Humankind didn't evolve in heat like this. It's been well over 100,000 years since the planet has seen the sort of scorching temperatures that have become the norm in the last few years. And that goes for Texas, too, where many are still tempted to shrug and claim, 'This is Texas. It's always been hot.'

But this is not the heat (or the humidity) of our parents or grandparents. And it's claiming lives. Obviously, until we transition away from fossil fuels and begin the work of ecological repair the world over to bring these temperatures back down the work of adaptation will be needed. So how can we design our cities and towns to help more people survive?

Bill Barker has worked as director of planning at VIA Metropolitan Transit, as executive director of Solar San Antonio, and has spent years thinking about heat, cities, and adaptation. Lately, he's been making his case for local action with presentations to groups small and large.

Deceleration had a chance to sit down and hear from him recently about the situation in San Antonio. But the lessons here are relevant to communities the world over.

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Liam Ramos and father freed from Dilley Detention, but Federal Judge Biery's words need to be heard by those who snatched him. Plus: Extended dialogue with Gaige Davila about his years chronicling Texas Gulf fights over colonial extraction and plans for a new Deceleration newsletter, 'Coastlines & Faultlines.' Plus words from Syris Valentine on defeating Climate Behemoth and Sulma Franco on the crimes of immigration detention. Enjoy!

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Strange times, indeed. Deceleration turns 10 this year. Founder/Managing Editor Greg Harman speaks with Executive Editor Marisol Cortez and contributor/Alternative Futures correspondent Syris Valentine about the year behind and year ahead for Deceleration. More video is part of the recipe, so join us as we dust off some of these innerwebbings.

Marisol's recs for 2025 stories:

• Her Body Was 126 Degrees After She Died; Bexar County Medical Examiner Blames Drugs
• Messages from Jess’s Last Days—A Social Autopsy
• As Trump Works to Crush Climate Efforts, Local Projects Persevere at the Grassroots
• Femme Friendship as Eco-Resistance—From Barton Springs Attack to Poland’s ‘Sister Rivers’
• New Cli-Fi Novel Gropes for Happiness through the Dark of Texas Blackouts and Louisiana Heat
• On the Responsibility of Latin@ Academics, Artists, and Cultural Workers
• PODCAST: Building Radical Democracy Into Climate Struggles w/ Ashish Kothari
• ‘Vanishing Ice, Melting ICE’—A Deceleration Quarterly Creative Review
• ‘SUNAK’ (‘Awaken’) Music Video Release Celebrates Migration as a Birthright of All Beings
• Victims and Survivors of Martial Law Under Autocrat Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Remembered in a Moment of U.S. Authoritarian Peril

A few of Greg's favs:

• Jaguar Watch: What ‘Finishing the Wall’ Means for Borderland Cats
• Space Industry’s Explosive Growth Could ‘X’ the Earth’s Atmosphere
• ICE Abuses, Punishing Floods Show the Cesar Chavez March in the RGV is Still Necessary

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Deceleration.news: 'For the Earth. And all Her families.'