What’s at the Top of Your Stack?

A recurring segment on Resources Radio is “Top of the Stack,” when podcast hosts Daniel Raimi and Kristin Hayes ask each guest what is on the top of their literal or metaphorical reading stack. Here’s some of the recommended reading from recent episodes.

***Between Two Fires*, a book by Stephen Pyne**

Judson Boomhower, Assistant professor, University of California San Diego

“It’s a great history of how the Forest Service pioneered wildland firefighting in the United States, and then how firefighting policy developed and changed; how California invented this particularly aggressive, interventionist form of fire management; the implications that has had for fire and urban development—and, more recently, for attempts to live more in balance, you might say, with fire.”

The writings of Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Senior economist, University of Michigan Energy Institute

“Some of the work they did was about how difficult it is to shift paradigms and shift thinking on major theoretical issues. And I think there are some great lessons there for all of us who are talking about huge technology changes, like moving from an internal combustion engine to an electrified vehicle, and what that means for improving our environmental outcomes.”

The Overstory, a book by Richard Powers

Shahzeen Attari, Associate professor, Indiana University

“He connects using a piece of toilet paper to a giant redwood tree—and you know, it just makes you step back and think about how systems are connected.”

***One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy*, a book by Carol Anderson**

Tina Smith, Minnesota Senator

“I literally looked at the top of my stack, and at the top is an amazing book about the history of voter suppression in this country and what we can do about it. It’s a reminder that democracies work only if people participate. And we need to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to participate, as our constitution guarantees.”

“We Need Courage, Not Hope, to Face Climate Change,” an article by Kate Marvel in the On Being blog

Robert Kopp, Professor, Rutgers University

“It’s a personal reflection, where she argues that we shouldn’t be thinking about this in terms of hope—we should be thinking about this in terms of courage. We are creating a world that is different from the one we grew up in, and we’re going to need courage to deal with that—not just hope that it will be a better place.”

A version of this article appeared in print in the March 2020 issue of Resources magazine.

Related People

What’s at the Top of Your Stack?

Between Two Fires, a book by Stephen Pyne

The writings of Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper

The Overstory, a book by Richard Powers

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy, a book by Carol Anderson

“We Need Courage, Not Hope, to Face Climate Change,” an article by Kate Marvel in the On Being blog

Kristin Hayes

Daniel Raimi

***Between Two Fires*, a book by Stephen Pyne**

***One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy*, a book by Carol Anderson**