Podcasts about during hurricane katrina

In this special episode of the REIT Report, part of an ongoing series, “Building Resilience,” covering issues facing the REIT industry as it remains focused on investing for the long term, Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director, Public Sector at Marsh McLennan, joins Nareit's Jessica Long, Senior Vice President of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, to discuss how his experience as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) first deputy administrator for resilience has led to his current focus advancing resilience investment in the private sector.“During Hurricane Katrina, I was at the White House and saw the mass devastation, and I said, shouldn't we be doing something ahead of time to reduce these disaster losses Americans will almost inevitably face. What I found was there was a small but growing interest in an area called disaster resilience.”Currently, Kaniewski chairs the finance, insurance, and real estate committee at the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), a congressionally chartered nonprofit. He shares how he first got to know NIBS through their 2005 Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves study, which showed that every dollar the federal government invested in hazard mitigation saved four dollars. Then in 2017, “on the heels of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria,” Kaniewski asked NIBS for the bottom line of a forthcoming updated Mitigation Saves study. “They shared that savings were actually, six to one. The updated report found that others benefited from these mitigation investments beyond the federal government. Communities that can continue to function after a disaster will save money, not just to the homeowner or the federal government, but to everyone in that community who would otherwise have to take the time to help those with the losses. Recovery costs were greatly reduced by those hazard mitigation investments.”

Israel Cross, an officer in the United States Public Health Service, has devoted his career to improving the lives of older adults from a policy level. He discusses the most pressing challenges facing older adults, including financial security, caregiver support, access to technology, and the dangers of climate change.. About Israel LCDR Israel Cross is a gerontologist and a dedicated United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officer with over fifteen years of experience. He is celebrated for his interdisciplinary approach to improving the quality of life for vulnerable populations, particularly older adults. Cross's collaborative efforts with professionals from healthcare, health information technology, and community engagement have been instrumental in elevating the standards of care for the populations he serves. His work is deeply rooted in addressing health equity, with a focus on the intersection of older adult health, caregiving, and climate change. As a passionate advocate for older adult health and caregiving, Cross is committed to ensuring equitable access to healthcare and improving the well-being of underserved communities. His expertise and dedication make him a valuable asset in advancing health equity initiatives and driving meaningful progress in addressing the complex challenges facing aging populations. He is a certified dementia practitioner and holds an aging-in-place and home modification certification from University of Southern California. Key Takeaways The most pressing multigenerational challenges of aging are financial security, caregiver support, access to technology, and the dangers of climate change. Currently, there are not enough policies that support economic security in later life. Older adults often lack adequate retirement savings, posing a significant challenge for multiple generations. The Latin phrase "cogito ergo sum" means "I think, therefore I am." Thinking about yourself positively as you age can have a significant impact. There is a shift from social determinants of health to social drivers of health. The term "determinants" implies a sense of finality, stripping people of their agency to manage their own health care and well-being. The principle of “Nothing about us without us” emphasizes the importance of involving people in decisions that affect their lives. The critical intersection of climate change and aging relates to health equity. Older adults are most likely to be left behind during disasters. During Hurricane Katrina, over 70% of those who died were over 65. In the California wildfires in 2018, over 85% of those who died were over 80. In Hurricane Florence, over two-thirds of those who died were over 60. During the 2023 Hawaii fires, over 70% of those who died were over 60.

  Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more Derwyn Bunton is the Chief District Defender for Orleans Parish (New Orleans) Louisiana leading the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD). Prior to becoming Chief Defender, Derwyn was the Executive Director of Juvenile Regional Services (JRS). JRS is the first stand-alone juvenile defender office in the nation and the first non-profit law office devoted to juvenile justice reform and front-line juvenile representation. Derwyn is also the former Associate Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), a nonprofit juvenile justice reform and advocacy organization. Derwyn graduated from New York University School of Law in 1998. From 2000 to 2005, Derwyn aided in monitoring the settlement agreement between the United States Department of Justice, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, private plaintiffs and the State of Louisiana regarding Louisiana's juvenile prisons. Derwyn was part of the litigation team that sued Louisiana over the conditions of its juvenile prisons. During Hurricane Katrina, Derwyn was part of a team of advocates and lawyers assisting the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections locate and reunite youth and adults evacuated to multiple DOC facilities across the state after being trapped by floodwaters in the Orleans Parish Prison in the wake of Katrina. In 2007, Derwyn was part of a team of lawyers representing the so-called Jena 6 in Jena, Louisiana. Originally charged with attempted murder, Derwyn's client pled guilty to a misdemeanor and received 7 days probation. His conviction has since been expunged. Christian Finnegan  is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. BUY HIS NEW ALBUM--- "Show Your Work: Live at QED" Check out Christian's new Substack Newsletter! What is New Music for Olds? This newsletter has a very simple premise: You don't have time to discover new music. I do. Here's what I've discovered. Finnegan is perhaps best known as one of the original panelists on VH1's Best Week Ever and as Chad, the only white roommate in the “Mad Real World” sketch on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show. Additional television appearances as himself or performing stand up have included “Conan”, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”, "Would You Rather...with Graham Norton", “Good Afternoon America” and multiple times on The Today Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and on History's I Love the 1880s. He hosted TV Land's game show "Game Time". As an actor, Finnegan portrayed the supporting role of "Carl" in the film Eden Court, a ticket agent in "Knight and Day" and several guest roles including a talk show host on "The Good Wife". In October 2006, Finnegan's debut stand up comedy CD titled Two For Flinching was released by Comedy Central Records, with a follow-up national tour of college campuses from January to April 2007. “Au Contraire!” was released by Warner Bros. Records in 2009. His third special "The Fun Part" was filmed at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston on April 4, 2013 and debuted on Netflix on April 15, 2014.   Ophira Eisenberg is a Canadian-born standup comedian and writer. She hosted NPR's nationally syndicated comedy trivia show Ask Me Another (airing on 400+ stations) where she interviewed, joked, and played silly games with some of the biggest and funniest folks in the world.  Lauded as “hilarious, high risk, and an inspiration,” Ophira filmed her comedy special Inside Joke, when she was 8½ months pregnant. The show's material revolves around how she told everyone that she was never going to have kids, and then unexpectedly found herself expecting at “an advanced maternal age.” Inside Joke can be found on Amazon and iTunes, along with her two other comedy albums, Bangs!and As Is. She has appeared on Comedy Central, This Week at The Comedy Cellar, Kevin Hart's LOL Network, HBO's Girls, Gotham Live, The Late Late Show, The Today Show, and VH-1. The New York Times called her a skilled comedian and storyteller with “bleakly stylish” humor. She was also selected as one of New York Magazine's “Top 10 Comics that Funny People Find Funny,” and hailed by Forbes.com as one of the most engaging comics working today. Ophira is a regular host and teller with The Moth and her stories have been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and in two of The Moth's best-selling books, including the most recent New York Times Bestseller Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible. Ophira's first book, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamyi s a comedic memoir about her experiments in the field as a single woman, traveling from futon to futon and flask-to-flask, gathering data, hoping to put it all together and build her own perfect mate. She is also sought after as a brilliant interviewer and moderator, and has interviewed dozens of celebrities, writers, and actors. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ophira graduated with a Cultural Anthropology and Theater degree from McGill University. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY where she is a fixture at New York City's comedy clubs   Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe   Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page

Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. Join the Stand Up Community An award-winning journalist’s searing, extraordinary account of being kidnapped and tortured in Syria by al Qaeda for two years - a revelatory memoir about war, human nature, and endurance. In 2012, American journalist Theo Padnos, fluent in Arabic, Russian, German, and French, traveled to a Turkish border town to write and report on the Syrian civil war. One afternoon in October, while walking through an olive grove, he met three young Syrians - who turned out to be al Qaeda operatives - and they captured him and kept him prisoner for nearly two years. On his first day, in the first of many prisons, Padnos was given a blindfold - a grime-stained scrap of fabric - that was his only possession throughout his horrific ordeal. Now, in Blindfold, Padnos recounts his time in captivity in Syria, where he was frequently tortured at the hands of the al Qaeda affiliate, Jebhat al Nusra. We learn not only about Padnos' harrowing experience, but we also get a firsthand account of life in a Syrian village, the nature of Islamic prisons, how captors interrogate someone suspected of being CIA, the ways that Islamic fighters