Past Episodes
The Business of Shock
November 21st, 2008 | post a comment
In her book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein delves into the secret history of capitalism, and explains how the “free-market” has expanded by exploiting periods of shock and crisis. She spent years traveling to disaster zones to see how the policies forced through in crisis impact people on the ground, and her insight is particularly valuable in this time of crisis in the US and world economy.
Today, we are in such a time of political upheaval and economic crisis. Just as outlined by Naomi Klein, in this time of shock, large banks and financial interests are trying to push through corporate-friendly policies. Can we somehow break the cycle of shocks with a new administration? This week, Business Matters will explore how the lame-duck Bush Administration and the Federal Reserve are applying a kind shock therapy to the economy, and we’ll spend the hour with the best-selling author of The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein.
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Naomi Klein, Author of The Shock Doctrine | Download MP3
The Business of Fear
November 14th, 2008 | 1 comment
Fear can be the most powerful motivating factor in business and politics. This week, Business Matters explores how fear can be manipulated, overcome and understood. We’ll meet someone whose been studying the media’s use of fear for decades and an entrepreneur who explains how fear can sometimes have positive effects. We’ll help you develop the tools to understand how it’s used, who uses it, and how to remain unafraid when you are bombarded with fear messaging.
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Part 1: David Altheide, Author of “Terrorism and the Politics of Fear“ | Download MP3
Part 2: Paul Borgese, Creator of FEAR Selling | Download MP3
Part 3: Naomi Klein, Author of “The Shock Doctrine” | Download MP3
The Challenge for the 44th
October 24th, 2008 | 1 comment
Whoever becomes the next president, he’ll be facing an economic crisis more threatening than any other since the Great Depression. Plus, he’ll inherit two wars, a degrading infrastructure and a declining global image. So this week we’ll try to find out what kind of leadership qualities and techniques are needed and what sort of policy challenges the next administration will have to confront. We’ll ask experts on public policy and leadership how the 44th President can begin to solve the pressing challenges of our time.
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Part 1: James Galbraith, Economist |Download MP3
Part 2: Peter Block, Leadership Consultant | Download MP3
Part 3: Lewis Pitts, Public Interest Attorney | Download MP3
The Real Truth Behind the Bailout
October 17th, 2008 | 1 comment
After the Treasury Department’s proposal for $700 billion to buy up the distressed assets in the financial system was approved by Congress, the markets continued their historic free-fall. Find out why this solution was the only one considered in Washington, as we explore the root causes of the crisis as well as innovative new solutions. First we’ll talk with a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury to learn how we got into this national financial donnybrook. Then, hear from an economist who has an alternative solution that offers to cost taxpayers far less and reduce the risk of moral hazard.
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Part 1: Paul Craig Roberts, Father of “Reagenomics”
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Part 2: Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
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Water - The 21st Century’s “Blue Gold”
October 10th, 2008 | post a comment
For the first time in nearly a hundred years, our water resources, both at home and abroad, are up for grabs. Many are suggesting the demand for water resources is becoming the 21st Century’s quest for fossil fuels. We’ll discuss not only the quality of our drinking water, but who owns it and what they are doing with it. Find out who’s trying to control our water, why this is a concern, and what you can do about it.
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Part 1: Interview with Alan Snitow, Co-Producer and Co-Author, Thirst |
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Part 2: Interview with Sam Finkelstein, Great Lakes Organizer, Food & Water Watch |
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Part 3: Interview with Stephen Estes-Smargiassi, Director of Planning, MWRA |
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Small Business - Making it Work with Less
October 3rd, 2008 | post a comment
Small businesses make up over half of the economic output of the United States. Today we’ll ask: How do you start them? What makes them successful? What does it take to stay competitive? We’ll start by meeting the winner of an award for being “Best Small Company to Work for in America.” Then, we’ll meet the owner of a neighborhood coffee shop in Kansas City that was challenged by a Starbucks moving in next door. Hear how they managed to keep their small business successful even when a giant chain showed up. Also, host Thomas White explains what he’s learned from his experience starting small businesses himself and helping other businesses succeed.
