Planet: Critical Folgen

In the fight against climate change, we have some of the key details down: reducing emissions, pollution, consumption. But what about the bigger picture questions: How did we get into this mess? And how do we not only combat the climate crisis, but create a society which doesn’t have to go to war against itself every 400 years? This is what David Orr tackles on this week’s episode: What roles do democracy, education and citizenship play in building a better, safer world for both ourselves, our planet and the living things we share it with? David believes active citizenship is key, and is creating educational programmes around the United States to teach ecological literacy and active participation in democracy. These programmes reframe the concept of society to include the living planet we call home. Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.During the episode, David explains the historical relationship between politics and the environmental movement, giving key insight where the environmental movement went wrong in the 70s and 80s, and the politicians who rejected changing the status quo at the moment it mattered most. His work today is built upon decades of research at the forefront of the movement and, undoubtedly, the pillar of any functioning and equitable society begins with education. But, as we discuss in the episode, given the urgency of the crisis—do we have time?David W. Orr is Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics Emeritus at Oberlin College. He is a founding editor of the journal Solutions, and founder of the Oberlin Project. He is the author of eight books, including Dangerous Years: Climate Change, the Long Emergency, and the Way Forward (Yale, 2016) and Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009). David has served as a board member or advisor to eight foundations, including the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Currently he is a trustee of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado and the Children and Nature Network. His numerous awards include a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, and a Visionary Leadership Award from Second Nature. You can also follow Planet: Critical on Youtube and support the project on Patreon. Read the interview transcript here.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a terrible, devastating conflict causing an inexcusable loss of life. The rest of the world has bound together to sanction the nation, Putin and his oligarch friends. But how effective will these sanctions be? And how does the current market paradigm allow for war between nations?I invited Chris Cook back on the show to discuss these key questions. He explains what we can learn from the U.S’s sanctioning of Iran, what role Russia’s energy dominance will play in this war, and, crucially, how we can build markets which promote interdependence—and peace.Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.Chris is the former director of the International Petroleum Exchange and is now a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Resilience Studies at University College London. He firmly believes resilient markets are built on mutuality, cooperation and ethics, and has spent the past 15 years investigating how to create legal frameworks to bind them to behave so.This episode provides a huge amount of insight into how markets impact geopolitics and how to use them to promote peace. Listen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify, or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript.Learn more about Chris’ work at the Institute for Security and Resilience Studies.You can also follow Planet: Critical on Youtube and support the project on Patreon. Read the interview transcript here.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

“The media”. This is the 21st century’s term for journalism—netizens have clocked how many online publications are nothing more than content-churners. However, more care should be taken to separate what we understand as “journalism” and “media”. Rather than protect the privilege of a free press, we’ve begun using the laziest blanket word which puts journalism in the firing line alongside institutions like Facebook. The result is terrifying, but blame doesn’t lie solely with readers.This week’s guest shines a light on how journalism needs to evolve to protect both itself and its purpose—especially during this critical period in history.Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today.Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist, Ian Urbina, spent 17 years at the New York Times before setting up his own non-profit newsroom in 2020, The Ocean Outlaw Project. Ian and his team investigate “the final frontier”, finding stories at the intersection of environment and human rights which typically go under the radar.The Outlaw Ocean Project models itself after ProPublica, and Ian’s explanation as to how these newsrooms can and must work alongside “legacy” newspapers is absolutely fascinating. We discuss the responsibility of journalists during a crisis, and sharing that responsibility with readers. The innovation at the heart of Ian’s work is really thrilling. Listen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify, or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript.Learn more about The Outlaw Ocean Project.You can also follow Planet: Critical on Youtube and support the project on Patreon. Read the interview transcript here.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe