PGAP also speaks with freelance economic thinker Zoltan Bexley to find out more about why Australia’s current economic system results in many poor outcomes for many of us, such as the favourite bugbear on PGAP – Australia’s housing unaffordability crisis.
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Please not that opinions raised in this episode are those of both guests and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of ERA as a whole.
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Host Michael Bayliss reflects on the dizzying last 12 months on the road, armed with microphone and recording hardware, that has resulted in on-the-ground PGAP views spanning the east coast from the highlands of the NSW/QLD border, down to Tasmania, then across to Adelaide. Now settled in Albany, Western Australia, I take time on this episode to reflect on the amazing journey and the incredible diversity of people doing outstanding post-growth things as we finally wrap up for season 2 of PGAP.

PGAP will be taking a short break to revamp our graphics, create a new website and most importantly, take a well-earned break before we return with a vengeance for season 3.
In the meantime, you can while away the time by meandering through these following links:

The Economic Reform Australia (ERA) website can be found here. Sign up for a regular online journal and if you live in Adelaide, ERA regularly host events that take place within the heart of Adelaide's CBD.

Please take the time during PGAP’s break to rate and review this podcast. Apple Podcast seems best place to do so.

We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on PGAP. Please don’t hesitate to contact us on our contact page to let us know what you truly think of us (within reason). If you would like to be interviewed by PGAP, or know someone you’d like to dob in, please contact us. Host Michael Bayliss is also available for interview – he loves being a host but he also misses being a guest!

PGAP relies on word of mouth to get around, we don’t use any advertising or paid promotion. So, please get out there and spread our agnostic gospel on post-growth.

Michael wrote statement on behalf of Sustainable Population Australia, “Rethinking Big Australia: the impacts of COVID-19”. Extracts from the statement have been published at ‘Independent Australia’ and the ‘Ending Overshoot’ blog.

PGAP is made possible from the support of ‘Sustainable Population Australia'. At PGAP, we put our hat off to SPA for allowing this podcast to explore the broader issue of degrowth in which the population debate is one controversial but a necessary moving piece of discussion in the movement. Throughout the two seasons of PGAP, we often ask our guests at least one question of population and invite a diversity of opinions that invites open discussion rather than closed division. This is the only way we’re going to move forward on issues that we may not always see eye to eye on.

Speaking of SPA, they have launched a ‘Let’s Rethink Big Australia’ campaign. We invite you to check it out.

Speaking of checking out, PGAP wishes you well and see you soon for season 3.

Timestamp:

Intro 00:00 - 06:56
Bernard 07:08 - 34:16
Zoltan 34:24 - 01:02:05
Outro 01:02:16 - 01:04:58

Special Guests: Bernard Thomson and Zoltan Bexley.

So reads the back cover of new fiction book ‘Mage’ written by sustainability professional, post-growth advocate and Adelaide local Sharon Ede. In this penultimate episode of the second season of PGAP, Sharon tells us why fiction, story-telling and emotional resonance are essential communications tools for the environmental movement to engage with the broader community. Providing facts and figures to rally the troops over large-scale existential crises has so far failed to work. Engaging people emotionally through storytelling and providing a ripping yarn just might be the missing link. Mage is definitely this kind of book and hopefully this interview will convince you to add 'Mage' to your post-growth library.

I have not come across much post-growth fiction in my travels. Up until a few years ago, the 1970s novel ‘Ecotopia’ provided a fascinating day-to-day account on how a more ecocentric society might operate on the west coast of the USA. Unfortunately, the book is starting to show its age somewhat in some of its social justice attitudes when looked back through the lens of the 21st century. A much more up to date fictional account of a post-growth society can be found in the 2013 novel ‘Entropia’ by Dr Samuel Alexander. At a seminar at the 2019 Earth Ethics conference in Melbourne, Dr Alexander shared with attendees the importance for story-telling and art to carry the environmental message to the broader world.

In fact, the music project ‘Mortimer's Method’ took this idea of art as education a step further by putting samples from the audio-book of 'Entropia' to modern music. An extract of the track 'How Now Shall We Live' is provided at the end of the episode.

‘Mage’ joins this pantheon and yet Sharon Ede goes beyond utopian society fiction and casts a much broader net with her new novel. Spanning the continents between Adelaide, Venice and the Arctic, Mage brings together many of the ideas and innovations that Sharon has picked up through her years as an environmental and Post-Growth advocate. It is a ripping epic of a yarn, worthy of comparisons to Dan Brown, Tim Powers or even an episode of Doctor Who.

This episode was recorded, once more, on site at Christie Walk eco-development in Central Adelaide. In fact, it was recorded on the same evening as my interview with Sue Gilbey and Mark Allen in the previous episode of PGAP! So thank you to Christie Walk for providing the venue and Sue for providing the recording technology. Sue and Mark stayed around for the interview, so on occasion they can be heard in the background during the interview.

It has been a pleasure to spend some time in Adelaide and to interview the post-growth movers and shakers who call this fine part of the world home. So it is with slight sadness on my part that this is not only the penultimate episode of The Adelaide series of interviews, but also the penultimate episode of the second series of PGAP. The second season of PGAP has been an epic travelogue almost worthy of ‘Mage’ including on site interviews from Northern Rivers to Adelaide and just about everywhere in between. It has been an incredible ride and thank you all for listening and travelling with me on this journey of discovery.

** Too much Post-Growth barely enough? Here are some links to further occupy your time. Thank me later!**

A online link to find out more about Mage (and the seal the deal on your own personal copy) can be found here

Want to find out more about Sharon and her extensive work outside of writing great fiction? Make a good start here

The previous episode of PGAP was also recorded at Christie Walk (link here). Sue Gilbey interviewed Sharon for the Adelaide Chronicles podcast (link here)

I mentioned Dr Michelle Maloney and the Earth Ethics conference of 2019. Michelle and her work with Australian Earth Law Alliance (AELA) and New Economy Network Australia (NENA) were interviewed for PGAP here

Sharon was a founding member of the Post Growth Institute. PGI's Robert Wanalo was interviewed in PGAP season 1 here

The ABC article I referred to in the intro for this episode was titled "Sustainable development won't solve environmental crises, say these experts. It's simpler than that"

Special Guest: Sharon Ede.