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72 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
3 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
2 episodes with Fredrik Gertten
What happens when international law exists on paper but not in practice? This week, Fredrik Gertten and Leilani Farha speak with Allegra Pacheco, an American human rights lawyer who has dedicated her career to protecting vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank. As Chief of Party for the West Bank Protection Consortium, Allegra sees the realities of Area C in the West Bank, where over 600,000 Israeli settlers live in communities deemed illegal under international law while Palestinians face severe restrictions on movement, construction, and daily life.Together with Fredrik and Leilani, Allegra discusses what it will take to protect the occupied Palestinian territories. How might private security forces protect Palestinian communities? What leverage does the European Union actually possess? And why has the international community failed to enforce its own legal rulings? As the opportunity to protect a future for Palestine seems to dwindle, Allegra's perspective challenges us to think critically about what it will take to end one of the world's most protracted conflicts, and what it means to have hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.Support the show
This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're taking the week off, and you probably are too. If you've entered the usual post-Christmas/pre-New Year's boredom, then this is the show for you because it's our annual Political Movies Show! For the last eight years, we've used one of our last shows of the year to talk about some of our favourite politically-minded movies, and this year will not be any different. So tune, drop out, and bring on the flicks! This Thursday, December 28, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Adam's Pick #1: First Blood (1982). "A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers." Directed by Ted Kotcheff. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, and Brian Dennehy. You can stream First Blood on Paramount+ or rent it on VOD. Scotty's Pick #1: Between Two Worlds (2021). "Based on French journalist Florence Aubenas's bestselling non-fiction work Le Quai de Ouistreham, investigating rising precarity in French society through her experiences in the northern port city of Caen." Directed by Emmanuel Carrère. Starring Juliette Binoche, Louise Pociecka and Steve Papagiannis. You can borrow Between Two Worlds from the Guelph Public Library. Adam's Pick #2: JFK (1991). "New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story." Written and Directed by Oliver Stone. Starring Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Sissy Spacek. You can rent JFK on VOD. Scotty's Pick #2: Push (2019). "A documentary shedding light on the global phenomenon of the commodification of housing and consequent lack of affordability, especially through the eyes of Leilani Farha, a United Nations special rapporteur on housing who lives in Canada." Directed by Fredrik Gertten. You can stream Push on TVO's website or rent it on AppleTV. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
The Swedish oat milk brand Oatly has taken on some eyebrow-raising investments over the past few years. It insists those investments haven't changed its proud identity as a climate-saving company – but is that really true? In the third and final episode of ‘The Oatly Chronicles', we investigate a piggy controversy, why oat milk is so damn expensive, and whether Oatly is acting like a big, bad oat milk monopoly. And we ask: what *should* we be eating, to save the planet? This series is funded by Journalismfund Europe and the Allianz Foundation. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify. Credits: This episode was produced by Katz Laszlo, and reported by Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee. Editing came from Katy Lee, as well as Justine Paradis, visiting from NPR's excellent podcast, Outside/In. Editorial support came from Margot Gibbs, Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak, and mastering, scoring and sound design also came from Wojciech. Artwork came from favourite illustrator RTiiiKA. Thank you for talking to us: George Monbiot, Fredrik Gertten, Laura Young, Ashley Allen, Lisa van der Velden, Thin Lei Win, Sonalie Figueiras, Sara Berger, and Boris de Lorn. Special thanks to lovely neighbours Joris Klingen and Thomas van Dijk, for letting us use their very nice studio. You can find their music under Bovenburen. Interesting links: Oatly's ‘Fuck Oatly' website: https://fckoatly.com ‘The Awkward Truth about Oatly and Alpro': Lisa van der Velden's reporting in the Financiele Dagblad, December 2022 https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1458366/ongemakkelijke-waarheid-oatly-en-alpro-voeden-intensieve-veehouderij ‘Big Dairy is trying to get Gen Z' - New York Times, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/dining/milk-dairy-industry-gen-z.html Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter hello@europeanspodcast.com
Swedish oat milk company Oatly says it's on a mission to defeat the almighty dairy industry and save the planet. To do that, it claims it needs to grow into a massive corporate success — and it's willing to take on controversial investments to get there. In episode two of ‘The Oatly Chronicles', we investigate what makes those investors so controversial. It takes us on a journey from green capitalism being battled out in the coffee shops of Malmö; to enormous housing protests in a post-financial crisis Spain; to… China? This series is funded by Journalismfund Europe and the Allianz Foundation Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify. Credits: This episode was produced by Katz Laszlo, and reported by Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee. Editing came from Katy Lee, as well as Justine Paradis, visiting from NPR's excellent podcast, Outside/In. Editorial support came from Margot Gibbs, Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak, and mastering, scoring and sound design also came from Wojciech. Artwork came from favourite illustrator RTiiiKA. Thank for talking to us: Fredrik Gertten, Lucía Gonzalez Martín, Laura Young, George Monbiot, Max Carbonell, Ben Axler, Brett Christophers, and Gregor Sebastian. Special thanks to lovely neighbours Joris Klingen and Thomas van Dijk, for letting us use their very nice studio. You can find their music under Bovenburen. Interesting links: ‘Change Isn't Easy' - Oatly's statement on the Blackstone investment (August 2022 update) https://community.oatly.com/conversations/news-and-views/change-isnt-easy/62f2f4c91b4bf47dd15fb249 ‘Private Equity Propels the Climate Crisis' - a report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2021 https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PESP_SpecialReport_ClimateCrisis_Oct2021_Final.pdf ‘These Photos Show the Reality of Spain's Housing Crisis' - Time, August 2015 https://time.com/4007349/spain-evictions-housing-crisis/ ‘#RavalVsBlackstone. The right to the city versus the finance-real estate-tourism complex' - European Network of Corporate Observatories, June 2020 https://corpwatchers.eu/en/investigations/cities-versus-multinationals/ravalvsblackstone-the-right-to-the-city-versus-the-finance-real-estate-tourism ‘Activists sour on Oatly vegan milk after stake sold to Trump-linked Blackstone' - The Guardian, September 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/01/oatly-vegan-milk-sale-blackstone Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter hello@europeanspodcast.com
Vi reder ut domarinsatsen efter Sveriges semifinalförlust mot Spanien och domarsituationen under mästerskapet i övrigt tillsammans med Jonas Eriksson. Skaparen bakom Blådårar och Den Unge Zlatan och tillika malmöiten, Fredrik Gertten, gästar studion och pratar om hur samhällsutvecklingen påverkar fotbollsutveckling. Utöver det hinner vi med samtal till Östersund och Lund.
