This podcast episode is all about energy and features an extract from our longer interview with the celebrated writer and activist Margaret Atwood While Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are holding up tankers and stopping oil refineries, the government is sitting on the energy policy it promised after the Ukraine invasion. With rising poverty, rising fuel prices, and rising fears about the future, the question of how quickly and effectively we can transition to clean energy has become...

In this podcast we're glad to feature the eminent writer Amitav Ghosh who is an influential Indian environmental thinker who has won many honours for his fiction. He's also an academic and author of several substantial works of non-fiction, including The Great Derangement, an exploration of literature’s failure to address the climate and ecological emergency. His new work, The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, is the subject of this interview.  What is striking about Amitav’s...

Did you catch the BBC drama The Trick? If not, it is still on BBC iPlayer (apologies for non-UK friends). It shows the birth of the arch denialist group the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) in 2009 from the point of view of a scientist who was unlucky enough to get enmeshed in their campaign to discredit the science of global warming. It’s a great watch with elements of thriller, drama and even love story. Today it’s clear the GWPF is still very active in the run up to COP26 in its...

The episode begins with the stirring words of XR’s Clare Farrell and Marvina Newton from ‘United for black Lives’ speaking against the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts bill in parliament Square on April 3rd at a Kill the Bill coalition event. This podcast looks at the oppressive new legislation that Priti Patel is trying to foist upon us, and at what it means in both practical terms for those organising protests but also in the wider sense of democracy. We explore this with the Lib Dem...

In this collaboration with Rebel Radio, Anna Hyde hosts this Special with the director and some of the protagonists of the film 'Race to Save the World'. Anna first speaks to director Joe Gant about what made him create this film. Joe explains that once you know how bad the climate and ecological emergency is, you can't ever unknow it - but it can make people feel overwhelmed and powerless. His film is aims to inspire those who are aware to start taking action. And not stop until we have...

In this episode Jessica is joined by artist Tom Stallard, a member of the XR samba band and Walthamstow XR. Jessica interviews with Dr. Charlie Gardner, a conservationist and researcher based at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent. Dr. Gardner lived in Madagascar for 10 years helping to establish new protected areas, but now focuses primarily on the intersection of the climate and ecological crisis. He has been a member of Extinction Rebellion since...

This episode Jessica Townsend and Ferghal McEntee look at some brave people putting their lives on the line to protect trees both in the UK and in the Amazon. We begin with the fierce anti-felling poem Heartwood written and read by Robert Macfarlane to honour all those doing this great work and the trees they love. The recording we use is of the well-loved author speaking in Trafalgar Square in 2018 as part of the inaugural Writers Rebel event. Then we interview Larch, or Dr Larch...

On this fifth anniversary of the Paris agreement, three young people are launching a case against the British Government for their failure to safeguard their futures and those of their families in the global south. We talk to one of the plaintiffs, student Jerry Amokwandoh, about what has motivated him to take such a powerful step. We also talk to lawyer Tim Crosland from Plan B about the legal basis for the case and to Esther Standford-Xosei about why Stop The Maangamizi is supporting the...

Where is the heart of climate denial in the UK? Who are the main individuals & organisations coming between the people and the policy progress we need to address the climate & ecological emergency? Questions like this led Writers Rebel to organize an action in a quiet, privileged street in the heart of London's parliamentary district. The Writers Rebel action in Tufton Street, No More Lies About Climate Change, has now gone down in Extinction Rebellion history. This episode...

Extinction Rebellion UK's Third Demand is a government commissioned, independently run Citizens' Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice. But what does that mean? Join Marijn van de Geer as she speaks to XR UK's Citizens' Assembly Working Group (CAWG) to find out what exactly the Third Demand means, and look into some of the deeper questions rebels have been asking about citizens' assemblies. To find out more about citizens' assemblies and Extinction Rebellion's Third Demand, please visit...

