In this wide-ranging and hard-hitting interview, first aired in January 2022, pioneering American writer, activist, and Marxist environmentalist, Mike Davis speaks out about the dangers of this moment, politically, which he sees as similar to the late 1930s, and the relentless environmental destruction of the planet, and growing nuclear threats. Disappointed by the loss of momentum for street politics and protests in the US, following the inspiration of Black Lives Matter, Mike worries that protests have become predominantly a franchise of the far right, at a time of existential threats where young people need to take action and speak out. Mike is harshly critical of the way in which Western governments have dealt with Covid, drawing parallels with multilateral approaches to dealing with the climate crisis, particularly the prevailing ideology that finance capitalism is the only force that can save the world environmentally.
Mike Davis was a pioneering American writer, political activist, urban theorist, and historian, best known for his seminal analysis of power and social class in his native Southern California. Over many decades, Davis created a powerful body of work investigating a wide range of issues from urban development and globalisation to the impact of extreme weather systems, the growth of slums, pandemics, and the environment—all underpinned by a profound critique of capitalist social relations and a deep concern for the environment and all kinds of injustice. He was a 1996–1997 Getty Scholar at the Getty Research Institute and received a MacArthur Fellowship Award in 1998. He was the author of some two dozen works of fiction and non-fiction and won the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2007.
Episode 191: Sir Ronald Cohen, "the father of social investment," discusses how to reshape capitalism to drive real change.
Episode 190: Dr. Xander Dunlap discusses how current environmental policies and "green" technologies are perpetuating ecological destruction.
Episode 189: Interview with Irish rewilding pioneer Eoghan Daltun in the Beara peninsula of Co. Cork, Ireland.
Episode 188: Interview with Bhutanese lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche...offering a distinctive Buddhist outlook on current environmental crises.
Episode 187: Interview with indigenous Australian academic and human and earth rights activist, Dr. Anne Poelina.
Episode 186: Interview with Steve Trent, founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation
Episode 185: Interview with leading French anthropologist Professor Philippe Descola on man's relationship with nature.
Episode 184: Interview with Dr. Matthew J. Bell, EY Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader
Episode 183 Interview with Professor Katharina Pistor on How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality. First aired on December 13th, 2021.
Episode 182: Journalist Vincent Bevins discusses his new book If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
Episode 181: Environmental degradation, capitalism, and imperialism with Jason W Moore
Episode 180 Net Zero: Beyond the hype. Professor Angel Hsu on the reality of Net Zero Pledges
Episode 179: Jeremy Lent talks about finding our place in the universe by integrating science and traditional wisdom
Episode 178: Discussion with Paula DiPerna of the pros and cons of a market based approach to our environmental problems.
Episode 177 Author Ned Beauman talks about his satirical extinction novel, Venemous Lumpsucker. First aired in September 2022.
Episode 176: Interview with Mike Davis, CEO of pioneering campaigning NGO, on their work unmasking global corruption, safeguarding the environment, and advocating for human rights
Episode 175: Dr. Samantha Montano: Understanding Emergency Management in the Climate Change Era
Episode 174: Interview with Professor Daniel Aldrich on resilience and the importance of social capital in post-disaster recovery, first aired October 2021
Episode 173: Interview with Scottish author Martin MacInnes on contemporary literature and the climate crisis
Episode 172: Professor Neta Crawford discusses the emissions of the Pentagon -- the world’s largest single greenhouse gas emitter.
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