Dear John
Season’s greetings to all of you in the XR family and beyond! We hope that wherever you are, you are celebrating safely with people you love.
2020 has taught us to expect the unexpected as we have faced a pandemic, climate breakdown, and continued inaction from our government.
In 2021, the UK is hosting COP26 and the negotiations are crucial for the future of the planet.
With that in mind, the holidays are a perfect time to sit back, learn something new and share the ideas that will help us advocate for the future we want & deserve.
The 12 Days of Podcasts gives you a chance to catch up on our well-researched podcasts on a wide variety of climate & ecological topics. Featuring world-renowned scientists, authors, economists, and members of XR from across the world, you’re sure to find an episode you love. There’s even a taste of Glastonbury!
Christmas is also a great time for sharing, and sharing podcasts is a great alternative gift – carbon-free, good for the planet and good for your brain, too.
So sit back, relax and enjoy.
Love & Rebellion,
The XR Podcast Team
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Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Podomatic
And Amazon Music
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Recommended Podcasts
Episode 1 – The Book Club
We are thrilled to begin with "The Great Derangement", which questions the cultural silence around the Climate & Ecological Emergency but also looks at issues of colonialism, and its modern day influence, on the Climate Crisis and beyond. It is a seminal work, though it is better known in the USA; published in 2015 before Extinction Rebellion and the Youth Strikes.
Featuring an interview with Amitav Ghosh and a discussion with Mothiur Rahman (XR Muslims, Guardianship and Visioning Circles); Ami Amlani (XR Walthamstow); Miles Glyn and Paul John Nelson (XR Arts)
Episode 3 & 16 – Citizens Assemblies
This episode was released following the news of our meeting with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in which we will be pushing for a Citizens' Assembly on the climate and ecological emergency.
Featuring Matthew Taylor (Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), Sarah Allan (Head of Engagement at Involve), and Rupert Read (Green Party politician and Lecturer of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia).
Episode 5 - Regenerative Culture
In this episode, the Extinction Rebellion Podcast explores regenerative culture. What is it, and how can it be of use to rebels worldwide?
Joanna Macy, PhD is a teacher and writer on issues of environmental justice, Deep Ecology, and Buddhist practice, as well as the root teacher of the Work that Reconnects. An anthology on the impact of her work around the world will appear in April under the title "A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of our Time".
Episode 6 - Writers Rebel
This is the Writers’ Rebellion: Are You Here For This? It features a feast of stories and poems from the Writers' Marathon in Trafalgar Square, London. Interview with Booker Prize co-winner, and author of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Testaments", Margaret Atwood.
Other writers featured in this episode include: Ali Smith, Naomi Alderman, Anjali Joseph, Irenosen Okojie, Robert Macfarlane, Romesh Gunesekera, Simon Schama, and comperes Simon McBurney and AL Kennedy.
Episode 7 - "The Future We Choose"
In this episode we’re talking to a world leader in the climate movement, Christiana Figueres. Christiana was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 to 2016 and is credited with securing the Paris Agreement in 2015.
She is joined by her co-author Tom Rivett-Carnac, who was her Senior Political Adviser at the UN and now works with her on a podcast called "Outrage and Optimism". Together they wrote 'The Future We Choose".
Episode 10 - 2050 is Too Late, with Kevin Anderson
We need to act now if we want to avoid overwhelming climate and ecological breakdown. So why does the government tell us we’ve got until 2050? In this episode we’re exploring the government’s 2050 net zero emissions target and why that timeline endangers not only humans, but every other species on the planet.
We’ll talk about the science that shows us we need to act much sooner, and discuss some of the political and economic obstacles to achieving a more ambitious target - like Extinction Rebellion's second demand to halt biodiversity loss & achieve net zero emissions by 2025.
Episode 11 - Less is More
We live in a society addicted to growth, yet on a planet with finite resources. Something needs to give. The Extinction Rebellion Podcast talks to a star of the degrowth movement, Jason Hickel.
Jason is an academic and the author of The Divide and the upcoming book, Less is More: Why Degrowth Will Save the World.
Episode 14 – The Death of Berta Cáceres
This podcast focuses on the new book ‘Who Killed Berta Cáceres' by Nina Lakhani. The book is a compelling, thriller-like read based on the murder of the brave indigenous activist Berta Cáceres who was fighting the development of a dam using World Bank funding in her region in Honduras.
Also included in this episode is an interview with James Arango, a present day environmental protector from Columbia and member of XR Bogota. In the early months of this year between January and April 100 environmental activists were killed.
Episode 17 - No More Lies
Where is the heart of climate denial in the UK? Who are the main individuals & organisations coming between the people and the policy progress we need to address the climate & ecological emergency?
Questions like this led Writers Rebel to organize an action in a quiet, privileged street in the heart of London's parliamentary district.
The Writers Rebel action in Tufton Street, No More Lies About Climate Change, has now gone down in Extinction Rebellion history. This episode chronicles that historic event. Compered by Mark Rylance and Juliet Stevensen, the line up was starry and included so many top literary and journalistic writers and thinkers that the podcast can only provide a selection.
It includes speeches by Zadie Smith, George Monbiot, Jay Griffiths, Caroline Lucas, Chloe Aridjis, Toby Litt and Charlotte DuCann.
Episode 18 - Young People Vs. The UK Government
On this fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement, three young people are launching a case against the British Government for their failure to safeguard their futures and those of their families in the global south.
We talk to one of the plaintiffs, student Jerry Amokwandoh, about what has motivated him to take such a powerful step. We also talk to lawyer Tim Crosland from Plan B about the legal basis for the case and to Esther Standford-Xosei about why Stop The Maangamizi is supporting the action.
Glastonbury Special
Soaking up the atmosphere from 2019's Glastonbury Festival.We start with Sir David Attenborough's Sunday afternoon appearance on the pyramid stage, praising the festival for going plastic free!
From the park stage, you can hear rapper Dizraeli and the Kichwa Amazonian Shaman, activist and Wisdom Keeper, Kurukundi.
We spoke to political economist, writer, and coordinator of the Rapid Transition Alliance, Andrew Simms. Finally you can hear journalist Sue Wheat's interview with Glastonbury founder, Michael Eavis.
