Atmos

Climate and Culture
Volume 11 Micro/Macro
Volume 10 Afterlife
Volume 09 Kinship
Volume 08 Rhythm
Volume 07 Prism
Volume 06 Beyond
Volume 05 Hive
Volume 04 Cascade
Volume 03 Flourish/
Collapse
Volume 02 Latitude
Volume 01 Neo-Natural

In This Issue

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination
Who gets to determine another person’s reality? Alok Vaid-Menon has become a global leader in the trans and nonbinary liberation movement. Here, they speak with fellow luminary Munroe Bergdorf about the rise of fascism in the U.S. and U.K., the dangers of dictating what is natural, and the power of trans imagination. Read Article
Chasing Rainbows in the Azores
In the Azores off the coast of Portugal, verdant, flower-lined mountains are lit up by rainbows filtered through waterfalls and sunsets reflected on the ocean. Through this play of light and water, the islands offer a kaleidoscopic view of nature’s beauty. Read Article
Vandana Shiva on the Wisdom of Biodiversity
We are but one strand in the web of life. To keep the web whole, activist and author Vandana Shiva argues that we must honor the wisdom of biodiversity. Read Article
Visible Light: Colorism and Perception
Light touches all that we see, giving way to a world of complex shapes, tones, and textures—from the skin to the walls we live in. Read Article
My End of the World
When it feels as if the world is unraveling, nature remains a source of sublimity. But who is afforded access to beauty during times of apocalypse? Read Article
In Vietnam, Cultivating Harmony Across the Spectrum of Disability
At Vietnam’s Peaceful Bamboo Family, teachers and residents across a spectrum of disability cultivate community—with each other and with the land. Read Article
Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature
For many queer people, nature is a place free of judgment and conformity, where diversity is celebrated and crucial to survival. Here, queer models weighed in on how queerness and nature connect—a reminder that there is nothing more natural than being who you are. Read Article
In Florida, Queer Youth Battle Bigotry and Climate Change
Right-wing monsters are tormenting young LGBTQIA+ people by writing and passing homophobic and anti-trans bills. In Florida, queer youth climate activists speak out. Read Article
Calling In: Loretta J. Ross’s Antidote to Cancel Culture
What does it take to have a challenging conversation in the era of cancel culture? For MacArthur Fellow Loretta J. Ross, the answer lies in calling in: a communicative strategy rooted in compassion, accountability, and restorative justice that recognizes the many realities of a muddled world. Read Article
Cristina Mittermeier Reflects On Her Life Underwater
The ocean churns with life, from the surface we swim on to the deep underwater currents below. Photographer and conservationist Cristina Mittermeier talks about how the ocean powers life on Earth—and how urgently we must protect it. Read Article
In the Age of Distraction, Honoring the Light Within
With so much external stimulation, we often forget to see and honor the light within. Ruth H. Robertson reminds us that all perception is ultimately reflection. Read Article
Over the Rainbow: How Culture Shapes Color
In the Western world, we are taught that there are seven colors in the rainbow. But is it true? Read Article
Life In a Blue Zone: Okinawa and the Wisdom of Community
In our pursuit of longer life, we overlook the experience of the long-lived. Read Article
New Song of Silence: A Poet Remembers Leaving Ukraine
Ukrainian poet Anastasia Afanasieva was living in Kharkiv when the war broke out. After hiding in a basement for weeks, she was finally able to escape. Now a refugee, her poem speaks to the pain and resilience of the Ukrainian people. Read Article
ANOHNI On Queer Ecology and Trans Ferality
In the early ’90s, few artists were connecting the dots between queer erasure and ecocide—but ANOHNI was. Four years after her first contribution to Atmos, the transdisciplinary artist reflects on her pioneering work in queer ecology, trans ferality, and moving beyond binary notions of nature. Read Article
Uprooting the Tree of Life
The image of the Tree of Life depicts a world neatly organized by lines of progress. But the living world is much more exciting: it’s a tangled network of relationships, both biological and chosen. Read Article
The Complexity of Gorilla Conservation in the DRC
When it comes to conservation, even seemingly simple solutions have complex consequences. Fortress conservation works by drawing a boundary between humans and the rest of the natural world—with both paying a price. Read Article
The Crystalline Beauty of Iceland’s Ice Caves
Nowhere in the world are the myriad ways that water manifests more prominent than in Iceland. On its glassy shores, a dazzling display of crystalline caves and shapeshifting seas remind us that form and flow are forever in flux. Read Article
The Toxic History of Color
For all of human history, our species have used both natural and synthetic dyes—but have we taken our obsession with color to an extreme? Read Article
Make Believe: Vignettes of Everyday Magic
Excerpted from Jonas Lindstroem’s new project Believe, these seemingly unconnected images reveal an intensely personal lens on how fragmented modern life can be. Read Article