projectsavetheworld's podcast

Leonid Kosals and Matthew Light are professors of criminology at the University of Toronto. Both study corruption, especially in Russia and the post-Soviet states. Here they report on changes in that region and factors that determine the severity of corruption. For the video and audo podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca.

Erin Hunt and Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan work for Mines Action Canada, which supports the global ban on anti-personnel mines. The Baltic states, with ther justifiable history of fearing Russia, are about to withdraw from the treaty unless NATO countries can talk them out of it. For the video and audio podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-685-updating-landmines-action

Rnnald St. John is a retired epidemiologist who worked in government and the WHO to limit the impacts of pandemics. Neil Arya is a family physician in Waterloo, Ontario, who recalls his climic during the SARS epidemic, which St. John was in charge of controlling. They talk about the new Treaty that has been adopted, which is intended to ensure that health resources are distributed equitably in the next pandemic. For the video and audio podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-684-a-pandemic-treaty  

Robert Quinn works through Scholars at Risk to protect academics whose search for truth is being constrained anywhere in the world. He helps the to migrate to safe countries. Marc Spooner is Canadian professor of education who also studies the relationship between academic freedom and democracy. For the video and audio, https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-683-academic-freedom

This month we talked about our own disabilities with words in ageing; about dying and how to use our defunct bodies later, and about Gaza; AI; psychedelic drugs; DNA research; and the future of life after the transition to "stellar" civilization - the thing beyond capitalism. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-682-global-town-hall-may-2025.

Seth Klein heads a project that is part of David Suzuki's climate work. It will offer Canadian youth opportunities to work in the climate emergency as intensely as in World War II – a time of extraordinary efficiency. Can we make such a speed-up transition again? What is the main obstacle? We discuss. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-681-seth-klein-and-emergencies

Robia Akhtar, Tariq Rauf, and Earl Turcotte are experts on nuclear weapons negotiations. They are especially concerned these days about the recent military exchanges between two nuclear-armed states, India and Pakistan. They discuss the challenges and the extraordinary importance of achieving global and permanent nuclear disarmament. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: http://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-680-nuclear-diplomacy.

Peter Ward is a paleontologist who has described some of the earth's previous extinction events. He's worried about the one we may be creating now – and he worries about the attack on science that is going on in the US today. At the University of Washington, people are being laid off today. We can't save the world without science. For the video and audio podcast, https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-679-a-paleontologist-and-rice-paddies.

Oleksandra Romantsova, Dmitry Gurin, and Sergey Davidis talk about their new organization, People First, which seeks to protect prisoners of conscience in Russia who oppose the war against Ukraine. Their primary objective is to establish that, when a peace agreement is reached, the prisoners and Ukrainian children who had been abducted and placed in russia foster homes will be the first to be released and sent to their original homes. For the video and audio podcast, https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-678-people-first-and-russia.

Victor Kogan Yasny joined us from Moscow and told us that the military economy was booming but not business. Also, we talked about the strange shift of young American males toward Trump. The main explanation was Rose Dyson's: the profitable business of violent video games, which trains males to kill effectively. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-675-global-town-hall-april-2025.

There is one surviving branch of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly: in the south Caucasus. Arzu Abdulleyeva, Natalia Martiroosyan and Alexander Russetsky belong to it, and in the Netherlands, Marten van Harten. They discuss the Nagorno Karabakh war and the new peace agreement, yet to be signed. Jill Carr-Harris steers the conversation. For the video, audio podcast and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-764-progress-in-the-south-caucasus

Ulyana Horodyskyj Pena was recently in the Arctic and the Andes looking at glaciers, which have turned dark from falling soot and fabric particulates. She shares experiences with two senior Arctic scientists, Maria Pia Casarini and her distinguished husband Peter Wadhams. For the video, audio podcast see https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-673-black-glaciers.