Vi reder ut domarinsatsen efter Sveriges semifinalförlust mot Spanien och domarsituationen under mästerskapet i övrigt tillsammans med Jonas Eriksson. Skaparen bakom Blådårar och Den Unge Zlatan och tillika malmöiten, Fredrik Gertten, gästar studion och pratar om hur samhällsutvecklingen påverkar fotbollsutveckling och sin nya film Breaking Social.
Fredrik Gerttens nya dokumentärfilm Breaking Social dyker ned i det mörka i allt större klyftor mellan fattiga och rika. Men den landar också i ett hopp om framtiden. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play.
All across the world we're witnessing a crisis of democracy and a sense of increased polarization. How can we engage in conversations that call others in rather than out? How can we seek to win over those who currently refuse to agree with us? And how do we create visions for the future that make our movements irresistible?Leilani and Fredrik talk to American journalist and writer Anand Giridharadas about the art of persuasion and the need to engage in conversations that pull people in rather than push them sideways. In this episode we ask, how do we start talking to others at their level of humanity? How do we bring emotional intelligence into our pro-democracy movements? In his book The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy, Anand Giridharadas advocates for a politics of love that is both strategic and irresistible, and tells the stories of those who are continuously changing people's hearts and minds in favor of democracy and justice.Anand argues that our movements become stronger when we not only resist the darkness but actively describe the light. “We can't be demoralized”, he says. “We have to stand up and insist on the kind of world we want and then invitingly pull people into those visions, so that they become shared visions and shared dreams.”Anand Giridharadas' website: http://www.anand.ly/Support the show
Möt filmaren som riktar sin kamera mot globala orättvisor och bristande mänskliga rättigheter. Gertten har fått många fina priser, ofta för att hans berättelser väcker debatt, skapar opinion och bidrar till konkret förändring. I samtal med Maja Kekonius. Inspelad live på Stora Teatern i Göteborg, 10 oktober 2022.
Did you know that approximately 22 million Americans live in mobile homes? Mobile homes have long been one of the most affordable types of dwelling but, because the homes are usually situated on rented land, mobile homeowners suffer from a unique type of housing precarity. Mobile homeowners are often low-income, with less access to infrastructure because trailer parks are situated outside of urban areas. Cue the vultures: While private equity and other real estate investors have long been in the mobile home market, there has been a dramatic uptick in the use of predatory practices designed to extract profit. As more financial actors move into this space, these already-at-risk people are being priced out of one of the few types of affordable housing left in the country.Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Paul Bradley, President of Residence Owned Communities to discuss the ways mobile homeownership has changed in the last few decades and why, and how his organization has helped over 17,000 owners of manufactured homes in 17 states come together to buy their parks and escape the vultures.More information about the film A Decent Home can be found here.Learn more about Residence Owned Communities here.Listeners who are interested can join the I'M HOME (Innovations in Manufactured Homes) Network at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy. It's a network of U.S. organizations and people interested in innovating in the mobile home sector. Info and sign-up are here.Support the show
In cities of all sizes across North America, legislation and policy are enacting violence on poor people. From housing policies that will see tens of thousands more people become homeless due to unaffordability to an ordinance in Los Angeles that makes it nearly impossible for the unhoused to find a place to rest, criminalization of homeless people is being dressed up as solutionsFredrik and Leilani are joined by Professor of Urban Planning, Social Welfare, and Geography at UCLA, Ananya Roy, and Dan Oudshoorn of #TheForgotten519 to unpack the root causes of the extreme cruelty being levvied against the most vulnerable, and discuss how legislation is making it easier to cage and control people already suffering under the most dire circumstances. Why, when there's more money available to address housing and homelessness than ever before, does the death toll continue to climb and mass evictions loom on the horizon?Support the show
The seasons are changing and the Filmmaker and the Advocate are back for season 5 of Pushback Talks! In 2020, amidst substantial social unrest, the people of Chile demanded a new constitution - the first since the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1980s. Now, two years later, division over the content of the new text led to it being rejected by 62% of voters.Magdalena Sepulveda, Chilean human rights lawyer and the former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty (2008-2014), talks about the writing of Chile's constitution by the common people, the impact of misinformation and business interests on the outcome of the vote, and the lessons learned from the rejection of the new constitution.Support the show
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada, and that means it's time for Pushback Talks - Summer Series! The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For the next couple of months, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners curated podcasts from Seasons 3 & 4 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. No matter where you are - we hope you enjoy this year's Summer Series!Class is in session – The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with New York Times correspondent and author of powerful book Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World, Peter S. Goodman, to learn about the handful of billionaires that are dramatically re-structuring the world as we know it. In the two years since the pandemic began, the ten richest people on the planet have more than doubled their wealth, even while homelessness and housing inadequacy have increased at a rapid rate. And this isn't just about housing, these people impact systems all over the world – health care, public health, sovereign debt, the list goes on. These billionaires hide behind a cosmic lie – that by giving them tax breaks and advantages everyone will reap the benefits – while creating the problems they are claiming to solve.Goodman's must-read new book, Davos Man, unpacks that cosmic lie by exploring who these people are and how they have manipulated laws and policies to uphold and perpetuate a system that proves, year after year, to primarily benefit the ultra-wealthy.Support the show
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada, and that means it's time for Pushback Talks - Summer Series! The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For the next couple of months, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners curated podcasts from Seasons 3 & 4 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. No matter where you are - we hope you enjoy this year's Summer Series!For decades, real estate developers in China had access to cheap money, thanks to the property sector's role in creating household wealth. That is until President Xi Jinping used his "common prosperity" to establish new policies to limit the use of property as a financial tool. The policies landed China's second-largest property developer in a world of trouble. The world's most indebted property developer, Evergrande found itself in debt to the tune of $310 billion with over a million flats that had already been paid for still yet to be built.Revisit Leilani & Fredrik's conversation with Dexter Roberts, author of The Myth of Chinese Capitalism and former China bureau chief and Asia News Editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, and get an update on where Evergrande and the Chinese real estate market are now. Support the show
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada, and that means it's time for Pushback Talks - Summer Series! The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For the next couple of months, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners curated podcasts from Seasons 3 & 4 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. No matter where you are - we hope you enjoy this year's Summer Series! At the conclusion of COP26 – the United Nations Climate Summit - the international community was divided on the conference's final outcomes. Coined “the most exclusionary climate summit to date”, advocates, activists, and leaders of developing countries were enraged by the dominance of wealthy nations and the watering down of outcomes, to benefit the economies of some countries while damning the future of others. The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, David Boyd, to discuss the important links between the right to housing and the right to a clean environment, and how human rights infrastructure is vital for both. He also gives examples of how climate change is being addressed at the local level, with scant resources but with a tremendous amount of creativity, courage, and commitment. Produced by WG FilmEdited by Alexander JemtrellMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae & Alexander JemtrellSupport the showSupport the show
It's been five years since Grenfell Tower in London burned down, after polyethylene cladding installed to make the building look more attractive acted as an accelerant and rapidly spread the fire along the length of the building. In the years since, many of those affected by the fire have had their lives uprooted, and there has been no real accountability. Many people whose homes still have the cladding are being forced to bear the cost of removing the expensive material from their buildings (sometimes as much as £50,000), despite having no say in its installation.Leilani and Fredrik are joined by Kareem Dennis, also known as Lowkey, a London-based activist, writer, and rapper for a history lesson on the Kensington neighborhood around Grenfell, and the attritional violence that came to a head that night in June when the building caught fire. What can be done when the corporations responsible have no body to punish and no soul to condemn?Support the show
Sixty percent of voters in Berlin voted to socialize apartments owned by corporate landlords with more than 3,000 properties in the city, but what comes next? The Filmmaker and the Advocate catch up with Joanna Kusiak, spokesperson for DW enteignen, on what has happened since the September 2021 Berlin referendum that voted in favor of government expropriation of over 200,000 privately-owned apartments in Berlin to create a new system of public housing. After years and years of pushing for reform, the referendum made headlines around the world as voter support was spread across all political parties in Berlin. Fredrik, Leilani, and Joanna discuss what it takes to build a revolution that uses the legal system while simultaneously challenging it, and keeping momentum when a movement isn't making headlines.Support the show
This week the Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with Member of European Parliament and the woman behind ‘My Home is an Asset Class,' Kim Van Sparrentak. The EU Commission cannot make laws on housing, so Kim decided to write a report on all of the aspects where the European Union does have an influence on the housing market. While researching for the report, she came across Push the film and realized that – not only was there a housing crisis throughout many countries in Europe – it was happening all over the world and being fueled by the same factors.And so ‘My Home is an Asset Class' was born. For the first time, it's down on paper just how big the business of financialization in Europe truly is – and it's still growing. Fredrik, Leilani, and Kim talk about meeting with Blackstone, staying motivated in the fight against corruption, and the importance of addressing the issue at every level of government. What kind of world can we create if we put people before profit? Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Den här gången gästas Brown Bag Lunches av regissör och journalist Fredrik Gertten från Malmö. Gertten är känd för lokala berättelser med global inverkan med filmer som PUSH (2019), Bikes vs Cars (2015), Big Boys Gone Bananas!* (2011) och Bananas!* (2009). Han har tidigare arbetat som utrikeskorrespondent och krönikör för radio, TV och press. 1994 grundade han produktionsbolaget WG Film – ett av Sveriges mest framstående dokumentärproduktionsbolag. Där kombinerar han rollen som kreativ producent med filmskapandet. I oktober 2017 utsågs Fredrik Gertten till hedersdoktor vid Malmö universitets fakultet för kultur och samhälle för sitt arbete som dokumentärfilmare. Under museets populära lunchsamtal Brown Bag Lunches fördjupar vi oss i den kreativa processen tillsammans med spännande och inspirerande gäster med olika bakgrund. Samtalen leds av copywriter och manusförfattare Paola Pellettieri.
