“When I say Jordahl, you say lecture!” Baratunde Thurston began, followed by the chants of the crowd.
The Jordahl Public Lands Lecture Series welcomed Baratunde Thurston, a writer, activist, and comedian, for a night of laughs and insights.
Audience members gathered at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Thursday, October 5 to hear from Thurston, who is the host and executive producer of the PBS television series, America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston, as well as creator and host of the podcast, How To Citizen with Baratunde. Additionally, Thurston is the author of New York Times best-seller, How To Be Black, a comedic memoir about his childhood.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Thurston recounted his own history as he related his lived experience to current environmental issues. “When we’re connected, we care. When we care, we preserve and extend and no longer see nature as this thing outside of us,” Thurston said.
The Jordahl Public Lands Lecture Series is an annual event that honors the work of Wisconsin conservation pioneer Harold “Bud” Jordahl, who was the architect of much of the conservation policy framework that we take for granted today. The lecture series defines the latest thinking in public lands acquisition, stewardship, and science.