shift identities and drift back and forth through the veil of Western civilization, and much more. No other journalist has lived among terrorists for as long as Theo has - and survived. As a resident of 13 separate prisons in every part of rebel-occupied Syria, Theo witnessed a society adrift amid a steady stream of bombings, executions, torture, prayer, fasting, and exhibitions, all staged by the terrorists. Living within this tide of violence changed not only his personal identity but also profoundly altered his understanding of how to live. Offering fascinating, unprecedented insight into the state of Syria today, Blindfold is an astonishing portrait of courage that combines the emotional power of a captive’s memoir with a journalist’s account of a culture and a nation in conflict that is as urgent and important as ever. Derwyn Bunton is the Chief District Defender for Orleans Parish (New Orleans) Louisiana leading the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD). Prior to becoming Chief Defender, Derwyn was the Executive Director of Juvenile Regional Services (JRS). JRS is the first stand-alone juvenile defender office in the nation and the first non-profit law office devoted to juvenile justice reform and front-line juvenile representation. Derwyn is also the former Associate Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), a nonprofit juvenile justice reform and advocacy organization. Derwyn graduated from New York University School of Law in 1998. From 2000 to 2005, Derwyn aided in monitoring the settlement agreement between the United States Department of Justice, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, private plaintiffs and the State of Louisiana regarding Louisiana’s juvenile prisons. Derwyn was part of the litigation team that sued Louisiana over the conditions of its juvenile prisons. During Hurricane Katrina, Derwyn was part of a team of advocates and lawyers assisting the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections locate and reunite youth and adults evacuated to multiple DOC facilities across the state after being trapped by floodwaters in the Orleans Parish Prison in the wake of Katrina. In 2007, Derwyn was part of a team of lawyers representing the so-called Jena 6 in Jena, Louisiana. Originally charged with attempted murder, Derwyn’s client pled guilty to a misdemeanor and received 7 days probation. His conviction has since been expunged. Follow Derwyn on Twitter  Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

Hey Guys Please consider a paid subscription to this daily podcast. Everyday I will interview 2 or more expert guests on a wide range of issues. I will continue to be transparent about my life, issues and vulnerabilities in hopes we can relate, connect and grow together. Join the Stand Up Community Derwyn Bunton is the Chief District Defender for Orleans Parish (New Orleans) Louisiana leading the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD). Prior to becoming Chief Defender, Derwyn was the Executive Director of Juvenile Regional Services (JRS). JRS is the first stand-alone juvenile defender office in the nation and the first non-profit law office devoted to juvenile justice reform and front-line juvenile representation. Derwyn is also the former Associate Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), a nonprofit juvenile justice reform and advocacy organization. Derwyn graduated from New York University School of Law in 1998. From 2000 to 2005, Derwyn aided in monitoring the settlement agreement between the United States Department of Justice, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, private plaintiffs and the State of Louisiana regarding Louisiana’s juvenile prisons. Derwyn was part of the litigation team that sued Louisiana over the conditions of its juvenile prisons. During Hurricane Katrina, Derwyn was part of a team of advocates and lawyers assisting the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections locate and reunite youth and adults evacuated to multiple DOC facilities across the state after being trapped by floodwaters in the Orleans Parish Prison in the wake of Katrina. In 2007, Derwyn was part of a team of lawyers representing the so-called Jena 6 in Jena, Louisiana. Originally charged with attempted murder, Derwyn’s client pled guilty to a misdemeanor and received 7 days probation. His conviction has since been expunged. Follow Derwyn on Twitter  Dr. Juliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Schor is also a member of the MacArthur Foundation Connected Learning Research Network. Schor’s research focuses on consumption, time use, and environmental sustainability. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Schor received her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts. Before joining Boston College, she taught at Harvard University for 17 years, in the Department of Economics and the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies. In 2014 Schor received the American Sociological Association’s award for Public Understanding of Sociology. Schor’s most recent books are After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win it Back , Sustainable Lifestyles and the Quest for Plenitude: Case Studies of the New Economy which she co-edited with Craig Thompson, and True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans are Creating a Time-Rich, Ecologically Light, Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy. As part of her work with the MacArthur Foundation, Schor is currently researching the “connected economy,” via a series of case studies of sharing platforms and their participants. She is also studying the relation between working hours, inequality and carbon emissions. Get her books https://www.amazon.com/Juliet-B.