Teach-In Audios & Videos

Audios of all speakers are available below. Many videos are also available—we will be posting the remainder over the next month.

(To see a PDF of the printed program, click HERE.)

TECHNO-UTOPIANISM & THE FATE OF THE EARTH

October 25-26, Great Hall, Cooper Union, NYC

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 10AM-10PM

I. TECHNOLOGY VS. NATURE

Technological innovation, celebrated throughout history, has had profound effects upon Nature, and human beings– our ways of thought, operating systems, power structures, and how we experience our own existence. This is especially so in the new cyber-tech world. Justifications still range from humanity’s “unquenchable thirst” for knowledge, to the imperatives of economic growth, wealth and power in our economic system, to the acclaimed search to bring comfort and happiness to a global population. So, how have we done? What have been the trade offs? Meanwhile, spectacular, dreadful impacts continue and accelerate. Immediate change is required in our thinking, behavior, values and economies, before Nature and human society are terminated.

10:00AM–11:30AM OPENING PANEL

This panel is introduced by Ralph White of the New York Open Center.

Jerry Mander (IFG): Questions We Should Have Asked About Technology

http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Mander-Ralph-White-intro_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (IFG): Questions We Should Have Asked About TechnologyClick above for audio— click here for video

Richard Heinberg (Post Carbon Institute): The Party’s Over http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Heinberg_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (Post Carbon Institute): The Party’s OverClick above for audio— click here for video

Anuradha Mittal, India (Oakland Institute): Stealing Nature http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Mittal_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— , India (Oakland Institute): Stealing NatureClick above for audio— click here for video

Andrew Kimbrell (ICTA): The End of Market Capitalism? http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Kimbrell-1_1-2.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio— (ICTA): The End of Market Capitalism?Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video

11:30–1:30PM CLASH OF WORLDVIEWS

This panel is introduced by Linda Sheehan of the Earth Law Center.

Tom Butler (Foundtn for Deep Ecology): The Language of Dominion http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Butler-1_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (Foundtn for Deep Ecology): The Language of DominionClick above for audio— click here for video

Lisi Krall (State U. of NY): The Economic Evolution Of Dominion http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Krall_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (State U. of NY): The Economic Evolution Of DominionClick above for audio— click here for video

Susan Griffin (“Woman & Nature”): Speed, Consciousness & Quantification http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Griffin_1-2.mp3 (“Woman & Nature”): Speed, Consciousness & Quantification

Charlene Spretnak (“The Resurgence of the Real”): Dynamic Interrelatedness http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Spretnak_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (“The Resurgence of the Real”): Dynamic InterrelatednessClick above for audio— click here for video

1:30PM–1:45PM BREAK

1:45PM–3:15PM NATURE’S PRESENCE & OUR AWARENESS

This panel is introduced by Stephanie Mills, author of Turning Away from Technology.

David Ehrenfeld (Rutgers Univ.): De-extinction and Its Residue Problems http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Ehrenfeld_1-2.mp3 (Rutgers Univ.): De-extinction and Its Residue Problems

Doug Tompkins (Deep Ecology Found’n): Technology & Nature/Clash of Concepts http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Tompkins_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (Deep Ecology Found’n): Technology & Nature/Clash of ConceptsClick above for audio— click here for video

Mary Reynolds Thompson (Author): Reclaiming The Wild Soul http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Mary-Reynolds-Thompson_1-2.mp3 (Author): Reclaiming The Wild Soul

Wes Jackson (The Land Institute): Nature Is the Final Measure (1) http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Jackson-1_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (The Land Institute): Nature Is the Final Measure (1)Click above for audio— click here for video

II. TECHNO-SOLUTIONISM: BUILDING SUBSTITUTE NATURE

With the planet depleted, overbuilt and poisoned, wild nature and its great gifts are disappearing. The economic challenge for a growth economy is to save itself by building entirely new resource bases to replace the old ones: New genetic foods, new genetic people and beings, new chemical skies to replace old ones (the victims of climate change), new molecular systems, new weaponry on earth and soon, in space, et. al.. For corporations, innovation solves the problem: Ignore the mess, create saleable “green” false solutions, and build and market “substitute nature” for uninterrupted product development and growth.

3:15PM–4:00PM FALSE SOLUTIONS

This panel is introduced by Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute.

