In this revealing interview, journalist Vincent Bevins discussed his newly released book If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, based on his research of a wide range of social movements between 2010 and 2020. Beginning with an analysis of the "Yellow Vest" protests in France, the discussion focusses on the challenges, nuances, and lessons of building broad social movements—with particular lessons for the climate movement. Vincent highlights the transformative power of social media but also its limitations in fostering genuine, long-lasting change. He underscores the drawbacks of decentralized movements and ambiguous goals identifying potential pitfalls. Drawing from his on-the-ground experiences in Brazil, Vincent emphasizes the significance of recognizing the worldwide repercussions of local endeavors. He also stresses the need for activists to work with governments and state institutions rather than rejecting them, emphasizing that radical change does not necessarily always mean being anti-government.
Vincent Bevins is an award-winning journalist and correspondent. He covered Southeast Asia for the Washington Post, reporting from across the entire region and also served as the Brazil correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, also covering nearby parts of South America. He has written for are the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, the New York Review of Books, the New Republic, and more. His previous book is the Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade And The Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World.
Episode 111: An interview with Dr. Harriet Bulkeley, Professor of Geography
Episode 110: Interview with Alexander Dunlap, Social Anthropologist
Episode 109: Interview with writer Andri Snær Magnason
Episode 108: Interview with Arran Stibbe, Professor of Ecological Linguistics
Episode 107: Interview with Joel Bakan, author, filmmaker and Law Professor
Episode 106: Interview with Danny Dorling, social geographer and Professor of Geography
Episode 105: Interview with Roman Krznaric, public philosopher, author of The Good Ancestor
Episode 104: An interview with Professor Kari Norgaard
Episode 103: Interview with Dr. Frances Fox Piven, social scientist, activist and professor
Episode 102: Interview with Rob Nixon, Professor in the Humanities and the Environment
Episode 101: Interview with Eric Holthaus, meteorologist, writer and ecosocialist
Episode 100: Interview with Dr. Anne Poelina, Indigenous Australian and Nyikina Traditional Custodian
Episode 99: Interview with Rebecca Henderson, Economist and University Professor
Episode 98: Interview with author Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind
Episode 97: Interview with Jeremy Lent, author of The Patterning Instinct
Episode 96: Interview with Geoff Mann Director of the Centre for Global Political Economy, Simon Fraser University
Episode 95: An interview with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, atmospheric scientist
Episode 94: Interview with Will Steffen, climate scientist
Episode 93: Interview with Eva Gladek, CEO of Metabolic and circular economy leader
Episode 92: Interview with Medha Patkar, social activist
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