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 51: Interview with Georg Kell, the founder and former Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, currently Chairman of Anglo-German asset manager, Arabesque Partners.
Episode 50: Interview with Paul Hawken, co-founder and Executive Director of Project Drawdown
Episode 49: interview with consultant and educator Daniel Wahl on regenerative design
Episode 48: Interview with Dr Thomas Lovejoy, “the Godfather of Biodiversity.”
Episode 47: Interview with Jeff Goodell on the risks posed by climate induced sea level rises
Episode 46: Interview with Cameron Hepburn, Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford
Episode 45: The shocking detrimental environmental impact of China’s Belt and Road initiative: interview with Professor Bill Laurance,Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University in Cai
Episode 44: China as an environmental leader? Interview with Isabel Hilton, founder and editor of chinadialogue.net
Episode 43: Dr. Charly Kleissner, co-founder KL Felicitas Foundation, discusses the power of “deep impact” investing and the importance of developing a new post-modern portfolio theory that includ
Episode 42: Sustainability: a new way of doing business. How Interview with George Serafeim, the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.
Episode 41: Interview with William McDonough on the Cradle to Cradle economy
Episode 40: Interview with Jay Coen Gilbert on the growth and success of B Corps and how the movement aims to re-define success in business
Episode 39: The future of finance and sustainable capitalism: Interview with David Blood, Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management
Episode 38: Sam Fankhauser, Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE, discusses carbon pricing
Episode 37: Interview with Sabina Alkire, director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI: how to effectively measure poverty using the multidimensional poverty indicator (MPI)
Episode 36: Carbon Brief’s Leo Hickman reviews COP23
Episode 35: Dr Andy Price, head of politics at Sheffield Hallam University, discusses the ideas of the neglected American political theorist and pioneering ecologist, Murray Bookchin
Episode 34 Interview with Annemieke Tsike-Sossah de Jong, Head of Portfolio at the IKEA Foundation
Episode 33: Interview with Scott Tew, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability (CEES) at Ingersoll Rand.
Episode 32: UN Climate Week Special: Dr. Per Espen Stoknes: The psychology behind climate change denial
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