Pullback is breaking for the summer, but we have a bonus episode for our lovely listeners! Kristen is joined by Gregor Wolbring to discuss ways the climate movement could become more inclusive. Gregor is a professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine and part of his impressive academic background includes sustainability, disability, and ability studies. Learn more about the Bristol climate and disability action plan Gregor recommends following A Change in the Climate, a creative contribution to the University of Exeter’s Sensing Climate project researching climate change and disability, led by Dr Sarah Bell and funded via a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Geography. Dr. Sara Bell, mentioned in the episode, is working on the project Sensing Climate, which is placing disabled people at the forefront of the climate crisis. We also encourage listeners to check out The Canadian Disability and Climate Change Network and Strategy Project.
Pullback is breaking for the summer, but we have a bonus episode for our lovely listeners! Kristen is joined by Christina Joy McRorie to discuss her experiences as a youth involved in climate action. Christina is from Treaty 6 territory in Saskatoon, and at the time of this interview she was acting as co-chair on Canada's Environment and Climate Change Youth Council. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
As climate impacts intensify and governments continue to delay action, more people are turning to protest, disruption, and civil disobedience to demand change. But when laws uphold injustice, is breaking them not only justified — but necessary? Today’s guest is Dr. Kimberley Brownlee, Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political and Social Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. She is also the author of several books, including Conscience and Conviction: The Case for Civil Disobedience. Kimberley explains what civil disobedience is and presents her argument for why it is a moral right and, sometimes, a duty. We also discuss debates on civil disobedience and climate change prompted by the book How to Blow Up a Pipeline and reflect on the current political climate. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Our global economic system is premised on the idea that gross domestic product needs to constantly grow. But on a finite planet, is green growth possible? And is prosperity possible in a world without growth? Today’s guest is Dr. Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity. Tim is a leading researcher on de-growth, and is the author of several books on the subject including Prosperity without Growth, Post Growth - Life After Capitalism, and his latest The Care Economy. Tim explains the problems with our need for constant growth–how it is not only incompatible with a sustainable future but is also bad for our well-being. He also shares what a post growth society premised on a care economy could look like. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Is tax justice also climate justice? What role does the tax system have in our fight against climate change? We spoke with Franziska Mager, Senior Researcher and Advocacy Lead for Climate and Inequalities at the Tax Justice Network; she leads the Tax Justice Network's work on integrating tax and climate justice approaches in service of reducing inequalities. Franziska explains why taxes are important for climate justice and reprogramming economies off of their dependence on fossil fuels. She also discusses some of the concrete tax measures countries could introduce to solve the climate financing gap while also promoting social and economic justice and correcting climate injustices within and between countries. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
The energy inefficiency in our homes is one of the biggest barriers to meeting our climate targets. Heating and electricity make up a huge portion of our greenhouse gas emissions, and those emissions are rising. At the same time, millions of people live in housing that’s drafty, expensive to heat, unhealthy, or even unsafe. Could retrofitting homes at scale be a climate solution that also improves health, lowers energy costs, and promotes housing justice? We spoke with Abhi Kantamneni, the Director of Action Research with Efficiency Canada, an organization that studies the technology, governance, and business systems influencing Canada’s energy future. Abhi has a decade of experience helping communities across US and Canada use clean and efficient energy to achieve local priorities including improving housing, increasing ‘good jobs’ and reducing poverty. In this conversation, Abhi highlights how much energy is wasted in our homes — often without us realizing. From drafty windows to aging heating systems, many people only make upgrades when something breaks, often in moments of crisis. Abhi makes the case for a coordinated, government-led retrofit strategy that supports renters and homeowners alike — not just to reduce emissions, but to lower energy bills, improve health, and address poverty through climate action. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Our social safety nets were designed to protect people from “social risks” like illness and unemployment, and to alleviate poverty. But in the era of climate change, do we need to re-boot the social protection system so that it’s adaptive and responsive to climate risks? On today’s episode we spoke with Dr. Meghan Bailey, the Head of Social Protection and Health at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. Meghan leads the portfolios on climate-responsive social protection and the climate-health nexus. They are also an adviser on the design of forecast-based financing systems. Meghan holds a PhD on climate change adaptation from the University of Oxford. Meghan explains the need for climate-responsive social protection systems and the promising practices that are already being implemented around the world today – like providing people cash transfers before disaster strikes to prevent people from falling into poverty. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