-Schor/e/B000AP8ZLQ%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Dr Eddie Glaude Jr Eddie S. Glaude Jr. joined the Princeton faculty in 2002. He is the author of Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America, In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, (2007), Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, African American Religion: A Very Short Introduction, An Uncommon Faith: A Pragmatic Approach to the Study of African American Religion, and editor of Is it Nation Time? Contemporary Essays on Black Power and Black Nationalism, Professor Glaude co- edited “African-American Religious Thought: An Anthology,” (2004) with Cornel West. His research interests include American pragmatism, specifically the work of John Dewey, and African American religious history and its place in American public life. He is a regular on MSNBC  Follow him on Twitter Derwyn Bunton is the Chief District Defender for Orleans Parish (New Orleans) Louisiana leading the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD). Prior to becoming Chief Defender, Derwyn was the Executive Director of Juvenile Regional Services (JRS). JRS is the first stand-alone juvenile defender office in the nation and the first non-profit law office devoted to juvenile justice reform and front-line juvenile representation. Derwyn is also the former Associate Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), a nonprofit juvenile justice reform and advocacy organization. Derwyn graduated from New York University School of Law in 1998. From 2000 to 2005, Derwyn aided in monitoring the settlement agreement between the United States Department of Justice, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, private plaintiffs and the State of Louisiana regarding Louisiana’s juvenile prisons. Derwyn was part of the litigation team that sued Louisiana over the conditions of its juvenile prisons. During Hurricane Katrina, Derwyn was part of a team of advocates and lawyers assisting the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections locate and reunite youth and adults evacuated to multiple DOC facilities across the state after being trapped by floodwaters in the Orleans Parish Prison in the wake of Katrina. In 2007, Derwyn was part of a team of lawyers representing the so-called Jena 6 in Jena, Louisiana. Originally charged with attempted murder, Derwyn’s client pled guilty to a misdemeanor and received 7 days probation. His conviction has since been expunged. Follow Derwyn on Twitter    Paid Subscription   

#158: Clark Howard loves the FIRE movement. That's because he's one of us. Clark began investing in real estate at age 22, started a travel agency at age 25, and retired at age 31. He sold his travel agency, moved to the beach and relaxed for four years; then he started a second career as the host of The Clark Howard Show, a popular radio show that's syndicated nationwide. Today, he's a personal finance celebrity. His website receives more than 50 million views per year. He has more than 1.1 million followers on Facebook. He's the former co-host of Evening Express on CNN Headline News, now called HLN, and he also hosted a weekend show on HLN. He's published 10 books, many of which became mega-bestsellers. His book Living Large in Lean Times reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Clark is a consumer advocate and personal finance voice who walks the talk. He doesn't accept sponsorships that conflict with his values. He loves frugality and efficiency. Last week, he was traveling in New York on a company expense account, yet he still rode the subway, because he didn't like the idea of wasting money on a taxi ... *even if it wasn't his own money.* He's a philanthropist who leads with a service-first framework. During Hurricane Katrina, he volunteered with a team that handled medical evacuations. After September 11th, he joined the Georgia State Defense Force, which is an unpaid, unarmed volunteer component of the state Department of Defense. He sponsored the construction of 74 houses through Habitat for Humanity. He's provided toys for more than 150,000 foster children at Christmas. He's a multimillionaire and he flies in coach. When the now-infamous Suze Orman episode came out, Clark immediately issued a response on his own syndicated radio show. He came out in strong support of the FIRE movement. He said that he couldn't imagine how anyone could criticize the notion of saving half of your income. When I heard his remarks, I invited him on this show to elaborate. What does he think about the FIRE movement? Why does he like it? How would he respond to the objections? Here are four takeaways from our conversation. #1: We are social creatures. Our idea of a "normal" savings rate, as compared to an "extreme" savings rate, is a cultural construct. Many Asian cultures encourage and normalize a higher savings rate. The household savings rate in China, Singapore and India is significantly higher than the savings rate in the U.S. This is why it's important to fuel the FIRE subculture. By surrounding yourself with voices that normalize a high savings rate, enthusiasm for investing, and a frugal lifestyle, you can encourage yourself to save more. #2: A bull market is irrelevant if you're not saving and investing. Sure, we've experienced an incredible bull market run in the past nine years. Guess who benefitted from this? The people who lived on less than what they earned and invested their savings. If you have investments, you can benefit from a bull market. If you don't, then the best markets in the world won't have any effect on your net worth. That's why saving and investing is the cornerstone to growth. It's easy to dismiss your own accomplishments by saying, "Well, I got lucky because the markets were good." That's like playing soccer, scoring the game-winning goal, and saying, "Well, I got lucky because my teammate passed me the ball at the right moment, when I was positioned to kick the ball into the net." Sure, there may be luck on the field. But you would never experience this if you didn't train, practice, and play the game. #3: Retire early AND often. Don't get so caught up in the goal that you miss the journey. If you're not financially independent yet, don't let this stop you from enjoying life. Take a vacation with your family, or enroll in a wine tasting class, or fly across the country to spend Thanksgiving with awesome people whom you love. Don't defer your happiness and experiences to a later date. All the compound interest in the world can't bring back this era of your life. Enjoy your life, no matter what your financial situation. The most sustainable financial plans are balanced. #4: Don't allow your fear of black swan events to convince you to revert to the status quo. Yes, catastrophes happen, but the normalized American pattern of going into consumer debt, saving less than 5 percent of your income and woefully underpreparing for a traditional retirement is not the solution to the possibility of a future calamity. If you reach financial independence, you'll be in a stronger position to handle most major disasters that come your way. If you're a few paychecks away from disaster, you'll be in a much more financially precarious position. Listen to this interview for more insights from Clark Howard. Enjoy!

