The EcoPolitics Podcast

In this episode, host Peter Andrée and guests Leah Penniman and Jan Hania explore how inner spiritual work and personal transformation are inextricably linked to the outer work of social and environmental change. At a time when reactionary, right-wing parties ... Read More

In this episode, host Peter Andrée revisits the roots of The Ecopolitics Podcast by examining the dynamics of Canadian environmental politics in the mid-2020s. Joined by Dr. Rosalind Warner (Okanagan College), Dr. Will Greaves (University of Victoria), and Dr. Peter Stoett (Ontario Tech University), the conversation explores themes from ... Read More

This episode is our second installment on the Living Relations partnership, focusing on transnational collaboration between Indigenous and settler partners from Canada and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Hosts Peter Andrée and Tehya Quachegan are joined by project co-director John Reid to ... Read More

In this episode, Peter Andrée and guest host Tehya Quachegan (Lakehead University) introduce listeners to the Living Relations Project, a collaboration between Indigenous and settler partners in Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada. The project brings together researchers, community activists, and ... Read More

In this powerful and personal episode, host Peter Andrée is joined by Dr. Jeff Ganohalidoh Corntassel (University of Victoria, Cherokee Nation) and Dr. James Rowe (University of Victoria, author of Radical Mindfulness) to explore how mindfulness, ceremony, and heart-centred practices ... Read More

 In this second half of our two-part series on The Growth-Environment Debate, Ryan and Peter explore two of the more provocative discourses in the debate over sustainability and economic growth. What if growth is the problem? And what if it’s ... Read More

In this episode, host Peter Andrée sits down with two doctoral students and a postdoc on the path to becoming ecopolitical researchers: Devon Cantwell-Chavez, Kaleigh McIntosh, and Obed Asamoah. They talk about their unique projects, how they came to pursue ... Read More

In the first of a two-part series, co-hosts Ryan Katz-Rosene and Peter Andrée dive deep into the complex and often controversial relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability – the subject of Ryan’s recently published book! Kicking off with the story of Dennis and ... Read More

In this episode, we delve into the world of climate intervention and geoengineering, specifically focusing on solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation modification (SRM). Host Ryan Katz-Rosene as he explores the complexities of this technology with two leading experts. ... Read More

Join Dr. Peter Andrée as he explores the critical role of philanthropic organizations in advancing sustainability with two leading experts: Beth Hunter, Director at FoodBridge, and Lorne Johnson, Vice President at the IVEY Foundation. In this insightful conversation, Beth and ... Read More

In this episode of the Ecopolitics Podcast, our host, Dr. Ryan Katz-Rosene, is joined by Dr. Kathryn Harrison and Dr. Andrew Leach to delve into the intricacies of the federal carbon tax in Canada. We explore the mechanics of the ... Read More

We’re back and excited to share where the Ecopolitics Podcast is going with Season 4. Hosts Peter Andree and Ryan Katz-Rosene reflect on where we’ve gone over the last three seasons. Together, they explore how many of the themes and ... Read More

Does the environmentalist motto, ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’, point us towards sustainable food systems’ solutions? In this episode, Dr. Navin Ramankutty from UBC and Ken Meter from the Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis explore whether locally produced foods, provided by ... Read More

Mining is an essential component to our everyday lives, providing us with the raw materials we need to create a wide variety of products. However, while mining contributes to our technological progress, it comes with an often hidden dark side ... Read More

Climate change and its impacts on the economy, the planet, and, of course, us, is top of mind for a lot of folks these days. One potential solution that merges economic and climate needs is the transition away from fossil ... Read More

How do we confront capitalism’s ecological record? In this episode we get some answers from Dianne Saxe (Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario), and Professor Matt Huber (Syracuse Univer“How do we confront capitalism’s ecological record?” In today’s episode, ... Read More

To consume or not consume meat? That is the question plaguing many an environmentally conscious person as we grapple with our personal responsibilites in the face of a warming climate. However, as our guests Paige Stanley, PhD Candidate at the ... Read More

What is eco-citizenship and what does it entail? These are the overarching questions that guide this episode’s discussions with Manvi Bhalla, Graduate Student and Co-Founder of Shake Up The Establishment & missINFORMED, and Kimberly Nicholas, Associate Professor of Sustainability Science ... Read More

Just over a decade ago, the world’s urban population surpassed its rural population in a trend of urbanization that is expected to continue for decades to come. This trend has raised some interesting questions with respect to how cities can ... Read More

Recorded on World Water Day, in this episode, we speak with Dr. Farhana Sultana, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University to discuss all things ... Read More

In this episode, which is a re-broadcast of an episode from Season 1, we speak with Steven Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Global Environmental and Sustainability Governance, University of Toronto, and Matthew Hoffmann, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto, about ... Read More

What is the relationship between economic growth and the environment? What is ‘green growth’ and why does the degrowth movement oppose it? And what does it mean to be agnostic about growth in the context of sustainability? In this episode ... Read More

Aotearoa/New Zealand’s dairy sector contributes 1/4 of that country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Dr John Reid (University of Canterbury), and Dr. Hugh Campbell (University of Otago), show us how Māori sustainability values are having a growing influence on the sector’s response ... Read More

In this episode we speak to Cristina Coc, Executive Director of the Julian Cho Society and Spokesperson for the Toledo Alcaldes Association/Maya Leaders Alliance, and Filiberto Penados, Chair, Julian Cho Society about the connections between indigenous rights and land conservation. ... Read More

In this episode we talk about Indigenous environmental justice with Dr. Kyle Whyte (University of Michigan, and citizen of the Potawatomi Nation). Dr. Whyte explains how indigenous knowledge, identity, and kinship networks can reshape contemporary ecological politics.

