JAMES THORNTON-ClientEarth-Crushing polluters in court around the globe
Written on April 26th, 2025Wrapping up Earth Month, I speak with JAMES THORNTON, founder of ClientEarth, the preeminent environmental law group, with 300 lawyers holding governments and companies accountable across the globe. He steps down as the group’s president this month after 18 years. Their work training the Chinese – including their Supreme Court – in environmental law is remarkable. What I’ve learned about their successes has given me hope – something that can feel all too endangered these days. Listen in, if you could use a bit of the same. You can learn more at Clientearth.org
Thornton-04-14-2025-transcript
PAUL HAWKEN (2021)-REGENERATION: Placing Life at the Center of All We Do
Written on April 18th, 2025Trump sows cruel, careless, criminal, incompetent chaos – even in Earth Month. Here’s my 2021 conversation with PAUL HAWKEN about his book, REGENERATION: ENDING THE CLIMATE CRISIS IN ONE GENERATION, and the organization dedicated to making that a reality. Here’s a chance to step back or sink deeper into the promise and the challenge of making a regenerative society. As an approach, regeneration expands the scope of our response to the challenge of climate change by linking and weaving it with other critical challenges we face – economic inequality, social injustice, and endangered democracy – and placing love of life at the center of all we do.
Fox’s Lone Liberal-JUAN WILLIAMS-The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement
Written on April 10th, 2025In 1987, 33-year-old JUAN WILLIAMS wrote the bestselling history Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954–1965, which accompanied the PBS series of the same name. Now 71, after 10 years at NPR and 28 at Fox News, he’s written New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement. He sees this movement rooted in Obama’s 2008 election and highlighted by 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests. We compare the two movements and respond to the current cruel and criminal chaos of Trump 2.0. You can find Juan’s latest commentaries at thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/ This episode was recorded as a LiveTalksLA event March 17th, 2025 in LA.
WHY CIVIL RESISTANCE WORKS-ERICA CHENOWETH (2019) – When nonviolent mass protests involve 3.5%, regimes fall.
Written on April 3rd, 2025HANDS OFF – national mobilization opposing Trump & Musk SATURDAY APRIL 5. Sponsors include Indivisible, MoveOn, Third Act, Our Revolution, Common Cause, People for American Way, Planned Parenthood, UAW, SEIU, many more. Need motivation? Here’s my 2019 conversation with ERICA CHENOWETH, Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and author of WHY CIVIL RESISTANCE WORKS: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. She’s done the research and run the numbers. When nonviolent mass protests involve 3.5% of the population, regimes are nearly always overthrown.
What About Climate? ALEXANDER KAUFMAN – natural & political disasters – supply & demand
Written on March 27th, 2025The destructive pace and scale of Trump2.0 makes it hard to know what deserves and demands our attention. This week we step back from daily news to focus on climate with award-winning journalist ALEXANDER KAUFMAN. We look at the toll of climate related disasters and migration; the latest on the science, what have we learned over the last year or so: the actions of the Trump administration to take us backwards; and the global picture of energy and technology. What’s working? What do we need more of? You can learn more and subscribe to his personal newsletter at kaufman.substack.com.