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s hard not to miss all the events, news, and general PR buzz about International Women’s Day that was recognised this month. Countries celebrate it in different ways. This year you would have heard about the Day Without Women in the US and many other western countries around the world such as Australia. It is an official holiday in a number of places including: Afghanistan, Armenia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Uganda, Vietnam. Zambia and in China & Nepal for women only. Many brands such as Nike and P&G  launch powerful ad campaigns, while companies around the world ranging from huge multinationals host an array of events, women’s breakfasts and conferences in recognition of the day.   If we move past all the marketing spin, is International Women’s Day still even important? Why do we still celebrate it? Is there an international men’s day? And, looking in to the future, what are the 6 things that we should be focussing on when it comes to gender equality. Let’s go back to the start for a minute or two. What is International Women's Day? And, is there an International Men's Day? Let’s start with Men’s Day - Is there an International Men's Day? Yes, it takes place on November 19 each year and is celebrated in 60 countries around the world. The objectives of the day include a focus on men's and boy's health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models. Now back to International Women’s Day - What is it? The Telegraph did a great short piece about this which I’ll link to in the show notes (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/international-womens-day-2017-did-start-important/) Basically, International Women’s Day (or IWD as it’s commonly referred to) is “a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements – from the political to the social – while calling for gender equality. It has been observed since the early 1900s and is now recognised each year on March 8. Is is not affiliated with any one group, but brings together governments, women's organisations, corporations and charities.” So, why is it still important? I think the best way to answer this question is to give you a few facts about the current situation of women in the world. Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate people. (UN Women) Only 22.8 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of June 2016, a slow increase from 11.3 per cent in 1995 (UN Women) As of January 2017, 10 women are serving as Head of State and 9 are serving as Head of Government (UN Women) It is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives. However, some national studies show that up to 70 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime (UN Women) Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children (below 18 years of age). Of those women, more than 1 in 3—or some 250 million—were married before 15. Child brides are often unable to effectively negotiate safe sex, leaving them vulnerable to early pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted infections, including HIV (UN Women) Around 120 million girls worldwide (slightly more than 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point in their lives. By far the most common perpetrators of sexual violence against girls are current or former husbands, partners or boyfriends (UN Women) At least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting in 30 countries, according to new estimates published on the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in 2016. In most of these countries, the majority of girls were cut before age 5. (UN Women) Adult women account for almost half of all human trafficking victims detected globally. Women and girls together account for about 70 per cent, with girls representing two out of every three child trafficking victims (UN Women) One in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15 (including having received unwanted, offensive sexually explicit emails or SMS messages, or offensive, inappropriate advances on social networking sites). The risk is highest among young women between 18 and 29 years of age (UN Women) Evidence suggests that certain characteristics of women, such as sexual orientation, disability status or ethnicity, and some contextual factors, such as humanitarian crises, including conflict and post-conflict situations, may increase women’s vulnerability to violence (UN Women) Also, 34 per cent of women with a health problem or disability reported having experienced any physical or sexual violence by a partner in their lifetime, compared to 19 per cent of women without a health problem or disability, also based on data from the European Union (UN Women) Now we know what it is and why it's still important, what are the SIX things that we should focus on to accelerate gender equality? 1)     Accelerating Gender Equality for Women and The Environment The situation: Women, especially those in poverty, appear more vulnerable in the face of natural disasters. A recent study of 141 countries found that more women than men die from natural hazards. Where the socioeconomic status of women is high, men and women die in roughly equal numbers during and after natural disasters, whereas more women than men die (or die at a younger age) where the socioeconomic status of women is low. Women and children are more likely to die than men during disasters. (UN Women) "Similarly, in industrialized countries, more women than men died during the 2003 European heat wave. During Hurricane Katrina in the USA, African-American women who were the poorest population in that part of the country faced the greatest obstacles to survival" (IUCN Global Gender