Tag Archives: Environment

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Water-/-Communication-Technology-Affects-State-Power-May 24th, 2015

First, how water has shaped our past and how new water challenges are shaping the future. We talk with Charles Fishman author of The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Charles Fishman, journalist and author of The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water

Later, on the scholars’ panel. New global developments are changing the structures and holders of power. With new technology and greater interconnectedness, states are losing power and non-state actors are gaining power. But what exactly does it mean to have power? And where exactly does power come from? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Giulio M. Gallarotti, Professor of Government Studies, Wesleyan University; Author of The Power Curse: Influence and Illusion in World Politics
  • Joseph S. Nye Jr., Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Author of The Future of Power
  • Erica Chenoweth, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University. Co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare)

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Living-off-Grid-/-Sixth-Extinction-/-Terrorism-a-Political-Violence-May 17th, 2015

First, Living Off the Grid? A look inside the movement to live with total freedom and independence. Who is doing it? How and why? We speak with Nick Rosen.[ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Nick Rosen. author of, Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America.

Then, planet earth is facing a sixth extinction. Can humanity rescue the planet that it has imperiled? [ dur: 25mins. ]

  • Annalee Newitz is journalist and author of Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. She is the founding editor of the science and science fiction website i09.com.
  • Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff member at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, and her latest book The Sixth Extinction.

Finally, What exactly is terrorism? Where should it fall on the continuum of political violence? Prof. Dekmejian is the foremost expert of terrorism and genocide. He is the author of Spectrum of Terror. [ dur: 18mins. ]

  • Richard Dekmejian, is professor of Political Science, University of Southern California. He is author of Multicultural Societies in Conflict and Coexistence, Spectrum of Terror

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Rapid-Climate-Change-in-effect-/-Mass-Ocean-Life-Extinction-in-progress-April 5th, 2015

First, scientists say the earth is changing more rapidly than we have expected. Ecosystems are shifting and some species are dying out. What does this mean for humanity? Joining us is Larry Schweiger, he is the author of Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth. [ dur: 23 mins. ]

  • Larry Schweiger is a former president and CEO of National Wildlife Federation.​ ​He is the author of​ Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth​.​

Next, on The Scholars’ Circle panel, scientists warn of a possible mass extinction in our oceans with far reaching consequences for human life, as well. But, they add that it is not too late to address it. What exactly is happening to life in the oceans and what can be done to avert a mass die off? [ dur: 35 mins. ]

  • Stephen R. Palumbi is a Professor of Marine Sciences and Director at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station. He is the author of The Evolution Explosion: How Humans Cause Rapid Evolutionary Change​,​ The Extreme Life of the Sea​ and​ co-author of the groundbreaking study Marine Defaunation: Animal loss in the global ocean​.​
  • Robert Warner is a Professor of Marine Biology at the University of California​,​ Santa Barbara. He is the co-author​ of the ​ ground-breaking study Marine Defaunation: Animal loss in the global ocean​.​
  • Mary A Sewell is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Climate-Change-Coastal-Effects-/-Myths-about-Addiction-Mar. 1st, 2015

First, climate change, receding glaciers and melting ice sheets are causing the oceans to rise dramatically. What does that mean for the world’s coastal cities? [ dur: 15mins. ]

  • Andrea Dutton is a Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida. She is the co-author of Tropical Tales of Polar Ice:Evidence of Last Interglacial Polar Ice Sheet Retreat Recorded by Fossil Reefs of the Granitic Seychelles Island published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
  • Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is the author of The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present, and Future of Rising Sea Levels, Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind and The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations

Then, on The Scholars’ Circle panel, science contradicts long held societal myths about addiction. What are the most effective means of addressing addiction? [ dur: 43mins. ]

  • Dr. Lance Dodes is a former Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors, Breaking Addiction: A 7-Step Handbook for Ending Any Addiction and The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry.
  • Dr. Jeffrey Foote is the Co-founder and Clinical Director of the Center For Motivation and Change. Previously, he was the Deputy Director of the Division of Alcohol Treatment and Research at Mt. Sinai Medical Center and a Senior Research Associate at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He is the co-author of Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change.
  • Dr. Adi Jaffe is a lecturer at UCLA and the Co-Founder and Executive Director at Alternatives Addiction Treatment.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-1914-Christmas-Truce-/-Redefine-Democracy-/-Design-of-Cities-Dec. 28th, 2014

This week on the Scholars’ Circle:

First, why did soldiers on the front line of one of the deadliest wars lay down their arms and play soccer with the very men they were supposed to shoot? We’ll revisit the Christmas truce of 1914, this December marks the 100th anniversary. [ dur: 24 mins. ]

  • Stanley Weintraub is Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities at Penn State University. His books include 11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944, Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce, Long Day’s Journey into War: December 7, 1941 and A Stillness Heard Round the World: The End of the Great War, November 1918

Next, author Raj Patel discusses his book, The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market, Society and Redefine Democracy. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Rajeev Patel is a Research Professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System and The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy

Finally, how does the design of a city and its architecture affect democracy, community, our psychology and public health? [ dur: 20 mins. ]

  • Jan Gehl is an Architect and is former Professor and Researcher at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture. His books include Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space, Cities for People and How to Study Public Life.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Organ Trafficking -/- Climate Change 2047 -/- Immigration US-Mexico – Nov. 2nd, 2014

First, the underworld of organ trafficking. [ dur: 10 mins. ]

  • Nancy Scheper-Hughes, is Professor of anthropology at University of California, Berkeley, editor of Commodifying Bodies and author of Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology.
  • Art Caplan, is Professor and head of the division of Bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center and award-winning author of books including Applied Ethics in Mental Health Care: An Interdisciplinary Reader, Ethics and Organ Transplants, and Smart Mice, Not so Smart People.

