Planet: Critical Folgen

What happens when a small percentage of the population amass resources and power? Oligarchy. And polymath Sally Goerner says oligarchy is the final stage of most human civilizations—and a symptom of dysfunctional human systems.She joins me to explain why the future is integral and collaborative, why empowering people with vision and hope is key to creating systemic changes, why citizenship is the foundation of any human system, and how to measure the health of those systems.This is a far-reaching and impressive conversation covering neurobiology, history, sociology, political theory and systems thinking. I found Sally and her research utterly fascinating and hope you all get as much out of it as I did. Sally’s email: sgoerner@mindspring.comListen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript on Planet: Critical.© Rachel DonaldPlanet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

What’s a resilient biosystem? Healthy soil, healthy water, healthy cycles. They’re so key that even defence departments around the world are starting to invest in creating them, as research shows we have just 60 harvests left if we stick to our industrialised system of agriculture.There’s hope for us yet, and it lies in the soil. Microbiologist and regenerative agriculture expert, Walter Jehne, joins me to explain how soil can capture carbon, promote global cooling, and feed billions on very little space. He explains how politics got in the way of progress in the 70s, and why governments are scrambling to speak to him and his team. This is an utterly fascinating discussion (please bear with the lower quality recording). Walter was suggested by listeners so, please, if there is anyone you would like me to get on the show, don’t hesitate to reach out.Listen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify, or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript on Planet: Critical.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Why, when armed with so much knowledge, are we failing to tackle the climate crisis? There must be some piece of the puzzle we haven’t grasped to continue overshooting the planetary boundaries at an alarming rate. Even this week’s IPCC report—the big piece of literature that’s meant to tell us what’s going on and what to do about it—came under fire from some climate scientists for continuing to propagate the endless growth maxim.But even our valuing growth as either good or bad reveals how little we understand the complexity of natural systems—and that’s what this week’s guest joined me to discuss.Jessie Henshaw is a physicist, architect and natural systems designer who worked with the UN to reframe their sustainability goals. She believes our misunderstanding of natural systems as a whole is what’s gotten us into this mess, and why we may not get out. We discuss how and when growth is necessary, collectivism in systems, and why science’s atomisation of systems in a bid to understand them is impeding the urgent progress we need to make. Listen to the full interview here, catch it on on Apple or Spotify, or watch on Youtube. You’ll find the bonus episode on Youtube over the weekend, and paid subscribers have access to the interview transcript on Planet: Critical.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe