Listen to Ecoshock on Green 960 in Oakland, CA

The Economy: Dinosaurs Will Die

Thu, Nov 19 Listen

Welcome to Radio Ecoshock. This week's program is about schizophrenia: the state of hoping the system will crash before it kills the planet, while counting on all the usual creature comforts of home, jobs, and a well-stocked supermarket.Yes, I know the Western world is hanging in suspension. We're waiting for the shopping to resume, for the economy to rebound, for the good life to return. Most politicians and the mainstream press promise that it will all go back to the normal process of...

GREENING PORTLAND - Your City How To

Thu, Nov 12 Listen

I tossed this recording of "Greening Portland" into a small line at the bottom of last week's Radio Ecoshock blog, thinking maybe a few people would be interested. To my shock, over 400 people downloaded it within two days! I didn't know that many people read my humble show notes... Thanks for being here.I'll go into a description of this week's program and speakers, followed by a bigger question about the role of cities in solving climate change, now that we see big governments too...

The Future: Dark or Resilient?

Thu, Nov 5 Listen

Hi there. We have so much great audio for you this week - I don't have time to tell you about it. Buckle up for a new Radio Ecoshock interview with Richard Heinberg, famous Peak Oiler, author of "The Party's Over", "Powerdown" and now his latest "Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis." Then it's off to the Resilient Cities conference for the keynote speech by Paul Hawken, author of the Ecology of Commerce, and lately, "Blessed Unrest" - the strength of movements to make social...

SMART DECLINE

Thu, Oct 29 Listen

Bill Rees, originator of the ecological footprint, says we are already into overshoot. We can plan to reduce our use of Earth's resources, or plunge through a series of disasters. Full keynote speech from "Resilient Cities" 091021 plus Q and A with Warren Karlenzig on Post Carbon Cities, including China's "eco-cities". That presentation, with host Daniel Lerch from the Post Carbon Institute, was October 20th, all at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Canada.Breakthrough information. Ecoshock...

RESILIENT CITIES for Transition Times #1

Fri, Oct 23 Listen

THIS WEEK: The latest speeches from the "Gaining Ground/Resilient Cities" conference in Vancouver, Canada October 20-23.You'll hear Post Carbon Institute fellow, and green city guide author Warren Karlenzig - plus former Shell Oil executive (now turned anti-corporate activist) Anita Burke. Much more in the coming weeks, as we hear from Paul Hawken, Richard Register, Bill Rees and more. This is the latest on the latest, from people struggling to plan for the "long emergency" facing our cities...

NATURE AS KILLER: The Medea Hypothesis

Thu, Oct 15 Listen

From the edge of the Earth, broadcast, podcast, by cable and satellite, this is Radio Ecoshock with Alex Smith.Gaia - the great interconnected force of living things on a minor planet called Earth. British scientist James Lovelock wondered how life created it's own space, with the oxygen and nutrients we all need. It's a soothing idea. Some Greens took it further, suggesting Gaia is a super-consciousness that watches over balance and survival. A few worship Gaia.Dr. Peter Ward, a deep time...

Beyond 4 Degrees

Thu, Oct 8 Listen

What will our grandchildren experience in the year 2080? Or will some of you feel the heat, the climate and social disruption as soon as 2060? Scientific studies are pouring out their warnings - we have already passed the danger levels. And there is no sign of action to stop horrible climate change.What if the politicians fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the Earth's climate from warming? What if the people of the world keep on pumping out carbon dioxide, as they now do?...

HOW COMMUNITIES SURVIVE DISASTER

Thu, Oct 1 Listen

Everything in the techno-capitalist society forms us into separate atoms. We demand our own space, travel in personal metal boxes, and struggle as individuals. When disaster strikes, hardly anyone remembers how to respond. How will your community react to a major threat? Will it fall apart, or grow stronger? Is there anything you can do to prepare?This is Radio Ecoshock. I'm your host Alex Smith. It's a real shock when those lonely atoms, conversing through electronic screens, realize their...

GEOENGINEERING: Bye Bye Blue Skies

Thu, Sep 24 Listen

Excuse me. Do you mind if I turn your blue skies white? Why spend all that money on wind farms and insulation? Keep on driving, brothers and sisters, because Big Science is going to fix global warming.While they talk up a new Manhattan project to block out the Sun, it's another year of multi-billion dollar profits for the coal and oil companies. Stall, stall, stall, while the money rolls in!Welcome to Radio Ecoshock. I'm Alex Smith. In this program, we'll dig into geoengineering - the...

Gas Pump Blues - for 100,000 Years

Thu, Sep 17 Listen

They're on practically every corner. Some people feel nervous at the gas pump. Others are outraged. Everybody knows prices are going nowhere but up.Did you know a gallon of gas weighs about 6 pounds - or 2.7 kilos? Almost all of it - 5 pounds, 2.2 kilos - goes straight into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, out the exhaust pipe. And that substantial weight, for every additional gallon or liter we burn, remains as CO2 for 100,000 years.Don't believe it? Stay tuned. We'll talk with David...