Office) Women and children bear the main negative impacts of fuel and water collection and transport, with women in many developing countries spending from 1 to 4 hours a day collecting biomass for fuel. A study of time and water poverty in 25 sub-Saharan African countries estimated that women spend at least 16 million hours a day collecting drinking water; men spend 6 million hours; and children, 4 million hours. Gender gaps in domestic and household work, including time spent obtaining water and fuel and processing food, are intensified in contexts of economic crisis, environmental degradation, natural disasters, and inadequate infrastructure and services (UN Women) So, gender equality goes hand in hand with climate solutions and that makes movements like 1 Million Women are super important and extremely relevant right now. They are a movement of 600,000+ women and girls (and growing everyday) who are pioneers in the gender and climate change arena in Australia and around the world. Climate solutions have to move past world leaders arguing about the proven science and for everyone to take control. Yes, the reality is that we need strong leadership and big decisions to be made now. And this can only happen when we all make it a priority so organisations like 1 Million Women aim for all of us all to be living a low-carbon lifestyle by inspiring 1 million women to take practical action on climate change in their everyday lives to cut carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse pollutant leading to climate change. According to them, if 1 million women all cut 1 tonne each of carbon pollution, it would equal to 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is the equivalent of growing a new forest of 5 million trees. They provide resources to guide you through ways to live a low-carbon life and cut C02 in the process, and ask you to kick-start your low-carbon life by making a personal goal to cut a minimum of 1 tonne of CO2 pollution from your daily life within a year. It's an easy way to educated start taking action so I suggest you check them out at http://www.1millionwomen.com.au as a first step. “Climate change responses cannot be effective unless they are gender aware, taking into consideration the different needs of women and men, the inequalities that compound the impacts of climate change for women and the specific knowledge women and men can contribute to solutions” (1 Million Women) If you want some further reading about climate solutions, Project Drawdown will be available from the 18th April which maps, models, and describes the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming. For each solution, they describe its history, the carbon impact it provides, the relative cost and savings, the path to adoption, and how it works. The goal of the research that informs Drawdown is to determine if we can reverse the buildup of atmospheric carbon within thirty years. All solutions modeled are already in place, well understood, analyzed based on peer-reviewed science, and are expanding around the world. So if you had any doubt about the solutions to climate change being available, this is proof that we already have everything that we need to make a difference. 2) Accelerating Gender Equality by Creating Access to Finance for Women The situation: The IFC has estimated that worldwide, a $300 billion gap in financing exists for formal, women-owned small businesses, and more than 70 percent of women-owned small and medium enterprises have inadequate or no access to financial services. Without access to finance, women face difficulties in collecting and saving income, growing their businesses, and pulling their families out of poverty. As a result, women remain largely excluded from the formal economy.  So to recognise International Women’s Day, I decided to make 2 loans to women micro-entrepreneurs in the Philippines through Kiva. And wow – what an impact Kiva made that day! They had a goal to lend $3 million USD to women on Kiva in one week, and not only exceeded it, but DOUBLED it! It was the biggest day for lending in Kiva’s 11 year history and as a result 16,473 women around the world are one step closer to following their dreams of starting or growing a business, going to school and investing in a better future for themselves, their children and their communities. The situation: Lack of access to finance affects women in other parts of the world too. According to Fortune, a 2015 study found that 92% of senior investment teams at top venture capital firms are male. Additionally, fewer female founders – 8% in 2015 compared to 16% in 2014 – received Series A funding in the Bay Area last year. And that’s why when I met Pocket Sun, co-founder of SOGAL Ventures, I knew she was on to something big. As the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, according to them, they are redefining the next generation of diverse founders and funders. Although female-led, they don’t just invest in women entrepreneurs, but changing the status quo and adding diversity to the mix is powerful. As Pocket puts it: “SoGal is all about changing the power dynamics in business and entrepreneurship. This power dynamic is not going to change unless women are sitting on the other side of the table and signing cheques.” 