Gravity FM

Wrongful Convictions, Survivor Shaming and Moving from Retribution to Healing Discussion with Jennifer Thompson, founder of Healing Justice, on the profound trauma caused by wrongful convictions and the transformative potential of restorative justice. We discuss systemic failures in the criminal justice system—including structural racism and sexism—that deny victims, survivors and defendants, and...

The Codification of Gender Apartheid, the Afghan and Iranian Resistance Movements and Global Gender-Based Violence Online and Offline Discussion with Heather Barr on gender apartheid in Afghanistan and Iran and efforts to codify it as a crime against humanity in international law. We explore why codification matters, how to support these efforts, and why challenging gender apartheid is critical. W...

Kamikaze Dolphins, Lettuce Triathlons and Calling the Right Place Discussion with comedian and activist Jimmy Tingle on the political utility of comedy and its service in exposing hypocrisy, bringing people together but its insufficiency in bringing change without grassroots organization and movement building. We discuss Jimmy’s political campaign for Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, the pernicious...

Environmental and Labor Exploitation in the Coffee Industry and How Coffee Can Turn a New Shade with Agroforestry Discussion with Etelle Higonnet on the environmental impacts of commercial monoculture coffee, including deforestation, loss of critical habitat, loss of biodiversity and amplification of climate change. We also discuss the structural inequities of the industry, with farmers earning th...

Cultural Genocide, Ecocide and the Geopolitics of the CCP’s Water Industrial Complex Discussion with Dr. Lobsang Sangay on the repressive occupation of the CCP in Tibet and the utilization of tightly controlled tourism to obfuscate it. We discuss the cultural genocide that has and is taking place, including the destruction of religious sites and compelling children to go to boarding school to Sini...

Extraction and Exploitation in the Global South under the Decarbonization Consensus and Theories and Praxis for a Just Transition Discussion with Professor Miriam Lang and Mary Ann Manahan on how current energy transition efforts are framed under a colonialist narrative that continues and entrenches extraction, exploitation and interference in the Global South. We discuss how the Global North is u...

How a Community on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis Took its Story to the Screen and Forced a Land-Grabbing Corporation to Go Off Script Discussion with writer and director Seán Devlin on his recent genre-busting films, which were made in partnership with typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors, who participated and ad-libbed in his films. We discuss how art can be interventionist and serve a front...

Perils to the Deep Sea From Bottom Trawling, Climate Change and Mining and the Need to Protect Its Stunning Biodiversity Discussion with Matt Gianni from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition on the critical importance of the deep sea to our air, climate, the marine food web, our food security and health. We discuss the biodiversity of the deep sea and our continual discovery of new extremophiles. W...

American Resistance and Repression, Identity and Intersectionality and the LGBTQI+ Rights Movement Discussion with Professor Timothy Patrick McCarthy on American radicalism and the need for multivocality rather than metanarratives in analyzing history. We discuss the construction and interpellation of identities, their historical contingencies and intersectionality. We discuss the power dynamics o...

The History of Voting Rights in the United States, the Electoral College and the Value of the Vote Discussion with Professor Alex Keyssar on the origins of democracy and the history of the right to vote in the United States. We discuss the lack of an affirmative right to vote under the U.S. Constitution, amendments prohibiting abridgement and voter suppression. We also discuss the value of the vot...

Circular Economy, Community Buy-In and Compassionate Leadership Discussion with Hon. Maria Kamma-Aliferi, Mayor of Tilos and Jenny Giannopoulou on the need for and implementation of a circular economy. We also discuss renewable energy infrastructure, the Greek energy pricing system, sewerage infrastructure, freshwater conservation and navigating different levels of government bureaucracy. Addition...

Exposing, Investigating and Inoculating Against Hate Discussion with Lisa Borden and Susan Corke from the Southern Poverty Law Center on hate and extremism groups throughout the United States. We discuss rising right radicalism, including religious and white nationalist groups and their means and methods. We also discuss "parental right groups" and their anti-inclusive stance and disruption of pub...

A Celebration of Civics and Connection Amidst Crises and Consternation Discussion with Shannon A. Mullen on her recent book In Other Words, Leadership: How a Young Mother’s Weekly Letters to Her Governor Helped Both Women Brave the First Pandemic Year which looks at agency, representative democracy, socioeconomic and environmental crises within a portrait of leadership. The book is based on the tr...