Michael Huesemann (Author, “Techno-Fix”): Why Technology Can’t Save Us http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Huesemann-intro-by-Richard-Heinberg_1-2.mp3 (Author, “Techno-Fix”): Why Technology Can’t Save Us

John M. Greer (Author, “The Wealth of Nature”): False Promises http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Greer_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (Author, “The Wealth of Nature”): False PromisesClick above for audio— click here for video

4:00PM–6:15PM THE QUEST FOR “NEW NATURE”

This panel is introduced by Tom Butler of the Foundation for Deep Ecology.

http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-BUTLER-HOST_1-2.mp3 Clive Hamilton, Australia (“Playing God with Climate”): Geo-Engineering/New Skies http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Hamilton_1-2.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio— , Australia (“Playing God with Climate”): Geo-Engineering/New SkiesAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video

Pat Mooney, Canada (ETC. Group): Nanotechnology/New Earth http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Mooney_1-2.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio— , Canada (ETC. Group): Nanotechnology/New EarthAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video

Debbie Barker (Center for Food Safety): GMOs/Corporate Techno-Food http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Barker_1-2.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine (Center for Food Safety): GMOs/Corporate Techno-FoodAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine

Jim Thomas, Canada (ETC. Group): Synthetic Biology/Designing New Life Forms http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Thomas_1-2.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine

Click above for audio—

Film Excerpt (Bregtje van der Haak): , Canada (ETC. Group): Synthetic Biology/Designing New Life FormsAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio NewsmagazineClick above for audio— click here for video (Bregtje van der Haak): DNA Dreams (5 min.)

Andrew Kimbrell (ICTA): Genetic Redesign of Human Beings http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Kimbrell-2-_1-2.mp3 (ICTA): Genetic Redesign of Human Beings

Katie Singer (“An Electronic Silent Spring”): EMR: Radiation Soup http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Singer_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (“An Electronic Silent Spring”): EMR: Radiation SoupClick above for audio— click here for video

6:15PM–6:45PM BREAK

6:45PM–7:45PM SPECIAL GUESTS’ COMMENTARIES

This panel is introduced by Jerry Mander of the International Forum on Globalization.

http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-JERRY-INTRO-FOR-NADER_1-2.mp3 Ralph Nader (Center for Responsive Law), Author, Unstoppable http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Nader_.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine

Click above for audio— (Center for Responsive Law), Author, UnstoppableAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio NewsmagazineClick above for audio— click here for video

Bill McKibben (350.org), Author, The End of Nature http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-McKibben_.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine

Click above for audio— (350.org), Author, The End of NatureAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio NewsmagazineClick above for audio— click here for video

7:45PM–10:00PM “FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND” (Truman on the A-Bomb); NUKES, DRONES, MILITARY ROBOTS

This panel is introduced by Koohan Paik of the International Forum on Globalization.

Koohan Paik, Guam/Korea/US (IFG): Marketing Nukes, Drones & Robots http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Paik_1-2.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio— , Guam/Korea/US (IFG): Marketing Nukes, Drones & RobotsAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video

Helen Caldicott, Australia (Physicians for Social Responsibility): Hiroshima, Fukushima & Beyond http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Caldicott_.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio—

Film Excerpt: Paradise Lost (15 min.) , Australia (Physicians for Social Responsibility): Hiroshima, Fukushima & BeyondAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video : Paradise Lost (15 min.)

Neisen Laukon, Marshall Islands: Present at the Birth http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Laukon_.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio— , Marshall Islands: Present at the BirthAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video

Bruce Gagnon (Global Network vs. Weapons in Space): Space Tech & Corporate Full Spectrum Dominance http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Gagnon_.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.

Click above for audio—

Film Excerpt: Robotic Takeover of the Military (5 min.) (Global Network vs. Weapons in Space): Space Tech & Corporate Full Spectrum DominanceAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine.Click above for audio— click here for video Robotic Takeover of the Military (5 min.)

Gar Smith (Earth Island Institute): Robots, Nature and the Singularity http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Gar-Smith_.mp3 Audio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine (Earth Island Institute): Robots, Nature and the SingularityAudio contributed by Between the Lines, A Weekly Radio Newsmagazine

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 10AM-7:30PM

III. CYBER ENVELOPMENT & HUMAN AWARENESS

We once lived in contact with wild Nature, and in-close human community; connected, embedded. Handing the future to technology, innovation, industrialization, and expansionist growth, human connection is now largely with machines, manufactured projected imagery, and cyber systems, generated from far-away mega-powers. A new kind of alienation, from Nature and from self, has appeared. We are enveloped by manufactured imagery and tech processes; they immerse society and become part of each of us. Does“Nature” exist anymore? Are we happy now?

10:00AM–12:30PM LIFE INSIDE THE MACHINE

This panel is introduced by Charlene Spretnak, author of The Resurgence of the Real.

Langdon Winner (Rensselaer Polytech Inst.): Power Fantasies at the End of Modernism http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Winner-1_1-2.mp3

Film Excerpt (Bregtje Van der Haak): (Rensselaer Polytech Inst.): Power Fantasies at the End of Modernism(Bregtje Van der Haak): TechMan (5 min.)