Then, Professor Mora and his colleagues have calculated how climate change will affect our temperatures around the year 2047. In the future, they found, our coldest year will be warmer than the past hottest years. The changes, which will first occur in the tropics, are already driving some 25,000 species to extinction each year. [ dur: 18 mins. ]

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle Panel, thousands of migrants leave their countries in search of safety or a better life, but many are abducted, enslaved or disappeared never to be seen again. We dig deep into the world of migration, and the systems and policies that perpetuate many of the inhumane conditions. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Kevin Johnson is Dean and  Professor of Public Interest Law at UC Davis School of Law. He has co-authored., Opening the Floodgates: Why America Needs to Rethink Its Borders and Immigration Laws, and authored Immigration Law and the US-Mexico Border.
  • David Shirk is Associate  Professor of Political Science and International, and Director of the Justice in Mexico Project, at University of San Diego. He has co-authored, The Drug War in Mexico: Confronting a Shared Threat, and Contemporary Mexican Politics.
  • David Kyle is Professor of Sociology at University of California, Davis. His publications include, Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives, and Transnational Peasants: Migrations, Networks and Ethnicity in Andean Ecuador.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle -Domestic violence and violent sports -/- Global Warming Solutions -Sept. 28th, 2014

Domestic violence is just one of the many problems of violent sports. We’ll take a close look at American Football and its discontents. We are joined by journalist Steve Almond author of Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto.

Then, on the Scholar’s Circle panel, on the heels of the United Nations’ climate conference, we’ll revisit the impacts and potential solutions to global warming.

  • Mark Jacobson  is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He is also director of Atmospheric Energy. He is the author of Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions and Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling
  • William Moomaw  is Professor of international Environment Policy at Tufts University. Lead Author of recent reports on Environmental Policy. Co-author of Industrial Ecology and Global Change and Transboundary Environmental Negotiation: New Approaches to Global Cooperation
  • Ravi Rajan  is Professor of Environmental studies at the University of California Santa Cruz. Author of Modernizing Nature: Forestry and Imperial Eco-Development 1800-1950

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – plastics-in-ocean-/-democracy-in-Hong Kong-/-Ban Ki-Moon-speech- Sept. 7th, 2014

First, tons of discarded plastic are choking off the ocean, killing wildlife, and building islands of garbage. How bad has it become and what can be done? [ dur: 21 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Captain Charles Moore is an environmental researcher, an internationally recognized pollution expert and activist, and founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. He is the co-author of, Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans.

Then, occupy central a group of pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong,  have vowed to shut down Hong Kong’s financial district should China change its freedom to nominate candidates democratically. What does this mean for democratization in Hong Kong and for the region? [ dur: 21 min. ]

  • Jeffrey Wasserstrom is the Chancellor’s Professor of the History department at University California Irvine. He is the author of, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010, and China’s Brave New World–And Other Tales for Global Times.
  • Stephen Noakes is a Lecturer in the Department of Politics & International Relations and Chinese Politics at the University of Auckland. He is the author of, Intellectuals and Authoritarian Resilience: The Role of Political Science in China.

Finally, highlights from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s speech, delivered at the University of Auckland last week. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Ban Ki-moon is the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. He has sought to be a bridge-builder, to give voice to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthen the Organization itself.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Biology of Violence / Earth 2050 – July 20th, 2014

First, how much does biology effect the propensity for violence? We are joined by Adrian Raine, author of, Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Adrian Raine is Professor of Criminology and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of, Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime;

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, with climate change, depleted natural resources, and more than 9 billion people, what will the world look like in 2050? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Deepak Ray is Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Global Landscapes Initiative Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. He is co-author of the study, “Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by 2050,” and “Solutions for a Cultivated Planet.”
  • Eward Miguel is Professor at University of California, Berkeley and Director of the Center for Effective Global Action. He is the author of, Africa’s Turn? He is co-author of Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations, and the study, “Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict.?
  • Laurence C. Smith is Professor and Chair of Geography at UCLA and author of The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization’s Northern Future.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- May 18th, 2014

First, the scenarios we face with climate change and the options for humanity. Gwynne Dyer, author of Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats [ dur: 28 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Gwynne Dyer, author, military historian, journalist;

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, we look at Political Power. New global developments are changing the structures and holders of power. With new technology and greater interconnectedness, states are losing power and non-state actors are gaining power. But what exactly does it mean to have power? And where exactly does power come from? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Giulio M. Gallarotti, Professor of Government Studies, Wesleyan University; Author of The Power Curse: Influence and Illusion in World Politics
  • Joseph S. Nye Jr., Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Author of The Future of Power
  • Erica Chenoweth, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University. Co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare)

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