Local Futures Podcast

Described by journalist George Monbiot as “one of the greatest thinkers of our age,” Jeremy Lent is the founder of the Liology Institute and the author of ‘The Patterning Instinct’ and, most recently, ‘The Web of Meaning’. His work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. In his own words, his work: “has been a journey of many years, during which I dedicated myself full time to deep research in...

Brazilian researcher and activist Dr. Camila Moreno has attended almost all the major climate conferences in the last decade. In this conversation with Helena Norberg-Hodge, she offers a rare glimpse into the internal workings of the multilateral negotiations. She explains how the narrow focus on carbon is turning climate itself into a tradable commodity for profit, and how the "decarbonization" agenda is linked to technocracy and increased surveillance. We are left with greater clarity, and...

You would struggle to find three individuals more equipped to navigate the big picture of global economic mega-structures and civilizational transformation than Tyson, Alnoor and Helena. Between them, they share a wealth of diverse experiences, radical analysis and bold future-visioning, as well as a healthy dose of banter and laughter. Their far-reaching conversation analyses conspiracy theory, the global financial system and capitalist ideology, while outlining the power of localization...

Tyson Yunkaporta, author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, joins Local Futures’ director Helena Norberg-Hodge to explore “right story” - cognitive frameworks that can help us navigate through the neo-colonial, techno-globalist age, and towards more interconnected, land-based futures. Touching on everything from marginal identities to electromagnetic pulses, from the local food movement to civilizational “apocalypse”, they outline the great necessity for all people to...

In this episode, we cover the inspiring story of the Copenhagen Food Coop, a member-owned alternative to mainstream grocery stores which allows people to not only have regular access to fresh local food, but also to make decisions about what foods the coop purchases and how the coop is run. NOTE: This episode was recorded before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though some of the activities mentioned in this episode - such as community harvest celebrations and group farm visits - are...

In this episode we speak with Judith Hitchman, the president of Urgenci, an international network of community-supported agriculture groups (CSAs). The conversation touches on decommodifying food, ISDS clauses, local food policy councils, and many more topics related to local food. Related links: - Urgenci - the international CSA network - Article: 'Saving Japan’s seed heritage from “free trade”' - Article: 'Tosepan - Resistance and Renewal in Mexico' - Booklet: 'Localization: Essential...

Juan del Río is a co-founder of the Spanish Transition Network, and author of the first book about the Transition movement to be published in Spanish. In this interview from the New Economy and Social Innovation (NESI) forum, he gives us his thoughts on economic transition, how different economic systems encode different values, how trade treaties threaten community resilience, and what we can do about it all. Related links: - Read about our work in Ladakh over the years - Read the foreword...

From social enterprises to credit unions, a new wave of not-for-profit businesses is pushing back against the assumption that consumerism and competition must drive the economy. In this episode, we speak with Jen Hinton of the Post Growth Institute, co-author of a forthcoming book about how the line between businesses and not-for-profit organizations doesn’t have to be as rigid as you might think. Related links: - How On Earth - the website for the forthcoming book. - 'Beyond capitalism:...

In this episode, we chat with Diego Isabel La Moneda of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WE-All), a growing group of people and organizations around the world focused on co-creating a new economic system. The goal of WE-All is to bring businesses, NGOs, policymakers, faith-based groups, academics and citizens all together into a coherent global new economy movement, with a vision for change and a set of strategies for how to achieve it. Related links: - The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WE-All)...

Francisco Grau is a co-founder of Feria Verde, one of the largest and oldest organic farmers markets in Costa Rica. In this episode, Local Futures' Associate Programs Director Anja Lyngbaek, sits down with Francisco to talk about how the market got started, how it’s kept itself running and thriving for nearly a decade, and what lessons Feria Verde has to offer for people thinking about starting farmers markets in their own communities. Related links: - Feria Verde's website (in Spanish) -...

Listen to a conversation between two giants of the local economy movement in this extended episode. Helena Norberg-Hodge founded Local Futures, produced the film The Economics of Happiness, and wrote the book Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh. Wendell Berry is a poet and activist, an author of over 40 books, and a lifelong advocate for ecological health, the beauty of rural life, and small-scale farming. Their far-reaching discussion touches on human nature, technology, experiential...

In this episode, Jay Tompt tells the story of the REconomy Centre. A little bit startup incubator, a little bit co-working space, and a little bit gift-economy networking hub, this "new economy wing of the Transition movement" emerged from an abandoned office building in Totnes, England to bridge political divides and help create the conditions needed for holistic local economies to emerge around the world. Related links: - REconomy Centre Totnes - The REconomy Project - How to start a...

Countries around the world are fixated on growing their economies - but is growth doing more harm than good? In this episode, Richard Heinberg discusses the history behind how GDP growth came to be used as a measure of success, why GDP can't continue growing indefinitely, and why it's time to transition to a better metric - one that better reflects human and ecological well-being. Related links: - On our blog: 'Life in a degrowth economy, and why you might actually enjoy it' - On our blog:...

Societies and communities everywhere are under threat from an increasingly corporatized global economy that is shifting power and resources from the many to the few and separating us from one another and from nature. Around the world, however, an increasing number of people are actively looking to re-establish the bonds of interdependence and recreate community living in tune with nature. In this episode, Anja Lyngbaek interviews Kosha Joubert, the Chief Executive Officer of the Global...

Humanity has lost nearly three-quarters of its agricultural biodiversity in the last century. Now, in the face of an increasingly volatile climate, conserving the remaining seed diversity is a matter of survival. In this episode, Local Bites interviews ecologist and renowned seed conservationist, Dr. Debal Deb on the value of traditional seeds in an unstable world. Deb argues that traditional seeds are vitally important, not just to ensure food security, but also for protecting local food...

In this episode, Local Bites interviews Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to talk about the multiple social, economic and environmental benefits of local business ownership and community-scaled financial institutions. Mitchell lays out the evidence for why local ownership matters, and provides a thorough debunking of the idea that large, global corporations are more efficient or create more jobs than smaller-scale, community-rooted enterprises. After warning listeners...

In this extended episode, Local Bites interviews scholar/activist, Ashish Kothari about his book, Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India, co-authored by Aseem Shrivastava. During the first half of the interview, Kothari provides a sobering account of the social and environmental impacts of globalized development in India, arguing persuasively that the costs outweigh the benefits, and calling into questions a number of taken-for-granted assumptions about "economic growth", "progress",...

In this episode, Local Bites interviews Dr. M. Jahi Chappell of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy on the question, "What kind of food and farming system do we need to feed a growing world population in an ecologically sustainable and socially just manner?" His responses challenge widely-held notions about the future of our food supply.

In this episode host Brian Emerson interviews Helena Norberg-Hodge on how "free" trade treaties undermine local communities, economies and democracies around the world, and why localists need to join the global resistance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA, also known as TTIP). Norberg-Hodge ends her interview by suggesting an alternative international framework for supporting more democratic, localized solutions to global problems.