This episode Jessica & #MoneyRebellion’s Will talk to Kate Raworth, the most influential alternative economic thinker of the present moment. Her book Doughnut Economics has been hugely influential amongst sustainable development thinkers, progressive businesses, and political activists. She has also presented it to audiences ranging from the UN General Assembly to the Occupy movement. To view a diagram of the doughnut see: https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/ Kate is now moving from...

Ever wonder who the pink boat in Oxford Circus was named after? This podcast focuses on the new book 'Who Killed Berta Caceres' by Nina Lakhani which is a compelling thriller-like read based on the murder of the brave indigenous Berta. She died for fighting the development of a dam using World Bank funding in her region in Honduras.

In this week’s episode Jessica interviews two inspirational women: Helen Norberg-Hodge, the founder of Local Futures; and Jyoti Fernandes, from the Land Workers Alliance and La Via Campesina. We talk about why our futures need to be local rather than global and why that truth is more evident now than ever. In particular we focus on food production and why small-scale, agro-ecological farming will help heal the planet and the biosphere, provide satisfying jobs, and make the country more...

7-year-old Zane Gbangbola died after flood water carried the fatally toxic chemical hydrogen cyanide from a nearby landfill site into his home in Surrey. A Ministry of Defense whistleblower revealed it, but the government denies it. How can we get justice for the UK's first victim of climate change? Plus, we hear from Lola Perrin – cofounder of XR artists - on how Extinction Rebellion is supporting Zane’s parents, Kye and Nicole, in their fight for justice. To find out more and to help the...

Welcome to a new XR Podcast series: The Best of Rebel Radio. Here we take some of the wonderful content coming out of Rebel Radio and edit it into a podcast so you can listen again whenever you like. For our first Best of Rebel Radio Podcast, hosts Sue Wheat and Seb O'Connell speak to Ann Pettifor about the global financial system and how international and historical decision making have prioritised the rich and corporations over people and planet. As a result, climate change and ecological...

Many people in the climate movement wonder why it’s so hard to get our message through. Could part of the problem be buried in the very language we use? In this episode we’re talking to Jeremy Lent, the author of The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning. His work investigates the patterns of thought that have led our civilization to its current crisis of sustainability. In this conversation we discuss the key metaphors that govern how we think and why we...

We live in a society addicted to growth, yet on a planet with finite resources. Something needs to give. The Extinction Rebellion Podcast talks to a star of the degrowth movement, Jason Hickel. Jason is an academic and the author of The Divide and the upcoming book, Less is More: Why Degrowth Will Save the World. Extinction Rebellion has three demands. 1) Tell the Truth - Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to...

We need to act now if we want to avoid overwhelming climate and ecological breakdown. So why does the government tell us we’ve got until 2050? In this episode we’re exploring the government’s 2050 net zero emissions target and why that timeline endangers not only humans, but every other species on the planet. We’ll talk about the science that shows us we need to act much sooner, and discuss some of the political and economic obstacles to achieving a more ambitious target - like Extinction...

Economics is not a side show in our lives. The coronavirus has shown that. But, what comes next? This episode is all about empowering you to take on one of the main influencers of our economy, and therefore the planet – the Finance Sector – through education and activism. We talk to Vince Knowles and Rathbone Greenbank Investments about the investment industry; University of Bristol Professors Alvin Birdi and Chris Preist about the insurance industry; and XR Money Rebellion about what...

Jessica and Marijn speak to Rosanna Wiseman and Cameron Joshi from Global Justice Now about colonialism, capitalism and making Extinction Rebellion more inclusive. Plus, get a glimpse of what it's like to be part of Extinction Rebellion globally with our audio tapestry of sounds captured at actions around the world. Recorded LIVE as part of Extinction Rebellion's Decolonise! Decarbonise! program at VAULT Festival 2020. Extinction Rebellion has three demands. 1) Tell the Truth -...

In this episode we’re talking to a world leader in the climate movement, Christiana Figueres. Christiana was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 to 2016 and is credited with securing the Paris Agreement in 2015. She is joined by her co-author Tom Rivett-Carnac, who was her Senior Political Adviser at the UN and now works with her on a podcast called "Global Optimism". Together they wrote 'The Future We Choose". Extinction Rebellion...