http://odeo.com/channels/107313-Needless-Radio PatrickPittman no <p>A collection of interviews with great minds, inspiring activists, crazy freaks, film directors, actors, politicians and aid workers.</p> <p>These are mostly sourced from my freelance radio and print work, and I plan to upload a new interview roughly weekly.</p> A collection of interviews with great minds, inspiring activists, crazy freaks, film directors, actors, politicians and aid workers. These are mostly sourced from my freelance radio and print work, and I plan to upload a new interview roughly weekly. A collection of interviews with great minds, inspiring activists, crazy freaks, film directors, actors, politicians and aid workers. These are mostly sourced from my freelance radio and print work, and I plan to upload a new interview roughly weekly. en-us 40 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:04:47 -0700 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:04:47 -0700 http://odeo.com/episodes/14916023-Avi-Lewis-The-Take (From 2005) The Take is a rare beast of an activist documentary, in that it takes that old cliche at face value—without ever succumbing to naivete, Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein dream of the world the way it has never been, and ask why not. You’ve never seen dignity until you’ve seen a seamstress break a barricade. I was lucky enough to sit down with one of my favourite Canadians and discuss the modern protest movement, the renewal of Latin American politics, cigar-chomping villains, and many, many other areas. (From 2005) The Take is a rare beast of an activist documentary, in that it takes that old cliche at face value—without ever succumbing to naivete, Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein dream of the world the way it has never been, and ask why not. You’ve never seen dignity until you’ve seen a seamstress break a barricade. I was lucky enough to sit down with one of my favourite Canadians and discuss the modern protest movement, the renewal of Latin American politics, cigar-chomping villains, and many, many other areas. (From 2005) The Take is a rare beast of an activist documentary, in that it takes that old cliche at face value—without ever succumbing to naivete, Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein dream of the world the way it has never been, and ask why not. You’ve never seen dignity until you’ve seen a seamstress break a barricade. I was lucky enough to sit down with one of my favourite Canadians and discuss the modern protest movement, the renewal of Latin American politics, cigar-chomping villains, and many, many other areas. tag:odeo.com,2007-07-24,14916023 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:04:47 -0700 no Needless Radio http://odeo.com/episodes/13145513-David-Marr-His-Master-s-Voice With the Howard government on the ropes, and the Ruddish hooves of change galloping just around the next corner, it’s time to really take a look at how the last eleven years under the government of John Howard have really shaped and remade this country. David Marr, best known to listeners as the former host of the ABC’s Media Watch but also the author of Dark Victory, possibly the most important and horrifying book yet published on twenty-first century Australian politics, sees one of Howard’s greatest legacies as his reshaping and neutering of public debate in the country. This is the topic of the latest Quarterly Essay, “His Master’s Voice: The Corruption of Public Debate Under Howard”, in which Marr traces a few months in detail and a decade in broad brush strokes of increasing restrictions on information, whistleblowing, protest, dissent and any form of debate. But as much as the essay is a portrait of one man’s profound influence on Australian society and identity, I put it to ... With the Howard government on the ropes, and the Ruddish hooves of change galloping just around the next corner, it’s time to really take a look at how the last eleven years under the government of John Howard have really shaped and remade this country. David Marr, best known to listeners as the former host of the ABC’s Media Watch but also the author of Dark Victory, possibly the most important and horrifying book yet published on twenty-first century Australian politics, sees one of Howard’s greatest legacies as his reshaping and neutering of public debate in the country. This is the topic of the latest Quarterly Essay, “His Master’s Voice: The Corruption of Public Debate Under Howard”, in which Marr traces a few months in detail and a decade in broad brush strokes of increasing restrictions on information, whistleblowing, protest, dissent and any form of debate. But as much as the essay is a portrait of one man’s profound influence on Australian society and identity, I put it to Marr when I spoke to him that it’s also a larger story, one in which Howard is just a player—one about how we see ourselves, and our relationship to government. With the Howard government on the ropes, and the Ruddish hooves of change galloping just around the next corner, it’s time to really take a look at how the last eleven years under the government of John Howard have really shaped and remade this country. David Marr, best known to listeners as the former host of the ABC’s Media Watch but also the author of Dark Victory, possibly the most important and horrifying book yet published on twenty-first century Australian politics, sees one of Howard’s greatest legacies as his reshaping and neutering of public debate in the country. This is the topic of the latest Quarterly Essay, “His Master’s Voice: The Corruption of Public Debate Under Howard”, in which Marr traces a few months in detail and a decade in broad brush strokes of increasing restrictions on information, whistleblowing, protest, dissent and any form of debate. But as much as the essay is a portrait of one man’s profound influence on Australian society and identity, I put it to Marr when I spoke to him that it’s also a larger story, one in which Howard is just a player—one about how we see ourselves, and our relationship to government. tag:odeo.com,2007-06-06,13145513 Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:52:57 -0700 no Needless Radio http://odeo.com/episodes/11315313-Clive-Hamilton-Scorcher-The-Dirty-Politics-of-Climate-Change tag:odeo.com,2007-05-09,11315313 Wed, 09 May 2007 01:55:11 -0700 no Needless Radio http://odeo.com/episodes/1438722-Bethany-McLean-Enron-The-Smartest-Guys-in-the-Room