Voices of the New Economy

Changing Times
Changing Times
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Voices of the New Economy shares stories from the people, projects, and communities building a more just, sustainable, and democratic economy. Produced by the NENA (New Economy Network Australia) Storytelling Hub in partnership with the Humanitarian Changemakers Network, this podcast explores how Australians are reimagining work, enterprise, governance, and care — from community-owned energy to regenerative agriculture, social enterprises, cooperatives, and circular economies.

  1. Oct 14

    22. Could a Gift Economy Replace Capitalism? Rethinking Money, Work and the Future with Terry Leahy

    What if the biggest barrier to building a fair, sustainable society isn't capitalism alone—but money itself? For decades, sociologist Terry Leahy has explored one of the most radical ideas in the new economy movement: replacing monetary exchange with a gift economy built on cooperation, voluntary agreements and mutual care. While the idea may sound utopian at first, Terry argues that many of its foundations already exist in community-supported agriculture, cooperative projects and autonomous communities around the world. Our conversation explores why modern economies have become so dependent on endless growth, what everyday life might actually look like in a gift economy, and why Terry believes a post-growth future will require us to fundamentally rethink work, technology, consumption and our relationship with one another. Along the way we discuss anarchism, degrowth, abundance, community governance and the practical pathways that could help societies transition beyond capitalism. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    22. Could a Gift Economy Replace Capitalism? Rethinking Money, Work and the Future with Terry Leahy

  2. Oct 9

    21. Banking, Climate Change and the Future of the Economy with Ruth Irwin

    In this thought-provoking conversation, philosopher and systems thinker Ruth Irwin explores why our economic system has become dependent on perpetual growth, how modern banking quietly fuels that growth, and why technological innovation alone cannot solve our ecological challenges. Ruth also challenges some of our deepest assumptions about progress, time and human society, drawing on Indigenous knowledge, systems thinking and ecological philosophy to imagine an economy built around interconnection rather than endless expansion. Ruth Irwin is a philosopher, systems thinker and researcher whose work explores the intersections of climate change, economics, banking, thermodynamics and social transformation. For more than three decades she has investigated the structural drivers of ecological crises, developing new ideas around entropy economics, post-growth futures and the role of banking in shaping modern economies. Ruth is the author of Economic Futures: Climate Change and Modernity, where she brings together philosophy, economics, Indigenous perspectives and systems thinking to reimagine how societies can thrive within ecological limits. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    21. Banking, Climate Change and the Future of the Economy with Ruth Irwin

  3. Sep 22

    20. Feeding the Future: Food Security, Local Communities and Global Cooperation with Saba Sinai

    How do we feed a world of 10 billion people in the face of climate change, conflict, resource constraints and increasingly complex global supply chains? Saba Sinai, Lecturer in Agriculture at CQUniversity, joins Voices of the New Economy to explore why the future of food security is about much more than simply producing more food. Drawing on his work at the intersection of agriculture and society, Saba examines how affordability, access, food waste, infrastructure, climate change and conflict shape who gets to eat — and why socioeconomic solutions need to sit alongside agricultural and technological ones. We explore the relationship between local and global food systems, why strong communities are essential to food security, how conflict can disrupt agriculture and turn food into a geopolitical issue, and why peace and international cooperation matter to the future of food. We also discuss humanity's relationship with the natural world, the resilience and ingenuity of farmers, and why creating a more secure food future ultimately requires us to think not only about the solutions we pursue, but how we work together to create them. Join Saba at ⁠Newkind Conference⁠ 2026: use the code NENA for 20% off registration. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    20. Feeding the Future: Food Security, Local Communities and Global Cooperation with Saba Sinai

  4. Sep 9

    19. Living More with Less: One-Planet Living, Effective Giving and the Good Life with Jon from Living More with Less

    Many of us have been taught that success means earning more, buying more and consuming more. But what if the opposite were true? What if living with less could actually lead to greater wellbeing, stronger communities and a more meaningful life? Jon, the creator of Living More with Less, shares how his family has come remarkably close to living a one-planet lifestyle while discovering greater freedom, generosity and connection along the way. Drawing on decades of personal experimentation, engineering, environmental advocacy and effective giving, Jon challenges many of our assumptions about wealth, work and what it means to live well. Our conversation explores the psychology of scarcity and abundance, practical ways to reduce consumption without sacrificing quality of life, the philosophy of effective giving, community resilience, and why individual actions still matter in the face of global challenges. Whether you're curious about simpler living, post-growth economics or creating a life more aligned with your values, this episode offers both inspiration and practical ideas for living well while treading more lightly on the Earth. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    19. Living More with Less: One-Planet Living, Effective Giving and the Good Life with Jon from Living More with Less

  5. Aug 19

    18. Local Food, Resilient Communities: Building Food Sovereignty with Robina McCurdy

    Permaculture educator, designer and community development facilitator Robina McCurdy joins Voices of the New Economy to explore how communities can move beyond food security towards food resilience and food sovereignty. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience across Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, Robina has worked with communities to develop local food systems, community gardens, food forests, seed-saving initiatives and bioregional food strategies, and established The Localising Food Project in 2012. Together, we explore why the bioregion offers a powerful scale for rethinking food systems, how urban communities can reconnect with surrounding growers and producers, and what permaculture can teach us about designing relationships and economies that work with the living world. At its heart, food resilience isn't only about producing food — it's about rebuilding community, strengthening our relationship with place and creating local economies capable of caring for people and the ecosystems that sustain us. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. Join Robina at ⁠Newkind Conference⁠ 2026: use the code NENA for 20% off registration. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    18. Local Food, Resilient Communities: Building Food Sovereignty with Robina McCurdy

  6. Aug 14

    17. Surveillance Capitalism and Enshittification: Why Our Technology Keeps Getting Worse with Paul Fenwick

    Why does so much of the technology we use seem to get worse over time? Platforms become crowded with advertising and algorithms, devices become harder to repair, and the digital services we rely on increasingly collect our data and lock us into corporate ecosystems. There’s a word for this process: enshittification. In this episode we explore surveillance capitalism, planned obsolescence, monopolies, generative AI and the right to repair, as well as practical alternatives including Free and Open Source Software, self-hosted services, repair cafés and community-run infrastructure. Veteran software engineer, internationally acclaimed speaker and open source advocate Paul Fenwick joins Voices of the New Economy to explore why technology gets worse when profit and shareholder returns are prioritised over the people who use it. Having worked with organisations including UN OCHA and Valve Software, Paul has spent decades thinking about how technology shapes society — and how society shapes technology. Join Paul at Newkind Conference 2026: use the code NENA for 20% off registration. Useful links: https://pluralistic.net/tag/enshittification/ + https://www.worseonpurpose.com/ Useful open source software alternatives: - https://joinmastodon.org/ - https://krita.org - https://jellyfin.org/ Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    17. Surveillance Capitalism and Enshittification: Why Our Technology Keeps Getting Worse with Paul Fenwick

  7. Jun 24

    16. Billionaire-ism as Mental Illness: Inner Transformation, Speculative Fiction, and Writing a New Economy with Diana Colleen

    What if one of the biggest barriers to a just and liveable future is not only our systems, but our collective ideas about wealth, success, and what it means to have enough? In this thought-provoking conversation, Diana Colleen explores the bold ideas behind her speculative eco-thriller, including maximum wages, billionaireism as a form of pathological hoarding, and the role of inner transformation in creating wider systems change. Together we unpack why fiction can help expand our sense of what is possible, how psychedelic-assisted therapy might open new pathways for healing and consciousness shift, and why hope is not something we wait for, but something we generate through action. This is a conversation about money, morality, imagination, and the deeper cultural stories that shape the economy we live in. Diana Colleen is a writer whose work sits at the intersection of speculative fiction, social critique, and inner transformation. With a background spanning firefighting, counselling, restaurant work, photography, and insurance, she brings a deeply human and unconventional lens to questions of wealth, inequality, and change. Her debut eco-thriller imagines a world where billionaires are pushed into psychedelic-assisted therapy in the hope of transforming not only themselves, but the systems they uphold. Through her writing, Diana invites readers to rethink what success means, question the cultural stories we tell about billionaires, and imagine more hopeful futures grounded in enoughness, healing, and collective change. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    16. Billionaire-ism as Mental Illness: Inner Transformation, Speculative Fiction, and Writing a New Economy with Diana Colleen

  8. Jun 17

    15. From Policy to Practice: What It Takes to Build a Wellbeing Economy with WEAll Aotearoa

    What would it take to redesign the economy around care, reciprocity, community, and ecological wellbeing? In this conversation, Tiyana speaks with Sally from WEAll Aotearoa about the wellbeing economy movement, the alignment between wellbeing economies and Māori worldviews, and why economic transformation must be grounded in place, long-term thinking, and collective flourishing. Together, they explore the limits of GDP, the role of government and business in systems change, the promise of future generations legislation, and the practical examples already showing us that another economy is possible. Sally is a community builder and wellbeing economy advocate, currently working with WEAll Aotearoa as Knowledge and Engagement Lead. With a background in social policy research, public engagement, and systems change, Sally’s work focuses on redesigning the economy so it serves people and planet rather than endless growth. Through WEAll Aotearoa, she helps advance research, storytelling, policy advocacy, and movement-building for a wellbeing economy grounded in care, reciprocity, place, and Māori economic leadership. Voices of the New Economy is a collaborative storytelling project of NENA. The podcast is produced by the Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN), an Anchor Organisation of NENA, as part of its commitment to strengthening economic literacy, amplifying community innovation, and supporting pathways to systemic change. Each episode features researchers, practitioners, organisers, and everyday changemakers working across disciplines and communities to re-imagine how our economies can serve people and planet. LISTEN & EXPLORE FURTHER A full companion article for this episode is available here. Connect with NENA: Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Connect with Humanitarian Changemakers Network (HCN): Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Get involved: NENA members and friends are warmly invited to participate in the podcast — as interviewees, storytellers, or contributors to the NENA Storytelling Hub. To get involved, visit the Hub page or email: nena@neweconomy.org.au

    15. From Policy to Practice: What It Takes to Build a Wellbeing Economy with WEAll Aotearoa
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Voices of the New Economy shares stories from the people, projects, and communities building a more just, sustainable, and democratic economy. Produced by the NENA (New Economy Network Australia) Storytelling Hub in partnership with the Humanitarian Changemakers Network, this podcast explores how Australians are reimagining work, enterprise, governance, and care — from community-owned energy to regenerative agriculture, social enterprises, cooperatives, and circular economies.

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