Leilani and Fredrik are back with a new live episode! More than 300 listeners joined live on Twitter Spaces to tell us how the housing crisis is manifesting in their corner of the world and how they are resisting. This time around we hear from listeners in El Salvador, Spain, England, and more. Want to participate in the next live conversation with the Filmmaker and the Advocate? Be sure to follow @Make_theShift & @Push_theFilm on Twitter and Instagram to receive notifications and to submit your questions ahead of the recording!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
As economies in the global north continue to grow, housing exclusion grows alongside it, creating greater amounts of inequality. More than 160 million people in Europe are struggling to afford housing, with more than half that number living in poor-quality housing. How is this problem continuing to worsen in some of the wealthiest countries in the world? Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Sorcha Edwards, General Secretary of Housing Europe to talk about creating evidence-based housing policy in Europe to undo the mess that's been made and creating an environment where young people can be optimistic about the future.Produced by WG FilmEdited by Alexander Jemtrell Music by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Aune Nuyttens, Augustas Alekna, Ninnie SchelinSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
It's no secret that big medicine is big business, but the pandemic has made the intellectual property of pharmaceutical companies one of the most valuable assets in the world. From vaccine politics to surprise billing and revenue-based medical care, privatization of healthcare around the world has enabled financial actors to exploit the global health crisis to turn a bigger profit. This week we pick back up on Fredrik and Leilani's discussion with Peter S. Goodman and dive into how the world's wealthiest have used the medical system during the pandemic as a cash cow, structuring our hospitals, senior homes, hospices, and pharmacies for revenue first and public health last.Be sure to check out Goodman's vital new book, Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World, available online and in stores now!Produced by WG FilmEdited by Alexander Jemtrell Music by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Aune Nuyttens, Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Class is in session – In this two-part episode, the Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with New York Times correspondent and author of powerful new book Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World, Peter S. Goodman, to learn about the handful of billionaires that are dramatically re-structuring the world as we know it. In the two years since the pandemic began, the ten richest people on the planet have more than doubled their wealth, even while homelessness and housing inadequacy have increased at a rapid rate. And this isn't just about housing, these people impact systems all over the world – health care, public health, sovereign debt, the list goes on. These billionaires hide behind a cosmic lie – that by giving them tax breaks and advantages everyone will reap the benefits – while creating the problems they are claiming to solve.Goodman's must-read new book, Davos Man, unpacks that cosmic lie by exploring who these people are and how they have manipulated laws and policies to uphold and perpetuate a system that proves, year after year, to primarily benefit the ultra-wealthy.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Did you know that real estate constitutes a whopping one-third of China's massive economy? The property sector has been used to drive growth and most household wealth is held in real estate. As a result, for years developers like Evergrande have had access to cheap money, enabling them to become small Empires. Recognizing that the situation was out of control, President Xi Jinping has used his "common prosperity" to establish new policies to limit the use of property as a financial tool. This latest round of policies has landed China's second-largest property developer in a world of trouble. Now the world's most indebted property developer, Evergrande is in debt to the tune of $310 billion and has yet to build over a million flats that have already been paid for.Dexter Roberts, author of The Myth of Chinese Capitalism and former China bureau chief and Asia News Editor at Bloomberg Businessweek sits down with Fredrik and Leilani to delve into how Evergrande got to this point. Will the government bail the company out to prevent broader economic downturn? Or will Xi Jinping make an example of Evergrande to show that houses are for living in, not for speculation? Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
At the conclusion of COP26 – the United Nations Climate Summit - the international community was divided on the conference's final outcomes. Coined “the most exclusionary climate summit to date”, advocates, activists and leaders of developing countries were enraged by the dominance of wealthy nations and the watering down of outcomes, to benefit the economies of some countries while damning the future of others. The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with current UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, David Boyd, to discuss his outrage that the human rights implications of climate change and mitigation were starkly absent at the COP, suggesting this will only lead to more anger, protests and litigation. The trio discuss the important links between the right to housing and the right to a clean environment, and how human rights infrastructure is vital for both. The Special Rapporteur is unequivocal in his rebuke of governments who allege they don't have adequate resources to address climate change. Countering this negative narrative, David talks about the hundreds of examples of how climate change is being addressed at the local level, with scant resources but with a tremendous amount of creativity, courage and commitment. Produced by WG FilmEdited by Alexander Jemtrell & Aune NuyttensMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Maja Moberg & Aune NuyttensSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
This week, Leilani and Fredrik are joined by listeners worldwide as part of their first-ever LIVE conversation on Twitter Spaces. We've all watched as the global housing crisis has reached a fever pitch in recent years; how has the right to housing struggle manifested in cities around the world? Listeners from Mexico, Vietnam, Canada, and more weigh in on the housing issues faced in their respective countries. What lessons can we learn from each other and how can we better support the right to housing both at home and abroad? All that and more in this week's episode! Want to participate in the next live conversation with the Filmmaker and the Advocate? Be sure to follow @Make_theShift & @Push_theFilm on Twitter and Instagram to receive notifications and to submit your questions ahead of the recording!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Housing in the Netherlands is under a lot of pressure. Housing costs are rapidly increasing and homelessness is on the rise. Residents of Rotterdam, the country's second-largest city, are pushing back. More than 7,000 people took to the streets to protest unaffordable rents and real estate costs, and the shortage of affordable housing, particularly in Afrikaanderpark. The protest was one of many taking place across the Netherlands, signifying growing support for the human right to housing throughout the country. The Filmmaker and the Advocate speak with one of the central organizers of the protest, Dr. Gwen van Eijk, Assistant Professor of Criminology at Erasmus School of Law, & Jan de Vries, human rights lawyer and representative of The Shift – Netherlands on how the housing conversation has shifted in recent years and why the right to housing movement is growing in the Netherlands.Produced by WG Film Edited by Alexander Jemtrell & Aune NuyttensMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Maja Moberg & Aune Nuyttens Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
