Upstream

In this interview we spoke with Keally McBride, Professor of Politics and the Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. She was featured in our Sharing Economy episode. We chatted about her research on The Sharing Economy (companies like Uber, Taskrabbit, and Airbnb), the tech industry's impact on Oakland and San Francisco, neoliberalism, and labor vs. capital in the 21st century. Intermission music by Chris Zabriskie

In this interview we hear from Satish Kumar: former monk, author, editor of Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine, long-time peace & environmental activist, founder of Schumacher College, and TED Talk alumnus. We spoke about going upstream, the fallacies of economic growth & consumption, the principles of Buddhist and Gandhian economics, what a real sharing economy looks like, and dream time. Intermission music by "a million creatures".

In this shortened version of our "The Sharing Economy?" episode, we look at how companies like Taskrabbit and Uber have influenced an entire generation and entirely shifted the economic landscapes of major cities globally. Through candid conversations with journalists and industry insiders, we explore the darker side of these giant companies and investigate how this phenomenon arose and what implications are in store. Featured guests: Doug Henwood (Author, radio host, columnist for Harper's and the Nation Magazine) Keally McBride (Professor of Politics and the Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco) David Korman (Lyft driver, former TaskRabbit, Couchsurfing host) www.upstreampodcast.org Twitter: @upstreampodcast Facebook: /upstreampodcast Instragram: upstreampodcast

In this interview, we hear from Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition movement, a radically hopeful community-driven approach to creating societies independent of fossil fuel. We chatted about transition towns and how they resemble cell membranes, the power of stories, and craft beer. (Listen closely you'll hear the ambient sounds of whistling and laughter of the students of Schumacher College!)Thank you to Jacob Rask for conducting this interview.

In this interview we hear from Nadia Johanisova, an Ecological Economist, Professor of Environmental Studies in the Czech Republic, and the person who translated E. F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful" - as well as several other new economic classics - into Czech. We talked about what it was like to live and work under a communist regime and what changed when the Iron Curtain fell and neo-liberalism crept into Czechoslovakia. Nadia also talked about the book she wrote titled Living in the Cracks, A Look at Rural Social Enterprises in Britain and the Czech Republic and her most recent project mapping the new economy in the Czech Republic to strengthen this emerging system and increase solidarity among new economic actors.

Pat is a fellow Californian living in the U.K. He has worked with the New Economic Foundation since 1987 and is also a research associate of Co-operatives UK. Pat's work focuses on reclaiming money, land, and labor. We spoke about various forms of co-operative economic democracy, including community land trusts for housing, social co-operatives for care services, and ecological co-operatives for green energy and local food systems. Pat is a world leader in advocating on behalf of the commons and putting New Economics into practice.  Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstream

This interview is a conversation with Eduardo Gudynas, a leading scholar of Buen Vivir, a Latin American social movement to focus development on “the good life.” He is also the executive secretary of the Latin American Centre for Social Ecology in Uruguay and the author of 10 books and many academic articles. We spoke about the unique history of the Buen Vivir social movement, its introduction into the constitutions of several Latin American countries, and how it challenges not just development alternatives, but alternatives to development.

In this interview, we hear from Dr. Ha Vinh Tho, the Program Development Coordinator of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. Tho is also the founder and chairman of Eurasia Foundation, a humanitarian NGO, a visiting fellow at several universities and a Buddhist teacher in the Tradition of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism, who was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh. We speak about the history and meaning of the Gross National Happiness Index and how it can be a better index for measuring happiness, health, and wellbeing in a country. For more information, visit Dr. Tho's blog and Bhutan's Gross National Happiness website.

In this interview, we hear from Joanna Macy PhD, a highly revered local eco-justice philosopher, activist, and leader. Joanna is a scholar, teacher, and a practitioner of Buddhism, Systems Theory, Gaia Theory, and the Deep Ecology Movement. At 86, she moves through the world with profound wisdom, passion, and the rare gift to inspire us to move from despair into empowered action for the earth and all living beings. To learn more about Joanna and the work that she does please visit http://www.joannamacy.net

In this episode, we spoke with the late Robin Murray, a prolific sustainability and environmental economist, an advocate for a living economy, and a key player in the birth of the fair trade movement. Robin Murray was named by The Guardian as one of the fifty people who could save the planet, and worked to establish the London Climate Change Agency with the Deputy Mayor of London. Robin alternated working between innovative economic programs in local, regional, and national governments, as well as with academic teaching and writing. His recent work focused on new waste and energy systems and on projects in the social and innovation economy. In this interview, he described his life as an economist, gave us a detailed alternative economic history from World War II to the present, and described hopeful signs of the emergence of the new economy especially in relation to connectivity and cooperation. Robin Murray passed away recently at the age of 76. We are incredibly grateful for having had the opportunity to me

In this interview, we hear from Inez Aponte, the founder of Growing Good Lives, an organization dedicated to bringing about a socially and environmentally just economic system by putting values, needs, and wellbeing at the heart of economic development work. Inez is a storyteller, facilitator and community organizer who uses the Human Scale Development Approach in her workshops and seminars. We talked about how she came to do this work, why we need a different way of talking about the economy, and the role of story and language in encouraging lasting behavior change.

In this episode we look at how companies like Airbnb and Uber have influenced an entire generation and entirely shifted the economic landscape of major cities like San Francisco. Through candid conversations with journalists and industry insiders, we explore the darker side of these giant companies and investigate how this phenomenon arose and what implications are in store. Featured guests: Doug Henwood (Author, radio host, columnist for Harper's and the Nation Magazine) Keally McBride (Professor of Politics and the Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco) David Campos (San Francisco District 9 Supervisor) Dale Carlson (Public Accountant and Business Consultant, co-author of CA Proposition F) David Korman (Lyft driver, former TaskRabbit, Couchsurfing host) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don'