Politics, Ecology and Everything Else In Between

Rajeev Nedumaran and friends
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We live in a connected world, where every issue facing humankind is connected in an intricate web. When one string pulls many other parts of the web are affected. We explore this in the backdrop of politics and the environment. DJ (Dhananjay Katju) is a Political Ecologist from Houston, Texas and Rajeev is a curious layman from Auckland, New Zealand. Together, we bring to you issues that impact our world and all the living things who call it home.

Episodes

  1. 11/08/2024

    Ep. 5 - The Flight of The Draco - With R. Chaitanya

    In episode five of 'Politics, Ecology, and Everything in Between,' Rajeev interviews Chaitanya, a former IBM researcher who transitioned to herpetology and evolutionary biology. Chaitanya discusses his fascination with Draco lizards, their unique gliding ability, and the hypothesis that this trait evolved due to the presence of tall dipterocarp trees in Southeast Asia. The conversation explores Chaitanya's research journey, including his fieldwork across India, his PhD at Tel Aviv University, and the broader implications of his findings on the association between tall trees and gliding vertebrates globally. They also touch upon the challenges of conservation amid deforestation and the potential future directions for Chaitanya's research.

  2. 04/24/2023

    Ep. 4 - Locavore Action - With Megan Hobza

    Megan Hobza - EP4 [00:00:00] Megan Hobza: The basic idea of what a locavore is, as someone who wants to keep. Money local and resources local because local self-reliance means that, you are better prepared as a community for, change. You're better, prepared for disaster and and you're also reducing your reliance on an extractive global economy. [00:00:26] Rajeev: Welcome to episode four of politics and environment and everything in between. Hey, this is your host Rajeev. And this podcast is all about issues that affect all of us human beings. Because I believe today, everything is connected. In the past episodes, we had covered issues relating to water conservation, tribal identity and colonialism. [00:00:50] Rajeev: In this episode, we talk to. Megan Hobza, a grant writer and community activist from Whittier, California. She specializes in locavore action, [00:01:00] which aims to keep the money local and support small businesses in her community. Thanks for making the time for the podcast, Megan. appreciate it a lot. [00:01:10] Megan Hobza: I'm honored to be here. Thanks for having me, Rajeev. [00:01:13] Rajeev: Awesome. That's great. So it's been what, more than a couple of decades, since I last saw you in Chennai. [00:01:20] Megan Hobza: That's right. it was a really, it was a really cool part of that trip too, to get to see what your family, does. You all have such cool projects. [00:01:32] Rajeev: Right. Yeah. I think my, my father-in-law was the one who,introduced you to, and he was working with NGOs. I think at some point. [00:01:40] Megan Hobza: Yeah, this was an, I think this was, Grameen Bank's, pilot project to bring microfunding to rural women. So we got to visit this village. Where all the women in the village had each taken out a little loan and they combined their loans to buy a cow, and then they sold the milk from the cow every week. [00:01:59] Megan Hobza: [00:02:00] And. Saved up money to buy another cow. And the bank had installed, ATMs in the countryside that, that took and gave smaller, coinage. so that, people with lower incomes could interact with them conveniently. The bank had installed, clean water resources in the village and also created, a central computer room. [00:02:24] Megan Hobza: So there was internet access for the whole village. And it was just really inspiring. I mean, that seeing what small things could transform the life of a little community in some ways inspired the rest of my life and what I ended up doing locally in my own community. [00:02:39] Rajeev: Right, right. I think it's, it's actually gone way beyond that today because, what's happened is there was this big push towards digitization and, I think the Indian government came out with something called the U P I or the Universal Payment Infrastructure. [00:02:57] Megan Hobza: and it's like u p i is basically this, it's, [00:03:00] imagine it's like this structure of tracks or railroads all crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country and money travels on that And a lot of the local vendors now have QR codes. And because you have 4G LTE connections everywhere and everybody has a smartphone, you no longer accept cash. You just scan and pay the vendor. So, street vendors have smartphones and they have,they have bank accounts and. Digital wallets, [00:03:30] Megan Hobza: Do they have to pay a fee to be allowed to have a digital wallet? [00:03:34] Rajeev: no, it's actually, it's everybody. I think, you have the AAR card, which is like your digital ID and everything is connected to that digital id. And if you have to have the digital id, then you have to have a bank account. So everybody gets to open a free bank account. in post offices you can open a bank account now. [00:03:53] Rajeev: yeah, so that's kind of transforming. [00:03:55] Megan Hobza: that's amazing.Yeah. to, cut, stockholders out [00:04:00] of those transactions is what I think is so inspiring because that's been a big part of keeping money local is that it's always siphoned off to these. Kind of corporate Ponzi schemes. [00:04:13] Rajeev: this has, really transformed large sections of the community. Of course, there's still a lot of work to be done, but they've done really