Douglas Rushkoff (CUNY Queens): Present Shock: Everything Is Now http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Rushkoff_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (CUNY Queens): Present Shock: Everything Is NowClick above for audio— click here for video

Chet Bowers: Techno-Language vs. Nature http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Bowers_1-2.mp3

Stephanie Mills: Everyday Life in the Modern World http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Mills_1-2.mp3 : Everyday Life in the Modern World

Aiden Enns, Canada: (Geez Magazine): Life Offline http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Enns_1-2.mp3 , Canada: (Geez Magazine): Life Offline

Craig Holdrege (Nature Inst.): Hyper-Real & Real/Humans in Cyber World Discussion http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Holdrege_1-2.mp3 (Nature Inst.): Hyper-Real & Real/Humans in Cyber World Discussion

IV. WHICH WAY OUT? INGREDIENTS OF CHANGE

We start with the Primacy of Scale. Not large scale, small scale. Not global, local. Not faster, slower. Not more, less. Not top-down, bottom-up. Not private, shared. Not investor-owned, community owned. Not more tech, less tech. Not meta-economics, micro economics. Not competitive, collaborative. Not more trade, less trade. Not more energy, less energy. Not big business, small business. Where do we go from here?

12:30PM–2:30PM NOT GLOBALIZATION, LOCALIZATION

This panel is introduced by Debbie Barker of the Center for Food Safety.

Vandana Shiva, India (Navdanya): Introduction & Overview http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Shiva_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— , India (Navdanya): Introduction & OverviewClick above for audio— click here for video

Helena Norberg-Hodge, Sweden (Local Futures): Economics of Happiness http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Norberg-Hodge_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— , Sweden (Local Futures): Economics of HappinessClick above for audio— click here for video

Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe): Keystone Pipeline on Native Lands? http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-LaDuke_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (Anishinaabe): Keystone Pipeline on Native Lands?Click above for audio— click here for video

Victor Menotti (IFG): Keystone, Globalization, & the Koch Brothers http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Menotti_1-2.mp3 (IFG): Keystone, Globalization, & the Koch Brothers

Mzwanele Mayekiso, South Africa (iKweze Institute): Fighting Fracking & Mining, and Other Extractive Technologies in Africa http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Mzwanele_1-2.mp3 , South Africa (iKweze Institute): Fighting Fracking & Mining, and Other Extractive Technologies in Africa

David King, UK (Breaking the Frame): What Did the Luddites Say? http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Dave-King_1-2.mp3 , UK (Breaking the Frame): What Did the Luddites Say?

2:30PM–2:45PM BREAK

2:45PM–4:45PM INDIGENOUS VALUES & THE RIGHTS OF NATURE

This panel is introduced by Claire Greensfelder of INOCHI.

Linda Sheehan (Earth Law C’ter): Codifying Nature’s Rights in Human Law http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Sheehan_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (Earth Law C’ter): Codifying Nature’s Rights in Human LawClick above for audio— click here for video

Atossa Soltani, Iran/U.S. (Amazon Watch): Keep the Oil in the Ground http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Soltani_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— , Iran/U.S. (Amazon Watch): Keep the Oil in the GroundClick above for audio— click here for video

Patricia Gualinga, Kechwa, Ecuador (Amazon Watch): Keep the Oil in the Ground http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Gualinga_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— , Kechwa, Ecuador (Amazon Watch): Keep the Oil in the GroundClick above for audio— click here for video

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Igorot, Philippines; UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Tauli-Corpuz_1-2.mp3 , Igorot, Philippines; UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Shannon Biggs (Global Exchange): Campaigning for Rights of Nature http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Biggs_1-2.mp3 (Global Exchange): Campaigning for Rights of Nature

4:45PM–7:00PM HYBRID ECONOMICS

This panel is introduced by Andrew Kimbrell of ICTA.

Bruce Thompson (CIIS): Ecological Economics http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Bruce-Thompson_1-2.mp3 (CIIS): Ecological Economics

Randy Hayes (Foundation Earth): True Cost Accounting http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Hayes_1-2.mp3 (Foundation Earth): True Cost Accounting

Richard Heinberg (Post Carbon Inst.): Steady-State Economics http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Heinberg-2_1-2.mp3 (Post Carbon Inst.): Steady-State Economics

Joshua Farley (U.Vermont): Economics & the Anthropocene http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Farley_1-2.mp3 Click above for audio— (U.Vermont): Economics & the AnthropoceneClick above for audio— click here for video

Lisi Krall (State U. of NY): Wild Earth Economics http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Krall-2_1-2.mp3 (State U. of NY): Wild Earth Economics

Tom Butler (Deep Ecology): Rewilding http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Audio-Butler-2_1-2.mp3 (Deep Ecology): Rewilding

Wes Jackson (Land Institute): Nature Is the Final Measure (2) http://ifg.org/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AUDIO-Jackson-2_1-2.mp3 (Land Institute): Nature Is the Final Measure (2)

7:00-7:30 PM ALL PARTICIPANTS ON STAGE

Thank You

We are eternally grateful for the generous funding support that made this project possible. Special thanks to Foundation for Deep Ecology (Doug Tompkins), as well as Marian Weber, Peter & Mimi Buckley, CS Fund, Center for Food Safety, Marion Hunt, and Nancy Schaub.