Chanelle Adams
A Dispatch from Patagonia
Chanelle Adams
Earth is now “the largest shareholder” of outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, per the company’s homepage. Fall gear is 50 percent off in advance of the change, which will of course outlast the season. Rather than going public like competitor North Face, Patagonia rebranded as “going purpose.” In an unprecedented stroke of generosity, or otherwise a creative retirement plan, the billionaire Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard donated the entire company to the...
On the State of Climate Activism
Chanelle Adams
In August, the U.S. Senate passed climate provisions that were immediately hailed as historic, marking President Biden’s most significant legislative achievement to date. Coming after a summer of record heat waves, floods, fires, and other catastrophes around the world, the bill sparked debate over whether its contents will meet the moment with sufficient urgency, and how much we should celebrate it as a significant, if limited, victory. Meanwhile, the viability...
The Audacity of Nature Docs | What Barack Obama's Our Great National Parks Leaves Out
Chanelle Adams
We begin on the beach in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii. Small waves lap against the shore as the camera lands on a recognizable face. “I grew up in Hawaii,” says a barefoot Barack Obama. “This was my backyard.” Unlike his successor Donald Trump, Obama has largely stayed above the political fray. Now, as narrator of Our Great National Parks, a five-part Netflix docuseries that premiered in April, he’s dipping his toe...
The DJ and the Miracle Cure | The Perils of Postcolonial Medicine in Madagascar
Chanelle Adams
On March 16, Madagascar’s state-owned TV station aired an 18-minute documentary. Narrated by two airline pilots, it re-enacts a November 2019 visit to the island nation by an anonymous Brazilian woman purported to be a prophet. “Joana,” as she is dubbed in the film, crosses the island in two flights, one south-to-north and the other east-to-west, tracing the shape of a crucifix. She has been sent by God, she confides...