well at, And especially UPI is, transformed, local, traders, the street traders, every shop you go will have a QR code now, so it's GPay. Become part the local language pretty much. Okay. I'll Gpay you, like Google it. So it's become part and parcel of, day-to-day activity in pretty much, more major parts of the country, I guess. [00:04:45] Rajeev: [00:04:45] Megan Hobza: Yeah, it just, it sounds like something that would strengthen local economies, [00:04:48] Rajeev: yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. how does that tie in with what you do? explain to me what the term Locovore mean. [00:04:56] Megan Hobza: So, the term locavore, which is, I think [00:05:00] that the basic idea of what a locavore is, as someone who wants to keep. Money local and resources local because local self-reliance means that, you are better prepared as a community for, change. You're better, prepared for disaster and and you're also reducing your reliance on an extractive global economy. [00:05:26] Megan Hobza: every dollar that is, that's spent on local business, for example, cycles four times in the economy before exiting. So if you're purchase, if you're making your purchase at, a corporation with stockholders, that dollar goes out of your community immediately. So that undermines the strength of your local economy and it undermines the contribution that you make as an individual towards the self-reliance of your local economy and its contribution to reducing the effects [00:06:00] of climate change because the drivers of climate change are these extractive corporations. So people who consider themselves locavore are looking at ways to trade resources, right? Even not spend money at all, but, share and reuse as well as keep their dollars local, their money local. [00:06:22] Rajeev: There's a lot of drive towards local business and small businesses as well, I guess. [00:06:28] Megan Hobza: Right. So it supports local business, small business, barter, sharing, reuse, recycle, upcycle, all of those types of practices. worker owned business all falls under, loco or practice. [00:06:44] Rajeev: Right. And what's your role in this? what kind of, activity or, work that you do in this field? [00:06:51] Megan Hobza: So professionally, I work as a grant writer, which means that I develop funding proposals and, [00:07:00] big picture strategy for nonprofit organizations and nonprofit, also known as ngo O. Doesn't mean that an organization doesn't interact with money or have any extra money. It just means that there's a community benefit that is intended by this organization. [00:07:17] Megan Hobza: So, it's not there to build a profit for an individual or for a group of individuals, but, any funds that are raised, are put into activities that benefit the local community or the national community in some cases. So, so I write sort of like business plans that are sent to funding bodies, government, private foundations, and and then those are assessed and then oftentimes, A grant is awarded to underwrite the project that's proposed. [00:07:53] Megan Hobza: So that's my profession. and I do work with clients that do, locovore activities. A [00:08:00] vocationally I've spent over a decade. Doing some community organizing around, I guess you'd call it proofs of concept. so I've worked,I helped start at a time bank quite a while back, and I've worked with quite a few time banks in the Los Angeles area where I live. [00:08:18] Megan Hobza: I helped start a backyard farm and, uh, a free store. These are projects where you're providing a platform, for neighbors to do the kind of, non-monetary sharing that I mentioned a little bit earlier is, there's, they're spending your local dollars and then there's the sharing, reuse, relationship building side of the locovore world. [00:08:42] Megan Hobza: So, I guess I would say that between my profession and my avocation, I take. Maybe a holistic approach to being a Locovore. [00:08:51] Rajeev: The concept of locovore, is it a new phenomenon or, What's the history behind it? And is it only in the US or is it [00:09:00] across the world? [00:09:01] Megan Hobza: I'm not, a scholar of the term or the movement to the extent that I'm aware of how. How the word is used, maybe internationally, but it's certainly, in the United States, it's I think, a widely recognized, movement. it might be thought of as largely people who are sharing their backyard produce. [00:09:23] Rajeev: like a farmer's market. [00:09:24] Megan Hobza: Yeah. share sharing with your neighbors directly or buying from the farmer's market and, keeping their, your supply lines strong to folks that actually make a living off of, growing food. So food would be the first place where I think people would recognize that term being locavore. [00:09:43] Megan Hobza: the idea of being conscious about where your food comes from means that you're doing your due diligence as a citizen of planet Earth. [00:09:53] Megan Hobza: to make, to make your small contribution toward a sustainable lifestyle. [00:09:57] Megan Hobza: Hypothetically, you could grow [00:10:00] all your own food and just eat that if you had an acre of land, you know, the fantasy about being living off the grid and all that stuff. I mean, that's also part of locavore cultures, the those fantasies and those lifestyles. [00:10:13] Rajeev: I, and I'm not sure how many people actually know where their food comes from, because people think it comes from the supermarket, right? [00:10:19] Megan Hobza: True. Right. and because it can come from all over the world, it's not, we don't eat with the seasons necessarily. [00:10:24] Megan Hobza: yeah. There's this joke that I read on the internet

