Talks and Interviews
It has been my tremendous honor to present over 100 academic and public lectures, talks, and interviews around the world and also virtually. Here are a few for which we were lucky enough to secure a recording.
Rapid System Change: Shifting Paradigms in this Existential Moment
When the entrenched systems that cause violence, inequity, war and climate change seem so powerful, what hope is there for changing in time to secure a livable future? Drawing on systems thinking, I explain how changing our ideas and worldviews has the potential to change large systems quickly, in the blink of an eye. Presented to members of Rotary International district 5450 Peace Committee on March 6, 2025.
IRAS and Bioearth joint Webinar: Selling the Congo River Basin and Imperiling the World: Preventing Climate Change Disaster by Prioritizing Equity and Justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo and COP Climate Meetings
Were you aware that in Fall 2024, the Democratic Republic of Congo was auctioning off an area of the Congo River Basin about the size of the UK to oil developers, and that this sale would have created a planetary tipping point preventing humankind from securing a livable future? Did you know that one of the first areas to be profoundly harmed would have been DRC and Africa? When we learned this information, IRAS and Bioearth came together relatively quickly to hold this emergency webinar, featuring myself and Rodrigue Makelele. Meanwhile, Bioearth readied ourselves to host two workshops to bring together signatories of the One Billion for Peace pledge to share reliable information and to mobilize action on the unfolding crisis, which almost no news outlets were covering. Our first workshop brought together multi-sector, interdisciplinary networks that hopped into action with cascading strategies of influence. Two weeks later, literally on the day of our second workshop, DRC called off the auction!
But this is not the end. There is much more work to be done to secure economic security and equity for the people of DRC, which is largely responsible for mining the rare earth minerals on which green energy depends. There is also so much more to be done to educate officials and the public in DRC, as well as in the rest of the world, about the vital role that the Congo River Basin plays in securing a livable future for humankind. Presented Sept. 5, 2024.
A “Middle-Out” Approach to Achieving Peace: Avoiding WWIII and Climate Disaster
The Sustainable Peace framework of the One Billion for Peace movement is more than a positive vision of our possible future, it is also a strategy for achieving this future. This talk discusses Lederach’s “middle-out approach” to peacebuilding and applies it to our movement. This was was presented to members of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, a signatory of the One Billion for Peace Pledge, Jan. 18, 2024.
Fellow in Focus: Professor Frances Flannery and Trinity Longroom Hub on The Climate Covenant, with Professor Jacob Erickson
This delightful interview with Dr. Jacob Erickson was more like a fireside chat. I was thrilled to discuss my early thoughts about my book The Climate Covenant, coming out in 2027 with Bloomsbury. This was recorded during my residence period as a Trinity Longroom Hub Research Fellow at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, June 2022.
Eco-justice and Peace on the Island of Ireland and Beyond
This talk was the public debut of the One Billion for Peace Pledge, which took place as part of the Irish School of Ecumenics’ 50th Year Jubilee Celebration Webinar Series. I found the other speakers to be deeply inspiring, with insights that reach far beyond Ireland. This was recorded in Ireland at Trinity College, Dublin, on June 2, 2022.
Podcasts
“Don’t Say Climate Apocalypse.” With host Matt Daroch on With Good Reason, NPR. Airdate July 12, 2024: https://withgoodreasonradio.org/episode/the-end-of-the-world/.
“Apocalyptic Terrorism.” With host Sarah McConnell, on With Good Reason, NPR. Airdate: September 28, 2013: https://withgoodreasonradio.org/episode/friend-is-a-verb/.
RootEd Conversations
When Rodrigue, Liz and I first started Bioearth, it was during the covid-19 shutdowns. We recorded these educational videos to introduce ourselves and our thought leadership, and it really helped clarify the direction of the projects that Bioearth took on subsequently. Check out the BioEarth YouTube channel to view videos of these early conversations.
(Now on the Bioearth RootED Conversations Youtube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGeACyHytmC1PNCap0i9Pcg. We reloaded them onto this new platform after 10,000+ views, and we would sure appreciate you helping us get the viewing numbers up again : )! Please subscribe).
