Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration

“When it comes to refrigeration, so many of us have just come to accept that that’s how things are done. But I think in the food sovereignty conversation, those dependencies can sometimes be overlooked when we’re talking about what it means to become sovereign.” In this episode, we welcome Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart (Kanaka Maoli), who is Assistant Professor of Native and Indigenous Studies at Yale University. An interdisciplinary scholar, she researches and teaches on issues of settler colonialism, environment, and Indigenous sovereignty. Her first book, Cooling the Tropics: Ice, Indigeneity, and Hawaiian Refreshment is a recipient of the press’s Scholars of Color First Book Award. Some of the topics we explore in this conversation include the symbolism of ice and shaved ice in Hawai’i, the establishment of the cold chain as an integral part of the global food system, provocations about the anthropocentric desire to control ambient temperatures, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode Tear Down The Wall by Forest Veil. The episode-inspired artwork is by Haruka Aoki.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today! GreenDreamer.com/support

“Our economies globally have forced the Global South to be commodity-driven, export countries, with powerful multinationals. [The] profits that come from the exploitation of countries in the Global South flow to the Global North. As I say, imperialism is as alive today as it was then.” In this episode, we welcome Asad Rehman, the Executive Director of the radical anti-poverty and social justice organisation War on Want. Asad is a leading climate justice activist whose work has helped to reframe the climate crisis as a crisis of neoliberal capitalism, inequality, and racism. Asad has led climate justice groups inside the UNFCCC process, and was co-founder of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, is currently coordinator of the Global Green New Deal Project and was also one of the founders of the COP26 Coalition. Over the last 35 years, he has worked with many social movements both globally and nationally including the anti-racist movement, the alter-globalisation movement, and the anti-war movement. (The musical offering featured in this episode Tear Down The Wall by Forest Veil. The episode-inspired artwork is by Carolina Altavilla.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today! GreenDreamer.com/support

“What [the plastiglomerate] really highlights is the fact that plastic is now so incredibly ubiquitous that it can’t be taken out or removed. It is, in fact, a part of geology at this point in time.” In this episode, we welcome Heather Davis, an assistant professor of Culture and Media at The New School in New York whose work draws on feminist and queer theory to examine ecology, materiality, and contemporary art in the context of settler colonialism. Her most recent book, Plastic Matter (Duke University Press, 2022), explores the transformation of geology, media, and bodies in light of plastic’s saturation. (The musical offering featured in this episode The Witness by Rowan Rain. The episode-inspired artwork is by Sophie Le Grelle.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today! GreenDreamer.com/support

"Poetry has always been a powerful space for healing, dealing with trauma, cultivating resilience in times of crisis or even depression..." In this episode, we welcome Dr. Craig Santos Perez, an indigenous CHamoru from the Pacific Island of Guam. He is the co-editor of six anthologies and the author of five books of poetry and the monograph Navigating CHamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization. He is a professor in the English department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Some topics we explore in this conversation include a glimpse into the recent history of Guam and its Pacific Islander communities, the challenges of demilitarization and de-nuclearization amidst the global empires’ endless pursuit of domination, using poetry as political speech and literary therapy, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode Eye of the storm by Ali Dineen. The episode-inspired artwork is by Sneha.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without the direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today: GreenDreamer.com/support

Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen, a Ph.D. specializing in the History of Religions and Brazilian orisha traditions, delves into the intersection of mythology and ecology. He discusses how Nordic modernity and nationalism have sidelined animist practices, advocating for a reclamation of cultural heritage. The conversation explores how myths can foster emotional connections to nature amidst the climate crisis and critiques the impact of nationalism on traditional knowledge. Rasmussen also highlights the importance of inclusive cultural initiatives and the resurgence of animism for sustainable Earth stewardship.

