Planet: Critical Folgen

“All of those sectors are rapidly changing and the incumbent industries in those sectors are going to collapse. This is being driven by economic dynamics. It's going to happen.”What if the only viable future is a better one?Whatever the future holds, one thing is certain: tomorrow’s world will not look like today’s. We could see fossil-fascism in which nations hoard their fossil reserves (coal and gas) for accelerated use at the expense of international collaboration. We could see eco-fascism after an unplanned recession which crashes the financial system and slashes demand. We could see a descent into madness in which we run out of fuel to heat, to eat, to survive.We could also see degrowth, eco-socialism, renewable sharing and governance reimagined to meet human rights. No, this isn’t utopia—it’s laid out in the policy plans of many scholars around the world as one of the only paths to navigating the planetary crisis.Systems theorist Nafeez Ahmed joins me to discuss the interconnected grid—a piece of renewable infrastructure which, by its design, would change our economic system, our geopolitics and our relationship with one another. Nafeez debated Simon Michaux a few months ago, and I highly recommend listening to these episodes as a trio: Nafeez, Simon, the debate.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at planetcritical.substack.com/subscribe

“We found more undocumented meetings between senior newspaper editors—especially his real boss, as Dominic Cummings called Boris Johnson's former employer, The Telegraph,—than any other industry by far. What do they get? What does the political class get? Boris Johnson's got one million pounds per year at The Daily Mail. That's what he gets. They get cover. They get support from these papers. What do the papers get in return? We've documented it. At least 200 million in covid subsidies through this advertising, which was only given to members of the News Media Association, which includes the Guardian and The Mirror and The Independent. The Independent takes money from Saudi, so it’s greenwashing. You ask them to comment on it, they won't touch it because their salaries are being paid by it.”Oligarchy has infiltrated media—but the elite invited them in.Keeping up with the revolving door between media, politics, intelligence and corporations would make anyone queasy. There is an elite class of people with access to power, wealth and influence, and they trade that power, wealth and influence between them to keep it in the family. The press would like us to think they’re the independent watchdog above it all. It’s the greatest story they’ve ever spun.Peter Jukes is the cofounder and executive editor of Byline Times, the British media outlet created to expose corruption in media and write the stories the establishment won’t. In this episode, he explains how oligarchy took over the markets after 2008, the reality of the press ecosystem, how it’s unravelling, and how to create a forum for ideology.© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at planetcritical.substack.com/subscribe

Can regenerative farming fix our food systems?One relatively effective action for an individual to combat climate change is going vegan. Industrial agriculture is razing the Amazon rainforest, facilitating endless suffering, and causing a health crisis. However, regenerative farmer Nikki Yoxall says whilst these things are all huge problems, going vegan doesn’t treat the root of the problem—capitalism.Founder of Regenerative Women On The Land, Nikki joins me to discuss the patriarchal thinking embedded in our economic systems which trickle down to our food systems; the importance of accepting and celebrating death; the disconnection between humanity and nature; and the necessity to understand that animals—including farm animals—are a critical in healthy and functioning ecosystems. We discuss agroecology, the homogenisation of food, the disaggregation of food from our land supply, and Nikki ends by imploring us to invite farmers in to understand the complexity of the challenges we face rather than ignoring the generational wealth of knowledge, concern and connection held by the industry, many of whom are working to regenerate a healthy society from the ground up.Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription. Get full access to Planet: Critical at planetcritical.substack.com/subscribe