  3. 04/24/2023

    Ep. 3 - Tribal Identity - With DJ and Rajeev

    Welcome to another episode of politics, ecology, and everything in between. Hey, this is Rajeev. We are back after a long hiatus, DJ, and I. For this discussion, we picked a very interesting topic. Who is a tribal. A tribal is a very interesting term. Was Tarzan a tribal. The very image of a noble Savage. Or is it an invented term? And how is it relevant today? To answer all these questions, we have my good friend DJ. Thanks for supporting this podcast. Do send feedback to rajeev.nedumaran@gmail.com about this episode.

  4. 02/13/2021

    Ep. 2 - All About Water - With Peter Mayer, Urban Water Expert

    Ep. 2 - Peter Mayer [00:00:00] Rajeev: Hello and welcome to episode 2 of Politics, Ecology, and Everything Else in Between, and I'm your host, Rajiv. Today, we are going to talk about water. Water is essential for all life forms and human development. Our lives depend on it. Sometimes our livelihoods depend on it too. With climate change, the supply of water has the potential to influence geopolitics, diplomacy, and even conflict. [00:00:26] Rajeev: To discuss this very topic, I am talking to Peter Mayer from Boulder, Colorado. Long time friend of Madurai, my hometown, and an expert in the science of water management. He heads an organization called WaterDM. Over his career, Peter has worked with hundreds of water utilities and organizations across the US and Canada. [00:00:48] Rajeev: So, without further ado, cue music. [00:00:52] Rajeev: [00:01:00] So, hello, Peter. Welcome to the show. Hello. Hey, Peter. It's been a while since we've been in touch. So, just to begin with, for our listeners, could we start with a brief intro about yourself and what you do? [00:01:17] Peter Mayer: Sure. So, my name is Peter Mayer. I'm a professional engineer. I have a degree in civil engineering, and my specialty is in water resources, and particularly in water management, and on the demand side of water management. [00:01:37] Peter Mayer: So I got interested. First in water when I was living in India, actually in Madurai, and that decided I needed to get a technical degree in order to pursue a career in water. And so I got my civil engineering degree and then I ended up studying where people use water as part of my master's research and using [00:02:00] small devices. [00:02:01] Peter Mayer: called data loggers that record the flow of water as it enters the house through the water meter. And then we are able to, to then use computers to, to interpret that high frequency flow data and actually measure water use inside the house, including toilet flushes and clothes washer machines and dishwashers, faucets and showers and irrigation systems. [00:02:26] Peter Mayer: And to break all these different water uses into categories and quantify them for the. for the, uh, accurately for the first time. So that really launched my career. I started doing that type of research for water utilities, and it's really led to a variety of different interesting projects and things that I've worked on over the years, including testifying at the U S Supreme court as an expert in, uh, municipal and urban water use on behalf of the state of Georgia, where I understand you used to live. [00:02:56] Peter Mayer: And so they're actually still, uh, Georgia and Florida are [00:03:00] still engaged in a, in a legal dispute over, over the river, and I was hired as the expert from Georgia. So, I, I view, I have a lot to, to say about water, and I'm interested to have a discussion with you. Interesting. [00:03:14] Rajeev: So Peter, how did Madurai inspire your interest in water? [00:03:18] Rajeev: Well, [00:03:19] Peter Mayer: my first thought was that I wanted to do international development work that I really uh, Amanda and I my wife Amanda We really enjoyed living abroad. And so that's