More than Human Life: Advancing Rights for The Natural World

More than Human Life: Advancing Rights for The Natural World

Author: Bioneers February 25, 2026 Duration: 29:02
Scientific evidence is increasingly supporting the theory that the Earth is alive and replete with intelligence. In fact, the wild diversity of earthly organisms exhibits the characteristics that human beings attribute to personhood. How is it then, by the law, that a corporation is a person, but nature is not? What if we expand the anthropocentric boundaries of our systems of laws, rights and responsibilities to encompass ALL living beings? How would this new legal story affect our relationship with our vast other-than-human Earth family? In this episode, we imagine a planet with rights for all, with visionary lawyer César Rodríguez-Garavito. This is an episode of Nature’s Genius, a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. Visit the series page to learn more. César Rodríguez-Garavito, a Professor of Clinical Law, Chair of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and founding Director of the More Than Human Life (MOTH) Program and the Earth Rights Advocacy Program (all based at NYU School of Law), is a human rights and environmental justice scholar and practitioner whose work and publications focus on climate change, Indigenous peoples’ rights, and the human rights movement. Resources More-Than-Human-Life (MOTH) Report Assessing the Implementation of the Los Cedros Ruling in Ecuador | MOTH César Rodríguez-Garavito – More-Than-Human Rights: Pushing the Boundaries of Legal Imagination to Re-Animate the World | Bioneers 2025 Keynote Deep Dive: Intelligence in Nature Earthlings: Intelligence in Nature | Bioneers Newsletter Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel Producer: Cathy Edwards Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Producer: Teo Grossman Associate Producer: Emily Harris Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Production Assistance: Mika Anami Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

There's a quiet revolution unfolding, one that draws its most profound ideas not from boardrooms or labs alone, but from the living world itself. Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature gives voice to that movement, presenting conversations that feel both urgent and deeply grounded. This award-winning podcast, curated by Bioneers, acts as a gathering place for some of the most compelling social and scientific thinkers of our era. Each episode explores how the genius of natural systems can inform our approach to modern crises. You’ll hear detailed discussions on topics ranging from practical biomimicry and ecological design to the interconnected realms of social justice, indigenous wisdom, and restorative psychology. The series refuses to silo these subjects, instead weaving them into a coherent vision for transformation. What emerges is a kaleidoscopic view of solutions that are as much about healing our communities as they are about restoring the planet. Tuning in, you encounter a rare depth of perspective, where the separation between ecological and social health dissolves. It’s a space where leading-edge ideas feel less like abstract concepts and more like a viable path forward, all explored through genuine dialogue and a celebration of human ingenuity working in concert with nature’s intelligence. This is a podcast for those looking to move beyond the headlines and into the heart of what it means to build a truly regenerative future.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature
Podcast Episodes
Backlash Moment: Converging at the Crossroads of Identity and Justice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
When Donald Trump rode a wave of white anxiety into the White House, it was part of a backlash to the Obama presidency, one that revealed an increasingly explicit white nationalism and revived an overtly exclusionary age…
Vice to Virtue: From Carbon Crisis to Carbon Farming [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
How does a virtue become a vice? How does a basic building block of life turn into a threat to life? And how do you turn that vice back into a virtue? In this half-hour we visit with two unlikely pathfinders who are help…
Under the Skin We're All Kin: Reading the Minds of Animals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
Calling someone an “animal” means they’re less than human – not worthy of respect, rights, or even of life itself. But in truth — and in biological fact — human beings ARE animals. Scientists continue to find that intell…
We’re a Culture Not a Costume: Fighting Racism in Schools [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
Native American students face racism throughout their education, from racist mascots to the historical erasure of the American genocide from textbooks. In this passionate conversation, Indigenous Rights Activists Dahkota…
Exploring the Mystery of Consciousness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
The infinitely curious author and science writer Michael Pollan embraces the mystery at the heart of the great mystery of life: What is the nature of consciousness? And how can we understand consciousness when our only t…
Indigenous Rising: From Alcatraz to Standing Rock [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. From the historic Indigenous occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969 to the fossil fuel fights throughout Canada and the U.S. today, Indigenous resistance illuminates an activi…
Who Is an American? Is Our Democracy As Unequal As Our Economy? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
By around 2044, the U.S. will become a majority-minority nation. This seismic demographic shift has triggered a cultural earthquake, provoking a radical spike in hate crimes. In times of massive disruption and economic s…
A Conversation with Terry Tempest Williams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:13
Terry Tempest Williams is one of the most celebrated and revered American nature writers. She integrates the musicality of a poet with the passion and purpose of an activist. Terry is also an award-winning conservationis…