Latest season features 4 women in the South leading environmental progress
Broken Ground is a podcast by the Southern Environmental Law Center. Join us as we dig up environmental stories in the South and hear from the people bringing those stories to light.
This season, Broken Ground talks with women on the frontlines of the fight for environmental justice. Subscribe to hear directly from these activists who are trailblazing a path to a healthier environment for all.
Don't miss out on the podcast called “an environmental ‘This American Life’ for the South” by the New York Times. Available wherever you get podcasts.
Leave us a review
Broken Ground has a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts.
Must listen
09/25/2020
Meg9876987
I love this podcast, it does a wonderful job of showing the impact of climate change and climate issues on people and their communities.
Fabulous podcast
09/06/2020
cbmcguire
Broken Ground is so thorough in its research, information, and presentation that the listener gets a complete education and understanding of each of the issues presented from the onset. This is essential listening!
Hits close to home
08/26/2020
FotobyWes
As a resident of Norfolk, Virginia, aka "Flood City," this podcast hits close to home. It explains complex concepts in a simple manner. Well worth listening to!
Best Environmental Justice Podcast
4/24/2020
Ranne07
This podcast is phenomenal! The stories are compelling, factual and well-told. It covers important topics and is so engaging. I find myself still thinking about the injustices it details days after listening. Definitely recommend!
Artful
07/23/2020
HESH Files YT
I can only describe the production and organization of Broken Ground as artful. These stories of advocacy and redemption matter immensely, so I'm glad so much effort has been made to tell them. I also like that it's all close to home—as a Virginian, I mean that literally!
Love this podcast
07/01/2020
Redhoneysuckle
So articulate, informative, and humane. As a Southerner, I find it compelling, stimulating, and authentic. Kudos to SELC.
Powerful
05/18/2019
Eh8w
This is the best new podcast I’ve heard in a long time. There aren’t nearly enough stories being told about environmental issues, particularly in the south, and you’ll realize after listening to just one of these episodes what we’ve all been missing. Could not recommend strongly enough.
Press
For media inquiries and to learn more about BrokenGround please visit our Media Page.
The Broken Ground Team
The Broken Ground team is dedicated to telling the stories of people from all walks of life. We are looking for the stories of Southerners who are stewards of the environment, truth-tellers, and on the front lines fighting to protect our precious water, air, and land. Do you have a story to tell?
Leanna First-Arai
HOST Leanna is a freelance journalist focused on bringing awareness to the connections between the climate crisis and economic, gender, generational and racial injustices. Her reporting has been featured in The Guardian, Truthout, Yes! Magazine, and Undark, and on NPR-affiliate stations Detroit Public Radio and New England Public Radio. Her favorite podcasts include Drilled, Hot Take, How to Save a Planet, This Land, and Timber Wars.
Emily Richardson-Lorente
SENIOR PRODUCER Years of storytelling for public radio and through her award-winning video productions prepared Emily well for crafting podcast-sized stories for Broken Ground. Some podcasts she’s currently listening to include Threatened, Twenty Thousand Hertz, Heavyweight, and This American Life.
Jennie Daley
MANAGING EDITOR With a background in journalism and marketing for higher ed, Jennie now oversees much of SELC's digital presence as Senior Digital Editor. Podcasts she's listening to include Good Ancestor and Reckon Radio.
Pria Mahadevan
PRODUCER Pria is a freelance audio producer and editor based in Atlanta, Ga. She has reported and produced public radio stories for NPR stations in the Midwest, West Coast, and South. Before getting into audio journalism, she taught English in Brazil and studied cognitive neuroscience. Her list of favorite podcasts is long, but she's a superfan of Throughline, Radio Ambulante and You're Wrong About.
Eli Motcyka
ASSISTANT PRODUCER Eli is a freelance journalist who focuses on stories across Tennessee. He is based in Nashville, where he was born and raised, and arrived at journalism after work in environmental organizing with the Sunrise Movement and disaster response after the 2020 tornados in Middle Tennessee. Eli is involved in the ultimate Frisbee community in Nashville and has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where he studied history and English.
Claudine Ebeid McElwain
PAST HOST AND CREATOR After more than 10 years as a producer/editor for NPR, most recently as a Supervising Producer for Morning Edition, Claudine began working at the Southern Environmental Law Center and is creator and past host of Broken Ground. In March of 2021 she joined the New York Times audio division. She's a fan of the podcasts The Daily, Embedded, Reveal and More Perfect.
Kelley Libby
ASSISTANT PRODUCER Kelley is a Virginia-based public radio producer with a decade of experience telling stories in sound. In addition to producing Broken Ground's Earth Day conversation series, she also edits and produces features for the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project and produces Full Disclosure, a weekly live show at NPR member station VPM in Richmond.