Podcasts

Independent Radio on CDs, DVDs and the Internet

Joanna Macy: A Wiser, Braver World – Transition to a life sustaining culture

By MariaSeptember 27, 2021Newest Podcasts

A revolution in the magnitude and scope of the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago The Great Turning, Awakened Action Symposium. On the Summer Solstice of 2020 Joanna Macy, from her home in Berkeley, spoke at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Buddhist monastery had called for Awakened Action and invited Women Leaders to Speak to Race, Poverty, Climate, and the Covid Pandemic.
Joanna Macy is an eco-philosopher and a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. Now in her very early nineties she has for decades helped transform despair and apathy into constructive change. As teacher, writer of eight books and antinuclear activist she has created frameworks for personal and social change. Joanna Macy [ . . . ]

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Welfare Ranching and Point Reyes National Seashore

By MariaSeptember 21, 2021Newest Podcasts

George Wuerthner’s historic exposé of the destruction of the American West by cattle grazing (Archive) – And the shocking decision by the National Park Service in September 2021 to continue and even expand beef and dairy cattle grazing in the popular Seashore – just north of San Francisco on the unceded land of the Coast Miwok.
Cattle grazing should have ended there in the late 1980s. The area had become a National Park by an act of Congress in 1962 and the existing ranches were bought out at market rate with taxpayer funds. The ranchers were given 25 years to find new land and vacate. Instead they expanded the herds, and used political clout in Senate and Congress to [ . . . ]

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Will Modern Civilization be the Death of Us? – Professor William Rees

By MariaSeptember 14, 2021Newest Podcasts

Does our modern techno-industrial society destroy the biophysical basis of our existence? Bill Rees is a population ecologist, ecological economist, and Professor Emeritus of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning.
He asks the question why humanity has not responded, in over 50 years, to warnings about rising greenhouse gases and heat, over exploitation of oceans, forests, soils and water; and species extinction.
Prof. Bill Rees also challenges the over-optimistic ”problem solvers” on the claim, in their version of the Green New Deal, that if we replace oil with solar we can continue living much as we do today – in an economy based on growth and consumption.
Bill Rees had been invited by the Institute on Religion in an Age [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)

Overshoot, the Energy Conundrum and Climate Change – Prof. Bill Rees

By MariaSeptember 7, 2021Newest Podcasts

Prof. Rees first defined “Ecological Footprint” and “Overshoot” My colleague Alex Smith, host of Radio Ecoshock, put out a provocative statement on his weekly radio program. He announced: Who can question the Green New Deal and holy solar power? Guest Megan Seibert and super-scientist Bill Rees just published a scathing report. They say it’s time to shrink or die.” end quote. I was intrigued by the provocation and downloaded the 19 page paper – and an inspiring talk by Professor Bill Rees and will present excerpts of both on this program.
William Rees is a bio-ecologist, ecological economist, former Director and Professor Emeritus of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning. Rees is perhaps best [ . . . ]

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Yanis Varoufakis: Capitalism has become Techno-Feudalism

By MariaAugust 31, 2021Newest Podcasts

The former Greek Finance Minister in conversation with Dr Marc Lamont Hill on Al Jazeera, February, 2021 Techno-Feudalism is a term that’s in the news these days. It may mean control of the data by the few FAANG companies – that’s Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix; and Alphabet – formerly known as Google. Techno-Feudalism also applies to the dominance of finance and banking over state institutions – driving huge wealth inequalities.
Yanis Varoufakis is the former finance minister of Greece and Professor of Economics at the University of Athens. He is cofounder of the Democracy in Europe Movement DiEM25. That’s a pan-European political movement founded in 2016 by a group of Europeans, including philosophers and activists. They see [ . . . ]

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Firestorm, How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future from Radio Ecoshock

By MariaAugust 24, 2021Newest Podcasts

Alex Smith interviewed Ed Struzik on the recent out of control firestorms and how wetlands can limit their spread This extraordinary conversation between Alex Smith and Ed Struzik was broadcast on August 18, 2021, on the weekly one-hour radio show Ecoshock.
Struzik is a science journalist and Fellow at Queens University, Canada. In his book FIRESTORM he visits scorched earth from Alaska to Maine, and introduces the scientists, firefighters, and resource managers making the case for a radically different approach to managing wildfire in the 21st century. Wildfires can no longer be treated as avoidable events because the risk and dangers are becoming too great and costly.
Alex Smith also asks about Struzik’s October 2021 book SWAMPLANDS and the struggle [ . . . ]

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Nuclear Weapons in Space and Ground Stations for War in Space

By MariaAugust 17, 2021Newest Podcasts

Radio based on films produced by Will Griffin for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space In May and June 2021 Will Griffin released two short films on the recent expansion of nuclear power into Space and on the secrecy surrounding the upgrade of a US radar installation on Norwegian soil.
These two short films are posted on the the website of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. That’s an international organization founded in 1992 with an unbroken record of education and activism on a rarely covered topic, the Weaponization of Space.
For the first film, published on May 6, 2021, Will Griffin writes in his summary: The Pentagon and multinational corporations are privatizing [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)

The First Nuclear Chain Reaction – Enrico Fermi and Henry Moore (TWO of TWO) – ARCHIVE