How Grassroots Movements for Climate and Environmental Justice Are Critical to Surviving the Climate Crisis Discussion with Vivek Maru on the importance of community paralegals in extending access to the law, enforcing rights and aiding in structural change. We discuss the Customary Land Rights Act in Sierra Leone, the Community Land Act in Kenya and environmental justice action in Myanmar. We als...

Climate Change, Subterfuge and Building a Broad Climate Coalition Discussion with Dr. Michael Mann on the subterfuge tactics by the fossil industry to prevent systemic and structural decarbonization. We discuss how the fossil fuel industry promotes doomsday theories to engender apathy and deny agency. We also discuss how the fossil fuel industry fosters division between different social groups to...

Cattle Ranching, Palm Oil Plantations and Other Agrobusiness Drivers of Deforestation, Fraud and Violence Against Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples, Bolsonaro's Crimes and the Need for Due Diligence and Accountability in Financing and Supply Chains Discussion with Gabriella Bianchini on the importance of the Amazonian biome to the local environment and our planet and the current threats to...

Neocolonialism, Democratic Deficits and Regulatory Chill of the Investor State Dispute Settlement Mechanism Discussion with Lisa Sachs on the regulatory chill and democratic deficit of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism (ISDS). We discuss the structural issues of ISDS, including conflict of interest, lack of transparency and lack of accountability as well as its neocolonial origins an...

Palestinian Human Rights Defenders, SLAPP Suits, Anti-Boycott Laws and Human Rights Abuses in Israel and the OPT Discussion with Maria LaHood on the curtailment and criminalization of advocacy on behalf of Palestinian human rights and criticism of Israeli government policies and their conflation with antisemitism. We discuss SLAPP suits, prevention of academic freedom and debate and anti-boycott l...

Regulatory Capture, Lobbying, Astroturfing, Greenwashing and the Failure to Clean up LA’s Toxic Secret Discussion with Daniel Hirsch, Denise Duffield and Melissa Bumstead on the history and current contamination of the nuclear experiment and rocket testing site, Santa Susana Field Lab, above Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. We discuss how the responsible parties- NASA, the Department of Energy (D...

The Nexus Between Environmental Health and Social Justice Discussion with Dr. Jimena Díaz Leiva on the health and environmental impact of fracking, forever chemicals, flame retardants and glyphosate. We discuss how trade secrets are being utilized to protect against disclosure of all toxic chemicals in fracking, the exemptions the industry obtained from environmental laws and how the First Amendme...

Drafting and Establishing the 5th International Crime Against Peace Discussion with Darryl Robinson and Kate Mackintosh on the history of ecocide and the gravity and culpability elements necessary for it to be the fifth international crime against peace. We also discuss the process of establishing ecocide as an international crime, including the process of its adoption by the International Crimina...

Adam Hochschild's Ghosts of Rapacity and Resistance Discussion with Adam Hochschild on the historical movements and moments throughout Adam’s books. We discuss the First World War, the Spanish Civil War, the turmoil and anti-immigrant and anti-labour purges in the United States during and after the First World War, apartheid, the Stalinist purges and the Russian people’s attempt to reconcile with...

The Noxious Nexus of Environmental Destruction, Corruption, Conflict and Human Rights Abuse Discussion with Patrick Alley on the intersectionality of environmental destruction, human rights abuse, conflict and corruption. We discuss how our banks and institutional funds finance deforestation while concomitantly publicly rallying against it. We discuss greenwashing by the fossil fuels industry and...

Democratic Resistance in Hong Kong Discussion with Alex Yong-Kang Chow and Brian Leung on China’s increasing control over Hong Kong and its breaches of the Sino-British Declaration. We discuss the student democratic protests in 2014 and 2019 and the arrest and trials of the protestors. We discuss the enactment and use of the National Security Law to target free speech and the free press. We discus...

Abandoned Australians, Cultural Restitution and Human Rights Accountability Discussion with Geoffrey Robertson QC on how Australia’s COVID response, including its border closure to citizens abroad, has violated human rights and Geoffrey’s petition on behalf of abandoned Australians before the Human Rights Committee. We also discuss the lack of constitutional rights in Australia and the need for a...