When Enron, America’s largest energy company, collapsed in 2001, what began as a shocking and sudden bankruptcy quickly became one of the greatest business scandals in history. At the start of 2001, Enron employed 21,000 people – it claimed revenues of over $100 billion the year before in the areas of electricity, natural gas and communications. By the end of November that year, the company was filing for bankruptcy. The men at the top walked away with over a billion dollars, while investors and employees, particularly those at the bottom of the scale, lost everything, including their retirement funds. What had been the most blue chip of stocks was suddenly completely worthless. The story of Enron — as told in the Oscar-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room — is the story of the multinational corporate globe as depicted by Goya in his black period. Around the dwindling dollars and the escalating lies, monsters circle. It’s kind of a comic opera, only real people... When Enron, America’s largest energy company, collapsed in 2001, what began as a shocking and sudden bankruptcy quickly became one of the greatest business scandals in history. At the start of 2001, Enron employed 21,000 people – it claimed revenues of over $100 billion the year before in the areas of electricity, natural gas and communications. By the end of November that year, the company was filing for bankruptcy. The men at the top walked away with over a billion dollars, while investors and employees, particularly those at the bottom of the scale, lost everything, including their retirement funds. What had been the most blue chip of stocks was suddenly completely worthless. The story of Enron — as told in the Oscar-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room — is the story of the multinational corporate globe as depicted by Goya in his black period. Around the dwindling dollars and the escalating lies, monsters circle. It’s kind of a comic opera, only real people get hurt, and Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up governing a state. For years, billions of dollars of imaginary money were being pushed around by the corporation, at the behest of Chairman Ken Lay and CEO Jeff Skilling, and nobody was asking any questions. Not the banks, not the analysts, not the journalists. It was only nine months before the corporation declared bankruptcy that a journalist at Fortune, Bethany McLean, became the first journalist to seriously ask in print — just where do these guys make their money? She was surprised to find that Jeff Skilling could not answer such a simple question. Her article set in motion the events that would lead to the collapse. Speaking to her via telephone for the release of the documentary, I asked her just why it was that the checks and balances failed, and why nobody was asking any questions. When Enron, America’s largest energy company, collapsed in 2001, what began as a shocking and sudden bankruptcy quickly became one of the greatest business scandals in history. At the start of 2001, Enron employed 21,000 people – it claimed revenues of over $100 billion the year before in the areas of electricity, natural gas and communications. By the end of November that year, the company was filing for bankruptcy. The men at the top walked away with over a billion dollars, while investors and employees, particularly those at the bottom of the scale, lost everything, including their retirement funds. What had been the most blue chip of stocks was suddenly completely worthless. The story of Enron — as told in the Oscar-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room — is the story of the multinational corporate globe as depicted by Goya in his black period. Around the dwindling dollars and the escalating lies, monsters circle. It’s kind of a comic opera, only real people get hurt, and Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up governing a state. For years, billions of dollars of imaginary money were being pushed around by the corporation, at the behest of Chairman Ken Lay and CEO Jeff Skilling, and nobody was asking any questions. Not the banks, not the analysts, not the journalists. It was only nine months before the corporation declared bankruptcy that a journalist at Fortune, Bethany McLean, became the first journalist to seriously ask in print — just where do these guys make their money? She was surprised to find that Jeff Skilling could not answer such a simple question. Her article set in motion the events that would lead to the collapse. Speaking to her via telephone for the release of the documentary, I asked her just why it was that the checks and balances failed, and why nobody was asking any questions. tag:odeo.com,2006-07-05,1438722 Wed, 05 Jul 2006 20:36:44 -0700 no Needless Radio http://odeo.com/episodes/1376810-Peter-Singer-The-Ethics-of-What-We-Eat In 1975, Peter Singer wrote one of the most influential books of the last 30 years. It was called Animal Liberation. Since then he has gone on to become one of the world’s foremost authorities on both Animal Rights and Ethics. Of late, he’s taken to writing about the ethics of globalisation, and of george w bush. But now he’s returning to the ground of his first book for The Ethics of What We Eat, a book which journeys from the dining tables of three families to the origins of their food. It’s a sprawling, all encompassing, sometimes shocking but always carefully balanced look at the world of industrial factory farming, the emerging organic and fair trade movements. He and fellow author Jim Mason journey from crab boats in Chesapeake Bay to organic supermarkets in Melbourne, to uncover the ways in which our choices in what we eat can be as much an ethical and political act as anything else. He is currently professor of bioethics at Princeton University. In 1975, Peter Singer wrote one of the most influential books of the last 30 years. It was called Animal Liberation. Since then he has gone on to become one of the world’s foremost authorities on both Animal Rights and Ethics. Of late, he’s taken to writing about the ethics of globalisation, and of george w bush. But now he’s returning to the ground of his first book for The Ethics of What We Eat, a book which journeys from the dining tables of three families to the origins of their food. It’s a sprawling, all encompassing, sometimes shocking but always carefully balanced look at the world of industrial factory farming, the emerging organic and fair trade movements. He