Tal Shutkin
Livable Futures Collaborator
Physical Geography, The Ohio State University
Biography
Hello Livable Futures community,
From Cleveland, OH, I am a physical geography PhD student fascinated by the interplay of climate, water, and landscape in social-environmental systems. My research focuses on the high tropical Andean environment, where communities situated in close proximity to glaciers rely on the mountains to provide water while facing risks associated with the dynamic and unstable glacial landscape. I am curious about how past glacier advances shaped these landscape where people now live and how their modern retreat is reshaping relationships to the mountain environment, particularly by altering the seasonal availability of water. I came to this topic in a roundabout way but like to imagine a throughline beginning with some of my earliest memories canoeing in the ice-carved Great Lakes region. Prior to graduate school, I supported community-based water science initiatives throughout the Yukon River watershed while working for an Anchorage, AK based Indigenous non-profit organization.
Q & A
What makes more livable futures for you?
These days for me, livable futures means figuring out how to "get on together," as Donna Haraway puts it. I'm inspired by movements like the Zapatistas and others who've seemed to reach the shared conclusion that the world is big enough for many different worlds to fit inside of it. I'm constantly humbled by my Palestinian friends who, in their steadfast insistence on freedom and dignity, retain such compassion for others. These people model a livable future for me, but one that is grounded in and aimed at resolving the unmet dreams of ancestors and seems to be more tuned to the past and present than to a distant future. A colleague, Holly Moulton, has observed a similar mindset among Quechua speaking women living in a glacier related disaster zone in Peru. Based on her conversations, she gleaned three insights for "futuremaking": 1] prioritize the everyday over the someday, 2] foster intergenerational well-being and community networks of care, and 3] practice dynamic and embodied adaptation to uncertainty.
What are you reading, viewing, listening to right now?
I'm Jewish and have lately felt the need to learn more about what my ancestors thought about "getting on together" in a difficult world. This has dominated my latest reading. Some books that have helped me are Naomi Klein's Doppelganger, Revolutionary Yiddishland by Alain Brossat & Sylvie Klingberg, and To the Ghosts Who Are Still Living by Ami Weintraub.
There are some other relatively recent reads that I've found valuable. First, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut blends creative non-fiction and magical realism to produce an eerie exploration of the 20th century's most profound scientific discoveries. Very much worth the read if you like science fiction or magical realism. Second, Our History is the Future by Nick Estes follows the history of Lakota resistance from the Indian Wars to the Dakota Access Pipeline and presents a similar model of past-oriented futurism as described above.
I listen to a variety of musical genres. Some artists I have been enjoying lately include MJ Letterman, Mavi, Wilco (particularly their latest EP, Hot Sun Cool Shroud), Greg Freeman, Kah-Lo, and Colter Wall.
What practices are sustaining you?
Weekly soccer keeps me going. I've also been into rock climbing for a long time and in the past couple of years have renewed my passion for paddling, both on lakes and in whitewater. I'm fueled by the physicality of these activities, but also know that half of the value for me is in the communities and friendships built around them. Climbing and paddling also allow me to spend quality time in the outdoors, particularly in Appalachia which has a soothing effect. Finally, forming Jewish community through Palestinian solidarity activism has taken up an increasingly important place.