How does environmental change impact language? Who handles our old phones, our discarded clothes? And is anthropocentrism really at the root of the environmental crisis? The ninth issue of Springs offers a dialogue on human nature and the origins of environmental degradation, taking inspiration from tradition and Indigenous practices. In “The Inhuman Condition,” Jonatan Palmblad questions whether anthropocentrism is truly driving the ecological crisis, proposing that socioecological justice can only be achieved by embracing human nature. Jake Goetz’ poem “Der Bartgeier“ is an homage to the bone-eating Alpine bird, who was hunted to extinction in the early twentieth century and reintroduced to the Alps in the 1980s. In “Recycling Cultures in India,” Anwesha Borthakur finds that traditional methods of handling recyclables in the country largely persist. With serious laughs, Rowan Deer’s “How We Got Here” narrates a brief history of the universe, as related by someone older and wiser than all of it. In “Growing Up amid Environmental Change,” Jan David Hauck and Pooja Nayak examine how transformations in subsistence practices shape conceptions of morality and human well-being. “Making Bourdélots and Tasting Terroir” by Rory Hill reflects on how Jersey’s apple products might continue to resonate even after most of the orchards have disappeared from the island.

The eigth issue of Springs opens with a dive into the world of comics, before embarking on a fieldtrip across an Arctic research station, Finland’s boreal forests, and the eroding riverbanks of Bangladesh. Three essays, a visual narrative, a short story, and an interview join forces to uncover missing pieces in our quest to understand human–environment interactions. In “Ecocomics: Vivid Worlds in Images and Text,” Julia Ludewig illustrates how comics materialize key environmental insights, not just for specialists but for all interested readers. Davide Orsini and Uwe Lübken shed light on nuclear decommissioning in their conversation about Davide’s Volkswagen Foundation Change! project “(Dis)Empowered Communities.” Flora Mary Bartlett’s photographic “Portrait of an Arctic Research Station” invites us to northern Sweden to observe the exchanges of people, materials, and knowledge “between inside and out.” Monica Vasile’s “Eagles, Marmots, Humans” follows two biologists working in the field, and asks “what kind of understanding might repair our fractured relationship with wildlife.” Amrita Dasgupta documents the precarious existence of sex workers in Bangladesh who reside on the banks of the Passur River. And lastly, in Kata Beilin’s short story “Step Away,” Eve, a renowned professor of environmental law, meets Ené, a Waorani lawyer who invites her to her village—where the boundaries between both women blur, transforming Eve in ways she could have never anticipated.

We read the news about torrential rain in some distant place, separated from it by our screens. We add a grating of fresh nutmeg to our food, in ignorance of the spice’s cultural history. We walk along a riverbank and see water, little water, only to find that there used to be more. The seventh issue of Springs ponders on emplacement and visibility, takes us through the centuries, and echoes an urgent call to attend to nonhuman sentience. Catherine Bush walks the streets of Venice, seeking art that engages with Rachel Carson at the Biennale Arte 2024. In “The Unbearable Weight of Displaced Weather,” Mike Hulme looks at sociotechnical developments that have changed the climate and the way we experience the weather. Amitav Ghosh takes us to the Banda Islands to unravel “The Nutmeg’s Curse.” “Walking a Sicilian River” by Paolo Gruppuso and Erika Garozzo ruminates on the life of Sicily’s largest but now disappearing river—the Simeto. Processing the horrid February 2025 “Killing [of] a Baboon” by a group of schoolchildren in South Africa, Sandra Swart looks back at history and examines the role of superstition and the occult in the ongoing violence against these primates. In the final contribution, Mascha Gugganig and Judith Bopp discuss “Organic Farming in Thailand” and prevailing narratives about agriculture.

The sixth issue of Springs meditates on questions of heritage, place, and responsibility. How many generations does it take to make a meal? How do we show we care—for humans and for nonhumans alike? When we look up, is it a starry night or a sea of fog? At home in Utah, Christopher Cokinos reflects upon a life of lunar research and encourages us to ponder the Moon’s role in our lives, histories, and futures. From the Middle East to the Balkans, Sevgi Mutlu Sirakova explores the diverse history of tarhana’s microbial cultures and distinct culinary flavors while foregrounding its importance to a sustainable future of food. When Stephen Milder talks about a German advertising slogan, he reveals how today’s perception of environmental problems differs from the 1960s. In the Azorean town of Furnas, L. Sasha Gora guides us through a place where the fumaroles simmer an ancient stew, and she asks us to consider the relationship between environments, ingredients, and energy.  As she looks at human attachment to individual companion species, Kieko Matteson pens her discord with birds in captivity and considers what could take the place of cages. To better understand work in and on heat in the age of climate change, Daniel Dumas sits down with Elspeth Oppermann to discuss her novel, and personal, approach to the field.