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Some bittersweet news: A new issue of Atmos is out — and it’s my last. Atmos, where I’ve been editing the print magazine for the last two years, made a bunch of cuts this fall, and my job was among them (the publication will be dropping to just one print magazine a year moving forward). There are so many beautiful stories that have already rolled out online from this final issue where I served as editor:
this one on climate solutions from the experts, that includes an all-star list including everyone from Al Gore to Don Cheadle to Bill Nye, guest edited by Saad Amer
a piece on biomimicry and architecture by Amanda Sturgeon
Jade Begay on how to move Landback into something actionable
time in the natural world as a legitimate medicine you can be prescribed, by Yessenia Funes
the need for a “Declaration of Interdependence” by Baratunde Thurson
and on that note, why not add green amendments to every state constitution, by Maya K. van Rossum
Amy Westervelt on overturning Citizens United
Christina Mittermeier on the (literal, financial) value of the ocean
a conversation with John Fullerton about regenerative economics
Ari Matusiak of Rewiring America with the “Robin Hood” approach to the electrical grid
an exploration of why oil country is turning to geothermal, by Gregory Barber
Mike Grunwald on how to stop eating the Earth
the leaders of MOTH on more-than-human-rights
Ben Goldfarb on the importance of making it easier for wildlife to cross highways
a conversation on green burial
Ash Sanders on redefining “nature” to include humans
That’s not even all! There are more stories from the issue (including one I wrote) still to come.
Looking back over the last two years’ worth of stories, there are so many other gems it’s hard to even remember them all. But a few favorites that come to mind include: Nicola Sebastian’s story on thinking like an archipelago and another on the relationship between elephants and their keepers; Nick Martin on an Indigenous approach to space exploration; Jazmine Hughes on a pilgrimage to Ghana; Ash Sanders on the undrowning of a river. This job has meant commissioning and editing work from rockstars like Roxane Gay, having long conversations about biodiversity with Elizabeth Kolbert, and getting to dream up stories I wish existed and then finding the right person to bring them into the world. I’m proud of so much of the work I did here.
I hope to be able to share more about some new projects I’m working on in the New Year (and if you have a paid project of your own you’d like to collaborate on, shoot me an email). But for now, I’ll just say that if you believe in my solutions-focused, rigorously reported and heart-led journalism, the best way to support at the moment is to upgrade to a paid subscription if that wouldn’t cause you any financial distress. (Though if you’re not able for any reason right now, of course do not sweat it — you’re wanted and welcome here regardless.)
I’ll leave you with the one poem I got to commission at Atmos, Danez Smith’s “Twenty-One Elegies,” because this feels like a good time to revisit it.
From one world-lover to another,
Whitney