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Part 1: Interview with Lauren Dixon, CEO Dixon Schwabl | Download MP3
Part 2: Interview with Jon Cates of Broadway Café in Kansas City | Download MP3
Part 3: Interview with Thomas White | Download MP3
Food Crisis - Abroad and at home
September 19th, 2008 | post a comment
The current rise in food costs in the US and shortage abroad seemed to have happened suddenly. This week we explore the factors that led to this situation and when they actually began. Is this a temporary condition or will it worsen? Find out what you can do to deal with the impact this crisis. With Sharon Astyk of the blog Casaubon’s Book and author of “Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front,” Bettina Luescher from the U.N.’s World Food Program, and Janet Larsen of the Earth Policy Institute.
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Part 1: Interview with Bettina Leuscher | Download MP3
Part 2: Interview with Janet Larsen | Download MP3
Part 3: Interview with Sharon Astyk | Download MP3
MicroFinance: Supporting Entrepreneurs Around the World
September 12th, 2008 | post a comment
September 12th, 2008
One of the greatest gifts we can give each other is our trust. In this episode we look at how entrusting entrepreneurs in poor countries with small amounts of capital can dramatically change the potential of their business, their country, and the world. Featuring Premal Shah, President of Kiva.org, the leading microlending website and Tracey Turner, founder of MicroPlace, an eBay subsidiary helping the working poor across the world.
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Part 1: Interview with Premal Shah | Download MP3
Part 2: Interview with Tracey Turner | Download MP3
Part 3: Interview with Jonathon Repinecz | Download MP3
America’s Schools: A Crisis, September 5th, 2008
September 5th, 2008 | post a comment
The current education system is not preparing our youth for the real world thanks to programs such as No Child Left Behind. We will discuss the source of the problem and look for both public and private solutions, such as charter schools and homeschooling. With the Peter Reilly, President of NYSCATE, Robert Cane of FOCUS, and Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschooling.
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Part 1: Interview with Pete Reilly | Download MP3
Part 2: Interview with Robert Cane | Download MP3
Part 3: Interview with Donna Simmons | Download MP3
Changing the World from Home: The Relocalization Movement, August 29
August 29th, 2008 | 1 comment
From climate change to food shortages to high energy costs, globalization is proving itself to have a negative impact on our world. There’s a group who believes that thinking locally is not only the best form of protest–but the only sure-fire way to survive. With Post Carbon Institute’s Celine Rich, Path to Freedom’s Jules Dervaes, and Small-Mart’s Michael Shuman, leaders of the Relocalization Movement.
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Celine Rich is the Executive Director of Post Carbon Institute and has been working there since its inception in 2001. She worked for 3 years as a Research Strategist with the University of British Columbia’s Development Office. In addition, she created and led community cultural development projects in Vancouver for six years. Celine has a MA in Design for the Environment from the Chelsea College of Art and Design, UK; a BA in Fine Arts from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Canada, and a Certificate of Marketing from Kwantlen College, Canada. Celine currently lives in Sebastopol, California, USA.
Visit PostCarbon.org and Relocalize.net for more details about Celine’s work.
Part 1: Interview with Celine Rich | Download MP3
Michael Shuman is vice president for Enterprise Development for Training & Development Corporation (TDC). An economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Shuman has authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998). Shuman is helping to lead development of TDC’s Worksphere Program, a national effort to support worker well-being through a variety of programs promoting “sustainable employability” and “global community capitalism.” He received an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. Shuman has given an average of more than one invited talk per week for 25 years throughout the United States and the world.
For more information about Michael, his book, and his other writings, visit Small-Mart.org.
