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Conversations about books with the people who wrote them. Hosted by Marianne Barisonek

  1. Vince Beiser - Power Metals

    4D AGO

    Vince Beiser - Power Metals

    The imperative to stop burning fossil fuels and a proliferation of new tech gadgets like cell phones and smart everything has businesses and governments scrambling to procure the metals that make the magic happen. Mining, refining and even recycling these components comes with a heavy environmental cost. Can we realistically switch from fossil fuels to green energy if obtaining the raw materials cause environmental destruction, political instability and a great deal of human suffering? Vince Beiser traveled all over the world to document the real cost of the new economy.

    29 min
  2. George Tsakraklides - Franken Politics

    12/19/2025

    George Tsakraklides - Franken Politics

    It's dawning on a growing number of people that the lack of any sort of rational and effective response to the climate crisis is bringing us toward a Thelma and Louise ending for industrial civilization. The hope for a soft landing fades with every year. In his book Franken Politics George Tsakraklides looks at how we arrived at this point and honestly examines life in the era of global capital.

    30 min
  3. James Fairhead - Naturekind

    12/05/2025

    James Fairhead - Naturekind

    As we scramble to create a more sustainable version of our civilization much of the focus has been on technology. But electric cars and reusable containers will only take us so far. From mountaintop removal to factory farms our relationship with the non-human world has been one of unabashed exploitation. If we’re to regain some sort of equilibrium we need to reset the way we view our place on the planet. In their book Naturekind: Language, Culture and Power Beyond the Human  Melissa Leach and James Fairhead explore how we can establish a richer and more nuanced relationship with other beings.

    30 min
  4. Chanelle Gallant & Elene Lam —Not Your Rescue Project

    11/19/2025

    Chanelle Gallant & Elene Lam —Not Your Rescue Project

    Rich and connected, Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls with impunity.  We've all seen those stickers for anti-trafficking organization in airports and bus stations and it's normal to assume they are there to help people caught in the same sort of situation. In their book Not Your Rescue ProjectChanelle Gallant and Elene Lam detail how the anti-trafficking industry actually harms sex workers. The predicament of migrant sex workers is not what you might expect.

    30 min
  5. Chuck Collins - Burned by Billionaires

    11/06/2025

    Chuck Collins - Burned by Billionaires

    Donald Trump was surrounded by billionaires during his inauguration. It became glaringly obvious who bought the election. But the influence of the uber wealthy goes far beyond that one election. They are picking our pockets and causing societal instability in many ways. Chuck Collins looks at their impact in his book Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.

    30 min
  6. Wen Stephenson - Learning to Live in the Dark

    10/24/2025

    Wen Stephenson - Learning to Live in the Dark

    When Donald Trump took a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White house it was both real and symbolic. Much of what we took for granted, the rule of law, the constitution and due process have also been demolished. All of this happening as the planet is reaching irreversible tipping points. A recent report found that 84% of world’s coral has been bleached. Heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts driven by burning fossil fuels are transforming our world and have devastating consequences for life on the planet.  Faced with the intellectual, moral, and spiritual abyss created by these intersecting crises, despair can seem like a reasonable response. But this isn’t the first time it appeared as if the world might come to a crashing halt. After two catastrophic world wars, the rise of fascism and the threat of nuclear annihilation mid 20th-century thinkers like Hannah Arendt, Albert Camus and Simone Weil found meaning and hope. Wen Stephenson explores their legacy and examines what it will take to find the resolve to keep going in his book Learning to Live in the Dark: Essays in a Time of Catastrophe.

    30 min
  7. Tim Mulligan - Witchland

    10/09/2025

    Tim Mulligan - Witchland

    In the spirit of upcoming Halloween, the new interview is about a horror graphic novel trilogy. Tim Mulligan adds supernatural forces to the most radioactive site in the United States, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Richland Washington. In this interview we talk about the real horrors of radioactive releases and the fictional horrors of witches, ghosts and radioactive bats.

    30 min
  8. Matthew Boedy - The Seven Mountains Mandate

    09/26/2025

    Matthew Boedy - The Seven Mountains Mandate

    Charlie Kirk’s organization, Turning Point, started out as secular, promoting capitalism, free markets and the separation of church and state. All of that changed in 2020 when he embraced  the “Seven Mountains Mandate”,  a theology promoting a Christian takeover of government, education, media, family, business, arts, and religion. It’s so reactionary that only a small minority of evangelicals agree with its principles.  Many of the key players in Donald Trump’s regime are part of this movement and are working to dismantle democracy and replace it with theocracy.

    30 min
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About

Conversations about books with the people who wrote them. Hosted by Marianne Barisonek

Information

  • Creator
    The Progressive Page Turner
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 The Progressive Page Turner
  • Show Website
    The Progressive Page Turner