initially what we thought we would we wanted to do And I determined that the water was the most one of the most critical resource issues. [00:03:36] Peter Mayer: It was just so obvious and really Living in mother, I really brought it to the surface. You see the river that would dry up every year, essentially go from some points being bank to bank and then other points just being completely dry trickle and then also the groundwater changes and everybody is constantly worried about groundwater levels, seawater intrusion, so many issues related to [00:04:00] water and so that, and then, you know, when I also think back at it, I also had an inspiration from my childhood. [00:04:06] Peter Mayer: A man named Gilbert White, who was a family friend who was really one of the most eminent floodplain scholars and researchers. And so he lived in Boulder. And so, so I, there's sort of these combination of factors led me, I would say in, into it, but it was pure chance that I ended up studying water use and then how everything else kind of emerged. [00:04:30] Peter Mayer: I'm a real believer in sort of, you have to. Seize opportunities. You never know where opportunities might exist. [00:04:38] Rajeev: Absolutely. So the first question that I have for you comes from one of the James Bond films. [00:04:46] Peter Mayer: Ahahahahaha! Bum ba dum bum bum bum bum bum ba dum bum ba da [00:04:50] Rajeev: da da da! [00:04:51] Peter Mayer: Yeah, [00:04:53] Rajeev: ahahaha! So this, in 2008 there was a film came out, uh, called, uh, Quantum of Solace. [00:04:59] Rajeev: It starred, I [00:05:00] mean, it's a James Bond film, and, um Daniel Craig. Daniel Craig, yes. And he's pitted against an evil criminal syndicate. It's bent on global domination, right? So typical of a James Bond film. But the twist here is This evil syndicate, or the evil criminal behind it, is actually plotting to seize control of Bolivia's water supply. [00:05:25] Peter Mayer: Of the country of Bolivia. [00:05:26] Rajeev: Right. We talk about water as the next oil. So, does it sound like, uh, familiar to you? [00:05:35] Peter Mayer: Yes, yes, yes, and, and, and like, so there's some similarities actually, you know, between water and oil, and, and, so the first thing would be the physicality, I mean, like, like oil, water is this is, It's a physical, it's a liquid substance, although it can take all, you know, three different states. [00:05:56] Peter Mayer: So transporting it is a big deal, and it's very [00:06:00] expensive. And so in order to make it worthwhile to, you know, transport it long distances, you have to pretty much value it similarly to oil, otherwise it doesn't make economic sense. The, the unlike oil though, I mean, what we see about oil is found in many places of the world, but not all places. [00:06:18] Peter Mayer: Water is pretty much found almost everywhere, even under deserts, but there are truly, in the world, water rich places and very water poor, water scarce places. Right. [00:06:30] Rajeev: So that's where your whole hydro politics comes into play, right? [00:06:35] Peter Mayer: Yeah, because you don't always have People settling and choosing to live in the place where the water is, although that generally has been once again, if you look at the scope of human history, water is pretty much determined where people have been able to sell. [00:06:50] Peter Mayer: And it's also, but they think perhaps ended. So from the big level, there, there are some water resources which are shared by nations. [00:07:00] And so India and China share the Himalayas, and with Nepal, you know, other countries. So the water resources there could obviously need to be shared. And there, and in Pakistan, there could be disputes. [00:07:14] Peter Mayer: When you have those type of Boundaries, international boundaries that, that separate the water, the water