Talking oceans on MPBN, liberal democracy on WERU

Earlier this week, in recognition of World Oceans Day, I joined Don Perkins of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Nichole Price of the Bigelow Laboratory to talk with MPBN's Keith Shortall about climate change and the Gulf of Maine on Maine public radio's hour-long interview program, "Maine Calling."

You can hear the full program here. I discuss some of the issues brought out in my six-part Portland Press Herald series "Mayday" -- which was a finalist for this year's Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting -- and my first book, Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas. Thanks to Perkins, Price, Shortall, the callers and MPBN for an engaging hour on an important topic.

On May 20, I joined University of Maine political scientist Amy Fried and Ann Luther of the state chapter of the League of Women Voters to kick around the issue of "government as the enemy" on WERU, Maine's fairly famous independent radio station out of Blue Hill. The role of government -- as both a tyrannical force and a guarantor of individual liberties -- is a central theme of my latest book, American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good. You can hear that discussion here.

I'll be doing public talks on both themes in the coming months. On June 16, I'll be talking about climate change, the Gulf of Maine, and the world oceans crisis at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve in Wells, Maine, part of their climate stewards lecture series. On Sept. 25, over on the other coast, I'll be talking American Character and American Nations at Portland, Oregon's First Congregational United Church. (More details on that to come.)