humanities, social sciences are necessary to inform environmental studies." Michelle Lin @dailybruin dailybruin.com/2023/11/12/h...

Three career opportunities are open at Liberty Hill Foundation, where I am board co-chair: Chief Program Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Director of Housing Justice. Please pass along to anyone who might be interested and shares our value of change not charity. libertyhill.org/who-we-are/c...

Il faut imaginer Sapolsky heureux.

I'm excited to share that this week I was elected co-chair of the board of directors of Liberty Hill Foundation, the home for progressive philanthropy in L.A. If you'd like to learn more about the work we do and how you could become involved, check out libertyhill.org.

My Bluesky feed seems to be all Salt Lake City. Seems appropriate. Blue Sky City.

This L.A. freeway is the butt of many jokes. Can it have new life as parks and housing? @SalHernandez @latimes www.latimes.com/california/s...

National Public Lands Day, Ballona Creek.

"Take Me To Your River." A new participatory neighborhood history and cultural mapping project underway on the L.A. River in Northeast Los Angeles: www.audacy.com/931jackfm/ne...

Want to learn how to apply for Liberty Hill Foundation's new Environmental Leadership Initiative fellowship program for emerging environmental justice leaders in California? Join our webinars on 9/20 at 1pm or 9/26 at 4pm: libertyhill.org/.../eli-fell...

Our new quiz takes you to four neighborhoods across L.A., and asks you a simple question: “How many active oil wells do you think are on this map?” xaxhdtsja0x.typeform.com/lhf-quiz