GND Media

This podcast was recorded on the 25th of February 2021, before the introduction of the Police, Crime, sentencing and Courts Bill and the subsequent protests. This week we are joined by Labour MP for Norwich South Clive Lewis ( @labourlewis). We discuss climate politics and the Labour Party,  how to save British democracy and  does the left need proportional representation to succeed?  shout outsJames Meadway - @meadwajCheck out James recent episode on the podcast here- http://ow.ly/jcWQ50DMoY1Malcolm - Ads friend getting back on his feet. GMB  - @GMB_unionIWGB  @IWGBunionSupport the show

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a piece of breaking news.Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced that the city region will bring its bus network back under public control.  Finally Manchester will have the connected fair transport service it deserves! It’s a huge win for Manchester’s communities and commuters, but most of all, it’s a victory for Better Buses GM who have campaigned tirelessly for years to reform the bus network.On this bonus episode we welcome back Better Buses Greater Manchester campaigner Pascale Robinson (@PascaleRobinson). We talk through this hard fought victory, what happens next and take a brief moment to celebrate.Here's our orginal interview with Pascale last summer https://www.buzzsprout.com/919177/episodes/4818593Check out the Better Buses event on the 7th on how to win for your communityhttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-win-better-buses-for-our-communities-tickets-148318006149Read Pascales' piece in Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/03/greater-manchesters-public-buses-are-the-futureSupport the show

Peaceful protest could be seen as the hallmark of political movements in the late 20th and early 21st century, causing disruption to everyday life with mass gathering and turning the political headwind through chants, crowds and banners. From the Iraq War protests in 2003 to the Extinction Rebellion direct actions of 2019 turning the other cheek and love thy neighbour have been core tenants around a politics and respectability. The key questions is though, did they change anything? Does Capital listen to Labour without a threat? Our guest this week is author and associate lecturer at Lund University Andreas Malm. Andreas is a prolific writer on climate change and capitalism with titles including "Fossil Capital" Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency" and "White Skin Black Fuel". We discuss the sanitising of political and civil movements,  the strategic value of property destruction for a cause and combating climate despair and fatalism. LinksHow to blow up a Pipelinehttps://www.versobooks.com/books/3665-how-to-blow-up-a-pipelinekim stanley Robinsons' Ministry for the futurehttps://www.waterstones.com/book/the-ministry-for-the-future/kim-stanley-robinson/9780356508832Ende Gelaende- the climate activsts Andreas has worked withhttps://www.ende-gelaende.org/en/Shout outsEnde Gelande- climate activists based on germany taking on lignite mining @Ende__GelaendeLow Carbon Homes- for supporting the retrofit Get-in Project@lowcarbonhomesFriends of Carrington Moss- defending local green space in Greater Manchester@FriendsMossTrees not cars - Congrats on beating Manchester council on the building of a carpark@TreesNotCarsIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

Keir Starmer had been enjoying a grace period. New characters gave the media new exciting things to talk about and with that came the praising of a forensic  leader who could make Labour an electoral contender again. That sheen is beginning to wear off,  the popular policies of Labour are not front and center anymore and there is worry on the left of the party that the radical eco socialist agenda has been put to the wayside and a return to neoliberal economics could be on the cards. So what is the policy direction of Starmers Labour? Is our new Shadow Chancellor returning to the center and will it be enough to tackle the twin crises of climate breakdown and economic inequality. On the pod this week we are joined by James Meadway  (@meadwaj). James is an economist whos' previous work includes being the chief economist at the New Economic Foundation  and also advising John McDonnell.  We discuss if Starmer has abandoned popular Labour economic policy,  what Labour has to do to stay relevant against the pro spending Tories and how a Green New Deal has to be about more than just state control.Shout outManchester Bus drivers going on strike against Go north Wests fire and rehire program. @Unite_NorthWestDiem25, celebrating their 5th Birthday@DiEM_25Prestwich environmental Forum@PrestwichForumBig tech workers attempting to unionise like the amazon staff in Bessemer, Alabama. @BAmazonUnionSupport the show

Note: We interviewed Declan before the decision was taken by the Haldane society to censure Keir Starmer, we also had a few problems with Alexs mic! If you believe it's going to take a mass movement to stir humanity away from a climate disaster , you're probably going to want the Trade Union movement involved in that. Trade Unions have a long history of mobilising workers for their rights and that's the expertise we need right now.  This week on the show we are joined by Declan  Owens (@owens_declan)  for GMB for a Green New Deal.  We talk about securing a just transition for fossil fuel dependent workers, organising inside a union and what it takes to be a socialist lawyer. Shout outsFarhana Yamin-  lawyer and activist arrested at the shell XR action@farhanaclimateLydia Meryll - educator and climate activist for her stirling presentation on the U.Ns treaty on the proliferation of nuclear weapons.@lydia_meryll- Clive Lewis MP- for just being a legend.@labourlewisSupport the show