ECOCIDE OR ACTIVISM?

Thu, Sep 10 Listen

Obviously it's pointless. We are doomed.Or it that just a frightened voice inside, knowing what we know?Social failure rears it's ugly head, as half million more Americans, and countless millions more around the world, head home, if they have one. You are no longer valued. Kiss consumerism, and your future plans, good-bye.That's all good for nature, who needs a break, but still heartless to see it in motion, with real people - people who will work hard, who want a role.All this breakup of...

WHEN THE GREAT CORRECTION COMES

Wed, Sep 2 Listen

This is Alex Smith. In this new start to the Fall 2009 season, we thrash out the triple crisis with Jan Lundberg, a former oil and gas industry expert. I say former, because he left "the Lundberg Oil and Gas Letter" in the late '80's, to become a voice for change. Jan's been an early warner on Peak Oil and our energy dependency. He also knows that climate change is going to change the human game, more or less forever.Despite the California fires, the new tent cities, and car company...

BURNED OUT: Crops and Climate Change

Wed, Jul 1 Listen

Food and climate change with two speakers: Dr. Geoffrey Heal, an eco-economist from the Columbia School of Business, NY, speaking at the London School of Economics; and author/food activist Wayne Roberts at McMaster University, Canada. Wayne Roberts courtesty of Maggie Hughes "News from the Other Side" at CFMU FM McMaster U Radio.No copyright music.IMPORTANT NOTES FOR RADIO STATIONS AND PODCAST SUBSCRIBERS:This is the last show of our 2009 Spring season. Rebroadcasting stations, podcast...

ENJOY YOURSELF (It's Later Than You Think)

Thu, Jun 25 Listen

It is already too late to stop rampant climate change? An emailed blog posting asks: "Do we just enjoy the time we have left?"Scientist James Lovelock thinks so. He wanted the sub-title of his new book "Vanishing Gaia" changed from "Final Warning" to "Enjoy it while you can." Is it really that serious? We'll hear top American and British administrators say it is. But I want to contrast the response by two scientists: James Lovelock, who at age 90 plans to blast out into space, and NASA's...

AMERICAN CLIMATE CHANGE

Thu, Jun 18 Listen

The star of today's Radio Ecoshock Show is the American climate.We'll start with the most important Press Conference of 2009: the release of the multi-agency report "Global Climate Change Impacts In the United States". It's the list of violent storm warming, heat wave predictions, cities and parts of whole states either going under-water, or roasting without water. Everyone will know the climate is badly out of balance.Welcome to our special coverage of new report "Global Climate Change...

Climate Catastrophe - Can the Economic Crash Save Us?

Thu, Jun 11 Listen

News can be a poison sometimes. Newspaper owners learned years ago that people buy frightening headlines. The motto of TV news: if it bleeds, it leads. The most horrific stories get top billing. We all need to turn away from time to time, to those we love, to amazing Nature, and the trivia that convinces us for another day.Lately, the climate news is too shocking even for Radio Ecoshock. In the last two weeks, I've been rebuilding myself, and listeners, with back-stop nourishment. We had...

BE THE CHANGE Climate Conversion

Thu, Jun 4 Listen

This program explores how green leaders are converting to climate activism. And how you can move from spectator to citizen action. You'll hear Forest Ethics co-Founder Tzeporah Berman in a moving speech, going to a new climate group Power Up Canada. United Church Pastor Bruce Sanguin gives us a new vision of Gaia-friendly Christianity. And Maureen Jack-LeCroix explains her calling to "Be the Change" - as host of the recent Be The Change Circles event in Vancouver. There's more... Arran...

YOUR FOOD SECURITY

Thu, May 28 Listen

This Radio Ecoshock - with something you can't live without: food. No, we haven't invented edible radio - but we'll introduce you to a homesteading woman who's brought out her second book on surviving the worst of times.Are you worried about the way the world is going? Our top financial institutions turned out to be hollow Ponzi schemes. Nobody is too sure of their job. The Earth's climate is unstable. Even the bees are dying. Meanwhile, grasping men at multinational food corporations want...

DEAD MALLS, GLOBESITY & SIMPLICITY

Thu, May 21 Listen

[Opening clip: I just want to get a megaphone, and yell to people entering the Mall "It isn't in there."]That is Cecile Andrews - and she's right. Happiness is not in the shopping mall, never was. I'm Alex Smith, this is Radio Ecoshock. This program is loaded. You'll hear retail expert Howard Davidowitz. He's the shopping expert who says 200,000 American stores will close - and the great days of consumerism are dead. May they rest in peace. Following that interview from New York, we go to...

OFF THE CLIMATE CLIFF? OR GREENER CITIES?

