four podcasts on culture and climate change now online

A new series of four podcasts on Culture and Climate Change is now online at iTunes U. The discussions bring together artists, writers, film-makers, scientists, academics and journalists with a comedian, a choreographer, a campaigner, and an entrepreneur.

The Mediating Change series is hosted by Quentin Cooper and contributors include Tim Smit, Marcus Brigstocke, Siobhan Davies (see pic), Roger Harrabin, Joe Smith and two of the Ashden Directory's editors, Wallace Heim and Robert Butler.

More details here.

The producer, Vicky Long, says:

Cultural activity in this area is gathering real momentum, with 'Greenland' opening at the National Theatre and 'The Heretic' opening at the Royal Court early next year. We feel it’s vital a critical framework is developed alongside this emerging work.

This series represents a first sustained exploration of culture and climate change in a publicly-available broadcast-quality format.

See also: Tipping Point launches first of four discussions
Tim Smit and Marcus Brigstocke join debate on popular culture and climate change

photo: from Endangered Species (2008), choreography by Siobhan Davies.
photo credit: Vicky Long more ...

what students are not protesting about

I didn't see one global warming placard in Parliament Square the other day. Protesting youth has other things on its mind.

Peter Preston more ...

"we are not here to convert nature into a commodity"

We came to Cancún to save nature, forests, planet Earth. We are not here to convert nature into a commodity. We have not come here to revitalise capitalism with carbon markets.

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia

Grist: Bolivia, the Saudi Arabia of Obstruction more ...

sustainable is not a metaphor

We are the first people in history to live so surrounded by images that attempt to incite our desires, our appetites, our sense of a lack within ourselves; a lack which will be assuaged, an ache which will go away, if we can lay our hands only on that last, perfect, necessary, piece of stuff.

A system in which we all continually want more is not sustainable at our current levels of projected growth. When I say not sustainable, by the way, I'm not using a metaphor – "sustainable" is one of those words which is being hollowed out by overuse. I mean that we will run out of the resources to live like this.

John Lanchester more ...

new york meets norway

Funny and poignant eco-fable from New York theatre collective Wakka Wakka and Nordland Visual Theatre from Stamsund, Norway. more ...

the kindness of interviewers

An interview with Jonathan Franzen.

Q. There has been an enormous amount of response to Freedom, but almost no response to the environmental themes. Why?

A. I don't know why. Maybe interviewers are trying to do me a kindness and not scare away readers by making the book sound too environmental. more ...

beavering away

Playwright Samantha Ellis welcomes the news that 20 beavers are on the loose in Scotland. more ...

the now-now show

Marcus Brigstocke returns to The Now Show (19 mins in) to explain to those (who prefer to think otherwise) that just because it's been snowing in Britain, it doesn't mean that global temperatures haven't been rising elsewhere. more ...

don't write about sustainability, write about yourself

"If you improve the world, you have to start with yourself. Our idea was sustainability is always boring, but what if it's not about making the world sustainable, but making yourself sustainable? Then you become the protagonist in your own story, and you write about the obstacles in your way to becoming sustainable."

Dutch journalist, Joris Luyendijk, on writing a weekly column about electric cars. more ...