In this episode we talk with Dr. Radoslav Dimitrov, Associate Professor at Western University to learn more about multilateral environmental agreements. How are they created? How are they enforced? Dr. Dimitrov also explains why some MEAs are essentially “hollow” or ... Read More

Dr. Yixian Sun (University of Bath), and Dr. Matthew Paterson (University of Manchester), explain how the world’s most powerful countries – from Great Powers in the G7 to emerging powers in the BRICS – shape ecopolitical outcomes on the global ... Read More

There’s no denying COVID-19 has had a major impact on the climate movement. After non-governmental organizations worked so hard to access global climate decision-making, being without the ability to organize protests and the like has left the movement disconnected from ... Read More

In this episode, we explore the theme of wildlife conservation and the tensions that exist between how people in the global north tend to view these issues versus how they are perceived and experienced by the rural people who live ... Read More

What are some of the main theoretical approaches and methods used in the study of Global Ecopolitics? In this episode Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega (FLACSO) provides some very helpful answers and further explains the relationship between theory and method for students ... Read More

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Hayley Stevenson, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at l’Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, and Dr. Simon Dalby, Professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, ... Read More

In this episode, Peter and Ryan give listeners a sneak peak at what’s in store for Season 2 of The EcoPolitics Podcast!

The global food system is a very complex set of systems that look incredibly different in different parts of the world. In this episode, we take a look at food systems in Nairobi, Kenya, and in Newfoundland, Canada with our ... Read More

What role do ENGOs, or Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations, play in the Canadian ecopolitical sphere? In this episode, we ask this question of Catherine Abreu, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada, and Colleen Thorpe, Executive Director of Équiterre. Together they ... Read More

Greenwashing, or legitimate Corporate Social Responsibility? Dr. Hamish van der Ven (McGill) helps us understand these concepts before walking us through two case studies.

In this episode we get real about corporate social responsibility, or what Rory MacAlpine of Maple Leaf Foods calls his company’s “shared value” for all its stakeholders.

Proposing a new metaphor for decarbonization, Dr. Steven Bernstein (Toronto) and Dr. Matthew Hoffmann (Toronto) discuss how we might challenge carbon lock-in from local action to global governance.

What is the relationship between capitalism and the environment? In this episode Dr. Laurie Adkin, Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta, provides some answers by guiding us on a journey through the world of ‘environmental political economy’.

Reflecting on the history and relationships that underpin two documentary films they made together, Dr. Sherry Pictou and Dr. Martha Stiegman discuss how the Mi’kmaq work to assert treaty rights over their land and fisheries in the face of colonialism ... Read More

Dr. Catriona Sandilands and Dr. Sherilyn McGregor share with us the ways in which ecofeminism, and queer ecology, serve to diversify and deepen how we look at the policies and day-to-day practices of environmental politics.

Larry McDermott (Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation and ED of Plenty Canada) and Dr. Dan Longboat (Turtle Clan member of the Mohawk Nation and Associate Professor at Trent University) discuss lessons for sustainability inherent in Indigenous knowledges as well as Indigenous ... Read More

Environmental law touches all parts of our lives. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Angela Lee, Assistant Professor of Law at Ryerson University, and Dr. Heather McLeod-Kilmurray, Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa, about Canada’s environmental laws ... Read More

Racism and colonialism are deeply entrenched in the field of ecopolitics. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Andil Gosine, professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, and Tzazná Miranda Leal, Workers Rights Organizer and ... Read More

The environmental policy process in Canada is complicated. With its division of powers between provinces and the federal government, Canada’s federalist structure has tended to serve as a barrier to achieving consistent nation-wide environmental policy change. In this episode, Dr. ... Read More

From ecopolitical history to tips on environmental activism techniques, this episode is the perfect primer on ecopolitics in Canada. Guided by the seasoned Robert Paehlke — one of the founding voices in the field of environmental politics — we discuss ... Read More

Plastics are everywhere – in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even the food we eat. As products that essentially never disappear, plastics have a huge impact on both our environment and our health. In this episode, ... Read More

In this episode, we speak with Dr. James Meadowcroft, Professor in both the School of Public Policy and Administration and in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University. He sheds some light on how the environment became a defining ... Read More

In this episode, co-hosts Peter and Ryan share how they got involved in ecopolitics, what inspired them to create the EcoPolitics Podcast, and themes they’re excited to explore in the coming episodes.