Show Notes
Democracy counts people, not plants. Humans are only a sliver of life on this planet, but today, we're the only ones who get a vote. What if we gave rights to rivers and standing to trees?
In this episode, experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats says it's time to make every species count. The environmental movement has spent decades claiming to speak for the trees. In his new book, "A Field Guide to More-Than-Human Governance," Keats says we need to recognize that the trees can speak for themselves. He walks us through how we should expand the franchise by tapping the polling systems already in place from peat moss to slime mold and rodents to rhododendrons. Governance for all creatures, great and small.
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Mentioned in this Episode:
A Field Guide to More-Than-Human Governance — Jonathon Keats (Book, 2026) — also as ePub
Centuries of the Bristlecone — Jonathon Keats (Artwork, 2026)
Assembly of Trees — Jonathon Keats (Artwork, 2024)
Jargon Watch — Jonathon Keats (Wired column)
A Portent of Climates to Come: On the Telling Rings of the Bristlecone Pine — Grant Slater (Film, 2013)
Should Trees Have Standing? — Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects — Christopher D. Stone (Essay, 1972)
68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi — Emily Anthes (New York Times, 2026)
Where to find Jonathon Keats:
Berggruen Institute: https://berggruen.org/people/jonathon-keats
Earth Law Center: https://www.earthlawcenter.org/jonathon-keats
“A Field Guide to More-Than-Human Governance” (Berggruen Press, 2026): https://berggruen.org/library/a-field-guide-to-more-than-human-governance
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Credits
Executive Producers: Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Nils Gilman, Dawn Nakagawa, & Jason Hoch
Producers: Grant Slater, Alex Gardels, & Nathalia Ramos
Associate Producer: Elissa Mardiney
Theme Music: Marcus Bagala
Audio Engineer: Kyle Scott Wilson
Futurology is a production of Studio B and Wavland for the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles, California.
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