Fri, May 15 Listen

Every day tankers and pipelines carry black gold to power industrial society. The coal trains and ships deliver more carbon for the great bonfire of humanity. We know for a certainty, if we keep on burning it all, our planet will become hot, stormy, ice-free with dying oceans and extinction for most big species. Including ourselves.Now the question: how much can we use, before we tip the climate too far?This is Radio Ecoshock with Alex Smith. HERE ARE THE LINKS YOU'LL NEED FOR TODAY'S...

Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves

Thu, May 7 Listen

Welcome to Radio Ecoshock. Today you'll hear two green broadcasters meet on air. Matt and Alex ask how cities can work in the climate energy crunch. Should you get out - and what can we learn from the back-to-the-land movement of the late '70's. I'll toss in the mental survival tips I use to survive the awful knowledge of climate change.Matt and I also talk about Derrick Jensen and so-called "Eco-Terrorism". Non-violence hasn't worked (our life support system is going into the crapper) - do...

ASTEROID STRIKES & INVISIBLE WOMEN

Thu, Apr 30 Listen

This is Radio Ecoshock with Alex Smith.The bad news just keeps on coming. Just as America began to recognize torture, swine flu wipes away the slate. Everybody just wants to talk about pandemic. We know pandemics will come. More than half the world's population live in crowded slums without sanitation or clean water. The true population of Mexico City, for example, is unknown. Best guesses run between twenty five and thirty million people. Most of them have no medical care or knowledge about...

URBAN MELTDOWN II

Thu, Apr 23 Listen

American cities in decay. Refugees not from New Orleans after Katrina. This is a different kind of Hurricane. A trifecta of climate change, high oil prices and the real estate bubble leaves abandoned holes from Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix and beyond.I'm Alex Smith, this is Radio Ecoshock. We'll track the causes and the victims.In our opening cuts, you heard video Blogger George4title in his You tube special called "Detroit Ground Zero for Economic Collapse". An amazing drive-by of...

ROTTING FROM THE TOP

Fri, Apr 17 Listen

The banks are doing great. The stock market is up 25 percent. Happy Days Are Here Again!Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the White Star Titanic. We are not sinking, there are plenty of lifeboats, please go back to an evening of fine dancing.If you're happy with that, maybe you shouldn't listen to this edition of Radio Ecoshock. We're going to hear other voices, outside the mainstream box.Famed ABC producer, author and blogger Danny Schechter will lead off the charge. He claims the financial...

TROUBLE DOWN BELOW

Thu, Apr 9 Listen

You have just heard rioting hit the central banks of London during the G20 conference, set to Dirty Town from Mother Mother. This is Radio Ecoshock. I'm Alex Smith.The world is quietly burning with discontent as corporate schemes go bad. Industry and trade are collapsing and no one seems immune. The world trade center has fallen again, and maybe the Pentagon will be next. I've had some long hours into the night worrying - how about you?We have two guest speakers this week to help you engage....

THE GREEN SIDE OF DOWN

Thu, Apr 2 Listen

Some big icons like General Motors go crash, but most of it just goes quietly, with little announcement. I'm talking about all the small shops going dark, the once-famous magazines gone and hardly remembered.Just a couple of years ago, I wished I'd taken videos of some of our major streets. Little malls and corner garages disappeared overnight, replaced with a big hole and a sign advertising Fenway Gardens, another deluxe condo tower. The building boom was disorienting. It's easier now....

VOICES FROM BELOW

Sat, Mar 28 Listen

Radio Ecoshock moves from Washington and Wall Street all the way to tent city. We’ll hear from the homeless – and from the new breed of independent citizen reporters who will replace the dying newspapers and gutted TV newsrooms.The financial news is so depressing, I couldn’t make the program without coming up with “Four Solid Tips for Surviving Bad Times”. That’s in this program and blog as well.This week we're going to take a quick cruise through the battered economy. Like economist Paul...

Progress and Denial

Thu, Mar 19 Listen

In last week's Radio Ecoshock Show, we talked with Professor Michael T. Klare, about the looming possibility of social instability or riots, even here in North America. Can't happen here? There was a riot in downtown Montreal, Canada on March 15th. The march to protest police brutality ended up with smashed store fronts, burned police cars, and over 200 arrests.Meanwhile the European think tank called "LEAP/Europe 2020" says America is likely to have outbreaks and riots due to a lack of a...

WILL THERE BE RIOTS?

Thu, Mar 12 Listen

The economy, says billionaire Warren Buffet, has fallen off a cliff. "The economy, ever since we talked in September, we talked about it being an economic Pearl Harbor, and how, what was happening in the financial world would move over to the real world very quickly. It's fallen off a cliff. And, not only has the economy slowed down a lot, people have really changed their behavior, like nothing I've ever seen. Luxury goods, and that sort of thing, have just sort of stopped. And that's why...

Ecoshock (Liberal)