GND Media

If there is one thing to be said about the last 40 years of Neoliberalism it's this. You can put a price on everything. If it can be quantified then it can be priced and sold. Even when it comes to the existential threat of climate breakdown and biodiversity destruction the strategy has been give it a price tag and then someone in the system can pay for the damage.  Existence has turned into a game of who will pick up the insurance policy excess.  Does the commodification of everything give us the tools to tackle climate change? Or are we green washing are way extinction?This week we are joined on the show by Adrienne Buller (@adribuller) Senior Research Fellow at Common Wealth. We discuss how green finance is a cover for some of the markets ecological sins, could UBS be a pathway out climate breakdown and how should the labour party  define its self, now the tories have supposedly become the big spenders?Adriennes' article on attaching market value to life https://novaramedia.com/2020/10/16/whats-the-value-of-a-whale/Dealing with the commodification of housing.https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/charting-a-just-and-sustainable-recovery-for-scotlandGoverning the Commons by Elinor Ostrumhttps://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/political-theory/governing-commons-evolution-institutions-collective-action-1?format=PBProgressive International https://progressive.international/wire/2020-12-02-common-wealth-to-makeamazonpay-reimagine-the-platform-economy/enShout OutsThe Standsted 15, here's a short film on their story. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/stansted-15-tell-their-story-through-filmSophie Yeo - @some_yeohttps://inkcap.substack.com/the Yard @theyard_mcr a fantastic venue/co working space in North Manchesterhttps://theyardmcr.com/Luca Rudlin- Amazing Videographer, editor and all round amazing dude@People_StaringIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

We find degrowth fascinating. For us as a show it really turns the world upside on what we should see a human progress. However, you'll be hard pressed to find its message front and center of any political parties commitments unlike the Green New Deal.  So are these ideas compatible? Can parties stand on a platform of Degrowth? Or is political hope too tied to the idea of growth?This week we are joined by Riccardo Mastini (@r_mastini) to discuss how the concept of degrowth fits inside a Green New Deal, the ideological frame work of Growth, is Modern Monetary Theory a boon for degrowthers? And are humans intrinsically good people?Shout outsThe Trouble Webzine on eco-socialism https://www.the-trouble.com/@thetroublemagPositive Money@PositiveMoneyUKThe tragedy of Growth https://positivemoney.org/publications/tragedy-of-growth/Common Wealth- think tank specialising in new ownership models.@CmmonwealthRetrofit Get in project Articles Mancehster Meteor @nickjwprescotthttps://themeteor.org/2020/11/12/theatre-workers-tackle-the-climate-crisis/The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/22/manchester-theatre-staff-upgrade-homes-covid-layoffs-retrofitting-schemeIssac Rose from GM Housing Action@_isaacrose@gmhousingactionCraft-D @Craft_DA letter to Corbynhttps://ditto.fm/letter-to-corbynIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

For decades, we were told that individual action was the best way to tackle the climate crisis. If only we would stop using plastic bags and straws, while taking care to recycle, through behavioural change we could prevent climate change. Yet the rise of XR and the school climate strikers, and their clarion call “system change not climate change”, suggests climate breakdown is an economic crisis rather than a moral dilemma. To fight against climate change is to fight against capitalism. But if we want to fight the good fight, first we must understand how capitalism works. Joining us on the podcast this week is Professor of Socio-legal Studies at the University of Liverpool, Professor David Whyte. We discuss David Whyte’s new book, ‘Ecocide: Kill the Corporation Before it Kills Us’, in which David makes the case that we must rid ourselves of the profit-making corporation altogether. We delve into the architecture and history of corporate capitalism, the shortcomings of regulatory approaches to curbing the corporation’s ecocidal tendencies, and the complex role played by organised labour in fighting climate breakdown and international injustice.LinksDavid's book Ecocide: Kill the Corporation before it kills ushttps://bit.ly/36WZ4F6Green Peace oil and gas worker surveyhttps://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Oil-Gas-Workers-Report-Final-Web.pdfShout outsTina Louise Rothery-  Anti fracking activistAnne Roy- David's mentor and colleagueAll the people who love or live with people with learning disabilities in particular @SEND_Action and Liz CrowConrad Bower- Editor of the meteor @ConradBower1If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

www.retrofitgetinproject.comIt's been a pretty rough year to put it mildly. A planet ravaged by a pandemic and incompetent governance being the order of the day, hope has been hard to find. Politics has been listless at best. But being a member of the Labour Party isn't about waiting around for a CLP to tell you to go canvassing, it's not about waiting for a just government it's about taking on injustice and supporting each other. So instead of waiting for orders from on high, we got to work. The Retrofit Get-in Project is a scheme setup by  our own resident producer Andrew Glassford and Red Co-op (@RedCooperative) to support theatre and live events workers.  The project takes the multi-skilled talents of theatre workers and puts them to use tackling the climate crisis by retrofitting homes. The Retrofit Get-in Project provides good green jobs to a sector that is on its knees.  This week we welcome back Charlie Baker from Red Co-op and give a warm welcome to Rebecca Slack one of the workers on the project. Support the show

Note: This episode was recorded before the results of the U.S election were published. How do we define the success of a city? Or a country? Or human civilisation all together? The last 60 years we've been tied to GDP, growth, trade surpluses, amounts of debt, the strength of currency. Economic strength has been the barometer for the majority of the world to look to when we want to know how we're doing. If stock and shares are high surely there can't be any problems? When an economy bifurcates massively between the haves and the have nots,  and to become a haver you need to extract from the environment considerably, measures of economic superiority really start to miss the point. So what's the alternative? Joining us on the podcast this week is Professor Julia Steinberger ( @JKSteinberger). Julia is a Professor in social ecology and ecological economics at l'Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and is currently working on the next IPCC report on climate change . We discuss the links between consumption and capitalist affluence, how epicurean philosophy has informed economics of the past 50 years and the balancing act of extraction for a greener future. Shout outsCouncillor Jon Burke@jonburkeUKMarcus Rashford@MarcusRashfordSwiss campaign for corporate accountability **LINKS**Scientists warning on affluence (co-authored by Julia)https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16941-yThe Flawed science of deep adaptation https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/faulty-science-doomism-and-flawed-conclusions-deep-adaptation/Support the show