We know that climate change disproportionately affects those of us who are already struggling. But can climate mitigation and adaptation policy be designed in a way that promotes environmental justice? And if so, how? We speak with Anna Shipp, Principal Policy Associate, and Joseph Schilling, Senior Research Associate, from the Urban Institute’s Research to Action Lab about Justice40 — a Biden-era initiative that directed 40% of federal climate spending benefit equity-deserving communities. The Urban Institute, a nonprofit focused on equity and social mobility, has studied climate justice in depth, including the challenges of implementing Justice40. Although the initiative was repealed under the Trump administration, it remains one of the most ambitious attempts to embed environmental justice into federal climate policy — and offers valuable lessons for future efforts. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Dr. Samantha Montano, an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches From the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, explains the counterintuitive reality that the people who most need support during a disaster tend to get less government assistance. Listen for her suggestions on how emergency management can be reformed to support disaster justice. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Welcome to Season 4 of Pullback, where we’ll be focusing entirely on climate justice — what it means, why it matters, and the policies we can implement today to address the crisis and build a fairer world. In this first episode, hosts Kristen and Kyla explore how climate change is already impacting people around the world, including the ways it’s deepening existing inequalities — especially for communities that are already marginalized. Featuring expert insights from Dr. Joan Casey, Associate Professor at the University of Washington in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences; Dr. Sean Kidd, Associate Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist with the Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Professor and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health at McMaster University; and Stéphane Hallegatte, Senior Climate Change Adviser at the World Bank. Join us as we unpack the connections between climate change and social inequality, and make the case for urgent collective action to build a more just future. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Kristen and Kyla host their annual end of year quiz featuring friends of the pod Stefan Hostetter, the Director of Programs and Community with the Centre for Social Innovation and co-host of Green Majority Radio, Gordon Katic, host of the award winning Cited podcast series featuring stories about the politics of science and expertise, and Ryan MacRae, an advocate for migrant worker rights featured earlier this season for his work with the Cooper Institute on the report Permanent Jobs, Temporary People. Stefan's charity shout-out: Rainbow Railroad Ryan's charity shout-out: Women of the First Light Gordon's charity shout-out: Fort York Food Bank Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
These days, humans are interacting with chatbots powered by artificial intelligence more and more, including for companionship. Can these new tools help a society experiencing a loneliness epidemic, or do they risk deepening isolation? And do they give tech companies even more power? This episode we’re joined by Dr. (Jennifer) Jill Fellows, a faculty member in the philosophy department at Douglas College and host of the feminist tech podcast Cyborg Goddess. Jill explains the history of AI, and introduces philosophical questions about trust, bias, and the reliability of modern AI systems. We discuss the impact of AI on human creativity, whether AI could ever be considered “conscious”, and how AI is affecting our social relationships. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Universities have faced steep and sustained public funding cutbacks and have adapted by changing the way that they operate. What are the consequences of the de facto privatization of universities for students, researchers, and society? In this episode, we talk to Randy Robinson, Ontario Director for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and co-author of Back from the Brink, a report that explores public funding cuts in Ontario universities. Randy describes the deep provincial funding cuts that have led Ontario universities to hike tuition, especially for international students, while making university jobs more precarious and less permanent. We discuss how this is changing the student experience, reducing research capacity, and hollowing out communities. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
With Loblaws facing criticism for soaring grocery prices and record-high profits during a cost-of-living crisis, can a boycott drive real change? We talk to Emily Johnson, the lead organizer for the Loblaws boycott, and Eric Wickham, a Toronto-based journalist and host of Big Shiny Takes. Emily is a mental health and addictions worker and single mother of two living in the suburbs west of Toronto, and Eric has been working on a year-long investigation on the price of groceries for The Hosier, an independent digital media outlet based in the Greater Toronto Area. We are also joined by Robert Miller, climate activist, organizer, and “spooookiest” friend of the pod, to discuss more solutions to reduce the price of groceries and save Halloween for children nationwide. Want more episodes on the food system? Check out the episode where we go dumpster diving, our episode about Big Ag, or our episode on Food Rescue with Second Harvest. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
