Young people march for action on climate change, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 2019 (Sabine Joosten/ Hollandse Hoogte)


I joined talkRADIO’s Penny Smith on Saturday for a 15-minute review of the past decade, and what we can do to counter a politics of division and evasion of critical issues such as climate change.

Listen to Discussion from in 0800-0830 Segment

It’s a downbeat start to the discussion: the aftermath of the Great Recession; social damage in the UK and US; killing and repression in the Middle East; Vladimir Putin’s aggressive challenge; and China’s confrontation with Hong Kong.

But after going through the reasons and the exploitation, we look for a way back:

It is our communities where we have to get back to hope. On a daily basis, we have to talk about what matters to us and our neighbors — that the streets are clean, we have decent houses, decent education, decent healthcare.

If we can extend that to “What about ensuring that others have this as well?”, then we might replace division with dialogue.

And at the end of the interview, there’s a bonus when I get one of the strangest questions I have encountered this year….