Maura Stephens
B&B host, independent journalist, writer, theater artist, farmer, herbalist, chef, educator, editor . . .
Selected Nonfiction Writings
Plastics: The Other Pandemic
After more than 150 years of plastic production, this material has invaded every living corner of Earth. Now microplastics are found even in human placentas. Every human being, no
matter how remotely they dwell, may be consuming 39,000 to 52,000 particles of microplastics a year, and that number rises to 74,000 including what we inhale (2021 stats). Part 1 of a multi-part series Maura cowrote for SCNCC with intern Alex Hartzog. Related articles are linked from this one.
What is education for, if it silences discourse on justice, freedom, and equity? Reflections on the role of higher education amid global student protests against brutality and genocide. (cowritten with Alessandra Pomarico)
Crypto: Dangerous Climate Disruptor
The get-rich-quick scheme, banned in China and elsewhere, is invading U.S. communities unchecked, posing as an “equalizing, democratizing” currency. It’s not. Cowritten with Karen Edelstein for SCNCC in 2021.
Rural areas are particularly affected by chemical contamination, fossil fuel exploitation, the absence of coverage of relevant local issues by the media,
marginalization by governments, and the loss of cherished places and ways of life. The author shows why ramped-up activism is essential to protect the rights of rural residents, the natural environment, and the farmlands that feed us all.
Stephens refuses to simply point fingers at society's -- in this case, universities' -- ills, but offers thoughtful, actionable, adaptable steps to stop the corporate-government takeover of campuses and transform them into student- and employee-led beacons of real learning in service of the common good and our shared Earth.