Jessica Walton works with CyberPeace, an NGO based in Geneva that offers free cyber security advice to civil society organzations worldwide.to protect themselves from crooks on the Internet. W discuss the merits and disadvantages of keeping information private. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-672-cyber-peace

Qjiel Mariano is a young indigenous man from the Philippines whose studies at York University's program in global Health is supported by Pegasus, the organization that Neil Arya founded and now chairs. Here Neil interviews Qjiel about several topics, especially the indigenous medical systems that Qjiel is studying. https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-671-indigenous-healtlh-perspectives

Frances Flannery and Elizabeth Blackman are two of the three co-founders of an organization called "Bio-earth" which discusses some of the philosophical traditions that influence the kind of actions people take in the physical world, especially regarding climate. For the video, audio, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-670-religion-and-climate.

Aaron Tovish is a livelong peace organization leader. For several years his primary goal has been to promote a policy whereby the nuclear nations would all adopt a treaty promising not to be the first to attack another country with a nuclear weapon. The next step would be to disarm the existing nukes. Here he argues the case. For the video, audio podcast, and comments, https://tosavetheworld.ca.

Peter Carter, Lyn Adamson, and Brian von Herzen agree that the most effective way of addressing global warming might be to cut the $3 trillon annual expenditures on subsidies to fossil fuel industry. Since Elon Musk has promised to end all subsidies, let's challenge him to eliminate the ones to fossil fuels. The challenge is in finding a way to present such a demand with organized impact instead of separately and being ignored. For the ideo, audio podcast, and comments; https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-668-gobal-town-hall-mar-2025

William Forstchen is a military historian who has written 50 books, including a novel about the aftermath of an electromagnetic pulse bomb. John Hallam is an Australian peace activists who has worked for nuclear disarmament since 1977. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-666-the-emp-bomb.

Kathi Futornick and Mihael Caruso are Rotarians in Oregon, especially interested in environmental degradation caused by militarism. Kathi shows some slides that she'd used for a talk in Istaenbul recently, when thousands of other Rotarians gathered to discuss the same issue. For the video, auto podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-665-rotarians-on-peace-and-environment.

Pakisa Tshimika is a Congolese public health doctor in Kinshasa, where he heads the Mama Makeka House of Hope. Neil Arya is a aily physician in Waterloo, Ontario and the founder of Pegasus, an institute for health care workers and social scientists. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-664-peace-and-health-in-congo.

Mary Kaldor, a retired professor at LSE, has been one of the leading peace researchers and activists in the world since founding the Helsinki Citizens Assembly at the end of the Cold War. She is on th UN Commission on Disarmament now and is writing a book about the world order. She gives Metta a peek at this big work and together they speculate about the kind of institutional lgoal changes that are coming. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-663-mary-kaldors-new-world-order.

Canadian Pugwash members Paul Meyer (former ambassador for disarmament), Adele Buclkley (firner member of Iternational pugwash's council), an Robin Collins (long time officer of the Canadian branch) discuss yesterday's conflict between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy and speculate about the outcome of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. For the video, audio podcast and comments; https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-662-ppugwashites-discussing-wars.

Mickey Huff is a history professor at Ithaca College and director of Project Censored, and organization that originated in Sonoma, California. We tallk about the need for citizens to have access to information that, too often, is suppressed in the regular press. Huff does not blame the government so much as corporate interests, though he points out that the US has interfered with elections in other countries for decades, so it is hypocritical to complain about disinformation campaigns from abroad now. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https:/tosavetheworld.ca/episode-661-censorship.

Brian von Herzen, the CEO of the Climate Foundation, describes his project – the development of large seaweed farms in the oceans around Asia (their first one is near the Philippines). The algae are anchored to a circular platform that is lowered at night so the algae can absorb the nutrients that lie in the deeper levels, and then is raised in the daytime to use photosynthesis and provide food for the increasing human population. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca-episode-660-marine-permaculture.

This open conversation has Tom Hedberg lamenting the stat e f US democracy and blaming Fox news. Moji Agha proposes a solution involving small groups. Charles Tauber's solution is therapy to deal with past traumas. James Thring wants quicker action to stop the bloodshed while it is ongoing - especially to protect the Palestinians. Meteeta likes the idea of therapy for millions by "barefoot therapists" on Zoom, but agrees with Thring that the urgent matter is to stop the violence immediately; she would institute stronger measures for the UN to require countries led by aggressors to replace their government with one that will comply with international law. For the video, audio podcast, aand comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-659-global-town-hall-feb-2025.

