Planet: Critical

Hamza Ali Shah, a British-Palestinian writer and journalist, discusses the lack of moral clarity surrounding the genocide in Gaza. Topics include the colonial roots of Israel's ethnic cleansing, failures of Arab state leaders, weaponization of ideology, and obfuscation of linguistic tricks that allow Israel to act with impunity. The podcast explores power dynamics in the Middle East, energy demands and power conflicts, settler violence, culture wars, and the exploitative nature of capitalism.

Guest Ketan Joshi, climate researcher and communications consultant, reveals the tactics used by the fossil fuel industry to delay energy transitions and the inequitable distribution of resources. Topics include greenwashing, climate denial, wealth's influence, sufficiency, deceptive actions of fossil fuel companies, challenges of transition, and the importance of activism.

Investigative journalist Matt Kennard discusses how corporations have created a shadow legal system to manipulate governments, the destructive impact of corporations on democracy, hidden systems and corporate influence, the power and influence of corporations in international venues, the revolving door between state and corporate world, corporate power and government relations in Tanzania and Colombia, the recent reshuffle in the Labour government, and the need for platforming ground voices.

Poet and political activist, lisa minerva luxx, discusses the dignity of the Palestinian people and their right to resist. The podcast explores the interconnectedness of liberation movements and solidarity, the complex conversation around violence and non-violence, and the importance of coalitions and resistance movements. It also delves into undoing power structures in the climate movement, land reclamation in Palestine, the humanization of resistance, and the concept of revolutionary love and localization.

Investigative journalist Jacob Goldberg exposes the UN's greenwashing of its climate neutrality claims. The UN performs no checks on the carbon credits it buys, linked to protest, rainforest destruction, and indigenous dispossession. The podcast explores the damaging effects of government subsidies, problems with carbon offsetting, corrupt deals, challenges in journalism, and the greenwashing of the Teles Pierce Dam in Brazil.

It’s one rule for Israel and her allies—another for everyone else.Israel’s allies can turn a blind eye to its genocide of Palestine—as long as some of the war crimes are denied. The settler state received unequivocal backing from the vast majority of Western leaders whilst it committed war crimes under the Geneva Convention, including cutting off electricity, water and food—everything the EU decried as war crimes when committed by Russia.On Tuesday night, a spokesperson for the Israeli government confirmed an Israeli airstrike hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza, killing 500 sick, wounded and refugees. But hours later, the statement was retracted and Israel began sowing doubt about the origins of the strike, pointing the finger at Palestinian Jihadis. Hamas denied the claim. Israel released footage showing the “misfiring rocket” but Twitter users pointed out the videos either had the wrong time stamp, or were clips from 2022. But by Thursday morning, Western journalists were running with the story that both sides were blaming the other—despite the fact that Israel had called the hospital and ordered it to evacuate because of planned strikes.Marc Owen Jones, Associate Professor at HBKU researching disinformation and digital authoritarianism joins me to explain how Israel weaponises doubt to allow its Western allies enough plausible deniability to continue staunchly supporting the regime, the West’s closest stronghold to the largest oil reserves in the world. Marc also explains the relationship between Israeli propaganda and Western media, revealing why so much coverage of what campaigners are calling a genocide against Palestinians only portrays Israel as the victim.Watch Bassem Youssef's amazing interview.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project by becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

“All of those sectors are rapidly changing and the incumbent industries in those sectors are going to collapse. This is being driven by economic dynamics. It's going to happen.”What if the only viable future is a better one?Whatever the future holds, one thing is certain: tomorrow’s world will not look like today’s. We could see fossil-fascism in which nations hoard their fossil reserves (coal and gas) for accelerated use at the expense of international collaboration. We could see eco-fascism after an unplanned recession which crashes the financial system and slashes demand. We could see a descent into madness in which we run out of fuel to heat, to eat, to survive.We could also see degrowth, eco-socialism, renewable sharing and governance reimagined to meet human rights. No, this isn’t utopia—it’s laid out in the policy plans of many scholars around the world as one of the only paths to navigating the planetary crisis.Systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed joins me to discuss the interconnected grid—a piece of renewable infrastructure which, by its design, would change our economic system, our geopolitics and our relationship with one another. Nafeez debated Simon Michaux a few months ago, and I highly recommend listening to these episodes as a trio: Nafeez, Simon, the debate.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Investigative journalist Peter Jukes exposes the corrupt relationship between the British press and politicians. He discusses the lack of accountability within the political media class, the scandals surrounding historic hacking, and the unethical practices of newspapers. Peter also emphasizes the importance of giving a platform to unknown voices and the potential impact they can make.

Regenerative farmer Nikki Yoxall discusses the patriarchal thinking in our economic systems and the importance of accepting death. We explore agroecology, the homogenisation of food, and the necessity to understand farm animals importance in healthy ecosystems. Nikki implores us to invite farmers in to understand the complexity of the challenges we face.

“You can't go off and get growth. That's not the foundations of a pension, especially a public pension as a public good. It is about quality curating, stewarding a future for these people. And the reason why I get jazzed about this is because the money, the scale of mone—30 to 50 trillion dollars globally—if we started to move that money for just the beneficiaries, we fix it for everyone. Because that is a lot of money to move.”What if we bought the fossil fuel industry?The value of pension funds in the world is a staggering amount. Unlike other funds, pensions have a fiduciary duty to their beneficiaries, a guarantee to act in the best interest of those who depend on these funds for their retirement. Ian Edwards, Founder of the Bank of Nature, says fiduciary duty encompasses guaranteeing a healthy planet—without a world under 1.5 degrees, there’s no retirement fund to pull from.He joins me to explain the history of fiduciary duty, the role of pensions, and the difference in returns necessary for pensions funds compared to other investments. This lower return means we could use pensions to start leveraging the market and force a green transition. One way, he says, is buying up the fossil fuel industry to retire it. This is about the 99% recognising their combined wealth and power, and shutting down the very system which threatens us all.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe