Latest Episode
About Broken Ground
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.
In our fifth season, we uncover the story of how a Black community in southwest Memphis and its allies beat the odds and defeated a crude oil pipeline.
Don’t miss out on the podcast called “an environmental ‘This American Life’ for the South” by The New York Times.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Seasons
What Listeners are Saying
Must listen Apple review
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 Apple review
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!
Best Environmental Justice Podcast Apple review
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!
Hits close to home Apple review
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!
Artful Apple review
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 Apple review
So articulate, informative, and humane. As a Southerner, I find it compelling, stimulating, and authentic. Kudos to SELC.
Powerful Apple review
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.
In 2020, iHeart Radio named Broken Ground one of the nation’s top green podcasts.
Podcast 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
EXECUTIVE 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. Emily was senior producer on two earlier Broken Ground seasons. 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 Setting the Table and We Can Do Hard Things.
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
FOUNDING HOST AND FORMER EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
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. She is now Executive Producer of Audio at The Atlantic. She’s a fan of the podcasts The Daily, Embedded, Reveal and More Perfect.