American Resistance and Repression, Identity and Intersectionality and the LGBTQI+ Rights Movement

Discussion with Professor Timothy Patrick McCarthy on American radicalism and the need for multivocality rather than metanarratives in analyzing history. We discuss the construction and interpellation of identities, their historical contingencies and intersectionality. We discuss the power dynamics of identity construction, in entrenching the status quo and serving to cleave mass mobilization and conversely in empowering marginalized groups. We discuss the need for origin myths in the context of the Stonewall uprising and its significance to the LGBTQI+ rights movement. We also discuss the AIDS epidemic as a health and housing crisis, the callousness and myopia of the Reagan administration’s lack of response and how the epidemic also led to solidarity and fostered community. Additionally, we discuss the movements for marriage equality and transgender rights. We also discuss polarization, disassociation, the need for active listening and brave communication.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/62

The History of Voting Rights in the United States, the Electoral College and the Value of the Vote

Discussion with Professor Alex Keyssar on the origins of democracy and the history of the right to vote in the United States. We discuss the lack of an affirmative right to vote under the U.S. Constitution, amendments prohibiting abridgement and voter suppression. We also discuss the value of the vote in the context of gerrymandering, party mechanics, the impact of different voting systems and the influence of money in politics. Additionally, we discuss the history and distortive impact of the Electoral College in Presidential elections.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/61

Circular Economy, Community Buy-In and Compassionate Leadership

Discussion with Hon. Maria Kamma-Aliferi, Mayor of Tilos and Jenny Giannopoulou on the need for and implementation of a circular economy. We also discuss renewable energy infrastructure, the Greek energy pricing system, sewerage infrastructure, freshwater conservation and navigating different levels of government bureaucracy. Additionally, we discuss the need for environmental literacy and community buy-in. We also discuss refugees, the need for compassionate leadership and how immigration can be a revitalization for the community.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/60

Exposing, Investigating and Inoculating Against Hate

Discussion with Lisa Borden and Susan Corke from the Southern Poverty Law Center on hate and extremism groups throughout the United States. We discuss rising right radicalism, including religious and white nationalist groups and their means and methods. We also discuss \"parental right groups\" and their anti-inclusive stance and disruption of public school governance. Additionally, we discuss the school-to-prison pipeline, continuing systemic racism and disenfranchisement and how to help inoculate youth against radicalization. We also discuss the benefits of establishing a national human rights institution.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/59

A Celebration of Civics and Connection Amidst Crises and Consternation

Discussion with Shannon A. Mullen on her recent book In Other Words, Leadership: How a Young Mother’s Weekly Letters to Her Governor Helped Both Women Brave the First Pandemic Year which looks at agency, representative democracy, socioeconomic and environmental crises within a portrait of leadership. The book is based on the true story of Ashira Knapp’s exchange of letters with Maine Governor Janet Mills during the pandemic. We discuss civics, representative democracy, leadership, reigniting our agency, reconnecting over polarity, what defines a crisis and media responsibility.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/58

How Grassroots Movements for Climate and Environmental Justice Are Critical to Surviving the Climate Crisis

Discussion with Vivek Maru on the importance of community paralegals in extending access to the law, enforcing rights and aiding in structural change. We discuss the Customary Land Rights Act in Sierra Leone, the Community Land Act in Kenya and environmental justice action in Myanmar. We also discuss environmental injustice within the United States, the need for cumulative impact in any environmental assessment and the importance of having both expert input on legislation as well as the lived experience of affected communities. Additionally, we discuss the importance of prior informed consent and moving from extractive to regenerative practices. We also discuss climate justice as an integral pathway toward climate mitigation and adaptation.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/57

Climate Change, Subterfuge and Building a Broad Climate Coalition

Discussion with Dr. Michael Mann on the subterfuge tactics by the fossil industry to prevent systemic and structural decarbonization. We discuss how the fossil fuel industry promotes doomsday theories to engender apathy and deny agency. We also discuss how the fossil fuel industry fosters division between different social groups to prevent a climate alliance and needed structural change. Additionally, we discuss how the focus on individual accountability and hypocrisy shaming can impede and deflect from needed structural change. We also discuss pertinent issues in carbon offset accounting, the circular economy and what the paleoclimate record can tell us about the state of and projections for climate change.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/56

Cattle Ranching, Palm Oil Plantations and Other Agrobusiness Drivers of Deforestation, Fraud and Violence Against Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples, Bolsonaro's Crimes and the Need for Due Diligence and Accountability in Financing and Supply Chains

Discussion with Gabriella Bianchini on the importance of the Amazonian biome to the local environment and our planet and the current threats to the rainforest. We discuss the history of deforestation in Brazil's Amazon, including the ecocide under Bolsonaro and the current agrobusiness drivers, with a focus on cattle ranching and palm oil plantations. We also discuss land grabbing and violence against local communities and indigenous peoples and threats to and murder of environmental defenders. Additionally, we discuss how companies and financial institutions in the Global North are trading with and financing Amazonian destruction and violent land grabbing and legislative efforts to require accountability for failing to undertake due diligence in supply chains and investment.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/55

Neocolonialism, Democratic Deficits and Regulatory Chill of the Investor State Dispute Settlement Mechanism

Discussion with Lisa Sachs on the regulatory chill and democratic deficit of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism (ISDS). We discuss the structural issues of ISDS, including conflict of interest, lack of transparency and lack of accountability as well as its neocolonial origins and entrenchment. We also discuss the proliferation of bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, the expanding investor protections of international investment law, treaty shopping and how ISDS is distorting the investment climate in favor of fossil fuels. Additionally, we discuss the fragmentation of international law and the need to have holistic international jurisprudence and governance.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/54

Palestinian Human Rights Defenders, SLAPP Suits, Anti-Boycott Laws and Human Rights Abuses in Israel and the OPT

Discussion with Maria LaHood on the curtailment and criminalization of advocacy on behalf of Palestinian human rights and criticism of Israeli government policies and their conflation with antisemitism. We discuss SLAPP suits, prevention of academic freedom and debate and anti-boycott laws and their effect on chilling speech. We also discuss the importance of the right to boycott for our democracy and the increasing criminalization of dissent in the U.S. Additionally, we discuss human rights abuses and war crimes in the OPT.

For More Info: http://thegravity.fm/#/episode/53