What UnEarth

Part II of Episode 14 is an exploration into more foundational questions which attempt to understand the land acquisition law, its colonial origins, how people’s movements have managed to create laws, and what environmental justice even is

Today’s episode attempts to understand development, not through conceptual lectures, but through the eyes of a foot soldier, through the mind of a thought leader, through the life of a woman who, in her own words had a clueless entry, into the world of activism, for fighting for people’s rights, who went on to achieve so much, but what she set out to do, was attempt to understand the injustice she saw before her.

In Part II of Episode 13, we dive deeper into our understanding of modern lifestyle diseases, with Mugdha Pradhan, as she teaches us about the root causes of nearly every illness known to man, and how her team works to make humanity healthier.

This is Maitreya Prithwiraj Ghorpade and thank you for listening to What UnEarth! Joining me for Episode 13 is Mugdha Pradhan, Founder of 'iThrive' a health and wellness start-up that has helped thousands of people cure ailments where doctors and prescriptions had repeatedly and horribly failed. My talk with Mugdha was fascinating because I feel I came a step closer to understanding so many of my questions. Questions such as - How healthy are our pill-popping habits? Are alternate medicine...

As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we continue our journey back in an attempt to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, this time with Episode 01 with Prithwiraj Ghorpade. I have often asked myself, What is the number 1 solution to climate change? What is the single most effective use of the limited time that humanity has to effect any kind of tangible change on the single greatest threat to our peaceful existence? Within the grander scheme of things, In what...

As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we continue our journey back in an attempt to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, this time with Episode 01 with Prithwiraj Ghorpade. I have often asked myself, What is the number 1 solution to climate change? What is the single most effective use of the limited time that humanity has to effect any kind of tangible change on the single greatest threat to our peaceful existence? Within the grander scheme of things, In what...

As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we look back and try to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, starting with Episode 08 with Dr. Gurudas Nulkar. In Episode 08 Dr. Nulkar and I had explored the fundamental problem of modern economics and how it is designed to be antithetical to ecology. That a diamond cost millions but basically does nothing. While a trees are source for eternal life, we clear them faster than a teenage boy clearing his search history. The...

As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we look back and try to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, starting with Episode 08 with Dr. Gurudas Nulkar. In Episode 08 Dr. Nulkar and I had explored the fundamental problem of modern economics and how it is designed to be antithetical to ecology. That a diamond cost millions but basically does nothing. While a trees are source for eternal life, we clear them faster than a teenage boy clearing his search history. The...

In part 2 of Episode 12, we delve a little deeper into the aspect of understanding climate change and ecological disharmony from the perspective of traditional Hindu philosophy. As What UnEarth has pledged to do from Episode 11, we’re raising funds for any cause, NGO, or civil society organization, our guests deem worthy. Dr Meera Baindur, our guest for this episode, feels intensely for the cause of our street cleaners and garbage pickers, a class of society so important to us, yet equally...

The NITI aayog SDG Report has put out hundreds of pages of data on how sustainably developed Indian states really are. This is surprising for many reasons. Because as country, we are starved for data. And as per the Report itself reveals, we’re also starved for food. Topping the charts for the worst performing Index out of the 17 SDGs, is that of achieving ‘zero hunger’ a target that India is missing by nearly 200 million people. Which means that if ‘undernourished people in India’ was a...

There’s a lot to uncover in the 350 pages of niti aayog’s 2021 report on india’s performance in achieving the UN sdgs. Here’s an outline in under a minute. The report is essentially divided into 4 chapters. Three of these are pretty much entirely made up of data, comparing how sustainably developed India states really are. we’ll get to those. The other chapter, however, deserves some attention. Because what it repeatedly stresses about, for nearly 50 pages, is the importance of government...

The NITI Aayog has put out its annual report detailing India’s progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. This Report, however, is of particular importance, not just because its one of the rare occasions in recent times when the central government has put out comprehensive data, but it also acknowledges that we only have a decade left until things get really bad. The report basically compares the different Indian states and their performance against each...

Why do we celebrate 5th June as World Environment day? Because nearly half the year has gone and you’ve miserably failed in your new years resolution of segregating your trash. It’s a reminder to be a better person in the second half of the year. No, okay, seriously though. 5th June is celebrated as world environment day as it marks the beginning of the UN Stockholm Conference, the first real global acknowledgment of humanity’s polluting effect on our ecology. In many ways, the Stockholm...

Here’s proof for why bad ecology leads to bad economy. A recent report has revealed that 7 of the top 10, and 43 out of the 100 cities most exposed to environmental risks are in India. This isn’t news though. We’ve heard it year after year, and frankly, it seems like nobody -really- cares. It’s okay a couple million die each year because of polluted air, at least we’re getting that 5 trillion economy right? Well, maybe not. Because this report isn’t by a human rights organization, it’s a...

The Delhi High Court recently held that the construction of Central Vista Avenue is of national importance and cannot be stopped. owing to the fact that no rules were being broken and the project has to be completed by November 2021, or else we risk causing hindrance to the Republic Day celebrations 2022, guys the Republic day celebrations! There’s so much to celebrate about our republic this year…right?! I personally welcome this judgment, and the strict adherence to timelines of national...

Remember the Draft EIA 2020? The law that reduced public participation, exempted projects from seeking approval, allowed for post facto clearance, basically destroyed environmental protections? Yeah, that draft EIA 2020. Well, a government report has analysed 20, 42, 157 objections in 10 different Indian languages, sent in by the Indian public for over a period of 5 months, and for some magical reason, they’ve concluded that there ‘this EIA might not be the best idea’, and that the...

DISCLAIMER: The title of this episode is an attempt to use humour to being attention to the fact that humanity finds itself in a Do-Or-Die situation due to climate change, and our solution to our climate crisis might lie in shaping our lives according to the nature worshipping, ecologically harmonious ancient Hindu philosophy. The title does not attempt to suggest the supremacy of Hinduism over other religions, and does not intend to offend any religious denomination. Joining us in Episode...

Find out why the Bihar Government ended up adopting Greenpeace India's Kedia Living Soils Program model across various districts in the state. Full episode streaming across all major podcast platforms! Link in bio. Learn more @WhatUnEarth

Anusuiya Dev Sarmah explains how the Circle of Solidarity was solving several farmers problems during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Donate to Greenpeace India's Circle of Solidarity now! Find the link at linktr.ee/whatunearth Find out more @whatunearth

Joining me are Anusuiya Dev Sarmah, and Abhishek Chanchal, two young guns of Greenpeace India, to discuss some of the many incredible farmer initiatives led by Greenpeace India such as the Bihar Kedia Living Soils Program, which attempted to educate and assist farmers seeking to make the shift from chemical-based to organic farming and was eventually adopted by the Bihar Government, as well as programs such as the Circle of Solidarity, a program aimed at raising funds for marginalized and...