Summary: "Population Bomb" author and Stanford Prof. Paul R. Ehrlich and film-maker, activist Michael Charles Tobias on hope in the midst of danger. Stand-up comedian & economist Yoram Bauman on climate humor. Radio Ecoshock 140604 Knowing what we know about dwindling energy, the total debt economy, and a dangerously sliding climate, how can anybody talk about hope? I know more people will tune in for the latest disaster news, and there's plenty of that to go around. But this show asks three really smart people how we could tilt all that into worthwhile good lives on a good planet. These aren't pollyannas or professional spin-masters. Our guests are famous in their fields. They've been around the block with human disgrace and our attack on nature. After publishing "The Population Bomb", written with his wife Anne, Paul R. Ehrlich remains an essential public figure 50 years later. He's the Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. Ehrlich teamed up with a green giant of film-making for the new book "Hope on Earth, a Conversation". The other end of that conversation is Michael Charles Tobias. You've seen his work on TV and films, whether you know his name or not. Animal rights activists respect his work too. Basically, I grill them both, first about the real world situation, and then how they can find any self-respecting hope. Then we veer off into the improbable: climate humor. We'll talk with a professional stand-up economist about climate change and comedy. Yoram Bauman has been on Comedy Central, does stand-up tours, and just co-authored a new book "The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change". It's your long-lost hope and desperate laughs, right here on Radio Ecoshock. Download/listen to this show in CD Quality 56 MB or Lo-Fi 14 MB WHY HOPE? PAUL R. EHRLICH Hope is almost a cursed word, especially after disappointment with the first Obama campaign. Maybe it's even hard to hope in the certain knowledge we have disrupted the climate for generations to come. Is hope a damaged word, and what should we hope for? Some of the rich dialogues in the book are about the intricate patterns of nature. How do these apply to people isolated in heated or air-conditioned boxes, plugged into the imaginary world of electronic selves? In this new book "Hope on Earth", I was surprised to find discussions about butterflies and bugs - until I dug into Dr. Ehrlich's serious qualifications as an entomologist. I wondered how his professional knowledge of the insect world feeds back into our vision of the human. Are we like the insects in some ways? Speaking of warring ants, I aks Paul what he makes of the resurrection of the Cold War, with the United States and it's allies against Russia, and maybe China? Considering all the real problems we humans have, Ehrlich finds posturing by the United States preposerous, but he's no friend of the politics in Russia these days either. It's a wide-ranging interview from a mind exceptional even in his 80's. Erhlich tells us he's just getting started, with lots of work yet ahead of him. Download/listen to this interview with Paul Ehrlich in CD Quality or Lo-Fi FILM-MAKER MICHAEL CHARLES TOBIAS He's an author, a true ecologist, and mountain climber. You've probably seen his work as a film-maker. Michael Charles Tobias created the 1991 "Voice of the Planet" series for Turner Broadcasting, with William Shatner as host. He's done a slew of documentaries since then, including "Hotspots" for PBS. Back in 2006, I interviewed Howard Lyman, the Mad Cowboy who converted from raising cattle to becoming a vegetarian. But Tobias was there first, with his documentary in 2005. Tobias is equally well known in the animal rights and conservation movement, where's received awards and accolades for his work. He leads the Dancing Star Foundation devoted to species preservation. Now Michael has teamed up with Stanford's Dr. Paul Ehrlich for a deep conversation in the