Arthur Kanegis and Melanie Bennett produced a film about Garry Davis, who declared himself a world citizen but a citizen o no other country. Now they run a series of meetings developing a world citizenry. or the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-658-the-world-is-my-country

Climate scientists Tom Goreau and Peter Wadhams are puzzled about two new events in the Arctic: On February 2, the North Pole was melting. And earlier there was a sharp increase in a number of gases and aerosols -- all except methane, which you might expect. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https:/tosavetheworld.ca/episode-657-arctic-climate-puzzles

The insurance industry should be investigating the costs and risks of technological interventions to mitigate climate change, but they are not. Robert Tulip, Dennis Garrity, Brian on Herzen, and Sev Clarke have been planning ways to change the industry's approach. Marilyn Krieger joined us as a Caliornia homeowner. For the vieo, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-655-insurance-and-climate.

Metta forgot to record the first 25 minutes. Then discus insurance and wildfires in LA, AI, climate, and the use of AI to control weapons, especially nuclear ones. Peter Wadhams, Marilyn Krieger, Brian von Herzen, Peter Wadhams. For the video, audio podcast, comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-654-global-town-hall-jan-2025.

Laura Kahn is a public health expert and co-founder of One Health Initiativr. Her ost recent book, One Health and the Politics of Covid-19, investigates whether Covid emerged from the wetmarket of Wuhan, China. She concludes not, since there were no Covid antibodies found in any of the 400+ animals tested in that market. For the ideo, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-653-the-politics-of-covid.

John Washington is a journalist who specializes in immigration issues, which he believes have been made into a "political football" by politicians who misiform people about the dangers that the newcomers bring. In fat, they are an economic asset. For the video, audio podcast and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-651-asylum

Thomas Hedberg heads, and his old friend Thomas De Laoughry belongs to, an organization promoting the spread of accurate medical information. But they are perturbed to recognize the power of organizations that are devoted to undermining reality and promoting falsehood. For the video, audio podcast, and commnets: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-650-since-goebbels.

Anuradha Shankar, Hemakumara Gunasekara, Rohan Savarimuttu, and Thayaparan discuss with Jill Carr-Harris and Rajagopal the prospects for reconciliation between Sinhala and Tamil people in Sri Lanka, in view of the election of a new government. For the video, audio podcast and comments see https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-649-sri-lankan-reconciliation.

David Harries gave a talk recently about accountability and Metta Spencer found the concept helps explain the puzzles about why voters around the world are angry and ousting incumbent politicians. So they talk about how acountability is harder nowadays and needs to be fixed – but how? For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-648-accountability.

Rebecca Shoot heads Citizens for Global Solutions nadLawrence Wittner, a professor emeritus of history, State U of New York at Albany, is on her board. They discuss the arrest warrants issued for Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu and the gradual emergence of international law over time.

Shorena Lortkipanidze, Nino Chkobadze, and Nano Saralishvili, activists and scholars in Tbilisi, Georgia, have seen protests for the past three weeks in all towns of their country – reactions against the decision of a newly elected Pro-Russia party to defer entry to the European Union. Jill Carr-Harris, an expert on nonviolent protest, leads this exploration of the crisis. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca'episode-6 45-georgian-women-talk-democracy.

As a Soviet scientist, Roald Sagdeev knew Yevgeny Velikhov longest. The American scientists Richard Garwin, Frank von Hippel, and Thomas Cochran worked closely with Velikhov during the Gorbachev years, mainly to demonstrate experimentally how safe it would be for both sids to disarm their nuclear weapons. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-644-velikhovs-friends

Trump expresses outrage – but what is it really about? Please send Metta Spencer a video about what makes YOU seethe in daily life. Her theory: Democracy can't hold people accountable anymore. The US election shows the hostility that most Americans feel toward urban elites, blaming us smart-ass city-slickers for making their lives miserable by running unaccountable corporations, bureaucratic government, big science, and big media with high-tech and digital inventions. The Democrats should have asked Americans what really infuriates them. It's not about money. It's about the humiliating inability even to manage one's own daily life anymore. For the video and audio: https:/tosavetheworld.ca/episode-641-why-trump-won