3)     Accelerating Gender Equality for Women in the Workforce The situation: Women’s economic equality is good for business. Companies greatly benefit from increasing leadership opportunities for women, which is shown to increase organizational effectiveness. It is estimated that companies with three or more women in senior management functions score higher in all dimensions of organizational effectiveness (UN Women) 71% of employers who said they had adopted diversity practices said these were having a positive impact on their recruitment efforts (PwC 2017 Report on Winning Female Talent) 86% of millennial women and 76% of millennial men think that an employer's policy on diversity, equality and workforce inclusion is important when they decide whether or not they should work for them (PwC 2015 Report on The Female Millennial)  In the United States, companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. And, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. (McKinsey 2016 Diversity Matters Report) That’s why when companies take this seriously, they can create huge impact. In April 2015, Salesforce Founder and CEO, Marc Benioff announced that the company would be taking a look at equal pay within their business. On International Women’s Day 2016 they announced their results. Their assessment showed that they needed to adjust some salaries—for both men and women. Approximately six percent of employees required a salary adjustment, and roughly the same number of women and men were impacted. Salesforce spent nearly $3 million dollars to eliminate statistically significant differences in pay. Wow. Salesforce also increased access to advancement opportunities through their High-Potential Leadership Program, which is designed to provide leadership skills to advance women in the workplace. The program has led to a 33 percent increase in the number of women who were promoted last year. In the last year, Salesforce increased parental leave to 12 weeks off at 80% of total pay. The company also introduced a new gradual return program which offers new parents the flexibility to work reduced hours for the first four consecutive weeks of returning to work, at full pay. The gender pay gap is widely discussed amongst businesses. But how many actually stop, acknowledge there might be an issue and then go on to audit their entire workforce? In the case of Salesforce, this was 17,000 strong. And, in the case of Salesforce, it’s men that benefitted from this exercise too.   4)     Accelerating Gender Equality by Educating Women  The situation according to UN Women: Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate people.  According to global statistics, just 39 percent of rural girls attend secondary school. This is far fewer than rural boys (45 percent), urban girls (59 percent) and urban boys (60 percent).  But, this doesn’t have to be the case. Every additional year of primary school increases girls' eventual wages by 10-20 percent. It also encourages them to marry later and have fewer children, and leaves them less vulnerable to violence. (UN Women) Increasing women and girls’ education contributes to higher economic growth.  5)     Accelerating Gender Equality by Ending Violence Against Women The situation according to UN Women: 35 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Globally, 47 per cent of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner or family member, compared to less than 6 per cent of murders of men.  Women represent 55 per cent of victims of forced labour and 98 per cent of the victims of sexual exploitation.  Globally, an estimated 200 million women and girls have undergone FGM in 30 countries and 700 million were married as children (250 million before the age of 15).  What does this all mean? Apart from the fact that violence of any kind is horrific, it results in a HUGE economic cost to society. According to the OECD estimates suggest that “discriminatory social institutions – including violence against women – cost the global economy approximately 12 trillion US dollars a year. So while it is critical to put in place laws, budgets and plans to transform discriminatory social norms, we also need to empower women and girls, men and boys, to challenge – and change – these norms”. Examples of this by UN Women include: In India women can lose an average of at least five paid work days for each incident of intimate partner violence. This fact would mean the affected woman would get 25 per cent less of her salary each time an incident of violence happens. In Uganda, about nine per cent of violent incidents forced women to lose time from paid work, amounting to approximately 11 days a year, equivalent to half a month’s salary, affecting not only the incumbent person but her family and dependents. Also, research shows for example that women who are exposed to intimate partner violence are employed in higher numbers in casual and part-time work, and their earnings are 60 per cent lower, compared to women who do not experience such violence. Annual costs of intimate partner violence were calculated at $5.8 billion in the United States of America and $1.16 billion in Canada. In Australia, violence against women and children costs an estimated $11.38 billion per year. Domestic violence alone costs approximately $32.9 billion in England and Wales.   