and fellow author Jim Mason journey from crab boats in Chesapeake Bay to organic supermarkets in Melbourne, to uncover the ways in which our choices in what we eat can be as much an ethical and political act as anything else. He is currently professor of bioethics at Princeton University. In 1975, Peter Singer wrote one of the most influential books of the last 30 years. It was called Animal Liberation. Since then he has gone on to become one of the world’s foremost authorities on both Animal Rights and Ethics. Of late, he’s taken to writing about the ethics of globalisation, and of george w bush. But now he’s returning to the ground of his first book for The Ethics of What We Eat, a book which journeys from the dining tables of three families to the origins of their food. It’s a sprawling, all encompassing, sometimes shocking but always carefully balanced look at the world of industrial factory farming, the emerging organic and fair trade movements. He and fellow author Jim Mason journey from crab boats in Chesapeake Bay to organic supermarkets in Melbourne, to uncover the ways in which our choices in what we eat can be as much an ethical and political act as anything else. He is currently professor of bioethics at Princeton University. tag:odeo.com,2006-06-25,1376810 Sun, 25 Jun 2006 02:27:15 -0700 no Needless Radio http://odeo.com/episodes/1376223-Stephen-Lewis-Race-Against-Time In 2000, the United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals, a series of targets designed to tackle poverty, hunger and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The world’s countries and development agencies agreed to meet these goals by 2015. We’re almost half-way there, and throughout continental Africa, things are no better. I’ve said it a thousand times on here and in other media. We ignore Africa. We ignore it at our peril, but we ignore it and it is our greatest shame. One man who has not ignored it is Stephen Lewis, United Nations special envoy to Africa for HIV and AIDS. Truly one of the greatest and most decent men on the planet — father in law of Naomi Klein and father of Avi Lewis (with whom I spoke last year regard his film The Take, an interview I will post someday soon), former Canadian ambassador to the UN, Canadian of the year and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, there are few people as qualified to speak on the west’s failings in Africa... In 2000, the United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals, a series of targets designed to tackle poverty, hunger and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The world’s countries and development agencies agreed to meet these goals by 2015. We’re almost half-way there, and throughout continental Africa, things are no better. I’ve said it a thousand times on here and in other media. We ignore Africa. We ignore it at our peril, but we ignore it and it is our greatest shame. One man who has not ignored it is Stephen Lewis, United Nations special envoy to Africa for HIV and AIDS. Truly one of the greatest and most decent men on the planet — father in law of Naomi Klein and father of Avi Lewis (with whom I spoke last year regard his film The Take, an interview I will post someday soon), former Canadian ambassador to the UN, Canadian of the year and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, there are few people as qualified to speak on the west’s failings in Africa as he. He has recently published a book, Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-ravaged Africa, which examines the complicity of the United Nations and the G8 in Africa’s plight, and surveys the situation from his meetings with Rwandan orphans to his frustrations at the highest levels of global bureaucracy. Promises? The West has those by the sackful. But we’ve been making and breaking them for far too long. There’s a tendency to think of Africa as hopelessly, endemically sick, moribund almost, and there’s often an assumption that this is purely a legacy of colonialism and everything that’s happened since. This is not an interview focussing on the worst ravages of corruption that tear Africa apart. If you want that, I recommend the first part of Allan Little’s extraordinary Faultlines series for the BBC World Service. Lewis is a man who, despite all he has seen since his early visits in his youth, insists on searching for the hope in the continent. In 2000, the United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals, a series of targets designed to tackle poverty, hunger and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The world’s countries and development agencies agreed to meet these goals by 2015. We’re almost half-way there, and throughout continental Africa, things are no better. I’ve said it a thousand times on here and in other media. We ignore Africa. We ignore it at our peril, but we ignore it and it is our greatest shame. One man who has not ignored it is Stephen Lewis, United Nations special envoy to Africa for HIV and AIDS. Truly one of the greatest and most decent men on the planet — father in law of Naomi Klein and father of Avi Lewis (with whom I spoke last year regard his film The Take, an interview I will post someday soon), former Canadian ambassador to the UN, Canadian of the year and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, there are few people as qualified to speak on the west’s failings in Africa as he. He has recently published a book, Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-ravaged Africa, which examines the complicity of the United Nations and the G8 in Africa’s plight, and surveys the situation from his meetings with Rwandan orphans to his frustrations at the highest levels of global bureaucracy. Promises? The West has those by the sackful. But we’ve been making and breaking them for far too long. There’s a tendency to think of Africa as hopelessly, endemically sick, moribund almost, and there’s often an assumption that this is purely a legacy of colonialism and everything that’s happened since. This is not an interview focussing on the worst ravages of corruption that tear Africa apart. If you want that, I recommend the first part of Allan Little’s extraordinary Faultlines series for the BBC World Service. Lewis is a man who, despite all he has seen since his early visits in his youth, insists on searching for the hope in the continent. tag:odeo.com,2006-06-24,1376223 Sat, 24 Jun 2006 23:41:21 -0700 no Needless Radio HIV, Africa, aids, United Nations