THOMAS W. PEARSON
Selected Essays, Presentations, Podcasts, & Interviews
Essays
“Raising My Children in an Ableist World,” Sapiens Anthropology Magazine, October 4, 2023.
“Communities Grapple with Exposure to ‘Forever Chemicals',” Sapiens Anthropology Magazine, July 31, 2020.
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“A Daughter’s Disability and a Father’s Awakening,” Sapiens Anthropology Magazine, January 10, 2019.
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“How Fracking’s Appetite for Sand Is Devouring Rural Communities,” Sapiens Anthropology Magazine, May 4, 2018.
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“Does frac sand create socioeconomic well-being?” Wisconsin Farmers Union News 69, no. 9 (2012): 4-5.
“Frac sand and its effect on local democracy,” Dunn County News, June 6, 2012: A5.
Presentations
“Navigating an Ableist Culture: An Anthropologist’s Perspective,” Down Syndrome Association of Central California, January 18, 2024, via Zoom.
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“Environmental Justice, Risk Communication, & PFAS: Lessons from Contaminated Communities,” 29th Annual Midwest Chapter Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Meeting, April 29, 2022, Madison, WI.
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“Frac Sand Mining and Environmental Justice: Lessons from a Boom-and-Bust Industry,” Wisconsin Environmental Health Network, March 6, 2020, Madison, WI.
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“Confronting the ‘Forever Chemical’: Community Responses to PFAS Contamination in the Upper Midwest,” Chippewa Valley Sierra Club, February 5, 2020, Eau Claire, WI.
Podcasts
Interviewed for "What is Normal?" Hidden Brain, with Shankar Vedantam, released April 8, 2024.
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Interviewed for “A Normal Childhood with Down Syndrome,” Constant Wonder S7 E1, BYU Radio, aired January 17, 2024.
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Interviewed for “Under Our Feet,” podcast produced by Rudy Molinek, UW-Madison, September 23, 2022.
Interviewed for “The Water We Swim In: Stories about the Great Lakes and the People Working Toward Equity.” Podcast produced by Bonnie Willison for Wisconsin Sea Grant, February 2022.
Interviewed for “Undermined,” a podcast episode on frac sand mining in Wisconsin, produced by FracTracker Alliance and Public Lab, August 2020.
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Interviewed for “What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting Down Syndrome," Sapiens: A Podcast For Everything Human, August 2019.
Radio
Interviewed about An Ordinary Future for Madison Book Beat, WORT 89.9, January 8, 2024.
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Interviewed about An Ordinary Future for UpNorthNews Radio with Pat Kreitlow, Civic Media, September 7, 2023.
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Interviewed by Andy Uhler for “Energy sector woes muddying the future of sand mines,” Marketplace segment aired on NPR on July 13, 2020.
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Guest on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Morning Show” with Carrie Kaufman, to discuss frac sand mining (30 min), August 30, 2018.
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Guest on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Morning Show” with Kate Archer Kent, to discuss When the Hills Are Gone (1 hour), December 11, 2017.
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Guest on the Joy Cardin Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, to discuss frac sand mining (1 hour), Nov. 12, 2012.