On 3 October 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) published the Pandora Papers, a roster of almost 12 million confidential files that had been leaked to the organization detailing the offshore financial dealings of hundreds of politicians, public officials, and celebrities. This type of controversial uncovering of finances is nothing new; similar leaks to the ICIJ happened in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2020. Despite this, outrage over the reveal that many politicians and public officials have secret offshore dealings worth billions has been surprisingly low. The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with Dr. Anna Minton, writer, journalist, academic, and author of Big Capital, to discuss the complexities of finance that keep the public from understanding the problems unfolding at a global level. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of taxes go missing each year – how do offshore holdings deteriorate the social contract we agree to, and contribute to a lack of available government resources that could change lives? Anna, Leilani, and Fredrik consider how we can reframe the language we use to better galvanize the people, and move us closer to the peaceful, equitable, socially inclusive world we want to live in.Produced by WG Film Edited by Alexander JemtrellMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Maja Moberg & Aune Nuyttens Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
In the span of just one year, Turkey has seen sharp increases in the cost of housing across the country, especially in neighborhoods near major universities. With the government's neo-liberal policies inviting in huge amounts of foreign capital and the building of luxury housing to satisfy investor interests, the cost of rental accommodation has soared – increasing by 31% to as much as 290% depending on the region. As in-person classes resume for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, many students have nowhere to live. There are just 720,000 or so public and private dormitory options combined, and private apartment rentals are simply too costly. The students are pushing back. They are sleeping in the streets in dozens of cities across the country, demanding their right to housing and refusing to move unless their requests are met. Fredrik & Leilani meet with Dilan İpek, a Turkish student, activist, and member of the Libertarian Youth Organization in Turkey. Together they discuss how the movement is growing, how it's planning to face off with faceless capitalism, and how being outside of the system makes young people better positioned to push back.Produced by WG Film Edited by Aune NuyttensMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Maja Moberg & Alexander JemtrellSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
In a landmark vote, 56.4% of Berliners backed a referendum for city government to take over ownership of approximately 240,000 apartments from corporate landlords. A groundbreaking referendum with incredible results has put all politicians in Germany at all levels on notice: the corporatization of housing is no longer acceptable. The question now - what happens next? Will the Mayor of Berlin develop legislation to implement the spirit of the referendum? Fredrik & Leilani sit down with Joanna Kusiak, Cambridge University researcher and spokesperson of the DWE campaign, to discuss how they deployed Constitutional law to bring about radical change and what role imaginations play in bringing about revolution.Produced by WG Film Edited by Alexander JemtrellMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Kirsten McRae, Maja Moberg & Aune Nuyttens Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Canada and Germany are having general elections later this month and the issue at the forefront of both is affordable housing. With growing movements around affordable housing in both countries, how are the parties' housing platforms stacking up? The Filmmaker and the Advocate discuss the Berlin referendum that could have the government buying back property from large corporate landlords, before breaking down the housing platforms of Canada's four major parties. In the last thirty years, the cost of housing has increased more in Canada than in any other OECD country. How have monetary and fiscal policy impacted the Canadian housing market and how do the party platforms miss the mark? Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada. The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For five weeks, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners the PushBack Talks - Summer Series. These are curated podcasts from Season 2 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. So, whether you're stuck at home, or chilling on a beach - we hope you enjoy our Summer Series! This is a special episode of PUSHBACK Talks to mark the opening of PUSH-the film in [virtual] theatres across the USA. For the first time, The filmmaker and The Advocate invite a guest into the conversation. This episode features Aaron Glantz, Peabody Award-winning investigative journalist, resident of San Francisco, and author of the recently released book, Homewreckers which details the devastating impact on millions of Americans when vulture capitalists entered the housing sector after the Global Financial Crisis. Nobel Laureate Prof. Stiglitz provides a jumping-off point for the trio to discuss the cosy relationship between government, banks and private equity that ensured those with money would come out winners, and those without would have their dreams demolished. Fredrik and Leilani use this episode of PUSHBACK Talks is a wake-up call and a warning: the vultures are likely circling again, with 40 million people in the US who can't pay their rent and nearly 4 million who can't pay their home mortgages. Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada. The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For five weeks, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners the PushBack Talks - Summer Series. These are curated podcasts from Season 2 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. So, whether you're stuck at home, or chilling on a beach - we hope you enjoy our Summer Series! The Filmmaker and the Advocate bring you an exclusive conversation with Denmark's Housing Minister – Kaare Dybvad Bek – one of the few politicians in the world to have had the courage to take on Blackstone and other institutional investors. The Minister recounts the new housing reality in Copenhagen where private equity, pension funds and asset management firms have started to dominate, imposing on tenants huge rent increases (often double) and unnecessary renovations driving tenants out of their homes and neighbourhoods. Believing that ordinary people – nurses, teachers, bus drivers – should be able to live in the cities where they work, and racing against time to keep remaining affordable units out of the clutches of investors, the Minister took matters into his own hands. A Parliamentary Committee to analyze the situation was initiated, and despite considerable pressure successfully put forward ground-breaking legislation aimed at keeping big finance out of Copenhagen's housing market. Known as ‘Lex Blackstone', the legislation puts a 5-year ban on renovations and rent increases for new owners, and strengthens tenants rights. The legislation has had its intended results: fewer institutional investors and a significant decrease in property prices. Denmark's legislation offers inspiration and stands as a model for advocates and politicians across the globe. The podcast also brings back memories from the World Premiere of PUSH at the amazing CPH DOX film festival in Copenhagen. The film won the Politikken Audience Award and the issues in the film created a strong debate in Danish media. Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada. The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For five weeks, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners the PushBack Talks - Summer Series. These are curated podcasts from Season 2 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. So, whether you're stuck at home, or chilling on a beach - we hope you enjoy our Summer Series! Most of us put our savings in a bank. But what does the bank do with our money? What if you learned that your life savings were being invested in companies that are burning down the Amazon forest or raising rents and evicting tenants from their homes? Would you care? Would you be willing to do something about it? This week the Filmmaker and the Advocate talk with Jakob König the Project Leader of the Fair Finance Guide - Sweden, an organization that exposes the role the finance sector plays in harming our planet and undermining human rights. Using a set of international standards, Fair Finance Guide investigates the investment activities of financial institutions like banks. If they don't receive a passing grade, they inform the clients of the bank to provoke outrage and action. The results have been impressive. Under pressure from 5,000 clients, Swedish banks met with the government of Brazil and halted the burning of the Amazon forest for several months. So maybe we have more power than we think! Fredrik and Leilani see great potential in the model and wonder if it couldn't be used to hold institutional investors in housing to account. And, if banks can be shamed into changing what they invest in, might they also be persuaded to change their lending practices – where so much of the real damage is done?Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada. The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For five weeks, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners the PushBack Talks - Summer Series. These are curated podcasts from Season 2 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. So, whether you're stuck at home, or chilling on a beach - we hope you enjoy our Summer Series! The Filmmaker and the Advocate take listeners of this episode of PUSHBACK Talks into the real world – one where $$ money $$ is the principle value and corruption and kleptocracy the means of acquisition. Few are better placed to expose the workings of corruption than Sarah Chayes – former NPR reporter, and senior adviser to government officials in the US Department of Defence, and author of three books including her most recent, On Corruption in America and What is at Stake. Drawing on her experiences in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Honduras, Lebanon and beyond, Chayes reveals that contrary to media reporting, corruption is not about individuals or single acts. Rather, it operates through sophisticated networks that link together people from very different sectors of society, spanning governments and the private sector. These networks are flexible and exist through time, over decades, losing members along the way as protests and civil unrest require, and then gaining more members after each sacrifice. Network members bend and repurpose the institutions and agencies of government to make them serve the objectives of the network, rather than the public interest. The pivotal role of real estate in all of this is not lost on Chayes who notes a universal feature of these networks of corruption is the use of real estate as a vehicle. So what's at stake when kleptocracy and corruption are left unchallenged? Nothing less than democracy.Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
It's summertime in Sweden and Canada. The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taking a break, but the podcast isn't. For five weeks, Fredrik and Leilani bring their faithful fans and new listeners the PushBack Talks - Summer Series. These are curated podcasts from Season 2 - episodes you may have missed that are definitely worth a listen. We've pared them down, and updated each with recent news and a few personal reflections. So, whether you're stuck at home, or chilling on a beach - we hope you enjoy our Summer Series! Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, joins the Filmmaker and the Advocate in a frank discussion of the current housing crisis in the EU that is often overlooked and overshadowed. Mr. Timmermans reflects on the mistakes that were made along the way to cause the crisis, recognizing that the Social Democrats' commitment to Thatcher-Reagan neoliberalism, the market-based economy, and deregulation did not achieve just outcomes and in fact had gone very wrong where housing is concerned. But with housing or residential real estate being a persistently lucrative investment (including during crises), used to bolster GDPs, and given the primacy of private property, the housing crisis is one that is extremely difficult to undo. Change is afoot in Europe with the Parliament having adopted a report reaffirming the right to housing, and several States and cities adopting progressive legislation to protect tenants and affordable housing. But is there more that the Commission could do to advance the right to housing? Mr. Timmermans suggests that real change will only occur once the urgency of the situation is better understood by more people – and to make that happen he suggests that millions need to see PUSH-the film. We agree! Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Canada, one of the ten wealthiest countries in the world, has an international reputation as a progressive place - where universal health care is guaranteed, marijuana is legal and same-sex marriage, a given. But the country's most densely populated city – Toronto – is one of the most expensive on the planet. The financialization of housing is hitting Toronto hard, with affordable apartments being purchased en masse by institutional investors, while homeless encampments spring up in parks throughout the city. The Filmmaker and the Advocate are joined by Toronto City Councillor Mike Layton who's in the thick of it – trying to address the big issues, from housing affordability to climate change, navigating the constraints of municipal politics, while harnessing its strength: the unique ability to mobilize residents to make change. Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Summer! Time to kick-back and get away. With holidays on the agenda, The Filmmaker and the Advocate take a deeper dive into Air BnB and the short-term rental world. Joined by Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at University College London, Claire Colomb, Leilani and Fredrik discuss the rapid rise of Air BnB in 16 cities across Europe – going from zero presence in 2010 to 18,000 listings in Amsterdam, 26,000 in Berlin, 28,000 in Barcelona, 48,000 in London and just over 60,000 in Paris in a six-year period. The impact of this on cities is considerable – from a decline in long-term housing stock, an increase in rents and overall living costs, to the dominance of tourist amenities which are replacing community services for long-term residents. Now valued at $100 billion USD, the multi-national is flexing its might, increasingly sitting at political tables, wielding resources and influence. But City governments like Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid and others are pushing back – finding creative ways to protect their cities and those who live there. For more about Air BnB see:Regulating short-term rentals. Platform-based property rentals in European cities: the policy debates by Claire Colomb and Tatiana de Souzahttps://www.propertyresearchtrust.org/short_term_rentals.html The Airbnb ‘movement' for deregulation how platform-sponsored grassroots lobbying is changing politics by L. Yates https://research.ethicalconsumer.org/research-hub/ethical-consumption-review/airbnbs-growing-political-powerProduced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
On 28 June 2021, Jaime Palomera, a tenants union leader in Barcelona and two tenants were brought to trial by the Public Prosecutor and now face three years imprisonment. Their crime? Peacefully and successfully protesting violations of the tenants' right to housing including exorbitant rent increases and uninhabitable housing conditions. Dr. Zaida Muxi Martinez; architect, city planner, and author joins the Filmmaker and the Advocate this week to discuss the clampdown on activism in Spain, echoes of its dark past. The trio discuss the political power held by the richest families in Spain who dominate the real estate market and their ability to shut down threats to their power such as the successful tenant's movement headed by Palomera. How is it possible that Spain, a country in the European Union can so blatantly infringe the right to peaceful assembly and protest? Is Spain an outlier or is this a global pattern?See: The Shift's Letter of Concern sent to the Government of Spain. Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
The Filmmaker and the Advocate continue their season two Zoom tour around the world. After a brief discussion on encampment evictions carried out across the City of Toronto, the two make a stop in New Zealand to interview Brennan Rigby of Shift Aoteara. New Zealand's housing market has some interesting elements; the country's real estate market has been closed to foreign investment since 2018, while at the same time a strong market-driven real estate culture means the general population has an above-average understanding of how to use home equity to purchase multiple properties. As a result, multi-homeowners are quite common. Despite this, New Zealand has the highest rate of homelessness amongst OECD countries. After a period of nearly 30 years, New Zealand just began building new social housing in 2018, meaning there is not nearly enough social housing supply. This, along with an increasingly financialized real estate market has created an environment where homelessness can grow at an alarming rate. In the last 12 months alone, housing costs have increased by almost 25%. Growing concerns about housing supply have spilled over into immigration, with many wondering if the country can allow immigration with the housing market in its current state. Fredrik, Leilani, and Brennan discuss the elements that contributed to the current situation in New Zealand and how to shift a market-minded culture towards a human rights framework. Produced by WG Film Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
What is wrong with Sweden? the Advocate asks the Filmmaker. The country is in political turmoil - in a fight about market rents that brought the government down this week. The final straw that caused Sweden's Left Party to call for vote of confidence, was Prime Minister Lofven's decision to sell-out tenants and support a proposal to abolish rent control on newly built properties. Leilani and Fredrik discuss the state of Sweden's housing market and how the country got here. Affordable housing options have been disappearing across the country in the last year. How have different philosophies on the role of the market impacted housing all over the world and in Sweden? And how does this square with what's required by human rights law? What necessary to keep the monster of financialization at bay?But it's not all politics and strife. PUSH - The film has won a Prix Italia Award! This prestigious TV award has been around since 1948, presented by the Italian public broadcasting company RAI. The prize raises the profile of PUSH around the world. Best of all: Fredrik was able to travel to Milan to accept the award in person - wining, dining and dancing - while Leilani remains stuck in her basement bunker in Ottawa! Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
The Filmmaker & the Advocate call on an old friend in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Raquel Rolnik is a world leading writer and academic. Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Sao Paulo. Raquel was Leilani Farha's predecessor as UN Special Rapporteur of Adequate Housing. Just as Leilani, Raquel is still a strong voice in the global conversation. She recently published a new book Urban Warfare: Housing Under the Empire of Finance. In this episode of PUSHBACK Talks Raquel talks about the special situation the pandemic has brought to Brazil and Latin America . A crisis that is also an opportunity to make things better. Brazil has had many struggles in the last few years, as the pandemic has exacerbated existing economic crises. Neoliberal economic policy combined with denial of Covid-19 and the measures necessary to control its spread means the government has been cutting down on public spending at a time when many are in dire need. All of this has led to a new wave of informal settlements, and the creation of a national zero eviction movement in Brazil. Although this movement has a bill that is progressing through the Senate, those living in informal settlements are still subject to violence and mistreatment by police during unprecedented times. Meanwhile, financialization is just creeping into the major cities of Latin America. The Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten met Raquel Rolnik first in 2013 when shooting his film Bikes vs Cars. In the film Raquel says: "The traffic jam is the solution. " When everybody is stuck in traffic even the most conservative car lovers need to think of alternatives." That's why the Pandemic also can be the Cure. If we want it. Support PUSHBACK Talks on Patreon. This week all Patreons will get a free viewing of Bikes vs Cars. Watch Bikes vs Cars on Vimeo here.Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
The Filmmaker and the Advocate are taken on a tour of exciting developments in France — community land trusts, new social housing and a newly minted housing Brigaid taking on Airbnb and landlords who don’t follow the law. Marc Uhry, one of France’s leading housing activists has moved from advocate to implementor of his own ideas, now as councillor and close adviser to the Mayor of the small city of Villeurbane.France officially recognized the right to housing in domestic law in 2007. But good law hasn’t translated into good conditions. At least not yet. With the price of land on the rise, housing is expensive, the waiting list for social rents is ever-growing and homelessness is on the rise. Despite this, Marc reveals a few "Vive La France" moments . The community land trusts are on the rise, even in conservative led cities. A parallel non-speculative market is happening. Marc’s main challenge now: To stay brave. To keep the Monster at bay.Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support Team - Maja Moberg, Valerie Estrina, Hanna LeanderSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