As a blanket statement, Left politics is about establishing and maintaining mass movements, thousands hopefully millions of people into a cohesive group to fight back against concentration of power in the world.  At the same time left wing politics is classically factious with splinter groups and offshoots starting regularly.  Looking into a different sphere in 2011, 59 million people saw them selves as Christians in the UK.  So what is religion getting so right that maybe we're getting wrong? What do Christians in the U.K think about climate change? And what do they want to do about it? This week we are joined by Reverend Grace Thomas (@GraceREThomas) from Moss side to discuss, building communities, the christian approach to climate change and was Jesus really a socialist?Shout outsInspired by grace blakeley's new podcast A World to Win, where she recently interviewed Cornell West on Christian Socialism.  https://tribunemag.co.uk/a-world-to-win Cornel West @CornelWestGrace Blakeley @graceblakeleyGreater Manchester Savers network @GMSaversMoss Side Eco Squad@moss_side_ecoUpping it@UppingItHannah Malcom - researching climate greif@hannahmmalcolmChristian Climate Action @CClimateActionPrestwich Environmental Forum@PrestwichForumIncredible edible@IEPrestwichIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

After a technical hitch (some say Andrew tried to turn his whole house carbon zero with just a mirror and a kettle), we are back delivering high quality low carbon local environmental news! This week we are joined by members from the campaign to save Ryebank Fields, an area of re-wilded land in south Manchester. Julie and Tara talk us through the work that themselves and there comrades have been doing to stop Manchester Metropolitan University from developing the land and destroying the  green field site. We discuss the rare biodiversity in the area, the history of the land and if the arguments for housing stack up against  saving city ecology. https://www.saveryebankfields.org/"Shout outs"Dave Bishop- chair of Friends of Chorlton MeadowsYouth Strike for Climate Manchester @Youthstrikemcr research on rewilding to sequester CO2 by Rio de Janeiro University https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2784-9Cambridge zero carbon campaign@ZeroCarbonSoc   Marion Smith and Pooja Kishinani of Climate Emergency Manchester have developed a students guide to the climate crisis https://climateemergencymanchester.net/student-climate-handbook/@poojakishinani@GoGoSuperMarionIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

City councils don't often get the same attention as the national political movers. Important decisions are still being made though when it comes to our environment and the impact we  have on it. In hopefully the first of 96 interviews with Greater Manchester City Councillors we will delve into the heart of local politics and see what those who sit in power think about the climate emergency,  the repercussions of our actions on the climate and what our elected representatives at a local level think the city can do to save us from environmental collapse. This is an exercise in good faith and activists listening to the problems our representatives face. Joining us this week is Sam Wheeler, Labour Councillor for Piccadilly ward. Focusing on his patch, the city centre,  we discuss the history of Manchester council, how to allocate carbon produced across the region and does Manchester need a 7th climate scrutiny committee?If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

Get involved with the Retrofit Get-in Project https://vimeo.com/459003183The Green New Deal has been around for just over a decade, with it's origins beginning in the U.K. It made it's first big splash in the US with the likes of AOC and Bernie Sanders calling for the fundamental decarbonising of the US economy and economic justice for all citizens. The support for the GND and these candidates doesn't come from wall street but a ever growing grass roots campaign that wants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to be for all Americans. This week we are joined by Guido Girgenti from the Sunrise Movement & the Justice Democrats (@guidogir) to discuss how the GND plays in in US politics, How do you organise in such a large nation, how to appeal to young voters and people Bernies age and what work progressives have to do if Joe Biden wins the presidential election. linksSunrise Movement https://www.sunrisemovement.org/We shine Bright- New book by the Sunrise Movement https://bookshop.org/books/winning-the-green-new-deal-why-we-must-how-we-can/9781982142438Gabriel Wienant Chronopoliticshttps://nplusonemag.com/issue-37/politics/coronavirus-and-chronopolitics-2/Swarm wise by Rick Falkvinge https://falkvinge.net/files/2013/04/Swarmwise-2013-by-Rick-Falkvinge-v1.1-2013Sep01.pdfShout outJamall Bowman running for New York 16th district@JamaalBowmanNYLouie Beckett running the Moston miners community centerProgressive International and Pawel Wargan@ProgIntlManchester Green Summit@GMGreenCity Our retrofit projecthttps://vimeo.com/459003183If you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show

Apologies for some of a the audio quality, will be back on form next week.Over August bank holiday and early September Extinction Rebellion lead protests and direct actions in major cities in the U.K with the most news grabbing being the obstruction of printing presses outside Liverpool and London. How has this round of protests influenced the fight against climate breakdown and where is the movement going?This week we are joined again by XR Manchester member Lizzy and Joel to debrief on the actions. We discuss how are police tactics changing towards XR? How has COVID disrupted their acts of disruption, the realities and impacts of direct action on ourselves  and what the movement needs to do in the future. Links Reset Paper https://reset-uk.org/Shout outsDianne Abbot@HackneyAbbottGreater Manchester Savers@GMSaversPalestine action @Pal_actionUS firefighters tackling the climate wildfires of the west coast@CAL_FIREIf you like the show tell your comrades!Find us on Twitter:@MCRGND_PODInsta: ManchestergndpodFB:MCRGNDPODSupport the show