Best Plutopia News Network Podcasts (2025)

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Sophie Nightingale: Our Minds on Digital Technology 1:02:07

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3d ago1:02:07

1:02:07

The Plutopia podcast hosts Dr. Sophie Nightingale, a psychologist at Lancaster University, to discuss how digital technology — especially social media, generative AI, and the constant flow of online information — shapes human memory, judgment, and vulnerability to deception. She explains that people struggle to evaluate critically the sheer volume …

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Ben Collier: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy 1:00:16

10d ago1:00:16

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Ben Collier, Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and chair of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, joins Plutopia to discuss his MIT Press book Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy. The book argues that media overstates Tor’s ties to crime. Originally developed at the U.S. Naval Research Lab as “onion routing,” Tor …

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Colin Wright: Juggling Mathematics 1:02:43

17d ago1:02:43

1:02:43

In this episode of the Plutopia News Network Podcast, hosts Jon Lebkowsky, Scoop Sweeney, and Wendy Grossman talk with mathematician and juggler Colin Wright, who holds a PhD in pure mathematics from Cambridge and is known for his engaging talks on how math appears everywhere in life. Wright explains that math is not about numbers or formulas but a…

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Sumner Erickson: Actors of Sound 1:02:54

24d ago1:02:54

1:02:54

The Plutopia podcast welcomes Sumner Erickson, who discovered the tuba in sixth grade by chance and, at 18, won a job with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra after studies at the Curtis Institute. He recalls globe-spanning tours (Europe, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil), collaborations under André Previn, and contrasts between orchestral and other tour…

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Mike Aaron: Digital Lifeguard 1:01:18

1M ago1:01:18

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On this Plutopia episode, Mike Aaron — once a renewable-energy policy aide, now a “digital lifeguard” — explains how fast-evolving tech and social engineering are fueling scams and identity theft, citing FBI Internet Crime Center figures of $6.5B in reported 2024 losses (likely ~10× higher) and ~$160B across all cybercrimes, with average losses esp…

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Roy Casagranda: Politics 2025 1:04:04

1M ago1:04:04

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In this Plutopia News Network episode, political historian Dr. Roy Casagranda joins Jon and Scoop for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, U.S. presidents from Eisenhower to Trump, and the fragility of democratic institutions. Casagranda contrasts strong domestic achievements (e.g., LBJ, Eisenhower) with consistently troubling U.S. foreign po…

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Nate Wilcox: The State of the Union 1:04:39

2M ago1:04:39

1:04:39

Nate Wilcox joins Plutopia News Network with a wide-ranging critique of U.S. politics, media, technology, and foreign policy. He argues the political center has collapsed, institutions lack credibility, and executive power dominates, while both parties fail in different ways: Democrats with performative resistance and hollow policy, Republicans wit…

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Paulina Borsook and Brian Maggi: In Formation Magazine 1:07:18

2M ago1:07:18

1:07:18

On this Plutopia News Network episode, hosts talk with In Formation magazine’s humor editor Brian Maggi and writer/contributing editor Paulina Borsook about their newly released Issue #3 — an intentionally high-quality, print-first, “anti-Wired” cult mag skewering tech culture with smart, insider humor. They trace the evolution from early-2000s iss…

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Jeremy Faludi: Sustainable Design 1:00:18

2M ago1:00:18

1:00:18

The Plutopia podcast talks with Dr. Jeremy Faludi, a Delft University sustainable design researcher and lead author of Sustainable Design: From Vision to Action, about practical, systems-level strategies for lower-impact products and services. Faludi stresses life-cycle assessment (LCA) to “run the numbers” and focus effort where it matters—durabil…

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Hugh Forrest: Community Experience 1:12:14

2M ago1:12:14

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Hugh Forrest, former President and longtime programming lead for Austin’s famed South by Southwest Festival, joins the Plutopia podcast to discuss shifting from running massive events to consulting on smaller community-focused experiences. Hugh argues that size is the enemy of community — people attend events to form a few meaningful connections — …

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James L. Wayman: Automated Human Identification 1:02:00

2M ago1:02:00

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In this Plutopia News Network podcast, Dr. James Wayman, a pioneer in biometrics, shares his career journey. His studies grew from computational acoustics in the 1970s to becoming a leading authority on automated human identification. He explains the challenges of technologies such as fingerprinting, facial recognition, and retinal scans, emphasizi…

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It’s All Balcones Fault! 54:52

3M ago54:52

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On this episode of the Plutopia podcast, the hosts revisit Austin’s formative 1970s music scene through Scoop’s archival 1977 interview with Fletcher Clark and Jack Jacobs, co-founders of the eclectic show band Balcones Fault. The conversation traces their unlikely journey from academia and banking into Austin’s burgeoning countercultural soundscap…

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Michael Marshall: Compassionate Skepticism 1:04:45

3M ago1:04:45

1:04:45

On this episode of Plutopia, we welcome Michael Marshall — project director at the Good Thinking Society, editor of The Skeptic, President of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, and host of the Be Reasonable podcast — to unpack “compassionate skepticism”: why emotions drive belief, how pseudoscience and conspiracies spread (from flat earth to QAnon to…

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John Seabrook: The Spinach King 1:03:22

3M ago1:03:22

1:03:22

In this episode of the Plutopia podcast, acclaimed journalist and New Yorker staff writer John Seabrook joins hosts Scoop Sweeney, Wendy Grossman, and Jon Lebkowsky to discuss his deeply personal and provocative new book, The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty. Drawing from a trove of family documents inherited after his father’…

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Chris Tomlinson: Texas Flood 1:01:34

3M ago1:01:34

1:01:34

On this episode of the Plutopia podcast, veteran journalist and author Chris Tomlinson joins us to unpack his reporting on the July 4th floods in Central Texas — why they were predictable and preventable — and to warn that American democracy is being endangered by aggressive redistricting and other election-rigging tactics. Now a columnist on money…

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Pat Cadigan: Ultraseven and Beyond 1:03:59

4M ago1:03:59

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In this episode of the Plutopia News Network podcast, cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan joins the hosts to discuss her new novelization of the classic Japanese sci-fi series Ultraseven. Cadigan shares how she came to work on the project, her early exposure to Ultraman, and her appreciation for the show’s themes of teamwork and heroism. The discussion br…

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Charles Herrman: Honor and Dignity 1:01:26

4M ago1:01:26

1:01:26

In this episode of the Plutopia News Network podcast, philosopher Charles Herrman discusses his lifelong study of honor and dignity as cultural forces, framing them as a dichotomy shaping societies and conflicts worldwide. He explains that honor and dignity function as intertwined yet distinct values—honor is the face of dignity, and dignity has ho…

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Brendan McNally: Traitor’s Odyssey 1:05:35

4M ago1:05:35

1:05:35

Journalist and author Brendan McNally joins the Plutopia podcast this time as we discuss his latest book, Traitor’s Odyssey: The Untold Story of Martha Dodd and a Strange Saga of Soviet Espionage, which tells the story of Martha Dodd, the daughter of an American ambassador in 1930s Berlin who became a Soviet spy. McNally spent years researching dec…

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James Wright: Medieval Myth-Busting and the Archaeology of Buildings 1:02:18

4M ago1:02:18

1:02:18

On this Plutopia News Network episode, buildings archaeologist Dr. James Wright — founder of Triskele Heritage, author of the “Medieval Myth-Busting” blog, and writer of Historic Building Myth Busting: Uncovering Folklore, History, and Archaeology — joins hosts Jon Lebkowsky, Scoop Sweeney, and Wendy Grossman to unpack 25 years probing cellars, att…

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Talking Heads from Plutopia! 1:05:04

