Knox Pods

It's not just a cliché: statistics demonstrate clearly that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Is there a better way to spread the wealth? Author and political economist Gar Alperovitz shares his plan for wealth equality in his landmark book What then must we do? : straight talk about the next American revolution. City Council member and practicing attorney Marshall Stair summarizes and responds to the main points. (Recorded November 20, 2013)

Chad Hellwinckel, Research Assistant Professor in the University of Tennessee's Agricultural Analysis Center, discusses The one-straw revolution: an introduction to natural farming by Masanobu Fukuoka. Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature’s own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his “do-nothing” technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and wasteful effort. (Recorded September 18, 2013)

Since No Child Left Behind was enacted, a growing and heartfelt opposition to what is considered too much standardized testing has echoed across the country. What should we do instead? Indya Kincannon, Knox County Schools board member and former chair, handles this question in her review of How children succeed: grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character by Paul Tough. (Recorded August 21, 2013)

"Crazy" is a word we often throw around lightly, just to joke and tease. But when someone in your family suffers a serious mental illness, your perspective can do an about-face. When writer Pete Earley’s own son broke into a neighbor's house during a psychotic episode, Earley began to learn what happens to mentally ill people who break a law. Dr. Clif Tennison, Chief Clinical Officer with Helen Ross McNabb Center, responds to Earley’s book Crazy: a father's search through America's mental health madness. (Recorded July 17, 2013)

Harvey Abouelata, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Efficient Energy of Tennessee, discusses Power trip: from oil wells to solar cells—our ride to the renewable future by Amanda Little. After covering the environment and energy beat for more than a decade, journalist Little decided that the only way to really understand America's energy crisis was to travel into the heart of it. She describes the most extreme frontiers of our energy landscape, how abundant oil and coal built the American superpower, and how the same American ingenuity can deliver our renewable energy future. (Recorded June 16, 2010)

Dr. John Nolt, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee, discusses the classic Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal by Eric Schlosser, a book that remains relevant today. Schlosser examines the impact of fast food from every angle, including farming practices, land use, labor, transportation, culture, and globalization. Now over a decade since it was published, Fast food nation demonstrates its "sustainability" as library patrons continue to check it out. (Recorded July 21, 2010)

Don Barger, Senior Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association, discusses Rewilding the world: dispatches from the conservation revolution by Caroline Fraser, the first definitive account of a visionary campaign to confront the looming extinction of thousands of species. (Recorded August 25, 2010)

Rewilding aims to save species by restoring habitats, reviving migration corridors, and brokering peace between people and predators. Traveling with wildlife biologists and conservationists, Fraser reports on the vast projects that are turning Europe’s former Iron Curtain into a greenbelt, creating trans-frontier Peace Parks to renew elephant routes throughout Africa, and linking protected areas from the Yukon to Mexico and beyond.

Madeline Rogero, Director of the Community Development Department for the City of Knoxville, spoke to a record-setting crowd about the book Green metropolis : why living smaller, living closer, and driving less are the keys to sustainability by David Owen. Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York. Residents of compact urban centers live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. (Recorded September 29, 2010)

Tiffany Foster, Renee Hoyos, and Joanne Logan discussed Maude Barlow's book Blue covenant : the global water crisis and the coming battle for the right to water. Ms. Hoyos said "This book brings the challenges to managing water for the future into sharp relief. While we sometimes think that we have plenty of water, resources are declining due to bad development and industrial practices. This book is a real eye-opener and a must read for those concerned about the future of water worldwide and locally." (Recorded February 2, 2010)

This Brown Bag, Green Book is a little different. Instead of a book, the discussion is based on a New Yorker article “Superbugs” by Jerome Groopman. Dr. Martha Buchanan, Director of Knox County Health Department, led the discussion. (Recorded October 20, 2010)

For a long-form treatment of antibiotic resistant superbugs, check out Superbug by Maryn McKenna. The focus of this book is the pathogen known as MRSA: methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus.

See also the Frontline documentary below.