Philanthropy and Democracy: A Fragile Balance

“Whenever anybody with that level of wealth and power moves money into an opaque system, we should wave our red democracy flag, and say, ‘However virtuous they may be, we want to hold you to a higher standard’."

Patagonia’s September 2022 decisions to make ‘Earth’ the company’s only shareholder made headlines around the world.

So perhaps understandably, it wasn’t long before commentators began to scrutinise the details of the announcement.

Was it all just an elaborate tax dodge? What are the ethical implications of billionaire philanthropy on this scale?

And where does The Announcement sit within the context of the long history of corporate philanthropy?

The Announcement is a new three-part podcast documentary series from Looking Sideways, hosted by Matt Barr.

Episode 3 will be released on Monday January 27th.

For bonus and behind-the-scenes material, click here.

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