How does Gavin Newsom maintain his optimism in the face of all the destructive policies the president-elect might enact? That’s part of what we talk about today on Sea Change Radio in the second half of our discussion with California’s Lieutenant Governor. We also hear Newsom’s ideas on the future of public transportation, including self-driving vehicles, his thoughts on the ongoing drought, and why he is not particularly hopeful for the Delta Tunnels Project.
Human slavery. Many of us think of it as a terrible chapter of US history that ended in the 19th century. But, according to the United Nations, slavery is a modern reality for roughly 27 to 30 million human beings living, right now. Our guest today on Sea Change Radio is Associated Press reporter, Robin McDowell, who, along with three colleagues, recently won a Pulitzer Prize, for her team’s exposé of slavery practices in the Southeast Asian seafood industry. Not only did this investigation receive the highest honor in journalism, it alerted consumers of how we are contributing to the practice by eating slave-produced seafood, and, most importantly, it precipitated the rescue of 2,000 slaves who are now living free after years and even decades of bondage. McDowell breaks down the details of how she and her colleagues uncovered the story, some of the horrors they encountered along the way, and how it sparked action to dismantle similar operations in the region. (n.b. Ms. McDowell misspoke when she called the Rohingya a persecuted minority from Indonesia. They are from Myanmar).
Some energy analysts predict that the past year’s downward trend in oil prices will continue. Our guest this week on Sea Change Radio, energy expert Dan Dicker, disagrees. He thinks that the price of oil will inevitably rise again, and sooner than many of his colleagues believe. Dicker comes on this week to explain his prediction and why he thinks a little more pain at the pump might, in the long run, be a good thing.
Perhaps the hardest job in professional football is that of the Punt Returner, who tries to avoid being torn to shreds by very large, rapidly approaching human beings. Our guest today on Sea Change Radio is Tim Dwight, who was a Kick Returner and Wide Receiver in the NFL for ten years. He now applies his David vs. Goliath skills to the solar industry, where he competes against fossil fuel giants and advocates for better energy policies as a solar lobbyist and an executive for a solar EPC, or Engineering Procurement and Construction company. We talk about his transition from one of the least sustainable careers you can think of, in every sense of the word, to one of the most sustainable. We also touch upon some of the systemic problems plaguing the NFL, including artificial turf and public stadium financing. And, finally, Dwight gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his time spent with the Chargers, Falcons and Patriots.
As we approach Labor Day, now seems like a good time to think not only about the value of our labor, but about the value of the time we spend not working. Our guest this week on Sea Change Radio is William Powers, author of New Slow City – a reflection of an unhurried, minimalist life in the heart of high-speed Manhattan. In his book, Powers offers an alternative philosophy for living, one that stands in stark contrast to the American ethos of constant growth and unending expansion of production and consumption. Powers and host Alex Wise have a conversation about the root of our obsession with work, the drawbacks of constantly striving for increased productivity, the influence of technology on the quality of time, and how better stewardship of the planet may be tied to just slowing down.
This week on Sea Change Radio we are talking about the California drought – getting an update on weather-related aspects, and finding out about an innovation designed to help. First we talk to Anthony Artusa, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. He gives us a sense of what to expect from the current El Niño year and what it may or may not mean to California long-term. Then we talk to Peter Brewitt who recently wrote about the millions of plastic shade-balls being used in LA’s main reservoir to try to slow evaporation – might this potentially controversial innovation provide a lasting solution?
Often when we cover agriculture, we look at what and how farmers are growing. But the infrastructure that undergirds every farm in America is finance. This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio, author Dean Kuipers, explores how farms get the money they need to grow the food we eat. In his recently published Orion magazine article, “Buying the Farm,” Kuipers picks apart the financial landscape of agriculture and compares financing for big agri-business versus smaller sustainable farming. Today we delve into the different models for financing agriculture not only in the U.S. but globally, examine how one small San Francisco bank is backing sustainable farmers, and take a peek at how an Illinois-based organic bean farmer is getting a leg up on the competition.
How does Gavin Newsom maintain his optimism in the face of all the destructive policies the president-elect might enact? That’s part of what we talk about today on Sea Change Radio in the second half of our discussion with California’s Lieutenant Governor. We also hear Newsom’s ideas on the future of public transportation, including self-driving vehicles, his thoughts on the ongoing drought, and why he is not particularly hopeful for the Delta Tunnels Project.
