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Rebecca Burns, journalist at the investigative news outlet The Lever, discusses her reporting on extensive lobbying efforts to hold up legislation which would require companies to disclose all of their greenhouse gas emissions. In a recent report, she details how the same lobbyists who seek to derail progressive climate legislation in California are also getting paid by counties and cities along the California coast to deal with the impact of coastal erosion and fires.

Dr. Asoka Bandarage is an adjunct professor at the California Institute for Integral Studies and the author of a new book, Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World. Sri Lanka has had a minuscule carbon footprint, and yet the country is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, coastal erosion, and flooding. She discusses the convergence of existential climate and debt crises in Sri Lanka, the latter resulting from IMF debt restructuring and the lack of a globally coordinated multilateral sovereign debt mechanism that places traditional and private lenders on an equal footing.

Widespread corruption in Lebanon is fostered by the country's ruling class, whose business interests are enmeshed with those of international finance. Nadim Houry, executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative, explains how Lebanon's culture of political impunity is tied to the reconstruction agreements put in place in 1990, at the end of the 15-year civil war. The ongoing political deadlock shields the authorities from scrutiny and allows for vulture capitalists such as the former governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, Riad Salameh, to embezzle the country's resources. At the same time, ordinary people are faced with crushing inflation.

Justin Joque, visualization librarian at the University of Michigan and author of Revolutionary Mathematics: Artificial Intelligence, Statistics, and the Logic of Capitalism, explores the impact of algorithms on financial systems and discusses the consequences of relying on digital systems for decision-making. He delves into the differences between frequentist and Bayesian statistical models, examines capitalist realism and its limitations, and highlights the history and use of statistical models in relation to capital.

Matin Qaim, Director of the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn, discusses the challenges of achieving food security amidst disruptions caused by the pandemic, rising inflation, and failed grain deals. He highlights the importance of small-scale farming, agroecological approaches, and appropriate technology for supporting smallholder farmers.

Jomo K.S. warns U.S. policies are driving the world towards war and depression, leaving developing countries with a strong vested interest to reconvene a new non-aligned movement and strengthen democratic institutions of global governance. Lynn Fries interviews Jomo K.S. on GPEnewsdocs.

The Australien Government made an ad about its bid to host the 2026 UN Climate Summit (COP31) with the Pacific, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative. This video was originally published by The Juice Media on August 1, 2023.

Fernando Villavicencio, who was running for president of Ecuador on an anti-corruption platform, was assassinated in broad daylight on August 9th. Who stands to benefit from the assassination, and what does this mean for the upcoming August 20th presidential election? Joe Emersberger, a long-time analyst of Ecuadoran politics, discusses the situation.

Oppenheimer warned of a world with an unrestrained nuclear arms race on the edge of catastrophe. We are there, says Matt Korda of the Federation of American Scientists. Hosted by Paul Jay.

Russian anti-war activist Boris Kagarlitsky has been charged with supporting "terrorism" and faces years in prison. Katrina vanden Heuvel, who has known Boris for decades, says whatever your views, people should demand the charges be dropped.