Good People: Muncie not Mercury

In the summer of 2019, a violinist stood up at a city council meeting in Muncie, Indiana, and expressed concern over a factory that was coming to town. A local reporter wrote a story about the meeting. That story was passed around to concerned citizens who started asking questions. A few weeks later more than 1,000 people showed up at the courthouse protesting the Waelz Sustainable Products factory. A factory that would likely be the #1 polluter of airborne Mercury in the nation. Ultimately the billion-dollar corporation left town.

Kelsey talks with Josh Arthur, a local pastor, and Bryan Preston, a county employee, who were both in early on the action.

Good People: A Doughnut Economy

What does an economy of living within the means of our planet look like? Welp, according to economist Kate Raworth it looks like a doghnut. Kelsey and Jay are joined by John Motlotch and Scott Truex of the Sustainable Communities Institute for a discussion on Raworth’s TED Talk.

Topics we discussed and relevant links:

• Kate Raworth’s Ted Talk, site,  book
• How Scott’s focus on landscape design impacted his thinking and how John’s focus on systems impacted his
• More in-depth explanation of how the doughnut economy works
• How our economy/culture doesn’t give value to the environment and often people
• Problem of focus on short-term growth and how nothing in nature works like that
• George Monbiot’s Ted Talk: For more wonder, rewild the…
  

Good People: Kids & the Trauma Pandemic

For kids “The System” doesn’t work in the best of times. And during a time of global pandemic, there are even fewer supports. Psychologist Janay Sander joins Kelsey and Jay to discuss how best to support kids facing traumatic circumstances. 

Show Notes:

If you or a child you know in the United States is in a volatile situation or are subjected to domestic violence, please reach out to the following resources:  

National…

Good People: Kohl Crecelius on Good Business & Importance of Job

Kohl Crecelius believes that jobs matter almost more than anything. He has helped lead the modern movement integrating social good and business, as he founded Krochet Kids and KNOWN SUPPLY. Kohl joins Kelsey and Jay to discuss Fair Trade, B-Corps, and how his journey started with crocheting.

Show Notes:

Kohl’s B-crop business – KNOWN SUPPLY
Nonprofit Kohl started with high school buddies – Krochet Kids

What we discussed:
His path to social entrepreneurship
Importance of travel
Aid and cycle of dependency
Rana Plaza factory collapse
Cause washing
Decision to create a nonprofit vs. a cause-oriented for profit
B Corps
Benefit Corporations
Fair Trade
Article: Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting…

Good People: Interview with AP reporter Victoria Milko

Victoria Milko has reported from health clinics in rural Bangladesh, protests in the streets of Myanmar, and refugee camps in Thailand. She joins Kelsey & Jay from her apartment in Jakarta to discuss the global impact of COVID-19, the importance of journalism in today’s society, and her path to becoming a Southeast Asia-based science reporter for The Associated Press.

Show notes

Topics we talked about with Victoria:

– COVID-19 impact in developing countries
– Life in Jakarta during the global pandemic
– Reporting on genocide and mass graves
– Impact of reporting on traumatic events
– Family’s refugee history and impact on her career
– Dream of being a foreign correspondent and how she reached that dream
– Living and reporting in Myanmar
– Rise and fall of Aung San Suu Kyi
– Facebook’s impact…

Is COVID-19 Our Alien Invasion

I love alien invasion movies. I love the cuts to scenes from around the world where we come together as a species regardless of race, religion, ideology, and nationality, to confront a common enemy. The poor Eiffel Tower, pyramids, Golden Gate Bridge, Sydney Opera House are the first to go. If you find yourself in an Alien Apocalypse movie, steer clear of major landmarks. But when they are shown exploding, they aren’t Egypt’s pyramids, or France’s Eiffel Tower, they are ours. Faced with human extinction, suddenly all that divides us fades away and what connects us is all that matters.

I’ve always felt like peace on earth was just one good alien invasion away. 

Is COVID-19 our common…

Good People: Indigenous Wisdom & Intentionality

Live from Patagonia! In this episode Jay and I discuss my experiences visiting with the Arhuaco, an indigenous group in Colombia. This is our first attempt from a show on the road while researching my new book about regenerative agriculture.

This was recorded pre-Covid-19 shutdown. I made it back from South American about one week before the global chaos began. Obviously, the future travels I discuss in the episode are delayed. I should be in Hawaii right now, for instance. But alas, I’m in my basement in Indiana. …

“Each Land has the Magic” to Help in These Troubling Times

During this time of self-isolating, curve-flattening, and social-distancing, we find ourselves removed from the comforts and relationships of our normal world. We may feel alone, isolated, distant, afraid, and flattened. 

COVID-19 is a reminder that we are part of nature whether we understand that or not. A tiny little life-form previously unknown to us has brought our world to a stop. I have friends in Kenya that are bracing for the impact. My friend in Colombia, Maria, is on lockdown and playing Scrabble with her roommates. And here in Indiana and across the United States we are half-heartedly hunkering while the virus closes in around us. 

Nature Therapy

But removed from our day-to-day world, and as disjointed as that…

Why we’re canceling our trip to Kauai: an exponential essay

Why we’re canceling our trip to Kauai: an exponential essay

1. Today
2. I cancelled
3. My trip to Hawaii. 
4. I was leaving next week. My wife, too.  
5. She was joining me the first week of a three-week research trip for my next book.
6. We never really had a honeymoon. Unless you count another book-trip stopping at a garment factory in Perry, New York, and then going to Niagara Falls, Canada, for a day. She doesn’t. 
7. I first visited Kauai nearly 20 years ago. Since I hiked her trails, paddled her waters, ate her wild…
   

Good People: A visit to the wall

Drop a quarter into a turnstile and you can cross from the U.S. into Mexico. Easy. The reverse journey is much more difficult, especially for immigrants searching for a better life.

On this episode of Good People, Jay and I chat with my friend Scott Truex, who has spent his career learning and teaching about sustainability and community development. Scott talks about his recent experience visiting the Mexican border and the infamous wall.

Listen below or on iTunes or Stitcher.

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