Videos

The Killer Robots are Coming! (Unless we stop them now.) Cesar Jaramillo and Branka Marijan of Project Ploughshares are working internationally to create binding regulations that will require a human being to be in charge of any weapon that may target another human being. They explain to Metta Spencer what we're up against. Audio podcast is available on iTunes—search for projectsavetheworld .

On April 6, 2019 the streets of all major cities in Venezuela were filled with protesters supporting Juan Guaidó's presidency of the country and demanding that Maduro step down. Here four Venezuelans living in Canada discuss the prospects of this change with Nestor Garrido, who had been in Caracas streets all that day. They are convinced that the opposition remains strong and committed to nonviolence, so they still are optimistic.

To prevent runaway climate change, we must sequester vast amounts of carbon. There are only two methods that can be scaled up sufficiently to do so: regenerative agriculture and forestry. Gaurav Gurjar works with Afforest, a company in India that creates Miyawaki forests, which grow extraordinarily fast and sequester far more carbon than ordinary forests. He explains their method to Metta Spencer

This is an era of nonviolent struggle and Dr. Maciej Bartkowski is a scholar who studies how to make such struggles succeed. He does not much use vague words like "democracy" or "peace" or "justice" but insists that organizers establish specific goals of a kind that everyone can know when they have been achieved. And when it comes to helping movements in other countries, his organization, the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, argues that there is indeed a right to assist campaigns abroad that are working to liberate themselves.

Harriet Friedmann is a specialist on the world's food system. She and Metta Spencer talk about the importance of diversity for the future of humankind. We depend on an enormous range of species, but many of them are dying out because of industrial agriculture, using monoculture. Harriet has ideas about how to reverse this trend.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman reminds Metta Spencer that in previous wars few soldiers actually fired their weapons. The military learned how to train them to overcome their reluctance by using video games -- the same thing that is training juveniles to kill schoolmates today, with astounding frequency. He advises: turn off the TV too.

We have 12 years to save the world from the worst of global warming. Carbon sinks are essential—suck carbon out of the air and sequester it. The British company Carbon Bioengineering is planting trees all around the world with their drones. They expect to plant one billion per year soon. But we'll need a trillion trees. Can it be done? A discussion with Prof. Sandy Smith and Eric Davies in Toronto and Elena Fernandez-Miranda and Eman Hamdan in Oxford, England.

Walter Dorn is a professor at the Canadian Forces College, where he teaches military officers. He also does a lot of work for the United Nations overseas, mainly developing technologies for peacekeepers's use in the field. He and Metta Spencer discuss his work and the prospects for various ways of improving the United Nations.

Theodore Postol, Douglas Roche, and Sergey Rogov are all deeply worried because the US and Russia have both declared their intention of ending the INF Treaty, which banned ground launched, medium-ranged missiles. It appears that we will have another nuclear arms race, with risks comparable to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Dr. Laura Kahn and Dr. Ronald St. John are both experts on public health emergencies such as pandemics. Dr. Kahn has studied the increasing resistance to antibiotics. They discuss these global threats with the host, Professor Metta Spencer

Presented 28 March 2018 at University College, Toronto: How fake news undermines democracy and what we can do about it.
Liz Renzetti is a columnist for the Globe and Mail.

"Between the Imperative to Remember and the Need to Forget”
Maja Catic, Department of Defence Studies, Canadian Forces College

Presented at University College, Toronto, 14 March 2018. Wilson Prichard is Associate Professor of Political Science, U. of Toronto

Presented on March 7, 2018 at University College, Toronto. Joy Kennedy is an ecumenical climate activist, World Council of Churches Working Group.

Toronto, 28 Feb 2018. Bruce Lampard is past President, Médecins Sans Frontières Canada.

February 21, 2018: a livestreamed discussion about the main existential threats facing the planet. The How to Save the World in a Hurry conference will be happening in Toronto, May 30-31 2018 (and live on the internet).

Toronto, 14 February 2018. "Is Peacekeeping Still for Chumps? Canada’s Tentative Re-engagement with UN Peace Operations"
Timothy Donais is Associate Professor of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Part of Science for Peace's (livestreamed) weekly lecture series at University College. For more details: scienceforpeace.ca/1157

Toronto, 7 February 2018. Paul Kushner is Professor of Physics, University of Toronto.
Part of Science for Peace's (livestreamed) weekly lecture series at University College. For more details: scienceforpeace.ca/1157

Toronto, 24 January 2018. John Daniele is a forensic cyber-security analyst.
Part of Science for Peace's (livestreamed) weekly lecture series at University College. For more details: scienceforpeace.ca/1157

Toronto, 10 January 2018. Tom Rand is Senior Advisor, Cleantech and Managing Partner, ArcTern Ventures.
Part of Science for Peace's (livestreamed) weekly lecture series at University College. For more details: scienceforpeace.ca/1157