Welcome to Asbestosville! Season 4 Premiere with Michael Bayliss and Mark Allen

November 7th, 2022  |  Season 4  |  1 hr 12 mins

8 billion, asbestos, degrowth, holistic activism, post-growth, sustainable population australia, town planning rebellion, urban planning

We can’t believe that PGAP is into its fourth season already! So, to shake things up, Michael is being joined by Mark Allen from Town Planning Rebellion and Holistic Activism as the co-host for this season. This first episode of the season is the culmination of a personal journey for them both. These experiences have also been written down in the form of a blog: “A Year in Asbestosville: A Farcical Tale of Systemic Failure.” In addition to our personal journeys, we also discuss some Degrowth related current affairs. These include 8 billion day on November 15 and Liz Truss and her unintentional launching of the Anti-Growth Coalition.

Season 3 Finale with Charlie Mgee from Formidable Vegetable

September 3rd, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 6 mins

charlie mgee, degrowth, formidable vegetable, music as activism, permaculture, post-growth

From the very beginning, PGAP has delighted in playing music from Formidable Vegetable on our permaculture themed episodes. So, for the final episode of Season 3, host Michael Bayliss is especially thrilled to meet with Formidable Vegetable mastermind Charlie Mgee at his new eco village home at Living Waters, Denmark WA. An engaging storyteller as well as musician and performer, Charlie shares the incredible history of forming the permaculture themed band and their mission statement from the get go. We also explore the role that music place in activism and societal change and we cap it off with Charlie’s vision for a Post-Growth future.

Greenprints with Dr Michelle Maloney

August 23rd, 2022  |  Season 3  |  44 mins 20 secs

aela, degrowth, greenprints, michelle maloney, nedna, post-growth

In this episode of Post-Growth Australia Podcast (PGAP), we welcome back Dr Michelle Maloney, National Convenor of Australia Earth Law Alliance (AELA), to discuss the exciting new Greenprints initiative.

Zero Input Agriculture with Shane Simonsen

March 21st, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 2 mins

collapse, fenner conference, food security, post-growth, shane simonsen, shock octopus, sustainable population australia, zero input agriculture

With the twin horsemen of climate change and diminishing fossil fuels impacting food security (did you know that 10 calories of fossil fuel are required per calorie of food?) it is evident that the future of industrial agriculture looks more than a little grim. Given that food is critical for survival, PGAP continues to explore the essential answers to the question: how do we radically change our approach to growing food in the years to come?

Dr. Shane Simonsen operates a ‘Zero Input Agriculture’ farm in the highlands of South-East Queensland. What does zero input mean and does it work? Shane shares with PGAP how a zero input system works, in addition to weaving his vast knowledge and unique insights into a very pithy conversation with PGAP host Michael Bayliss.

A Public Housing Revolution for Degrowth with Dr Alex Baumann

February 1st, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 5 mins

alex baumann, degrowth, housing affordability, post-growth, public housing, urban planning

Housing is an essential human need, but as the average median house price in Australian capital cities now exceed $1 million, this requires some very significant dropping into the marketplace in order to afford a roof over our heads. According to the research of PGAP’s esteemed guest Dr. Alex Baumann, the act of owning a property of one’s own can place one in that dreaded 1% richest people in the world. Alex discusses why the privatisation of land forces us all into lifestyles that are antithetical to the degrowth movement and why housing needs to be at the core of post-growth activism. Alex also explains why public housing is one overlooked solution and how reinvigorating this asset is part and parcel to a degrowth future. Ready to have your whole perspective on housing turned around? This is the episode for you!

The Politics of Permaculture with Terry Leahy

January 17th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 1 min

anitra nelson, degrowth, gift economy, permaculture, post-growth, social movement, steady state, terry leahy

Permaculture is a popular topic on PGAP. Many who practice permaculture tend to also resonate with post-growth ideas. But for those in the post-growth movement who don’t like to garden, are there still things we can learn from permaculture? Can permaculture principles be applied to the wider economic, political and social change movements, or should permaculture keep itself to the garden bed? A new book, ‘The Politics of Permaculture’ endeavours to unpack the theory and practice of this popular and broad social movement. Author Terry Leahy collated many interviews and points of view from permaculture practitioners across the world, from Australia to Zimbabwe and everywhere in-between, to capture the many perspectives of how permaculture is understood. He shares this and more with PGAP, including his own vision for a future gift economy.

Season 3 Premiere - Leadership toward This Sustainable Life with Joshua Spodek

January 2nd, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 2 mins

degrowth, joshua spodeck, leadership, population, post-growth, sustainability, this sustainable life

“I started bringing leadership into the environment. Because I felt like there’s a lot of people telling other people what to do, spreading facts and figures. But no-one really making it enjoyable. Saying you’re going to like this, you’re going to wish you started earlier, speaking from personal experience.”

Joshua Spodek is a bestseller author, multiple TEDx talker and host of award winning podcast “This Sustainable Life”. Joshua is a huge advocate for the environment and for system change toward a post-growth planet. He takes his politics into his home life and made some incredible life transformations in his mission to living more sustainably. So, how has a move toward a meat-free life of no food packaging and no plane miles played out for our special guest on the Season 3 Premiere of PGAP? Is this a life of wilful deprivation and martyrdom? Or have these personal challenges transformed his life into one of joy and a different kind of abundance? Joshua tells all through amusing personal anecdotes coupled with an incredibly well-read and researched outlook on the world.

PGAP Christmas Special with Michael's Seasonal Manifesto

December 24th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  51 mins 25 secs

counting backwards, degrowth, holistic activism, michael bayliss, population, post-growth, shock octopus, steady state, sustainable population australia, town planning rebellion

The festive season is upon us as we wrap close to another year in the decade of consequence. To ‘celebrate’, PGAP host Michael Bayliss shares his own personal vision for a post-growth future. He looks back nostalgically on his Melbourne years, reflecting on the many successes and challenges from ten years in many various grassroots community initiatives. He also plays a selection of songs, penned by himself or by friends that espouse the Degrowth values of this podcast even if they may not inspire complete festive cheer. Enjoy!

Season 2 Finale with Economic Reform Australia

November 3rd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 4 mins

adelaide, degrowth, economic reform australia, era, mmt, population, post-growth

In this final episode of season 2, PGAP speaks with Economic Reform Australia (ERA) to find out why fundamental changes to our economic systems are a crucial part of a transition toward degrowth. Why do we have an economic system that prizes money and extraction over the environment and prospects for future generations? What is this ‘MMT’ that everyone is on about these days? Why is economics something that everyone should try to understand and not just leave to the academics and experts? PGAP travels to Adelaide to chat with ERA’s very own Bernard Thomson to find out more.

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.

Please not that opinions of the Guest’s own and may not necessarily reflect those of the whole ERA organisation.

Feeling the Future through Fiction with Sharon Ede

October 15th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 10 secs

adelaide, christie walk, degrowth, mage, novel, post-growth, sharon ede, storytelling

“What we feel shapes what we believe. What if we could feel the future before it arrives?”

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.