By MariaAugust 10, 2021Newest Podcasts

Historian Iain Boal tells the story of The Beginning of the Mass Production of Nuclear Bombs The Italian physicist Enrico Fermi set off the first nuclear chain reaction in an underground tennis-court at the University of Chicago in 1942. Exactly 25 years after that experiment, with Fermi already dead of radiation induced leukemia, a statue by Henry Moore was unveiled on December 2, 1967, at that location, to commemorate the first self sustained nuclear chain reaction.
Boal describes the fascinating clash of ideas, from the early anti nuclear resistance by SDS students in the US and the British CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), to the visual impression of Moore’s statue that seems to depict a skull plus storm trooper helmet [ . . . ]

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The First Nuclear Chain Reaction – Enrico Fermi and Henry Moore (ONE of TWO) – ARCHIVE

By MariaAugust 3, 2021Newest Podcasts

Historian Iain Boal tells the story of The Beginning of the Nuclear Age (ONE of TWO) The Italian physicist Enrico Fermi set off the first nuclear chain reaction in an underground tennis-court at the University of Chicago in December 1942. His experiment led directly to the building of the plutonium bomb that destroyed the city of Nagasaki.
There are competing claims as to the beginning of the nuclear age. Was it the day of Trinity, was it Hiroshima, or was it Fermi with his willingness to risk a nuclear explosion in the middle of a crowded city.
But more important than the date is the need to comprehend the fundamental change that the beginning of the nuclear age has brought about. [ . . . ]

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Economic Disobedience & Debt Abolition – Chris Hedges with Thomas Gokey

By MariaJuly 27, 2021Newest Podcasts

How can a discussion of the enormous debt and looming homelessness faced by ordinary people in the US, once the covid pandemic is ending, be inspiring and visionary?
In preparation for that fight Thomas Gokey and the Debt Collective have begun organizing debtors into a union. They already had victories canceling $2.8 billion in student debt, medical debt, payday loans, probation debt and credit card debt.
Today the sheer magnitude of the problem we will have to deal with soon – over 40 million people in the US facing eviction once Covid moratoria disappear – is seen as an opportunity.
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a New York Times best-selling author, a professor at Rutgers University, and an ordained Presbyterian [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)

How Much Do Rockets Pollute? Are They Bad For Our Air?

By MariaJuly 20, 2021Newest Podcasts

Tim Dodd asks: What comes out of the flamey end of a rocket?
I’m alerting you to the helpful information in Tim Dodd’s 2020 film immediately following the two space flights by billionaire Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. Both businessmen are aiming at greatly increasing the number of flights into Space for commerce and space tourism.
Tim Dodd begins his film by wondering why NASA, with a mission of protecting the atmosphere, agrees to polluting space flights and their expansion into space tourism.
Tim Dodd is also known as The Everyday Astronaut. He is a science communicator, photographer, and musician. His website – everydayastronaut.com – features videos and information about past and upcoming spaceflight.
Tim is clearly a fan and supporter of [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 39.9MB)

Junk in Space – The World’s Largest Garbage Dump – says NASA

By MariaJuly 13, 2021Newest Podcasts

How will it affect Space Exploration and Tourism?
This program begins with part of the LIVE transmission from Mission Control of the launch on April 23, 2021, of the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavor” to the International Space Station. The crew was being informed of a piece of orbital debris that might pass close to their spacecraft. They were told to cover the windows with kevlar blankets, put on their pressurized flight suits, and get into their seats just in case there was an impact that caused a loss of air pressure. Preparations for space junk collisions are now routine.
Meanwhile, at their point of destination, the International Space Station crew, in a monthly inspection, had found that their Canadarm had been pierced [ . . . ]

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SPACE JUNK – Fast And Dangerous

By MariaJuly 6, 2021Newest Podcasts

The Australian physician and anti nuclear campaigner, Helen Caldicott, has since the late 1970s worked with Bruce Gagnon and Karl Grossman from Space For Peace to keep space free from weapons and nuclear material. And all had tried to prevent the deployment, in 1997, of the space probe Cassini to Saturn with 72 pounds of Plutonium-238 on board. A launch accident could have dispersed the deadliest material known to man across our planet.
Space Junk has become an important topic. As early as 2001 Bruce Gagnon was describing that of all the man-made objects in Low Earth Orbit, 95% are space junk: rocket thrusters, derelict satellites, and most of all, tiny fragments of debris from collisions and explosions. These pieces of [ . . . ]

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Gain of Function Research – How labs across the world make viruses more dangerous

By MariaJune 29, 2021Newest Podcasts

Ralph Nader and Andy Kimbrell discuss why Gain of Function research must be banned Excerpts from the Ralph Nader Radio Hour of July 18, 2020: Andrew Kimbrell is an internationally recognized public interest attorney, bioethicist and NGO organizer. He has led efforts to regulate biotechnology and ban biological weapon research. Andrew Kimbrell established the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) in 1994 and the Center for Food Safety (CFS) in 1997.
Ralph Nader is a political activist author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to him include consumer protection, environmentalism, and democratic government. The Ralph Nader Radio Hour is a weekly one hour talk show broadcast on the Pacifica Radio Network. It is also available as podcast.
An audio recording and [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)

The origin of COVID: Did people or nature open Pandora’s box at Wuhan? – Nicholas Wade

By MariaJune 22, 2021Newest Podcasts

Nicholas Wade is a science writer, editor, and author who has worked on the staff of Nature, Science, and, for many years, the New York Times. His May 5, 2021 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, asking whether people or nature opened Pandora’s box at Wuhan, generated huge interest and follow-on interviews.
In this interview Nicholas Wade covers intriguing questions regarding the remaining mystery of who the original host animal was – and what intermediate animal introduced it to humans. Also – how Donald Trump naming it, without evidence, the China Virus made scientists and media want to support the theory of a natural origin in order to stem the tide of racism. And – to make it [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)