5M ago1:05:04

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In this “Talking Heads” edition of the podcast, Plutopia News Network cohosts Jon, Scoop, and Wendy roam freely across a grab-bag of current issues and curiosities: airport security hassles, billionaire excesses, the politics of air-conditioning, ICE detentions, LA’s media myths, Juneteenth and U.S. travel fears, hometown highways, regime-change mi…

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Chris French: A Skeptic’s Skeptic 1:04:22

5M ago1:04:22

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You might say Professor Chris French is a skeptic’s skeptic. He has published over 150 articles covering the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He emphasizes the importance of understanding why people believe in the paranormal, emphasizing psychological explanations for experiences often attributed to ghosts, aliens, psychi…

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Patrick Ball: Data and Human Rights 1:02:53

5M ago1:02:53

1:02:53

Dr. Patrick Ball, a statistician and founder of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), joins the Plutopia podcast to discuss how rigorous data analysis can expose and challenge human rights abuses — even when official data is missing or manipulated. Beginning with his work in El Salvador during its civil war, Ball explains how statistical me…

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Neal Baer: The Promise and Peril of CRISPR 1:07:49

5M ago1:07:49

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In this wide-ranging Plutopia podcast episode, Dr. Neil Baer — television writer and producer, physician, and public health advocate — discusses The Promise and Peril of CRISPR, a book he edited that explores the ethical, medical, and social implications of gene editing. While CRISPR holds transformative potential to cure diseases like sickle cell …

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Jonathan Kamens: A Technologist’s Warning 1:01:52

5M ago1:01:52

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Cybersecurity expert Jonathan Kamens, a longtime technologist with a background in software engineering and digital security, was dismissed from his role at the Department of Veterans Affairs by Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE). Kamens, who had joined the U.S. Digital Service to serve the public, criticized DOGE for pursuing…

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Cindy Cohn and Kevin Welch: Settling the Electronic Frontier 1:02:49

6M ago1:02:49

1:02:49

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has worked for more than three decades to defend free speech online, fight illegal surveillance, advocate for users and innovators, and support freedom-enhancing technologies. EFF has fought to clear the way for open source software, encryption, security research, file sharing, and important new technologies. In t…

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Sandy Stone: Finding Girl Island 1:19:18

6M ago1:19:18

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The legendary Sandy Stone returns to the Plutopia podcast this time as we discuss “Girl Island,” an upcoming partially-animated film based on her life and early visions of gender identity. We also discuss gender roles, trans rights, political oppression, and much more. We dive into everything from gender roles and trans rights to political power, p…

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Will Kreth: Human and Digital 1:01:39

6M ago1:01:39

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In this episode of the Plutopia News Network, Will Kreth—founder and CEO of HAND (Human and Digital) — joins Plutopians to discuss the future of identity, digital media, and the growing threat of deepfakes. Kreth, an early media pioneer and former first employee at Wired Magazine, outlines his mission to address the lack of source verification in a…

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Michael Tobis: The Canada Divide 1:04:04

6M ago1:04:04

1:04:04

This time on the Plutopia podcast, climate scientist Michael Tobis, our man in the Great White North, joins us to talk about U.S.-Canadian relations. As Canadians go to the polls this week to elect new members of Parliament, the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on Canadian tariffs and trade loom large. Michael describes how Trump’s aggressive…

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Travels with Ray Thompson 1:00:53

7M ago1:00:53

1:00:53

Ray Thompson, a revenue and operations executive and managing partner at Buy Build Sell LLC, joined the Plutopia podcast while on a 23,000-mile road trip across the U.S. with his family. Taking a break from years of intense corporate work, he embraced remote working and launched a new business aimed at helping people become entrepreneurs through ac…

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Axon: For All 1:02:36

7M ago1:02:36

1:02:36

On this episode of the Plutopia podcast, singer-songwriter Axon Chamberlain (aka “The Herban Cowboy”) rejoins Plutopians to debut tracks from his newly released CD “Pub Fare,” recorded live in tap rooms and mixed with care. He reflects on how his creative process has shifted from striving for perfection to playing music for personal joy and healing…

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Darryl Cunningham on Musk the Oligarch 1:03:58

7M ago1:03:58

1:03:58

British author and cartoonist Daryl Cunningham has created a graphical biography of Elon Musk, originally published in France under the title Elon Musk, Investigation into a New Master of the World, and now set for English release in September 2025 as Elon Musk, American Oligarch by Seven Stories Press. The book traces Musk’s evolution from his Sou…

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Paul Alan Levy: Defending Free Speech 56:23

7M ago56:23

56:23

Paul Alan Levy, a public interest attorney at Public Citizen, specializes in defending internet-related free speech cases, particularly those involving individuals targeted by lawsuits for their online expression. While personally committed to protecting all forms of speech, Levy balances this ideal with the progressive values of his organization. …

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JFK Died for Our Sins 43:54

8M ago43:54

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In 1975, the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with respect to intelligence activities began a formal inquiry into abuses committed by the CIA, NSA, FBI, and the IRS. The committee, known as the Church Committee, was chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church and was part of a series of investigations into intelligen…

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Pat Cadigan: Cyberpunk Redux 1:06:21

8M ago1:06:21

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Pat Cadigan is a renowned science fiction and cyberpunk author known for works like Synners and Mindplayers. In 2023 she released a novelization of the classic Japanese Ultraman TV series, and in July she’ll release a novelization of the Ultraman UltraSeven series. Pat joins the Plutopia podcast to discuss the evolution of the cyberpunk genre and i…

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Red Flag Warning: Wildfire Politics 1:07:10

8M ago1:07:10

1:07:10

Austin activist Suzy Shelor joins the Plutopia podcast to discuss a range of pressing issues with the politics of the moment, including Elon Musk’s increasing influence over government, Trump’s authoritarian shift, and the mainstream media’s rightward drift. She critiques the lack of foresight in policy decisions, highlighting mass firings at the I…

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Alan Watts on Meow Wolf 1:01:31

8M ago1:01:31

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Arts and Entertainment Company Meow Wolf creates large-scale interactive and immersive art installations. They recently opened their fifth installation in Houston. Austin based hardware and software developer, Alan Watts, created many of their custom interactive devices, database driven platforms, and animation software. Alan joins us this time on …

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The Barking DOGE 58:29

9M ago58:29

58:29

Plutopians are joined by EFF-Austin president Kevin Welch. Elon Musk’s team of alleged geniuses continue to disrupt many U.S. government agencies. With that in mind, we discuss Musk’s disruptive influence on U.S. government agencies, democracy, and the rule of law. Our conversation explores how Musk’s unqualified team is recklessly dismantling gove…

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Empowered Patients and AI 1:00:49

9M ago1:00:49

1:00:49

In this episode of the Plutopia News Network Podcast, we discuss how AI is revolutionizing healthcare by empowering patients to take control of their medical decisions. Our guests, Dave DeBronkart (e-Patient Dave), Gilles Frydman, and Hugo Campos are advocates for patient autonomy and participatory medicine. We discuss how AI enables patients to in…

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Resistance is Not Futile 1:03:01

9M ago1:03:01

1:03:01

This episode of Plutopia News Network’s podcast features hosts Scoop Sweeney, Jon Lebkowsky, and Wendy Grossman discussing skepticism, trust, and current societal issues. We explore the erosion of trust in air travel following recent accidents, accessibility concerns for disabled passengers, and broader vulnerabilities in government systems and inf…

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Rebecca Mercuri: Electronic Voting 1:02:23

9M ago1:02:23

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Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, a leading expert on electronic voting systems, discusses the vulnerabilities and shortcomings of modern voting technology, particularly the reliability of voter-verified paper ballots and the risks of electronic voting machines. She emphasizes that cryptography alone cannot secure elections and argues that paper ballots must re…

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David Miles: Viruses and Vaccines 1:03:00

9M ago1:03:00

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In this episode of the Plutopia podcast, British immunologist David Miles discusses his book How Vaccines Work and considers the science of vaccines, viruses, and the societal impact of vaccine misinformation. The conversation covers the role of vaccines in combating diseases like COVID-19, polio, and avian influenza, as well as the challenges pose…

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Roy Casagranda: Inauguration 2025 1:05:36

10M ago1:05:36

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On this Inauguration Day episode of the Plutopia podcast, we discuss the past, present and future of democracy. We also acknowledge the return of Felonious Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States. Our friend Dr. Roy Casagranda joins the podcast as we examine the incoming Trump Dream Team and its possible impact upon the nation. We d…

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Jon and Scoop: Chaos Navigators 1:01:46

10M ago1:01:46

1:01:46

Jon and Scoop consider various political and societal issues, centering on Donald Trump’s potential second term as U.S. president, the constraints of governance, and the role of systemic friction in tempering political ambitions. The Plutopians highlight misunderstandings around Trump’s perceived ability to operate outside the established political…

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Robert Fripp: The Art of Frippertronics 43:47

10M ago43:47

43:47

This time on the Plutopia podcast, we turn on our time machine and take you back to 1979. King Crimson guitarist and founder Robert Fripp was touring with his Frippertronics real-time tape looping device. He performed shows at UC Berkeley and Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco’s premier punk venue. Following those shows, Ed Ward and Scoop Sweeney inter…

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Michelle Gladieux: Communicate with Courage 59:00

10M ago59:00

59:00

In this episode of the Plutopia podcast, communication coach and author Michelle Gladieux discusses her book Communicate with Courage: Taking Risks to Overcome the Four Hidden Challenges. She highlights the importance of communication skills, vulnerability, and ethical influence, providing practical strategies for improving personal and professiona…

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Ahana Datta: CyberSecurity 1:00:45

11M ago1:00:45

1:00:45

Cybersecurity expert Ahana Datta discusses the complexities and evolving nature of cybersecurity, touching on topics like the “security-insecurity paradox,” the challenges of defending against nation-state actors and private hackers, and the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure, including healthcare systems and Internet of Things devices. She…

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Gathering Online: Social Media vs Community 1:03:46

11M ago1:03:46

1:03:46

In this episode of the Plutopia podcast, we explore the evolving dynamics of online interaction, contrasting the personal connections fostered by early online communities with the algorithm-driven experiences of modern social media platforms. Hosts Jon and Scoop reflect on the history and challenges of digital networking, touching on the influence …

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Vietnam Redux 51:28

11M ago51:28

51:28

This time on the Plutopia podcast we explore an immigration crisis, not the one you might think, but one that occurred almost 50 years ago. We focus on the 1975 Operation Babylift, a controversial airlift of Vietnamese children, many labeled as orphans, during the final days of the Vietnam War. The event garnered international media attention, but …

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Ann-Marie Wilson: Opposing FGM Globally 58:23

11M ago58:23

58:23

Dr. Ann-Marie Wilson, a psychologist and senior research advisor with the Orchid Project, joined the Plutopia podcast to discuss her extensive efforts to combat female genital mutilation (FGM). Drawing on over 30 years of experience and a profound moment of epiphany during aid work in Darfur, Dr. Wilson described her journey from corporate HR to be…

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Jane Hirshfield and Tiffany Lee Brown: Sanity and Gratitude 1:10:03

12M ago1:10:03

1:10:03

Our Thanksgiving episode of the Plutopia podcast features Tiffany Lee Brown, a writer and interdisciplinary artist, and Jane Hirshfield, an award-winning poet and essayist. Tiffany is also an astrologer, Tarot reader, and the creator of the Burning Tarot podcast (see tiffanyleebrown.com). We talk about staying sane during turbulent times, fostering…