Ruby McConnell
@rubygonewild.bsky.social
Writer, geologist, environmental advocate, and author of Wilderness and the American Spirit, Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life, and A Woman's Guide to the Wild. Find me in the woods.
Is a penguin the size of a gorilla still adorable or terrifying? 🐧 Steve Brusatte joined Science Friday to talk about demon ducks, terror birds, and colossus penguins. Hear the full convo today on your public radio station from 2-4pm ET. Or listen to our podcast right now! https://bit.ly/4ekd6VQ
NEW: For more than a century, a smelter and other factories spewed 400 million pounds of lead dust across Omaha’s east side. Faced with similar concerns, 13 states passed laws requiring all kids to get a blood test before kindergarten. But not Nebraska.
Omaha Is Home to a Massive Superfund Site. Most Kids Living There Aren’t Tested for Lead.
For more than a century, a smelter and other factories spewed 400 million pounds of lead dust across the city’s east side. Faced with similar concerns, 13 states passed laws requiring all kids to get a blood test before kindergarten. But not Nebraska.
propublica.org
On arsenic and the Old West, a Sunday dispatch from the high desert: open.substack.com/pub/rubygone...
Arsenic and the Old West
Hello and welcome to a special second April 2026 edition of Solid Ground!
open.substack.com
Whitman on the courage of optimism as a force of resistance www.themarginalian.org/2018/07/26/w...
From the Substack! Some essentail grounding for the new year and an essay on the consideration of time as affluence: rubygonewild.substack.com/p/the-afflue...
The Affluence of Time
Grounding for the New Year
rubygonewild.substack.com
Many thanks to @altajournal for supporting this piece! #truecrime #pnwlife #oregon "Soon, violence crept up from the edges..." Read more about how a charismatic cult leader and his flock took an Oregon county by storm: bit.ly/42lQH3J"
‘Things That Could Not Be Avoided’
A crusading detective’s encounter with a charismatic cult figure and his followers in the Oregon forest had a deadly consequence.
bit.ly
Happy Book Birthday to WILDERNESS AND THE AMERICAN SPIRIT by @rubygonewild.bsky.social At this time when the fabric of what it means to be America is facing challenges, this book about the making & mythology of the American West is a read for this moment! overcupbooks.com/products/wil...
Wilderness and the American Spirit by Ruby McConnell
Wilderness and the American Spirit retells the story of the American West putting our national mythology in context with our current environmental crisis.
overcupbooks.com
“Currently, more than 80,000 chemicals on the market are not subject to environmental testing or regulation.”
Two Chemical-Industry Officials Expected to Help Oversee E.P.A. Chemical Rules
Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva worked in the first Trump administration, where they fought chemical restrictions.
nytimes.com
Nothing like starting out on a new platform with a picture of a landfill. It's oddly beautiful under that cloudy blue sky. And important, if we want to survive ourselves. My next book is all about our questionalbe use of the subsurface; hang onto your hats, people, it's a wild ride.