Part 2: Interview with Michael Shuman | Download MP3
Jules Dervaes is the founder of Path to Freedom, a family-operated, viable urban homestead project established in 2001 to promote a simpler and more fulfilling lifestyle and to sow a “homegrown revolution(tm)” against the corporate powers that control the food supply. Since the mid-1980s, Mr. Dervaes and his three adult children, Anaïs, Justin, and Jordanne, have steadily worked at transforming their ordinary city lot in Pasadena, CA, into a thriving organic garden that supplies them with food all year round. These eco-pioneers also run a successful business providing fresh produce to local restaurants. This helps them fund their purchases of solar panels, energy-efficient appliances, and a biodiesel processor to further decrease their homestead’s reliance on the earth’s non-renewable resources.
The family has been the subject of numerous articles in newspapers around the world, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), and was recently featured on ABC’s Nightline and CNN.
For more information, please see www.PathtoFreedom.com, the blog Little Homestead in the City, and social networking site for backyard gardeners, Freedom Gardens.
Part 3: Interview with Jules Dervaes | Download MP3
Technorati Tags: climate change, Peak Oil, Self-sufficiency, Relocalization, Security
Making a Killing: The Business of War
July 10th, 2008 | post a comment
Private contractors rely on the current war in the Middle East to continue in order to stay in business. As it turns out, investors are banking on these companies to thrive in order to turn a dollar. We’ll speak with foreign policy analyst Conn Hallinan about the unfortunately healthy business of war as well as Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics, who recently released a report that outed several U.S. politicians who are investing in the war.
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The Music Show: Smaller is Better
July 3rd, 2008 | post a comment
With big box music stores closing down left and right, the independent music scene has found a way to thrive and succeed in its market. We’ll speak with “the suits” at Drag City Records about their experiences as a successful indie label and also hear the artist’s perspective with indie rock band, MahJongg.
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Reviving the Happy Trails
June 26th, 2008 | post a comment
With rising fuel costs taking the fun out of the classic summer road trip and stressed airline companies struggling to transport even more stressed passengers, is there any chance for enjoyment while traveling anymore? We’ll speak with a spokesperson for Virgin America Airlines, the founder of CouchSurfing.com, and the President and COO of Megabus, three businesses that are putting a positive spin on the way people travel around the country.
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Surviving the Oil Crisis, Part 2
June 19th, 2008 | post a comment
In the second half of our two part series on the oil crisis, we continue our discussion of the impending circumstances of peak oil and the future of energy in the U.S. and beyond. We will speak with some of today’s top forward-thinkers, including TheOilDrum.org editor Glenn McAnanama and Catherine Tryzbinski workshop leader teaching more about reducing energy costs along with her 10 simple tricks to reducing energy wastefulness at home and the office.
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Surviving the Oil Crisis
June 12th, 2008 | 1 comment
Summer is here and with it comes high gas prices. However, when the pumps are already maxing out consumers’ pocketbooks, what can anyone do except grin and bare it? We’ll speak with Matthew R. Simmons, CEO of one of the largest investment banking firms serving the energy industry and Daniel Lerch, Program Manager for the Post Carbon Institute’s Post Carbon Cities program, in search for life after oil, and get the scoop from those inside the industry who have faith that we’re still stocked for the future.
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2008: May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
- Living in a Bubble
- What happened to make things seem so bad?
- Waldorf Education and Social Renewal - a guest posting
- NCLB: Bad Education Policy for 21st Century Education - a guest posting
- Small is Beautiful and Productive - a guest posting
Business Matters is a weekly radio program that offers its listeners admission into the inner circle of thought-leaders, entrepreneurs and executives from the worlds of business, government and non-profit. Through unbiased dialogue we explore the decisions and actions of their organizations and the impact they have on the economy, culture, the environment, public policy and international relations.
We bring our listeners a portal into the future. We feature guests who are breaking down old paradigms and creating new models for success through innovations in the areas of science, technology, philosophy and management.