“Story helps us weave ourselves into the land and feel a sense of wonder and awe when we step outside. This re-mythologizing, restorying to me is a really important way that we can find belonging to places from which we would otherwise perhaps feel quite alienated.” In this episode, we welcome Dr. Sharon Blackie, an award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of myth, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today. Some of the topics we explore in this conversation include how the eco-heroine's journey offers more life-enhancing and community-centered visions for our paths forward, embracing menopause and elderhood as liberating and alchemical, what it means to re-enchant our lives with mythology to find belonging in place, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode is Power by India Blue. The episode-inspired artwork is by Sabrina Gevaerd.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without the direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today: GreenDreamer.com/support

"In many cases, corporations are using [the museum's cultural capital] to reaffirm their status in a local community... Artists are increasingly concerned about the context in which their work is displayed and also the values of the museum and the sponsor." In this episode, we revisit our past conversation with Mark Rectanus, a University Professor of German Studies (Emeritus) in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University. His publications include research on the German publishing industry, the book and electronic media, contemporary German literature, corporate sponsorships, cultural politics, museum studies, and contemporary art. His most recent book is Museums Inside Out: Artist Collaborations and New Exhibition Ecologies. Some of the topics we explore in this conversation include the influence of corporate funding on art and culture, what it might mean to decolonize museums in spite of many of their troubled pasts, how artist-activists have been shifting the politics of art from within, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode is Black Moss by Johanna Warren.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without the direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today: GreenDreamer.com/support

“So-called ‘development’, envisioned outside of the community, more often than not brings challenges to the community because it doesn't take into consideration the aspirations, the culture, and the way of life of the people. It disregards the right of the people to self-determination. More than anything, it destroys the ecosystem of goods and services that people are reliant on.” In this episode, we welcome Sinegugu Zukulu, who describes himself as a champion of rural development, having worked all his life to promote development that directly benefits rural people. He works in community development in the Wild Coast, focusing on ecotourism development, agriculture and youth empowerment. It is Sinegugu’s work and life purpose to advocate for rural people living on communal land getting assistance to secure land tenure that supports their way of life without being pressured by imposed development. Some of the topics we explore in this conversation include resisting top-down, imposed visions of development, the integrative role of heavy metals within living landscapes, the Amadiba community's land defense against industrial mining and oil drilling, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode is Hummingbird by Lea Thomas. The episode-inspired artwork is by Luise Hesse.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without the direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today: GreenDreamer.com/support

"If you're looking at the broad trajectory of corporate capitalism, it's towards institutional intermediation in everything... This 'unbanked' concept is always presented as if somehow it obviously represents a step up in the world. But [really], you're getting captured within an institutional framework or a type of conglomeration of institutions." In this Green Dreamer episode, we welcome Brett Scott, a journalist, campaigner, monetary anthropologist and former financial broker. He is the author of Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto and the War for our Wallets (2022), and The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance (2013). He publishes the Altered States of Monetary Consciousness newsletter and tweets as @suitpossum. Some of the topics we explore in this conversation include how the banking sector functions to extract and centralize financial wealth, the questionable presumptions behind "financial inclusion," how the cash system might ironically serve as a constraint to corporate capitalism, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode is The Witness by Rowan Rain. The episode-inspired artwork is by Carolina Altavilla.) Green Dreamer would not be possible without the direct support from our listeners. Help us keep the show alive by reciprocating a gift of any amount today: GreenDreamer.com/support

"To try and resolve the environmental problems that we're facing from within the same ontological and epistemological frameworks that have created the problem just can't work. The Western world needs to be rethinking the way it approaches what it is to be a human being on this planet, and what relationships are important." In this episode, we welcome Dr. Christine Winter (Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngati Pākeha), who is a senior lecturer in environmental, climate change, multispecies and indigenous politics. Her research focuses on the ways in which academic political theory, and particularly theories of justice, continue to perpetuate injustice for some people (and more specifically for Māori) and the environment. Her most recent research centers on ensuring the emerging field of a political theory of multispecies justice should have decolonial (and anticolonial) foundations. Some of the topics we explore in this conversation include questioning the philosophies that underlie settler politics, reorienting towards multispecies and intergenerational justice to become good ancestors, moving beyond rights-based frameworks for protecting the more-than-human world, and more. (The musical offering featured in this episode is Eye of the storm by Ali Dineen. The episode-inspired artwork is by Sophie Le Grelle.) Support our in(ter)dependent show: GreenDreamer.com/support