The ongoing mass extinction event and the impact of human activity on the natural environment are discussed within the context of the Anthropocene era.
The Anthropocene is discussed as the context for the development of the Plantationocene concept, as a critique of the idea that all humans are equally responsible for environmental changes.
The book aims to inspire new modes of sustainable flourishing in the Anthropocene, the current geological epoch shaped by human activity, by centering Indigenous cosmologies.
The Anthropocene is a central concept explored across the provided podcast episodes, which discuss how human-driven environmental changes and ecological crises have shaped this new geological era.
The episodes explore the Anthropocene from various angles, including its cultural and historical underpinnings ('What Is Extinction?: A Natural and Cultural History of Last Animals'), its connection to issues of race, capitalism, and militarism ('Terracene: A Crude Aesthetics'), and the need to center Indigenous knowledge and decolonial perspectives in addressing its challenges ('Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan').
The episodes also grapple with how to mourn the ecological losses of the Anthropocene ('Mourning in the Anthropocene: Ecological Grief and Earthly Coexistence') and explore alternative conceptualizations, such as the Plantationocene ('Plantationocene'), that highlight the uneven distribution of environmental harms.