The Secretary General of the OECD adds that “across the 160 countries included in SIGI ( Social Institutions and Gender Index), one in three women agrees that domestic violence is justified; in some countries, these acceptance rates climb close to 90%. How can we even begin to tackle violence if women believe it can be justified” First responders are vitally important in dealing with the consequences of violence against women, but ultimately empowering women through education, increased leadership and economic opportunities, as well as access to finance are key in changing societal norms. One of the guests in an upcoming episode on the podcast said to me that we can end violence in one generation - we only need one generation to grow up without any violence to change this. That will forever stay with me. 6)     Accelerating Gender Equality by Advancing Women in Leadership Gender differences in laws affect both developing and developed economies, and women in all regions. According to UN Women (http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures) “90 per cent of 143 economies studied have at least one legal difference restricting women’s economic opportunities. Of those, 79 economies have laws that restrict the types of jobs that women can do. And husbands can object to their wives working and prevent them from accepting jobs in 15 economies”. The fact is, the more women that are represented in leadership positions around the world, the fast gender equality will become a reality. The World Economic Forum predicts that at the current rate of progress, the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186  If you’re happy waiting for almost another 170 years, then don’t bother doing anything more than you’re already doing. But if you see the economic, social, environmental and political reasons why closing this gap is important, then you need to start doing something about it now. You can start with education. Educate yourself more about this issue and talk to others about it too. In your circle of influence you can choose any one of the above areas that I’ve chosen to highlight and do something about it. Whether it’s joining the 1 million women pledge, funding micro-entrepreneurs around the world, working in your business to promote diversity or, speaking up when the societal norms that permeate a culture of violence against women rears it’s ugly head. You don’t have to wait - you can do something now. If you like what you’re hearing with this podcast, I'd love it if you could let me know what you think by subscribing, rating & reviewing the episodes. We all know that awareness is the first step to creating change so, don’t forget to share your favourite episode with your friends too! One more thing, if you'd like to stay in touch, check out the Doing Good Podcast on social media - I'd love to interact with you and hear your thoughts and ideas. Happy International Women’s Day!

Today we travel to a future without pets. What would it take for us to give up our fuzzy, slithery, fishy friends? Should our pets get more rights? And if we didn’t have dogs or cats, would we domesticate something else to take their place?    This week's episode name is perhaps the worst pun I've ever committed. Sorry not sorry.    Anyway. In this episode pets are outlawed, gone, we don't have them anymore. No more dogs, cats, fish, birds, bunnies, none of them. This might seem like a really outlandish future, who actually wants us to stop having pets? Well, it turns out, this actually something that some people currently do advocate for.    To find out more about folks who argue that we should try to phase out pets, I talked to Doris Lin. She's an animal rights attorney and used to write the animal rights section for About.com. And she explains in the episode that she really does think that we should phase out pets.    But she also wants to clarify something: she’s not about to show up at your door and confiscate your animals. She doesn't want to separate anybody's beloved pets from their good homes. (She herself has pet rabbits.) But she does believe that people should stop breeding animals to be kept as pets, and that eventually, after all the rescue animals get home and live their happy lives, we should try to live without them.     There are a couple of arguments for eliminating pets from our lives. Lin says that animals we keep aren't able to live out their "natural instincts" and that it's not fair for us to force them to live by "human rules." Some people point to the increasing body of research that shows that animals might be a lot more intelligent than we once thought.    Today, studies show that dogs can actually understand pointing. So if we point at something, the dog knows that we’re trying to get them to pay attention to that thing. Cats might be able to do the same thing, but they’re harder to study because they don’t care about your stupid experiment. This pointing thing might seem like not that big of a deal. But chimpanzees, our closest living relative, can’t do that. Which might seem surprising, but as David Grimm points out in the episode, we've evolved with dogs for something like 30,000 years, and with cats for 10,000 years.     Grimm is the Online News Editor of the magazine Science, and the author of a book called Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs. And in his book, David talks about how the way we think about our animals has totally changed in the last century. They used to be considered lower than objects, less important than your table or toaster. But today, most people consider their pets far more important than their tables. There have been custody battled fought over pets, dogs have been appointed lawyers, and some animals have even inherited money.    A 2015 Harris Poll showed that 95 percent of pet owners consider their pets members of their family. During Hurricane Katrina, some people decided to stay behind with their pets when they were told the rescue boats would only take human passengers. Some of those people died.    So the idea of a world without these creatures in them is really hard to imagine, even for Lin who advocates for this future. But that never really stops us here on this show! And in the second half of the episode we talk about all the ways that this might happen. Listen to find out!     Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth, and is part of the Boing Boing podcast family. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Broke for Free. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices