Planet Haliburton Terry Moore | Canoe FM

Virtually everyone these days has a story about being forced to throw away an otherwise perfectly serviceable appliance, tool or device simply because one small part has failed. You know the line … “it’s more ‘cost-effective’ to waste it and buy new than repair it.

Few of us, though, are aware of the extent to which planned obsolescence has been extended into every aspect of our lives in an era dominated by an ubiquitous, digitally-connected always on “Internet of Things”.

To help shed some light on how the rise of digital mega-corporations, like Apple, Google and Meta, is linked to new forms of planned obsolescence and the production of digitally-driven waste, I’m joined by Dr. Natasha Tusikov , co-author of a 2023 book entitled “The New Knowledge: Information, Data, and The Remaking of Global Power”.

This week on Planet Haliburton, Charlie Angus, the NDP Member of Parliament for the current Federal Riding of Timmins, James Bay, which covers an area greater than a quarter of Ontario’s entire land mass is our guest.

In addition to that “day job”, the Honourable Member is a practicing musician – with the iconic band The Grievous Angels - and the author of 8, soon to be 9, books.

His 8th book entitled “Cobalt: The Making of a Mining Superpower”, is a fascinating look at the role his adopted home town of Cobalt, Ontario played in making Canada the world’s preeminent resource extraction superpower it is today.

This interview highlights some of the key themes in Cobalt including the outrageous power and excess of wealthy mine owners and related state-sponsored attempts to steal Indigenous Lands. At the same time, Angus foregrounds the amazing level of solidarity and resistance to corporate power and colonialism put up by Indigenous People, miners and the Union they built to defend themselves.

This is not the “Empire Ontario” history we were taught in school that's embedded in our national myths and the truths they hide.

This is the Real Deal.

Abhilash Kantamneni (Abhi) is an Efficiency Canada research manager specializing in energy poverty and low-income energy efficiency. His community-based approach to energy efficiency, civic engagement and capacity building has earned him wide recognition including being named a ‘40 Under 40 Energy Leader’ by the Midwest Energy News and a Canada Storyteller Award by SSHRC-CRSH. Abhi has a Master of Science in Physics, and in Computer Science from Michigan Tech, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Anna University.

Resource list.
https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PH-Resource-List-for-Energy-Poverty-and-the-Climate-Emergency-Final-Mar-14-2024.pdf

This episode features a conversation about approaches to dealing the mountains of garbage being generated by our linear “Take, Make, and Waste” economy with Dr. Calvin Lakhan, Director of the “Waste Wiki Project” at York University.
As calls for a “circular” economy that views “garbage” as a wasted “resource” have gained popularity, the notion of “Extended Producer Responsibility” or EPR has become a key waste management strategy.
But so far EPR has failed to live up proponent claims and Ontario’s recycling rate is tanking.
The question is why and what can be done about it?
Issues discussed include EPR and Ontario’s Blue Box Program, incineration, “planned obsolescence’ and “The Right to Repair” movement.

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

The 28th annual UN-sponsored Climate Summit or COP28 is now history.
These annual spectacles are chocked full of contradictions and there’s no shortage of controversy about was – or wasn’t - accomplished by thousands of conference delegates from close to 200 countries between November 30th and December 13th in Dubai.
While the last episode of Planet Haliburton was a COP28 “Pre-Mortem”, this one is its “Post-Mortem” sequel.
Mitchell Beer, the publisher of The Energy Mix, Canada’s preeminent source on climate news and opinion, returns to help take stock of the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of COP28.

2023 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record with all the consequences that holds for all life on the planet.

With the 28th annual UN-sponsored “Conference of the Parties” or COP28 under the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), delegations from the 197 countries will be descending on Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from November 30th – to December 12th.

In the lead up to this year’s climate spectacle, there’s been a veritable avalanche of climate-emergency related studies and messaging in the media all competing for limited air time and attention.

To help listeners get a handle on the state of the climate science and politics on the eve of COP28 as well as the key issues in contention in Dubai, Planet Haliburton invited Mitchell Beer, the publisher of The Energy Mix, Canada’s preeminent source on climate news and opinion, to join us for both pre and post-COP28 conversations.