Pod of Gold

Sustaining Social Impact | Kerryn Krige

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We need to support social impact work now more than ever. For the sake of our environment, for our health and wellbeing, we need people working to mak...

A Guide to the Future | Anne Snick

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How can we see beyond our current state of oppression, polarization, and extraction to build a better future? We asked  Anne Snick to share insights ...

Life is Easy | Jon Jandai

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Do you have the feeling that life is getting harder than ever? Not only do we grapple with big issues like climate change, but every day tasks sometim...

Tokens and Tipping Points | Andrea Baronchelli

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We need consensus to tackle the looming problems of climate change and economic inequality. Digital tokens and blockchain technology could help us do ...

Give Plants a Chance | Alejandra Schrader

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Eating less meat is one thing we can all do to reduce our contribution to the climate crisis, but making changes to our diets isn't always easy. ...

The Measure of Progress | Michael Green

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1934, Simon Kuznets developed the modern concept of a gross domestic product to measure the market value of all goods and services produced by a co...

Turning ClimaTalk into Climate Action | Emma Heiling

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we speak with Emma Heiling, one of the co-founders of ClimaTalk and a masters student in environmental policy at Sciences Po. Through...

Interrogating the Triple Bottom Line | Theodor Cojoianu

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is there an inherent conflict of interest in 'sustainable finance'? In this episode, we speak with Theodor Cojoianu, an associate professor ...

Dreams of a Digital Nomad | J Mendes

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An explosion of remote work opportunities has given people the freedom to build all new kinds of lives in all different kinds of places. But how will ...

Food that Sustains Life | Lujain Alqodmani

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our food system is broken, producing massive amounts of waste in some places and leaving people starving in others. (Not to mention the damage our agr...

Holy Cow | Langdon Hill

21 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The industrial production of beef comes at a major cost to the environment, degrading soil quality and emitting extreme amounts of greenhouse gas into...

The Green Ninja | Eugene Cordero

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine if the science taught in schools put the health of our planet front and center. In this episode, we speak with Eugene Cordero, a professor at ...

Plant Medicine and Indigenous Wisdom | Olatokunboh Obasi

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Advancements in modern medicine have made us healthier and improved our quality of life. But at what cost? In the pursuit of science, many of us have ...

Climate Change is NOT a Game | Kayla Anderson

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There are over 2.69 billion active online gamers in the world. Most of them just want to have some fun in a digital reality. But what if we could mobi...

An Appointment with the Climate Psychologists | Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Patrick Kennedy-Williams

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ever feel intense anxiety over the deteriorating state of our planet? Good news: you're not alone.  Even better news: there's help. In this...

More Trees, Please! | Harry Hely-Hutchinson

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Making a difference in the fight against climate change doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. In this ep...

Ghosts of Climates Past | Veli Albert Kallio

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What can we learn from recollections of the Ice Age about climate change today? Veli Albert Kallio is an ethnoclimatologist who uses history from indi...

Dismantling the Pollutriarchy | Jennie Stephens

02 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why can't we stop degrading our ecosystems? It's not our failure to recycle, so much as a matter of systemic inertia. Continuously prioritiz...

Do Good Better | Donna Reitano and Ajay Mehta

16 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we speak with Donna Reitano and Ajay Mehta, two of the founders of em4. Through their work, they help social impact organizations in ...

The Waste is Over | Richard Perl

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We have a massive waste problem, with hundreds of millions of tons of garbage going into landfills every year. In this episode we talk to Richard Perl...

The Urban Upgrade | Scott Stringer

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we talk about how cities can recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic and launch into a greener and more equitable form of urb...

“The Nugget” | Eps. 73, 74, 77, & 78

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mel and Stef take a closer look at our last four interviews, drawing connections and painting a picture of the future based on key nuggets from past e...

The Business of Life | Fabrice Leclerc

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Former Häagen-Dazs CEO and founder of the L'Oréal Prestige innovation World Lab, Fabrice Leclerc, shares his ideas about how we can transform c...

Time to Care | Gernot Jochum-Müller

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What if time spent helping others could earn you help in return? Get to know the ways the Zeitpolster time bank is creating systems of mutual care in ...

UBI: The Webinar: The Episode: The Sequel

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

So nice, we had to do it twice! Dive deeper into the topic of Unconditional Basic Income in our second webinar, co-hosted with FEASTA and Vermonters f...

UBI: The Webinar: The Episode

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, we co-hosted two webinars with FEASTA and Vermonters for a New Economy to discuss the feasibility and mechanics of an unconditional...