Proposal: Let people appeal to panels of citizens selected by sortition for protection from unjust or unworkable digital tech and bureaucratic rigidity. Metta ranted about YouTube's deletion of years of work and important conversations about climate. Attendees from 5 countries discussed this and COP's failure at Baku. We hope to have the video back on our website in a couple of weeks, but you can watch it sooner on Substack or listen on Libsyn.For the video, audio podcast, comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-642-global-town-hall-nov-2024

Irakli Kakabadze and Shorena Lortkipanidze are in Tbilisi, watching the uprising being suppressed in the streets, while Konstantin Samoilov describes the situation in Uzbekistan for those opposing Russian political influence. For the video, audio, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-643-georgian-resistance

Trump expresses outrage – but what is it really about? Please send Metta Spencer a video about what makes YOU seethe in daily life. Her theory: Democracy can't hold people accountable anymore. The US election shows the hostility that most Americans feel toward urban elites, blaming us smart-ass city-slickers for making their lives miserable by running unaccountable corporations, bureaucratic government, big science, and big media with high-tech and digital inventions. The Democrats should have asked Americans what really infuriates them. It's not about money. It's about the humiliating inability even to manage one's own daily life anymore.

Alexander Likhotal and Metta Spencer discuss current global affairs shortly before the US election. Likhotal, once Mikhail Gorbachev's closest aide and spokesman, is now a professor of international relations in Geneva. You can watch this whole video on Substack here: https://projectsavetheworld.substack.com/p/episode-640-likhotal-on-the-future?

Douglas Roche has been Canada's disarmament ambassador and a senator, as well as s leading anti-nuclear weapons activist on the world stage. In his mid-nineties, he continues to write articles and books. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-638-douglas-roche-on-peace.

Fergus Watt has led the Coalition for the UN We Need, which was planning the NGO portion of the recent Summit of the Future at the UN. Both Paul Werbos and David Levai attended and the three people discuss the outcome of the conference. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-637-after-the-summit-of-the-future.

Daniel Bodansky and Jesse Reynolds are both professors of international law. Robert Chris is a geography professor and advocate of geoengineering. All three guests worry that there is no strong constituency demanding faster adoption of climate repair, for it is urgently needed. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-636-governing-geoengineering.

Tony McQuail is an organic farmer in Ontario who also belongs to a farmers group working on climate issues. Alan Slavin is a retired physics professor; Sheldon Harvey is a Navajo artist in Arizona. We discuss the challenge of maintaining food production while reducing the harm done by poor agricultural practices and aks what the optimum plans are for saving the soil. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-634-land-and-and-climate.

Wouter van Dieren is a Dutch activist who worked on the Limits to Grwoth book in the 1970s. Viktor Jaakkola is a member of the Finnish youth activist organization Operaatio Arktis, which works on communicating scientific knowledge. We discuss the perilous present climate situation and ways to perhaps stimulate greater public engagement, including with the participation of celebrities. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-633-lets-get-them-talking.

Ye Tao is the founder of MEER, an organization that promotes the potential use of mirrors on land to reflect heat back into space. John Nissen and Herb Simmens are both leaders of HPAC, the Healthy Planet Action Coalition, which considers the possible effects of various proposals for cooling the planet -- especially the Arctic. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-532-sai-or-why-not/

Kare Moran is CEO of Ocean Networks Canada. Peter Fiekowsky has founded an organization promoting climate restoration. We discuss her organization's task – collecting data about the oceans, especially data that may help clarify the potential value or risks involved in proposed climate solutions. For the video, audio and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca .

Arlie Hochschild, professor of sociology U. California, discusses her new book, Stolen Pride, which explains the political shift among white males in a former coal-mining town from Democrat to pro-Trump, who helps them externalize blame for their downward social mobility. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-627-stolen-pride.