Aaron and Kate are joined by author and professor Natalie Koch, whose new book—Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia—explores the ways in which Arizona and Saudi Arabia have worked together to promote desert agriculture, and how that work is connected to a global obsession with engineering our way out of ecosystem collapse. Koch is a professor of geography and the environment at Syracuse University. Aaron and Kate also talk to Jenny Rowland-Shea, public lands director at the Center for American Progress, about three major Biden administration announcements affecting Alaska, including the Willow Project decision. News * Biden Administration Approves Huge Alaska Oil Project – willow-arctic-drilling-restrictions.html">New York Times * Interior secretary rejects Izembek Refuge land exchange but commits to new process to get a road for King Cove – Alaska Public Media * Alaska protections announced as Biden reportedly set to approve huge oil project – The Guardian Credits Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org Music: Purple Planet (Featured image: A cotton field outside Phoenix, near Goodyear, AZ; CottonField.PhoenixAZ.140320.jpg">Jennifer A. Johnson, Wikimedia)