Red Cross Builds Resilience | Adam Bornstein

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Economic empowerment and community agency are the new humanitarian aid. In this episode, we're exploring the power of digital currencies to spark...

Dare We Disturb the Deep Sea? | Cyrill Martin

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There's an inherent catch-22 in decarbonization. Building wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars requires the use of rare metals like cob...

Waking Up from the Domination Trance | Riane Eisler

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Domination and partnership. Our guest this week, Riane Eisler, looks at the history of human society through these two lenses. When in a domination co...

Welcome to the Web3 | Shermin Voshmgir

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With the development of peer-to-peer networks like blockchain and Holochain, we are witnessing the birth of a new generation of the internet. There ar...

Actually, There Aren’t Other Fish in the Sea | Max Bello

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A healthy ocean is essential to the survival of almost all life on Earth. Unfortunately, at it's last check up, the ocean wasn't doing so ho...

In Science We Trust | Avisha NessAiver

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pandemic. Vaccine. Climate emergency. Is it controversial to say that we need scientific knowledge to understand and deal with issues like these? Not ...

Kinder Paradise | Silke Rösner

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

These children had nowhere to go. Then, Silke Rösner created Kinder Paradise. Kinder Paradise is a children's home in Ghana where kids who have ...

Hope for a Green Political Economy | John Barry

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Care about climate change? Concerned about political polarization? Confused by economics? Let John Barry, professor at the School of History, Anthropo...

Walking Out Faith | Sally Moore and Tina Case

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This time, we're tackling faith. While most of our episodes are about technology, economics, science, or community organizing, these aren't ...

Expanding the Knowledge Commons | Michel Bauwens

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With the birth of decentralized platforms, like block-chain, we’re seeing new possibilities open up for people, not just in world of crypto-currency...

The Joy of Agroforestry | Festus Kiplagat

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Industrial agriculture has led to deforestation, land degradation, and biodiversity loss around the world. In this episode, we’re speaking with Fest...

I Want You to Relate to Slime Mold | Dayna Baumeister

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In our relatively short existence as a species, the human race has had a dramatic impact on the Earth. But what if human society could emulate and col...

Our Storytelling Superpower | Mary Alice Arthur

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If the entire history of the planet Earth were a novel, readers of the book who got to our current chapter might start worrying about the possibility ...

Is there an echo in here? | Bjarke Calvin

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Most of us are aware that social media has caused us to become more polarized. Specialized algorithms feed us content from like-minded people to keep ...

Notes on the Sanitation Economy | Cheryl Hicks

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When you flush, where does it go? In this episode, we speak with Cheryl Hicks, former Executive Director and CEO of the Toilet Board Coalition. Learn ...

Partying with Purpose | Kofi Debrah

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How can we mobilize people en masse to act on behalf to the environment? Maybe it's through song and dance. In this episode, we speak with Kofi D...

A New Approach to Innovation | Nicolas Henchoz

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What role will technological innovation play on the road to universal wellbeing? In this episode, we’re speaking with Nicolas Henchoz, Founder and D...

What Do You Really Know About Banking? | Ellen Brown

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Where does money actually come from? What's the difference between a private bank and a public bank? These questions and more are answered in our...

When the Ice Melts | Dominique Perret

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When we can see the impact of the climate crisis on our own lives, we become motivated to act. That has certainly been the case for Dominique Perret. ...

The Climate Explainer | Will Hackman

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Political polarization and misinformation have led to many people to become confused by or completely disengaged from conversations about the climate....

Redefining Growth | Barbara Buchner

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Is it possible to build a world economy that actually stops climate change? In this episode, we get to hear from Dr. Barbara Buchner, executive direct...

Collective Intelligence for the Information Age | Arthur Brock

02 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Holochain is a distributed digital ledger. Like Blockchain, it allows transactions to be recorded securely without a centralized database. Unlike Bloc...

Greenpeace | Jorgo Riss

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Greenpeace is one of the most recognizable names in environmental advocacy. In this episode, we have the privilege of speaking with Jorgo Riss, direct...

The 101 of How to Get Things Done | Maura Carabello

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

So you have a brilliant idea for a new policy or campaign to improve the world. Great. Now what? When it comes to policy and activism, an idea can onl...

So, What Do You Do? | Paul Millerd

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the last year, all of our working lives have been turned upside-down by the COVID-19 pandemic. But are these changes just for now? Or will we see a...