You’ve heard of speculative investors pushing up the price of housing, but did you know it’s happening on farms too? With fewer collective protections for farmers, and pressures to sell land and consolidate farms, is the family farm becoming a thing of the past? And is a new form of feudal tenant farming the future? On today’s episode we talk to the Parkland Institute’s Katherine Aske, author of Finance in the Fields: Investors, Lenders, Farmers, and the Future of Farmland in Alberta. We discuss who owns the farmland on the prairies, why ownership models are changing, and what that means for the future of farming – and our food. Farmers are facing immense pressure in a world with fewer collective protections and more unpredictable weather. For small family farms, this can mean going into debt or renting at the whims of the market. And, as Katherine explains, that has big implications for the future of our food. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
With climate action stalled by political gridlock, could citizens' assemblies be the bold democratic solution we need to break through barriers and finally make progress? When it comes to climate change, most of us want to see action but feel that we don’t have power and politicians aren’t listening. Deliberative democracy and citizen empowerment have been proposed as solutions to that widespread sense of disempowerment. In this episode, Kristen chats with Dimitry Courant, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, who explains what citizens assemblies are and how they have been used around the world to address climate change. He also shares insights about the best ways to design citizens assemblies so they work well and drive real change. We recommend Dimitri’s writing on mini-publics and citizen’s assemblies! Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
You’ve heard about land back, but what about cash back? Resource and land wealth linked to dispossession has enriched Canada and corporations, so does reconciliation require financial restitution too? And what do Indigenous economies look like? This week’s guest is Shady Hafez, Policy and Research Manager to the National Association of Friendship Centres. Shady is an Algonquin Anishinabe and Syrian member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and is pursuing his PhD in Sociology at the University of Toronto. Shady explains why land back and cash back are needed for the restitution of Indigenous economies, sharing some examples of cash back in practice, and discussing the principles at play in Indigenous economic development. Recommended Reading The Yellowhead Institute’s Red Papers on Land Back and Cash Back The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 97 Calls to Action Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Canada relies on migrant workers to fill labour gaps, but the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is rife with problems, with a recent United Nations report calling the program a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”. Can this controversial program be fixed, or should it be scrapped altogether? Should all migrant workers be granted permanent residency status when they arrive here? Kyla spoke with the Cooper Institute’s Eliza MacLauchlan and Ryan MacRae. Eliza and Ryan are the lead authors of Permanent Jobs, Temporary People, a report that examines how the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is operating on Prince Edward Island. Eliza and Ryan explain how the Temporary Foreign Worker Program has evolved, including its growing role in Atlantic Canada’s seafood industry and the forms of exploitation that migrant workers face. They also discuss how to fix the most problematic elements of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and whether recent measures go far enough. Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
We often shrug off the brutality of prisons as regrettable, yet ultimately inevitable. But the recent rise of prison abolitionist movements prompts a question: are prisons obsolete? Can we imagine more humane solutions that address the root causes of crime and promote true rehabilitation? Dr. Jessica Evans is an Assistant Professor in Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University, who researches the causes, conditions, and consequences of incarceration in Canada. She is also active in the prison abolition movement as a co-founder of the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project. In this conversation, Jessica explains the history and current landscape of incarceration in Canada and presents the case for prison abolition. Get Involved: Toronto Prisoners' Rights Project Criminalization and Punishment Education Project East Coast Prison Justice Society West Coast Prison Justice Society Pullback is a proud member of the Harbinger Media Network Enjoy our work? Support us on Patreon!
Kristen and Kyla take a break from taking a break to discuss The Age of Insecurity by Astra Taylor. Published in October 2023, this book explores how crises of inequality, mental health, authoritarianism, and ecological collapse could all be addressed by re-evaluating our culture of insecurity. Institutions that promise to make us more secure are functioning to undermine us in this moment, including housing, education, policing, and the wellness industry, and Taylor has some ideas for how we can change society for the better. Harbinger Media Network: https://harbingermedianetwork.com/join Enjoy our work? Want more book club episodes? You can now support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Pullback