Extinction Rebellion Podcast Extinction Rebellion Podcast

Did you catch the BBC drama The Trick? If not, it is still on BBC iPlayer (apologies for non-UK friends). It shows the birth of the arch denialist group the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) in 2009 from the point of view of a scientist who was unlucky enough to get enmeshed in their campaign to discredit the science of global warming. It’s a great watch with elements of thriller, drama and even love story. Today it’s clear the GWPF is still very active in the run up to COP26 in its attempts to make sure the UK Net Zero plans come to nothing and to ensure the international talks are a failure, putting all our lives at risk. The group never declare their funders but it’s clear they are acting covertly on behalf of big oil and other vested interests.  Their focus now is on delaying domestic and international transformation to meet net zero targets. And their tactics are no longer denial of the science. In this podcast, the first for many months, presenter Jessica Townsend and Tom Hardy from the Media Tell The Truth group look at the launch of the GWPF back in 2009 and find that their tactics were there from the beginning: bending the truth, using connections in right wing media, and raising doubts on every aspect of moving forward with the race to decarbonise. We talk to Richard Black a long-time BBC environment correspondent, and the author of Denied: The Rise and Fall of Climate Contrarianism.  Show credits: Producer and presenter: Jessica TownsendEditor and presenter: Tom Hardy 

The episode begins with the stirring words of XR’s Clare Farrell and Marvina Newton from ‘United for black Lives’ speaking against the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts bill in parliament Square on April 3rd at a Kill the Bill coalition event.

This podcast looks at the oppressive new legislation that Priti Patel is trying to foist upon us, and at what it means in both practical terms for those organising protests but also in the wider sense of democracy. We explore this with the Lib Dem peer and environmental spokesperson Lord Jonny Oates. Of course, XR is fervently non political in a party sense but Lord Oates has also signed up to the CEE bill which aims to make XR’s three demands into British law so he is an ally.

The bill does many things besides attack our right to protest – it also takes away the rights of traveller communities and includes provisions on trespass, and extends the penalties for many offences but since the government admits that the protest legislation has been geared to limiting the powers of both Black Lives Matter movement and Extinction Rebellion, the podcast focusses on that issue.

Finally we widen the frame with an interview with a tremendous writer and XR activist Jay Giffiths author of Wild and Why Rebel? and ask about whether these political moves can be associated with fascism. How are they related to the Libertarianism incubated in Trump’s America and what parallels can we find from earlier times in history?

Please share and subscribe to the podcast. Why not share with your XR curious friends? We urgently need to grow the movement and exert pressure to make this year an historic one for climate.

PS: a group of podcasters are campaigning for a climate category so that people could find green podcasts and would mean we’d get listeners but you could also find other material worth listing to. The campaign targets apple because they set the industry standard. The deadline is Earth Day 22nd April. If you’d like this to happen click here: https://www.podcastersdeclare.com


Crew

Editor and Producer Bill Leuty
Presenter and producer Jessica Townsend
Editor Harrison Lewis
Extra editing Alex Dopiera and Tom Stallard

In this collaboration with Rebel Radio, Anna Hyde hosts this Special with the director and some of the protagonists of the film 'Race to Save the World'. Anna first speaks to director Joe Gant about what made him create this film. Joe explains that once you know how bad the climate and ecological emergency is, you can't ever unknow it - but it can make people feel overwhelmed and powerless. His film is aims to inspire those who are aware to start taking action. And not stop until we have achieved what is required.

The film follows several activists in the USA and documents their actions as well as the implications these actions have on their lives. Anna interviews three of these activist: Abby Brockway, Michael Foster and Bill Moyer.

In this episode Jessica is joined by artist Tom Stallard, a member of the XR samba band and Walthamstow XR. Jessica interviews with Dr. Charlie Gardner, a conservationist and researcher based at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent.

Dr. Gardner lived in Madagascar for 10 years helping to establish new protected areas, but now focuses primarily on the intersection of the climate and ecological crisis. He has been a member of Extinction Rebellion since early 2019 and is active with both Scientists for Extinction Rebellion and Scientists Rebellion. He was also an expert contributor to the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill.

The episode looks at present-day ecological realities and what will happen if we don’t urgently change our approach to nature in the near future. We begin with a reading from author Jay Griffiths of her piece ‘Letter to an Endling,’ read at the Tufton Street Writers Rebel event in September 2019.

This is the first episode on biodiversity before Biodiversity COP, which takes place 17-30 May 2021 in Kunming, China.

| Extinction Rebellion has three demands. 1) Tell the Truth – Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change. 2) Act Now – Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. 3) Beyond Politics – Government must create and be led by the decision of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice. |

Presenter/producer - Jessica Townsend |
Presenter/editor - Tom Stallard |
Additional editing - Bill Leuty

This episode Jessica Townsend and Ferghal McEntee look at some brave people putting their lives on the line to protect trees both in the UK and in the Amazon.

We begin with the fierce anti-felling poem Heartwood written and read by Robert Macfarlane to honour all those doing this great work and the trees they love. The recording we use is of the well-loved author speaking in Trafalgar Square in 2018 as part of the inaugural Writers Rebel event.

Then we interview Larch, or Dr Larch Maxey, a key figure in the HS2 protests who is, at the time of this podcast, literally holed up in a tunnel underneath Euston Square Gardens. He speaks to us about his love of the natural world and relationship with trees which motivate his work.

To donate in support of this work: https://chuffed.org/project/stophs2ateuston

Next up is Beth Pitts author of the Moon ethical Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands who has been working with indigenous communities in Ecuador since 2013. She is also part of the Writers Rebel team. Here she shares interviews and recordings she has made about the guardians of the forest and the Ceibo tree. One of the interviewees describes what the guardians look like.

If you wish to support the work of Jimmy who has set up an NGO to educate youth in the Ecuadorian rainforest this is the link:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/siekopai-indigenous-amazonian-youth-foundation

Our last interview is with Natasha Somers and Mark Shipperlee from XR Rewilding and the Save the Oaks campaign who are trying to save 750,000 oak trees which are threatened with destruction because of COVID. Marijn Van De Geer one of the podcast founders asks the questions and the interview was first broadcast on Rebel Radio.

https://savetheoaks.org

| Extinction Rebellion has three demands. 1) Tell the Truth – Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change. 2) Act Now – Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. 3) Beyond Politics – Government must create and be led by the decision of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice. |

Producer and editor - Bill Leuty
Producer and presenter - Jessica Townsend
Presenter - Fergal McEntee
Interviewer - Marijn Van De Geer
Further editing and producing - Michaela Herrmann
Social Media - Brigitta Bence

On this fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement, three young people are launching a case against the British Government for their failure to safeguard their futures and those of their families in the global south. We talk to one of the plaintiffs, student Jerry Amokwandoh, about what has motivated him to take such a powerful step.

We also talk to lawyer Tim Crosland from Plan B about the legal basis for the case and to Esther Standford-Xosei about why Stop The Maangamizi is supporting the action.

| Extinction Rebellion has three demands. 1) Tell the Truth – Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change. 2) Act Now – Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. 3) Beyond Politics – Government must create and be led by the decision of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice. | Presenter - Jessica Townsend; Producers - Bill Leuty and Jessica Townsend; Editor - Bill Leuty; Research - Brigitta Bence