How $70 Changed a Woman’s Life | Mary Ellen Iskenderian

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

1 billion women around the world remain outside of the formal financial system today. Yes, you read that right. 1 billion. In this episode we speak wi...

WIR Stronger Together | Volker Strohm

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1934, Werner Zimmermann and Paul Enz created the WIR currency to help stabilize Switzerland's economy through the pangs of the Great Depressio...

What’s up with democracy these days? | Niheer Dasandi

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Is democracy under threat? Persisting inequity and increasing polarization brings the strength of representative governments into question. In this ep...

Understandable Economics | Howard Yaruss

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Economics touches all of our lives. Shouldn't it be easy to understand? Turns out, it's mostly common sense. You just need the right person ...

Enough is Enough | Rebecca Adamson

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Indigenous economic models value collaboration over competition, harmony with nature over extraction, and subsistence over accumulation. In our first ...

A Dream of Peace | Christine Ahn

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Korean War is the longest standing overseas US conflict. It's been 70 years since it began and North and South Korea remain deeply entrenched...

Queen of Raw | Stephanie Benedetto

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The fashion industry has a waste problem. In addition to being one of the worst polluters of our world's waters, this industry sends billions of ...

UBI: A Star Trek Future | Scott Santens

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Unconditional Basic Income. People around the world are in desperate need of economic relief in a pandemic that has exposed and exacerbated extreme le...

Creating Currency in Kenya | Will Ruddick

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How do you jumpstart an economy in a community that has no money? Create a new currency. Will Ruddick is one of the directors of Grassroots Economics,...

The Giving Revolution | Rachel Cook

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Cook, founder of Seeds, is the architect of a new economy. The way Rachel sees it, there's more than enough money in the world to meet eve...

Finding Bliss | Dasho Karma Ura

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Who's responsible for our happiness? For most people, finding happiness--true happiness--is a personal journey. But what if the government  took...

Open Source Earthling | Jean-François Noubel

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jean-François Noubel calls himself an 'open source earthling'. Though he lives in France, he considers his true home to be within himself. ...

Chinook Off the Hook | Kurt Beardslee

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

These fish need some friends. In this episode, we speak with Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the Wild Fish Conservancy in Duvall, WA. We ask Kur...

Wild Idea | Dan O’Brien, Jill O’Brien, Jilian Jones, and Colton Jones

03 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the spirit of patriotism this election week, we’ll be talking about our national mammal—the American bison or buffalo. And not just any Buffalo...

Traitor to His Class | Morris Pearl

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Meet the millionaire who wants to tax the rich. In this episode, we speak with Morris Pearl, a former managing director at BlackRock who now serves as...

The Courage to Face Extinction | Christina See

20 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Extinction Rebellion is a global movement to get the world’s governments to address the climate and ecological emergency. What started in the UK in ...

In Politics, Money Talks | Michael Kink

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we start a dive into the role of money in politics. From campaign financing and Citizens United to lobbying and taxation,  the influ...

The Propaganda Game | Pedram Shojai

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're in a crisis of consciousness around money. A system of endless growth isn't sustainable for people or planet. But to change that syste...

I Will Not Dance to Your Beat | Nnimmo Bassey

29 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Until destructive fossil fuel extraction practices are ended, until the rights of nature are restored, until the world comes together to face the clim...

Debt Damage | André Peters

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How does our prevailing money system drive growth? Through the creation of debt. In this episode, André Peters, a former analyst at the National Bank...

The Empty Calories of Capitalism | Marcia Chatelain

15 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Marcia Chatelain is a historian and professor at Georgetown University specializing in African-American life and culture. Her latest book, Franchi...

Yes, WECAN! | Osprey Orielle Lake

08 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's been a man's man's man's world. Now it's time to lift up the women who will save it. In this episode: our interview with...

Monopoly’s Monopoly | Tom Forsyth

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Monopoly is one of the world's most popular board games. But who invented it? And why? Tom Forsyth, a game aficionado and special expert on the g...

The Currency Consultant | Stephen DeMeulenaere

25 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How can we tackle both climate change and income inequality? Stephen DeMeulenaere thinks economic redesign through complimentary currencies could be t...

Carbon Rewind | Sebastian Graf and Lars Graf

18 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What if we could turn back the clock on climate change? True Carbon, a start-up founded by Sebastian and Lars Graf, is trying to do just that. By crea...

Looking for Dinner? Get Deep in the Weeds | Krishna McKenzie

11 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Where does our food come from? For Krishna McKenzie, the answer to that question says a lot about our relationship with nature. Krishna is a farmer in...