If you like the show  let us know!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPOD2021 is hurtling in the same direction as 2020,  crisis upon crisis upon crisis. That is not even mentioning the underlying behemoth that is climate breakdown.  With the globe shadowed in unimaginable loss how are we to process it? to find the fight to carry on? This week on the podcast we are joined by Marion Grace (@maz_graz) and Pooja Kishinani (@Poojakishinani) from Climate Emergency Manchester (CEM) to discuss their recently published book "The Student Guide to the Climate Crisis".  Marion and Pooja talk us through climate grief and the importance of understanding our emotions in regards the climate,  the University of Manchester's slow movement on climate and CEMs campaign for a 7th scrutiny committee on climate for the city council. The students guide to the climate crisis https://climateemergencymanchester.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Student-Climate-Handbook-Final-1.pdfShout outs. Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson@ayanaelizaDr Kathrine Wilkinson@DrKWilkinsonkindling trust@kindlingtrustLabour MP Olivia Blake@_OliviaBlakeLucas Clay@LTMClaySupport the show

If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODWe're back! Welcome to 2021 where the pandemic carries on the points don't matter! As long as Climate breakdown keeps happening we will keep talking and this week we are joined by the people who are down on the front line. Our guest this week is secretary of the Fire Brigades Union Matt Wrack (@MattWrack). We discuss the long left history of the FBU, what it's like taking on ever increasing natural disasters linked to climate change and what the trade union movement has to do to rebuild itself. Shout outsUnited Fire Fighters Union Australia dealing with bush fires this seasonhttps://www.facebook.com/ufuav.asn.auGMB gas worker who are striking against Fire and rehire contracts@GMB_unionGo fund me to support the workers https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/british-gas-strike-fundDavid Oliver @mancunianmedic for his clear and concise info on Covid and slapping down anti-vaxers and covid minimisers Sarah Wilson @sarahirwilson2 for her piece on rewilding Scotlandhttps://www.scotsman.com/interactive/rewilding-scotland-natural-ecosystemSupport the show

If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODIt's our Christmas special! We shoot the merry breeze and look back at the shows of 2020, picking our favourite guest of this year and line up our dream guests for 2021. Support the show

There is a sane man back in the White House, a Covid-19 vaccination is beginning to be rolled out and Bill Bailey won strictly, 2020 is really turning itself around. All that is left is to enact a Green New Deal that decarbonises the global powers and everything will be fine, right? As much as decarbonisation of the likes of the US and China is important, if getting to that point requires the global south to be metaphorically thrown under the bus is it even really a New Deal at all?   This week we are joined by Dr Leon Sealey Huggins (@Leon_Ayo) Assistant professor at Warwick University.  We discuss the racist underpinnings of capitalism, how international politics condemns the global south to a climate catastrophe and how do we design a Green New Deal that doesn't exploit those regions who are on the front lines of climate breakdown. LinksLeon's article on green capitalism https://novaramedia.com/2020/12/13/green-capitalism-will-never-succeed-in-tackling-climate-breakdown/Leon's paper "The Climate Crisis is a Racist Crisishttp://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/103485/13/WRAP-climate-crisis-racist-crisis-structural-racism-inequality-climate-change-VoR-Sealey-Huggins-2018.pdfClimate Justice activists Wretched of the Earth. A grassroots collective for Indigenous, black, brown & diaspora groups  demanding climate justice + in solidarity with  UK & Global South communities  @wretchedotearthShout OutsCOP26 Coalition . A coalition campaigning for COP26 to be built of a Climate Justice framework@COP26_CoalitionUNICEF- for feeding our children where the state fails to do so.@UNICEF_ukEveryone working hard to keep Ancoats green.Alan Good- campaigning for saving city center green field sites @AlanGoodLDSave New Islington Green@saveNIgreenTrees not Cars @TreesNotCarsSave Ryebank Fields@ryebankfieldsIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

**Apologies for some of the audio issues, Andrew had a night off**As the nights draw in and  the GND team snuggle up in our cozy, retrofitted, zero carbon  house of the future (powered entirely by the hot air supplied by Andrew) it's time for a catch up with the low traffic neighbourhood Santa Claus himself, Councillor Jon Burke of Hackney.This week we discuss the on going campaign to make Hackneys streets for people not just cars, the climate impacts of catering the world to cars and we debunk myths about low traffic neighbourhoods.Links Jons' article in the Huffington Post on electric vehicleshttps://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/electric-cars_uk_5fb64017c5b695be8300137cThe Hackney Citizen article on the journey from against to for LTNShttps://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2020/12/08/ltns-from-horror-to-acceptance/Shout outsClaire Stocks- XR and Walk Ride GM campaigner @stocksyatlargeChris Stark- chief exec at the Climate Change Committee (UK)@ChiefExecCCCScarlett West- Climate activist@ScarlettOWestAlice Toomer McAlpine - Manchester Meteor Co-editorIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show