California–known to the world as the home of Hollywood stars, relaxed beach vibes, and…the location of 25% of the homeless population in the US.After an emotional introduction about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and an update on how the billionaires in the world are faring, the Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with Pete White, founder & Executive Director of Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) to talk about Skid Row, a 50-square block area in downtown LA that was created by the state to hide its poverty. Now that housing and land are the hottest commodities the world over, development and financialization are threatening to push the city’s poorest residents out of a space that was once designed to contain them. For Skid Row’s nearly 15,000 residents, riding out the pandemic was always going to be a feat of community action. With only seven public bathrooms available in those 50-square blocks, and charitable food donations grinding to a halt, how did this community protect itself from Covid-19 when the government wouldn’t? Pete walks Leilani & Fredrik through the historical and systemic causes of poverty and homelessness amongst people of color in Los Angeles and how those causes are still at work today. The trio also discusses the May 2021 legal case that attempts to address the houselessness in Skid Row, and Judge Carter’s controversial remedy.For more information on the work of LA CAN, visit: www.cangress.orgFor more information on Israel and Palestine, see Human Rights Watch report, “Threshold Crossed”: https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecutionProduced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support Team - Maja Moberg, Valerie Estrina, Hanna LeanderSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
This week, Puerto Rico’s Ariadna Godreau Aubert – founder & executive director of Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, human rights lawyer, and activist – joins the Filmmaker and the Advocate to discuss the ways Puerto Rico’s status as an unincorporated territory of the U.S. impacts the human right to housing and access to justice.Five years before Hurricane Maria, laws were put in place to encourage investment and promote Puerto Rico as a tax haven. When disaster struck in 2017 this left a major opening for big business to flood into Puerto Rico to buy up large pieces of land and vacant buildings left behind by those who couldn’t afford to fix them in the wake of the disaster. Now, 98% of Puerto Rico has been deemed an “opportunity zone,” ripe for investors to grow their money, even as the island struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria and the earthquake in early 2020. While many have been left with no choice but to move to the continental U.S. to try to salvage their livelihoods, the people are pushing back. The human rights narrative is empowering people to fight back, with a full understanding that they are rights holders, and their island is not for sale.For more information on Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, Ariadna herself, and her awesome manifesto, visit www.ayudalegalpuertorico.org.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
A year later than originally planned, Fredrik is finally in Zagreb to screen Push the film across the country! The Filmmaker and the Advocate seize the opportunity to take the podcast on the road. In conversation with architect and activist Iva Marčetić, Fredrik and Leilani discuss the unique situation in Croatia, where the government is the biggest landlord in the country but owns just 2% of the housing stock. Even without large corporations buying up properties, the use of property as financial capital is impacting housing value and resulting in displacement. Like so many other cities around the world, in the pre-pandemic period Zagreb was subject to a whopping 30% annual growth of Airbnb properties, causing rents to jump by 11% per year or more and forcing people out of city centres, in to the suburbs.And what of the pandemic? Housing prices continue to soar. The selling off of public lands to private actors who use it to leverage more capital rather than provide for local economies has become common. And in a place where the poor have historically had high homeownership, there is a strong need for regulatory legislation and protections for tenants to stem the rising tide of financialization. Croatians ARE pushing back. The question is, will their resistance influence the Mayoral election in Zagreb and politics beyond? Iva Marčetić is a member of Pravona Grad, Right to the city. Produced by WG Film Recorded & Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support Team - Maja Moberg, Valerie Estrina, Hanna LeanderSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
In the wake of the Lebanese civil war, post-war reconstruction was built around the idea that the market would fix everything. But as investors flocked into Beirut the cost of housing skyrocketed, pushing long-time residents out of the city they had fought for. Over time, architecture and heritage were lost as neighborhoods slowly emptied of residents and businesses. The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down to speak with Mona Fawaz, Prof. of Urban Studies & Planning at the American University of Beirut to discuss how Beirut has been hijacked by predatory real estate developers and what options exist to change the tide. Now that the value of the Lebanese pound has declined by more than 80% and poverty is soaring, the vulture funds are circling and ready to pounce. Right-wing politicians are prepared to blame the issues on the country’s large refugee population. But a recent lull in development could be the window needed for the people to push back. It’s Financial Power vs. People Power in action, who will win?Produced by WG Film Recorded by Mikey JonesEdited by Hanna LeanderMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support Team - Maja Moberg, Valerie Estrina, Hanna LeanderSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
After more than a decade of austerity measures, recession, and unemployment, Athens has seen a big shift in the makeup of homeownership, a shift that comes at the expense of residents and that benefits big business. In a country where homeownership has historically been high, more and more properties have gone into foreclosure and been sold to nameless buyers as a result of Greece’s financial crisis. Public information on who owns what is not available in Greece, but it’s no secret that big foreign corporations have been buying up entire apartment blocks to turn them into short-term holiday lets, effectively displacing many long-term residents. The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with Sotiris Sideris, data journalist and co-founder of Athens Live Lab, to discuss who is buying up all the foreclosed properties in Athens and what is happening to the city as a result. Using data scraping, Sotiris has discovered that Greeks are being pushed out - their homes are being auctioned off to investors who want to cash in on Greece's allure as one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world. One low-income community has been basically emptied out of locals, replaced by those wanting a glimpse of the Acropolis and a night in the Plaka. Sotiris hopes his research on private property auctions will shed light on the growing problem and perhaps provide the first steps needed in turning things around.Checkout Athens Live and Sotiris' amazing work mapping Who Owns The City! More information on the Overview of the investigationFind out more - Focus on Athens and auctionsProduced by WG Film Recorded by Mikey JonesEdited by Hanna LeanderMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support Team - Maja Moberg, Valerie Estrina, Hanna LeanderSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)
Gentrification and spiralling house prices are pushing generations all over the world into both debt and out of cities. We are seeing housing, which should be a human right and a social good, slowly being financialised into an asset class by banks played with on stock markets. Host Ross Ashcroft is joined by the filmmakers of the documentary ‘Push' - Lailani Farha and Fredrik Gertten to understand what is going to make our homes become more expensive and out of reach and what we can do about it. RT UK is a channel based in London covering British news and politics, protests and interviews with people who make a difference.
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