The Wholeness of Life | Pier Luigi Luisi

04 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What is life? Ask a biologist, a philosopher, and a priest and you'll get three different answers. That's why Dr. Luigi Luisi founded the Co...

Rivers with Rights | Joseph Bonasia and Gary Robbins

28 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Bonasia and Gary Robbins have a unique approach to protecting our environment: they are working to secure legal rights for rivers and other bod...

Absurdly Unequal | Chuck Collins

21 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chuck Collins, a program director at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-editor of inequality.org, shares the story of waking up to his own privil...

Billionaire Buddha | Rivera Sun and Dariel Garner

14 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Does more money lead to greater happiness? In Rivera Sun's novel, Billionaire Buddha, inspired by the life of Dariel Garner, true happiness doesn...

Weaving for Well-Being | Ross Hall

07 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is like no weaving you've seen before. In place of threads and looms, Ross Hall and the Weaving Lab employ collaboration and experiential le...

Empower Hour | Faye Cox

30 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What if you could pick up a book and learn how to transform your entire community in a single hour? That's what Faye Cox is working on with her s...

The Spirit of Money | Gwendolyn Hallsmith

23 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Gwendolyn Hallsmith, founder of the Headwaters Garden and Learning Center ecovillage, talks about how our money system has gotten out of balance and w...

When Life Gives You Lémans | Jean Rossiaud

16 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Meet Jean Rossiaud, one of the masterminds behind Monnaie Léman, a new complimentary currency for the regions of Switzerland and France surrounding L...

There’s Something in the Air | Kristian Lande

09 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What will it take to make air pollution a thing of the past? According to Kristian Lande, it's all about decentralizing data. His start up, AirVe...

The International Zoom Room | Abigail Tisch, Ellie Gravitte, and Martha Epstein

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Through the isolation of a pandemic, they found a way to bring the world together. The coronavirus pandemic put the whole world on pause. Abigail Tisc...

We Are Not Prepared | Rosalba Rodriguez and Cynthia Tibbs

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For folks in New York City's public housing, the cost of living through a pandemic can be incredibly high. We got curious about how COVID-19 is i...

Growing with the Flow | Anna Cowen and John Ziniades

19 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What does it look like to put community participation at the center of sustainable development? Anna Cowen and John Ziniades talk through FLOW, a proj...

Prosperous and Green: Life in an Ecovillage | Declan Kennedy

12 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Declan Kennedy is one of the early founders of the Global Ecovillage Network, empowering communities to grow in harmony with nature.The post Prosperou...

The Future is in My Classroom | Leslie Owen and Kelsie Owen

05 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two preschool teachers share their experience as part of the Red for Ed statewide walkout in Arizona, where teachers had been underpaid and undervalue...

We’re All Economists Now | Kate Raworth

28 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A functioning economy should allow human life AND our planet to flourish, shouldn’t it? Take a bite out of Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics as sh...

Health is Wealth under the Coronavirus | Clarissa da Costa and Xinjing Jiang

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mel and Steff interview Clarissa da Costa, an expert in infectious diseases, and Xinjing Jiang, a student from Wuhan, to discuss the potential fallout...

Yes, You Can Pay In Chocolate (and all about Transition Towns) | Ben Brangwyn and Inez Aponte

14 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Inez Aponte and Ben Brangwyn live in Totnes, England, a town that has reimagined their local economy to support greater sustainability, engagement, an...

Free Money? | Enno Schmidt and Marjukka Turunen

07 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Mel and Steff chat with Enno Schmidt and Marjukka Turunen, two experts on the practice of Universal Basic Income (UBI).The post Free ...

Poverty is an Industry | Polly Spain

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Polly Spain is president of her tenant association in a public housing development in New York's Upper West Side. Join Mel and Stef as they step ...

Our Global Family | Evelin Lindner

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As part of her lifestyle, Nobel nominee Dr. Evelin Lindner tries to live without money as much as she possibly can. Mel and Steff got curious about th...

It’s Time for a Redesign | Stefanie Overbeck

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pod of Gold host, Stefanie Overbeck, shares the story of building a sustainable ‘Swiss mountain’ in the Dubai desert only to watch the foundation ...

It Was Money All Along | Mel Wymore

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pod of Gold host, Mel Wymore, takes us through 30 years of community activism in New York City that led him to an important realization about making a...

Welcome to Pod of Gold

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Worried about climate chaos, inequality, and conflict? Podcast hosts, Mel Wymore and Stefanie Overbeck, want to introduce you to the people out there ...