Best David Bollier Podcasts (2025)

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Isabel Carlisle, Bioregioning as a Response to 'Gaia on the Move' 53:54

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30d ago53:54

53:54

As climate change and other crises makes the economy and everyday life more precarious, innovative forms of bioregional action are needed to respond to 'Gaia on the move," says Isabel Carlisle, founder and director of the Bioregional Learning Centre (BLC) in Devon, England. Carlisle describes the importance of building local ecological expertise, p…

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SCIENCE UNDER SIEGE & BURNED BY BILLIONAIRES: Michael Mann and Chuck Collins on Defending Truth and Democracy 58:27

4d ago58:27

58:27

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Today, we look at two urgent threats to our world: the assault on science and the concentration of wealth. First, climate scientist Michael E. Mann talks about the book he co-authored with infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez, Science Under Siege: How to …

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HOW TO SAVE THE AMAZON & ARCTIC PASSAGES: Andrew Fishman on Dom Phillips’ Legacy & Kieran Mulvaney on Climate and Power in the Far North 1:04:58

12d ago1:04:58

1:04:58

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This week on Writer’s Voice, two stories from the planet’s frontlines: the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic ice. Two urgent stories from Earth’s frontlines — and why they matter for us all. Journalist Andrew Fishman joins us to talk about compl…

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HOLY GROUND & A YEAR OF COMPASSION: Catherine Coleman Flowers and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau on Justice, Hope, and Living Kindly 1:07:55

18d ago1:07:55

1:07:55

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This episode of Writer’s Voice explores two inspiring approaches to building a more just and compassionate world. It’s part of September’s WV programming in honor of Climate Week. Two nationwide mobilizations are happening for Climate Week: Mak…

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Dickens the Enchanter & Plato and the Tyrant: Peter Conrad and James Romm on Imagination, Power, and Authoritarianism 1:10:26

23d ago1:10:26

1:10:26

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary In this episode of Writer’s Voice, we explore the lives and legacies of two giants—Charles Dickens and Plato—through the eyes of authors who reveal new dimensions of their work. Cultural historian Peter Conrad tells us about his biography, Dick…

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Breaking Barriers in the Wild: Bridget Crocker on RIVER’S DAUGHTER & Cassidy Randall on THIRTY BELOW 58:37

1M ago58:37

58:37

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This episode of Writer’s Voice brings you two powerful stories of women adventurers who forged their paths in male-dominated outdoor sports. Bridget Crocker’s memoir River’s Daughter is a story of trauma and healing, rooted in her lifelong conn…

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Covid Wars & How to Submit: Ronald Gruner on Pandemic Lessons + Dennis Sweeney on Getting Published 1:03:51

1M ago1:03:51

1:03:51

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary In this episode of Writer’s Voice, two authors offer vital insights—one about surviving a global pandemic, and the other about surviving the publishing process. Ronald Gruner discusses Covid Wars, his in-depth exploration of how the pandemic re…

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Honorée Fanonne Jeffers on MISBEHAVING AT THE CROSSROADS & Catherine Coleman Flowers on Environmental Justice 55:30

2M ago55:30

55:30

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary Award-winning author Honorée Fanonne Jeffers joins Writer’s Voice to talk about her bold and beautiful nonfiction debut, Misbehaving at the Crossroads—a matrilineal memoir braided with African American history, intersectional feminism, and unfl…

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David Bollier on Why The Commons Could Save Us 56:58

2M ago56:58

56:58

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This week on Writer’s Voice, we speak with David Bollier about the newly updated edition of his influential book Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons. Bollier argues that commons are neither relics of the past …

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From Limp Bizkit to Reality TV: How 1999 Changed Everything 57:42

2M ago57:42

57:42

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This week, Ross Benes joins us to talk about his book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. From Limp Bizkit and Jerry Springer to reality TV and pro wrestling, Benes reveals how the trashy entertainmen…

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Rabble Evan Henshaw-Plath: How Network Protocols Enable Digital Commons & Open Marrkets 57:42

2M ago57:42

57:42

Evan Henshaw-Plath, better known as Rabble, is a pioneering programmer for social media platforms and decentralized technologies. Here, Rabble explains how network protocols are critical infrastructure for enabling -- or impeding -- commons and open markets, not to mention privacy, free speech, and community control. Their ambition is a future in w…

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Russell Shorto on the Origins of New York & Chris Pavone’s Thriller of Class, Money, and Morality 1:06:22

2M ago1:06:22

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Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform Episode Summary This week on Writer’s Voice, we explore New York from two perspectives: its dramatic colonial origins and its modern-day extremes. First, historian Russell Shorto reveals the pivotal moment when Manhattan shifted from Dutch to English hands—and …

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Exposing Hidden Agendas: Will Potter on Factory Farm Secrecy & Project Censored on Press Freedom Under Siege 1:15:25

2M ago1:15:25

1:15:25

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform Episode Summary Today, a double episode on press freedom under siege. Investigative journalist and author Will Potter joins us to talk about Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, from Farm to Fable. It’s a powerful exposé of how the agriculture industry attacks j…

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Michael German on POLICING WHITE SUPREMACY: THE ENEMY WITHIN 57:48

3M ago57:48

57:48

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform Episode Summary In this episode of Writer’s Voice, former FBI agent, scholar, and author Michael German discusses his explosive book Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within. German, who infiltrated white supremacist and right-wing militia groups during his F…

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Lizzie Wade on APOCALYPSE: What Collapse Reveals About Human Possibility 57:25

3M ago57:25

57:25

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform Episode Summary On this episode of Writer’s Voice, we speak with science journalist Lizzie Wade about her groundbreaking book Apocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futures. Through stories of ancient climate collapse, pandemic uphe…

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Gustavo Salas of Cecosesola: Prioritizing Commoning in a World of Capitalist Markets 32:59

3M ago32:59

32:59

Gustavo Salas describes the remarkable culture of commoning at Cecosesola, a federation of 30 rural and urban cooperatives in Venezuela that serves hundreds of thousands of people with fresh produce, healthcare, funerary services, and many other goods and services. Cecosesola's priority is to create spaces of trust, togetherness, and self-improveme…

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Retreat, Resilience & Return: Jess Walter on SO FAR GONE and Marguerite Holloway on TAKE TO THE TREES 58:13

3M ago58:13

58:13

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform Episode Summary On this episode of Writer’s Voice, two authors share stories of retreat and re-engagement in a world unraveling. First, novelist Jess Walter talks about So Far Gone, a gripping, darkly funny, and deeply moving novel about Rhys Kinnick—a retired …

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Laura Lippman on MURDER TAKES A VACATION: Art, Age, and a Woman’s Right to Reinvent Herself 57:03

3M ago57:03

57:03

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This week: Grandmaster of crime fiction Laura Lippman joins us to talk about her delightful new mystery, Murder Takes a Vacation. The novel brings back Muriel “Mrs.” Blossom—now a wealthy, single woman in her sixties—on a river cruise where art…

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AI, Autocracy, and Afterlife: Sci Fi Novelists Ray Nayler & Tim Weed 59:13

4M ago59:13

59:13

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This week on Writer’s Voice, two authors of speculative fiction explore what it means to be human in a world shaped by crisis, autocracy, and extinction. First, Ray Nayler discusses Where the Axe is Buried, a gripping novel that imagines a futu…

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Laura Spinney & Tonya Todd on Language, Myth & Resistance 1:05:47

4M ago1:05:47

1:05:47

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary In this episode of Writer’s Voice, we explore how language shapes history—and how stories shape culture. We first speak with Laura Spinney, author of Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global. She takes us into the world of Proto-Indo-Europea…

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Jack Kloppenburg on Sharing Seeds in a World of Proprietary Agriculture 45:07

4M ago45:07

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Jack Kloppenburg has been a leading figure in the fight to protect seed-sharing commons over the past forty years. It's a struggle that began in the 1980s as large ag-biotech companies have sought to make seeds privately owned and proprietary using all sorts of legal, technological, and market restrictions. Kloppenburg has been a professor at the U…

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The New Face of Homelessness: Brian Goldstone on THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US 57:28

4M ago57:28

57:28

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary This week: journalist Brian Goldstone joins us to talk about his powerful new book, There Is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America. It’s an eye-opening, deeply reported portrait of families who work full-time yet are unhoused, naviga…

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Jennifer Haigh on RABBIT MOON and L. Annette Binder on CHILD OF EARTH AND STARRY HEAVEN 59:02

4M ago59:02

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Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary Novelist Jennifer Haigh joins us to talk about Rabbit Moon, her atmospheric and emotionally complex novel set in Shanghai. It follows an estranged American family reuniting after a tragedy—and a daughter living a secret life abroad. “Writing is…

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Kingdoms Lost & Myths Undone: Dolen Perkins-Valdez on HAPPY LAND and Nancy Reddy on THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH 58:22

5M ago58:22

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Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Episode Summary In this episode of Writer’s Voice, we speak with two authors who excavate buried truths and challenge dominant cultural narratives. Dolen Perkins-Valdez discusses her historical novel Happy Land, inspired by a real African American community fo…

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Tom Llewellyn on the Many, Innovative Spheres of Organized Sharing 37:38

5M ago37:38

37:38

Tom Llewellyn, Executive Director of Shareable, describes the countless varieties of organized sharing that it supports through its journalism, organizing, and partnerships. In recent years, Shareable has helped amplify the work of mutual aid networks, expand the Libraries of Things concept, championed new forms of urban commoning, and develop new …

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Commoning within Arts Collectives, Episode #61 53:23

6M ago53:23

53:23

What are some of the distinctive ways that precarious arts collectives share resources, support each other, and make art? This episode hears from artists' collectives in three countries to learn how they organize their commoning practices. The three collectives are the "-" (dash) collective in Iran (with an artist who goes by the pseudonym "M" for …

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David Bollier on His New, Updated Edition of 'Think Like a Commoner' 39:59

7M ago39:59

39:59

Radio Kingston host and executive director Jimmy Buff interviews David Bollier about his new, updated and revised edition of 'Think Like a Commoner,' originally published in 2014. This popular introduction now includes material on the commons as a living, relational organism, bioregionalism and the relocalization of economies, governance of digital…

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Asymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Samuel Bollier 26:54

7M ago26:54

26:54

Ever think of running away from mundane existence to join the circus? Imagine if, one day, after watching the circus, the circus director comes over to recruit you for an unusual role in the spectacle and pageantry you have just witnessed. This is what happens in Jurj Salem’s “At the Circus” from our Winter 2025 […]…

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Future Natures: On Seeing Commons through Popular Genres 36:07

8M ago36:07

36:07

Anthropologist Amber Huff, coordinator of the Centre for Future Natures at the University of Sussex in England, explains how popular genres like comic books, zines, social media, podcasts, and video, among others, can illuminate contemporary commons, enclosures, and the disorienting crises of capitalist modernity. What does this moment of crisis an…

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Pirate Care as a Revolutionary Act: Valeria Graziano & Tomislav Medak 43:31

9M ago43:31

43:31

Pirate Care is a term used to describe creative, public acts that challenge the "organized abandonment" of people in need. In the tradition of civil disobedience, pirate care activists intervene to show compassion and social solidarity for ordinary people. Pirate Care also highlights how the state, markets, or patriarchal families have politicized …

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Yuria Celidwen on Applying Indigenous Wisdom Traditions to Modern Challenges 49:40

10M ago49:40

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Yuria Celidwen, an Indigenous researcher in the Department of Psychology at University of California Berkeley, discusses how contemplative practices in Indigenous traditions can expand mindfulness, heartfulness, compassion, and planetary flourishing. Her new book, 'Flourishing Kin: Indigenous Foundations for Collective Well-Being,' argues that rela…

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Zoe Gilbertson on Bioregional Fibersheds & New Fashion Commons 44:33

11M ago44:33

44:33

Zoe Gilbertson is a British fashion ecologist who is re-imagining the fashion industry from the ground up, literally. In an effort to curb the ecological harms of fast fashion, global supply chains, and relentless consumption of clothes, Gilbertson is figuring how fiber crops like hemp and flax could be grown bioregionally to produce textiles and, …

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Stefan Gruber's Global Portfolio of Urban Commons 42:36

12M ago42:36

42:36

Stefan Gruber, a Carnegie Mellon University professor of architecture and urbanism, sees cities as a prime site of struggle between capitalism and commons, and therefore an important incubator of just, regenerative, self-determined communities that move beyond the market/state paradigm. The traveling international exhibit, 'An Atlas of Commoning,' …

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Brandon Letsinger on Cascadia and Bioregional Activism 53:07

1y ago53:07

53:07

Brandon Letsinger, a Seattle organizer and cofounding director of the Cascadia Department of Bioregion, discusses the history of bioregional activism in Cascadia and current challenges and strategies. Cascadia consists of three watersheds in the Pacific Northwest extending from British Columbia to northern California. For more than 40 years, Cascad…

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Asymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Jamal Saeed 26:42

1y ago26:42

26:42

Join us today for a heartfelt conversation with exiled Syrian author Jamal Saeed, author of the 2022 autobiography My Road from Damascus (ECW Press, Toronto). Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak recently sat down with Saeed, now based in Canada, to discuss his devastating short story, a highlight of our recent Summer 2024 edition. Written amidst the ongo…

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Bram Büscher: Bridging the Human/Nature Divide through Convivial Conservation 51:32

1y ago51:32

51:32

Bram Büscher, an activist-scholar in sociology at Wageningen University in The Netherlands, has launched an ambitious international project to invent noncapitalist forms of land conservation. He calls it "convivial conservation." Instead of locking up land as wilderness or using it to make money through ecotourism and genetic patents, "convivial co…

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Asymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Dan Beachy-Quick 39:58

1y ago39:58

39:58

To American poet and translator Dan Beachy-Quick, translations of Greek poets from the lyric and philosophical traditions are an opportunity to “use the eye to break apart the mind and remind us that we have a mouth to sing another’s song.” In this new Asymptote podcast episode, Beachy-Quick and Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak discuss the ongoing res…

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Safouan Azouzi: Lessons of Desert Oases for Eco-Resilient Transformation 49:46

1+ y ago49:46

49:46

Safouan Azouzi, a Tunisian scholar of the commons and participatory social design, discusses how cultural traditions in desert oases hold important socio-ecological lessons for the world. For the Global South, long victimized by colonialism and capitalist extraction, oases culture embodies an eco-friendly, alternative vision of development. For the…

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Camila Vergara's Vision of Plebeian Constitutionalism 53:28

1+ y ago53:28

53:28

Chilean political philosopher Camila Vergara boldly argues in her book 'Systemic Corruption' that decay and corruption are inevitable even in liberal, representative systems because oligarchs end up capturing state governance and law. Ordinary people rarely have their own plebeian institutions to express their interests and curb the abuses of the e…

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Asymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Matthew Landrum on Faroese Writer Anna Malan Jógvansdóttir 25:04

1+ y ago25:04

25:04

In today’s thrilling conversation with author and translator Matthew Landrum, Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak explores the compelling poetry of Anna Malan Jógvansdóttir and the renaissance of Faroese literature as spotlighted in Asymptote’s Spring issue. Nine Faroese authors from multiple generations are represented in our Special Feature organized i…

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Cooking Sections Serves Up Art, Eco-Activism & Local Food 47:00

1+ y ago47:00

47:00

The artistic duo known as Cooking Sections -- Alon Schwabe and Daniel Fernández Pascual of the Royal College of Art in London -- use their virtuoso visual, performance, and installation artworks to jolt people into new understanding of local ecosystems, capitalism, and food. Their work, shown at prestigious venues around the world to great acclaim,…

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Asymptote Podcast: Nabokov and the Butterflies

1+ y ago

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The third Asymptote Podcast episode for 2024 explores a chapter in the life of Vladimir Nabokov during his time in the United States (where he became a citizen in 1945). With his spouse, Vera, and son, Dimitri, he travelled across the America West at the dawn of the mid-nineteenth century. It’s estimated that Nabokov chalked […]…

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Nathan Schneider on Building Democratic Governance on the Internet 50:18

1+ y ago50:18

50:18

To counter the "implicit feudalism" that is the norm on the Internet, activist-scholar Nathan Schneider explains the potential of democratic governance in online life and its importance to "real world" democracy. A professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, Schneider argues that "online spaces could be sites of creative, radi…

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Asymptote Podcast: In Conversation with Kristin Vego

1+ y ago

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In the second podcast episode centering on contributors to Asymptote’s landmark 50th issue, Danish-Norwegian author Kristin Vego joins Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak in conversation. Her story, “All Things Lovely,” as translated by Jennifer Russell, represents her debut in the English language. Vego’s story also arrives at a moment when Norwegian li…

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WIll Ruddick on 'Commitment Pooling' to Build Economic Commons 52:00

1+ y ago52:00

52:00

Will Ruddick, development economist and founder of Grassroots Economics, has spent the past 16 years in Kenya developing innovative "community inclusion currencies" for dozens of poorer communities. By combining ancient mutual aid practices with credit vouchers (circulating as a kind of money) and digital ledger technologies (to expand the scale of…

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Asymptote Podcast: In Conversation with David Unger

1+ y ago

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Esteemed translator David Unger joins our new Podcast Editor Vincent Hostak for a conversation with readings of the poetry of Jaime Barrios Carillo. Born in Guatemala City in 1954 and living in Stockholm since 1981, Carrillo is known principally as a writer and columnist. His Two Poems from the Spanish Language volume Ángeles sin dios (Angels Witho…

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Kathryn Milun: Sharing the Sun's Energy through Solar Commons 42:25

1+ y ago42:25

42:25

Kathryn Milun, a community-engaged scholar, writer, and energy democracy advocate at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, has spent the past 15 years developing the innovative Solar Commons model. This powerful prototype uses decentralized solar arrays to generate steady revenue streams to build community wealth. Through partnership agreements, fou…

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Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann's Project to Reimagine Economics Education 40:11

1+ y ago40:11

40:11

Appalled by the dismal state of economics education for young people, Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann, an international secondary school educator, has launched an open, collaborative project to develop a comprehensive Regenerative Economics syllabus. Instead of framing "the economy" as a growth-obsessed machine standing apart from society and nature,…

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Aaron Perzanowski on Bottom-up Creativity & the Right to Repair 51:04

2y ago51:04

51:04

Professor Aaron Perzanowski of the University of Michigan Law School explains how many artistic communities flourish as commons, without copyright protections that privilege private ownership and marketization. Tattoo artists, fashion designers, chefs, and stand-up comedians are among the communities that don't strictly own their primary creative w…

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Shane O'Donnell: The Breakthrough Insulin Device Developed by Commoners 41:09

2y ago41:09

41:09

Shane O'Donnell, a sociologist and researcher, has been at the forefront of the "device activism" and #WeAreNotWaiting movement, a globe-spanning community of techies and people living with diabetes who have pioneered patient-led innovations in medical devices and healthcare. Outflanking a stodgy, risk-averse medical device industry, the movement h…