Advertise on podcast: Deceleration Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Texas is ground zero for Trump 2.0—and for the resistance to it. In this inaugural 'Brake Room,' Deceleration's newsletter correspondents break down the stories shaping Central and South Texas and the world: ICE’s escalating violence, the fight over a planned ICE detention warehouse in San Antonio, the dramatic shift of Hispanic voters in Texas ahead of the midterms, Gov. Abbott’s push to break up city-owned utilities, and the techno-fascist vision of billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.  We also look past Election Day to discuss: building coalitions across immigration, climate, and data centers; democracy beyond electoralism; and even the coming Global Doughnut Days (Oct 20–24). 🎙️ Host Greg Harman (Deceleration founder/editor, Water & Power) with Roxana Rojas (ICE Watch), Gaige Davila (Coastlines/Faultlines), and Syris Valentine (Alternative Futures). Story: https://deceleration.news/podcasts/decelerations-brake-room-ice-technofascism-dying-trumpism/ 📰 Subscribe free at https://deceleration.news.  Deceleration is a bioregional journal of human rights and environmental justice rooted in the watersheds of Central and South Texas, serving the world.This video is about Brake Room Podcast Deceleration Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Governor Greg Abbott wants to deregulate Texas city-owned utilities and hand those markets over to private shareholders. We break down what's at stake for Austin, San Antonio, and ~70 other municipalities.  Research and recent reporting suggest Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to force Texas's city-owned utilities into the deregulated market is unlikely to lower anyone's power bill. What it would definitely do is strip cities of a major source of revenue, money Abbott's campaign brands a city "slush fund." Abbott's campaign promises San Antonio households would save 13 percent on their bills—but no data to back up the claim. So we went to speak to researchers and organizers and city leaders about the potential impact. Guests: • Conor Harrison, author of 'Brokers of Power: The Financialization of the US Electricity System' • DeeDee Belmares, San Antonio-based climate justice organizer with Public Citizen • Councilmember Mike Siegel, Austin City Council (D7) Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Elsa Hull was arrested twice this summer defending a roughly two-acre bird sanctuary on the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo from border wall construction. Both times Zapata County, Texas, deputies dismissed her claims that recently unearthed documents show the federal government does not have the right to develop on this land—in spite of it being in a floodplain. And yet it's become remarkably quiet on the rio since that second arrest.  Surveyors these days approach the boundary line from north and south, but they no longer trespass on this pocket park beneath the small town of San Ygnacio (pop. 495) 30 minutes downstream of Laredo. And, Hull boasts to Deceleration, the machinery scraping the Earth up and down the river from here never got into the park in spite of months of attempts. It's a fact she credits to local resistance. Deceleration sat with Hull on the banks of the Rio Grande this week for an hour-long conversation after paddling on the river with her from an increasingly rare access point for paddlers on the U.S. side of the river. Increasingly, communities are being fenced out of their own land and away from one of the greatest rivers on planet Earth.  Just not here. Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Texas is getting hotter—nearly four degrees hotter in just the last few decades. The last 10 years all rank among the hottest years ever on the planet, with residents forced to navigate sometimes months upon months of 100-plus-degree days. We know our unhoused neighbors, residents without sufficient cooling, or those with medical conditions are highly vulnerable to heat stress and wildly undercounted heat-related death. But imagine trying to survive this monster heat in a 6x9 concrete box—without air conditioning—and you have a recipe for mass suffering and death. A judge already ruled the fact of most Texas prisons having no A/C unconstitutional. Now we’re waiting for the fix.  This week, Deceleration speaks with Dr. Amite Dominick, founder & president of Texas Prisons Community Advocates (TPCA), about her long-standing advocacy for the incarcerated. She details how the fight began, the response from those in elected power, and why it’s very possible a breakthrough is right around the corner. Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail “Project Matador” outside of Amarillo, Texas, pairs Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System seeking a pod of “hyperscale” data centers over 6,000 acres across a privately owned and operated electric grid. Already permitted for 6GW of power with 93 planned gas-fired turbines and seeking to build multiple nuclear power plants, this is a truly climate-breakdown accelerating power footprint that brings severe water concerns atop one of the planet’s most imperiled major aquifers that is relied upon by tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers (you know, the folks who produce our food and clothes, at least for those of us not wearing plastic). Deceleration’s guest this week is Kendra Seawright of Women’s March. She is doing the work of organizing the resistance on the ground that is pushing back on the many assumptions and assertions of what this project is good for—if anything. As more MAGA supporters start to split with President Trump on crypto and AI data centers, this means new challenges to foster a diverse hub of voices. We wanted to hear more about what that looks like and what lessons there may be for others in the trenches.  “We didn’t expect a rubber stamp,” Seawright told us about the permit already in Fermi’s pocket. “We want real honest communication about what this is going to mean for our health and future generations too.”  Next week is the deadline for a new permit application to take power production to 11GW (with a goal of 17GW of power and resulting pollution). Details/Public Comment: https://www.amarilloaction.org/ai Past Deceleration Data Center Coverage: The Texas Data Center Rebellion Has BegunCritical Texas Data Center Fights Happening Right Now Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Across Texas we’re seeing an explosion of two kinds of industrial warehouses going up: one to fill up with humans in the some of the most miserable conditions imaginable as part of the drive to deport millions (including many being actively stripped of citizenship or refugee protections to do so), the other to fill with an emerging human-like/human-displacing (anti-human?) consciousness. This week, Deceleration speaks with two members of the Data Center Action Coalition, Saunders Drukker and Kay, about what they learned while beating back an AI data center that had its sites on San Marcos, headwaters of the sacred San Marcos River. We speak in advance of a panel being hosted by the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center in San Antonio dedicated to recovering an identity rooted in relationship with water: Todos Agua, now in its third year. Azul Barrientos fills in the details of that convening. And ICE Watch correspondent Roxana Rojas speaks with local organizer Sarah Cruz about how women are leading the fight against the deportation-industrial complex in the state.  Data Center Resources: Data Center Action Coalition (Instagram)HARC Research on Data Centers"The Unpaid Toll: Quantifying and Addressing the Public Health Impact of Data Centers" (UC Riverside)Statement on AI RiskMore about Todos Agua: Esperanza Event ScheduleSubscribe to ICE Watch: Deceleration NewslettersSupport the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Humankind didn't evolve in heat like this. It's been well over 100,000 years since the planet has seen the sort of scorching temperatures that have become the norm in the last few years. And that goes for Texas, too, where many are still tempted to shrug and claim, 'This is Texas. It's always been hot.'  But this is not the heat (or the humidity) of our parents or grandparents. And it's claiming lives. Obviously, until we transition away from fossil fuels and begin the work of ecological repair the world over to bring these temperatures back down the work of adaptation will be needed. So how can we design our cities and towns to help more people survive? Bill Barker has worked as director of planning at VIA Metropolitan Transit, as executive director of Solar San Antonio, and has spent years thinking about heat, cities, and adaptation. Lately, he's been making his case for local action with presentations to groups small and large.  Deceleration had a chance to sit down and hear from him recently about the situation in San Antonio. But the lessons here are relevant to communities the world over. Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Liam Ramos and father freed from Dilley Detention, but Federal Judge Biery's words need to be heard by those who snatched him. Plus: Extended dialogue with Gaige Davila about his years chronicling Texas Gulf fights over colonial extraction and plans for a new Deceleration newsletter, 'Coastlines & Faultlines.' Plus words from Syris Valentine on defeating Climate Behemoth and Sulma Franco on the crimes of immigration detention. Enjoy! Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Strange times, indeed. Deceleration turns 10 this year. Founder/Managing Editor Greg Harman speaks with Executive Editor Marisol Cortez and contributor/Alternative Futures correspondent Syris Valentine about the year behind and year ahead for Deceleration. More video is part of the recipe, so join us as we dust off some of these innerwebbings. Marisol's recs for 2025 stories: Her Body Was 126 Degrees After She Died; Bexar County Medical Examiner Blames DrugsMessages from Jess’s Last Days—A Social AutopsyAs Trump Works to Crush Climate Efforts, Local Projects Persevere at the GrassrootsFemme Friendship as Eco-Resistance—From Barton Springs Attack to Poland’s ‘Sister Rivers’New Cli-Fi Novel Gropes for Happiness through the Dark of Texas Blackouts and Louisiana HeatOn the Responsibility of Latin@ Academics, Artists, and Cultural WorkersPODCAST: Building Radical Democracy Into Climate Struggles w/ Ashish Kothari‘Vanishing Ice, Melting ICE’—A Deceleration Quarterly Creative Review‘SUNAK’ (‘Awaken’) Music Video Release Celebrates Migration as a Birthright of All BeingsVictims and Survivors of Martial Law Under Autocrat Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Remembered in a Moment of U.S. Authoritarian PerilA few of Greg's favs: Jaguar Watch: What ‘Finishing the Wall’ Means for Borderland CatsSpace Industry’s Explosive Growth Could ‘X’ the Earth’s AtmosphereICE Abuses, Punishing Floods Show the Cesar Chavez March in the RGV is Still Necessary Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Deceleration’s Marisol Cortez speaks with Ashish Kothari on his work with the Global Tapestry of Alternatives, recently returned from the People’s Summit and COP30 in Belem, Brazil. An activist and author based in Pune, India, Kothari has been at the forefront of movements both in India and globally to imagine and enact on-the-ground alternatives to “development” as a colonial and often environmentally destructive paradigm. We talk with Kothari about radical democracy as the “missing debate” from climate discussions and the importance of maintaining focus on the work of “yes” as much as the work of “no.”  Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail In a community conversation closing out a gallery exhibit organized by ABOUT Face: Veterans Against the War, panelists from Texas and California discuss the histories of veteran activism against war and occupation and why soldiers today have a “right to refuse” Trump administration orders to deploy against US cities.  This panel was the concluding event of the multi-day Veteran Voce, hosted by Galeria E.V.A. Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Deceleration’s Marisol Cortez speaks with Anel Flores about their new novel Curtains of Rain/Cortinas de Lluvias (Jaded Ibis Press, 2025), a queer coming-of-age story that explores the intersections of homophobia and transphobia with environmental racism in South Texas, specifically the industrial contamination inflicted on Mission, Texas, for decades by companies like Monsanto. But it’s also a book about the beauty and sacredness of queer familia and the landscapes that hold us all, in all our relations, in spite of these histories of violence.  Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Deceleration’s Marisol Cortez remembers our friend and neighbor Jack Elder who passed away last month, speaking with friends and comrades George Cisneros, Carlos Nicolas Flores, and Leslie Provence. Elder came to national attention in the 1980s for his work in the Sanctuary Movement, which aimed to assist refugees and asylum-seekers from the US-backed wars in Central America. But he was also a math teacher, a friend, a father of five and grandfather of seven and an all-around good neighbor who was active in San Antonio’s movements for social and environmental justice. For many years he volunteered at Catholic Worker House, washing dishes and tending to the gardens there. He walked and rode his bike everywhere, until Parkinson’s made that too difficult, and until the end of his life he cultivated beautiful xeriscaped front and backyards. In every way he modeled what it means to live close to the Earth and in service to others, and we’re honored to have known and learned from him. Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail Deceleration’s Greg Harman speaks with Dave Cortez, Executive Director of the Lone Star Sierra Club, as part of Preparing to Protect, a series of interviews with those most targeted by the eliminationist engine of MAGA on how they are organizing to bash back to keep our communities safe. Topics in this podcast include right-wing organizing and rising autocracy in the United States, failures of organizing in Texas environmental movements, strategies to mobilize people around pocketbook concerns, and why we need to take the time for basic self-care in a world on fire. Dave also shares what’s percolating inside the state Sierra Club—including campaigns around energy and water justice—and how people can tap into those efforts. Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'

Send us Fan Mail It’s the hottest year ever…again. Heat-related deaths have been spiking year over year. As Deceleration wrote recently, there were nearly 600 heat-related deaths in Texas last year. In Bexar County, 12 local residents died from the heat that same year, according to data released to the Texas Tribune. Border counties have seen hundreds die from the heat since 2010, according to data released to Deceleration. So how are cities responding? What emergency hearings have been convened, let’s say, in San Antonio, Texas? Here we’re building a baseball field downtown and throwing possibly thousands of people from their homes to do it. Aside from the deep injustice of such measures, displacement is particularly cruel as we know (thanks to communities that track heat deaths, such as in Maricopa County, Arizona) that it is those without homes who are most at risk of dying from heat exposure. Among the nearly 650 Maricopa County deaths that were logged in 2023, 75 percent of them occurred outdoors. And 45 percent were unsheltered individuals with limited access to cooling. Research by now Deceleration Executive Editor Marisol Cortez from several years ago shows that, even with $2,500 relocation assistance, forced evictions can be deadly. Evictions often force multiple moves, as Cortez explains, costing far more than that meager moving allowance. Currently, residents of nearly 400 units at the Soap Factory in downtown San Antonio are fighting a slide toward displacement and demolition of their units. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, residents of roughly 70 units at the Robert E. Lee Apartments are likewise being targeted. For this new Deceleration Podcast, Episode 33, we make room for the residents of the Robert E. Lee Apartments to describe their experiences of downtown living and gathering efforts to head off forced dislocation. There are lessons here for working-class residents everywhere who have ever been targeted for the Next Big Thing, even as the current big thing actually requiring our full attention—that is, our climate unraveling—goes largely unaddressed in local communities. What Displacement Does: Vecinos de Mission Trails Report: Making Displacement Visible: A Case Study Analysis of the 'Mission Trail of Tears' Understanding Who Heat Kills Maricopa County 2023 Heat Deaths Report … San Antonio Specific Resources Coalition for Tenant Justice Texas Organizing Project Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Pueblo Over Profit Oppressed Revolutionaries for Worker Power Support the show Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'