resources. But as we both know from our experience in India, the politics of water get much more local than that. And in many ways, the most bitter conflicts that we see are longstanding conflicts of water tend to be somewhat more local than we've seen. [00:07:37] Peter Mayer: We, as opposed to nations fighting, it's much more like states or. Provinces fighting or regions or counties that are fighting or maybe even individual water users who are fighting against each other over who has, you know, the right to the Calvary, the Colorado, the Apalachicola, whatever the source of [00:07:58] Rajeev: water. [00:07:59] Rajeev: Right. Yeah. In [00:08:00] fact, I was just reading up for this podcast and I was looking at, of course, the closest dispute that comes. To my mind is the Kaveri River and incidentally it started off in 1892 because the, it was back then that was the Mysore Maharaja, it was a separate state. Yeah. The Madras Presidency was controlled by the British. [00:08:25] Peter Mayer: Yes. [00:08:27] Rajeev: And incidentally, Kaveri originates in the Coorg, which is in Karnataka [00:08:31] Peter Mayer: now. Right, and so did they dam it? Did they block off the [00:08:34] Rajeev: Kaveri? Yeah, so that's That's where that whole thing comes. And then, uh, that's where it started. Yeah. That's where it started, I think. And in, I think in the 19, the start of the 19 hundreds, I think these guys wanted to dam upstream and the Brits objected. [00:08:52] Peter Mayer: Yeah. For good reason. But they, uh, were ultimately unsuccessful. They did dam the Cauvery and it did result has resulted in ceaseless [00:09:00] conflict ever since then. Have you, did you ever see the Cauvery flow bank to bank? Yeah. Cause I went there every time I went there, it was just this giant dry desert looking thing. [00:09:09] Peter Mayer: And I was just so big. I'd love to see that thing full of water. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [00:09:16] Rajeev: So, I mean, this has been going on for years and years. So right now we are also looking at. Water scarcity, right? Climate change, also water contamination due to climate change. [00:09:27] Peter Mayer: Well, humans, yeah, we've contaminated the water, mostly because of human stupidity and ignorance. [00:09:35] Rajeev: So, I mean, how does climate change come into play? Because I was reading that because the sea levels are rising and most of the cities are on the coast, right? And because the sea level is rising, the seawater is pushing into the water table. And the water's becoming more saline? [00:09:54] Peter Mayer: That's one of the, that's one of the issues that's happening. [00:09:57] Peter Mayer: I think where I live here in, in [00:10:00] Colorado in the United States, the front lines of climate change are, is happening on the Colorado River. Colorado R

  5. 01/28/2021

    Ep. 1 - The Manas Incident - With DJ and Rajeev

    The Manas Incident:  Introducing a brand new podcast featuring Rajeev & DJ.  DJ (Dhananjay Katju) is a Political Ecologist from Houston, Texas, will help breakdown complex issues that affect our times and Rajeev is the curious layman picking DJ's brains. In this opening episode, they discuss their brush with insurgency in the forests of Assam and the complicated history behind it.

  • 5 Episodes

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We live in a connected world, where every issue facing humankind is connected in an intricate web. When one string pulls many other parts of the web are affected. We explore this in the backdrop of politics and the environment. DJ (Dhananjay Katju) is a Political Ecologist from Houston, Texas and Rajeev is a curious layman from Auckland, New Zealand. Together, we bring to you issues that impact our world and all the living things who call it home.

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