Amplify

The final episode for this season features mental health advocate and climate justice activist Tori Tsui. We talk about eco-anxiety, climate grief, climate doomism in news cycles and how that affects both our wellbeing and activism. We unpack the role of social media and celebrity culture in this and discuss how mental health issues can be a double-edged sword that is used to vilify and dismiss the lived experiences of BIPOC communities. 

In this episode I am in conversation with Nishanth Chopra, founder of Oshadi a seed-to-stitch supply chain initiative, based around a regenerative cotton farm in a village in Tamil Nadu. Established as a contemporary womenswear label in 2015, over the years the project has evolved into an artisan collective and textile supplier. now housing an entire seed-to-sew supply chain in which fibres are farmed, spun, naturally dyed, woven and sewn all within a ten-kilometre radius. 

I am in conversation with Dr. Theanne Schiros, an Associate Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and cofounder of Werewool, a biotech company creating biodegradable textile fibres. We talk about how plastic became such a ubiquitous force in our daily lives and the problem of waste colonialism. 

Disha Ravi is a climate justice activist and founding member of Fridays for Future India. In this episode we talk about how FFF has galvanised communities globally, on what an environmentally just future for India looks like and how to sustain activism. 

For the final episode of Season 3 I am in conversation with Vidya Viswanathan the Director of the Environmental Justice program at Centre of Policy Research-Namati. This program has created a network of grassroots legal professionals who research questions regarding environment law implementation and citizens' empowement by participating in the process of resolving environmental non compliance and related impacts that affect communities. The program's paralegals are trained in basic law and in skills like mediation, education, and legal doctrine. Through this process, the Program builds an epistemic community geared towards finding solutions to environmental challenges. And in today’s episode we talk about how we can demystify law to empower people and hold corporations accountable. Thank you so much for all your support so far! Stay up to date with Amplify on Instagram @amplifypodcast! 

This week I am in conversation with Harish Hande who is the founder and CEO of SELCO an enterprise in in Bangalore that seeks to inspire and implement socially, financially and inclusive solutions by improving access to sustainable energy. They design decentralised, replicable models for clean access to energy keeping grassroots communities as their central focus. Some of the questions we address are what decentralised, just renewable energy systems look like and why there exists this trade off between development and climate action when it comes to policymaking. As ever don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and follow us on the socials: @amplifypodcast. Happy listening! 

This week I am in conversation with the one and only Dr. Vandana Shiva, a veteran environmental activist, physicist, ecologist and author. We talk about her body of work from agro-ecology to eco-feminism, from bringing Monsanto to heel to the new forms of 're-globalisation' that are occurring and how regardless of who wins the presidential elections in the US our ecological commitment must carry on. There is also a video version of our interview on YouTube where you can see our host gazing with awe and adoration if you wish. There's an exciting announcement in the episode about a new book that Dr. Shiva has released and you can find out more about how to support her and her work at https://navdanya.org/site/. As ever don't forget to like, share, rate, review, follow and subscribe to us for more interesting conversations with environmental heroes on https://instagram.com/amplifypodcast and see you next week. 

I am in conversation with Ayushi Trivedi a Gender and Social Equity Research Analyst at the World Resources Institute in Washington DC. Her research at WRI has focused on women’s role in natural resource management, gender and social equity as a solution to improved sustainability and promoting inclusive and equitable climate action. The topic we’re looking at this week is water. An essential resource that industries, energy production, our food systems depend on. It’s vital for sanitation, hygiene and access to clean, drinking water is a basic human right. Yet more than a billion people currently live in water-scarce regions and as many as 3.5 billion could experience water scarcity by 2025. Water scarcity affects women in particular who are responsible for domestic chores of cooking, cleaning, caretaking globally and are doubly affected when you take into account their employment in agriculture. Water can be used as a weapon of conflict, it can be a ground for war against governments and people and it can cause mass migration of populations. Of course climate change will only exacerbate issues of water availability which in turn affects gender equality, public health and a whole host of other issues. In this episode we’ll be looking at what water security is, how it affects women, Day Zero in Chennai in 2019 and grassroots initiatives of water management that policymakers can learn from. The link to the report we talk about in the episode is free to read: https://www.wri.org/publication/ending-conflicts-over-water. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn, subscribe to us via your podcast provider and share our episode on social media. 

I am in conversation with Lauren Ornelas the founder and director of Food Empowerment Project a food justice nonprofit working at the intersection of veganism, farm and produce worker rights and accessibility, nutrition and health. COVID19 has simultaneously caused disruptions to the food system and brought to fore the labour force that is truly essential to our economies in addition to medical practitioners. Farmers, producers, growers, grocery store owners and assistants, food delivery people and many more in the supply chains are working day and night for meagre returns and virtually no safety net. How do we acknowledge their labour in a way that goes beyond applause on our windows at a premeditated time? Then there’s the issue of what we eat. On the other hand though awareness of plant-based diets is increasing year on year many are still not able to extend their empathy for nonhuman animals to human beings who are for instance migrant workers from BIPOC communities experiencing issues such as wage theft in the US or farmers in India protesting against the new agricultural reforms to maintain the minimum support price system amongst other historic issues of debt and financial stress. So how do we go beyond focusing on individual behaviour of swapping our meat for micro greens and rallying for food justice and equity holistically? Please do listen, learn and support FEP's work over at https://foodispower.org. Subscribe to our podcast via your provider, follow us on Instagram https://instagram.com/amplifypodcast/ and give us a shoutout whenever you can. 

In conversation with Choco Evangelist Ynzo van Zanten of Tony’s Chocolonely a company that sells commercially successful 100% slave-free chocolate across the world. We get into how Tony’s Chocolonely came to be and challenge the assumption that being sustainable and ethics means staying small. It is possible to be financially viable and ethically sound and in fact extremely important in these times. Building a just and equitable future of work requires thinking big and also looking at companies who’re paving the way for others. As they say you can’t be what you can’t see. Don’t forget to rate and review us via your podcast provider and follow, share, subscribe etc. Keep in touch with us via our social media @amplifypodcast. Happy listening!

Welcome to Season 3 Episode 1! I’m in conversation with Olivia Owens who is the founding member and the business development and partnerships manager of IFundWomen of Colour. IFundWomen is the go-to marketplace for women-owned businesses and the people who want to fund them. They offer immediate access to capital through a premium online fundraising experience where entrepreneurs can access small business grants from corporate partners, expert business coaching and a network of other entrepreneurs. Olivia and I talk about the funding gap that exists, the systemic biases that prevail where women are unable to access debt-free capital to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys. How does this affect BIPOC entrepreneurs? How can we build an equitable future of work? Tune in to hear us talk about the work required to change the funding landscape so that women can start, scale, sustain and thrive as business owners. If you're a budding entrepreneur in the USA I urge you to check their work out: https://ifundwomen.com. As ever, please do like, follow, subscribe and stay in touch via our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amplifypodcast/. Until next week! 

For the final episode of Season 2 I am joined by Ashish Birulee, photojournalist, activist and founding member of Adivasi Lives Matter (ALM) and Isha C content strategist, documentary filmmaker, senior editor and co-creator of ALM. On August 9 it was the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. These are the people whose way of life has always been sustainable and has hugely inspired and encouraged our own choices, behaviour and consumption patterns and that’s great. We should look to them who have been the custodians of nature for so long. But is following in their footsteps and striving for zero waste living or circular economy models enough? Is eating plant-based, buying secondhand, upcycling/recycling sufficient in and of itself to move towards a more environmentally just future? Not really. Because If we talk about growing and eating local but not about stolen forests and lands and displaced indigenous communities, if we talk about switching to electric cars and bikes but not about how specific communities become dumping grounds for waste then our sustainability is performative. To live and act sustainably is to unlearn and criticise current systems that exist and actively, constructively agitate for better, more equitable systems instead. It’s a verb, it’ a practice, it’s imperfect and it’s a long journey. So for this episode I am speaking to Adhivasi Lives Matter movement in India to talk about some of the key issues of EIA Draft 2020, land rights, displacement, environmental racism that affect indigenous communities directly and understand what we can do to amplify their voices. Listen, share, subscribe to the podcast and follow ALM's work on: https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/adivasilivesmatter/#about and on Instagram @adivasilivesmatter. Stay tuned for more on @amplifypodcast. 

This week we're talking about one of the world's favourite foods: chocolate. I'm joined by chocolate maker David Belo who is the founder of Naviluna Artisan Chocolates in Mysore, India and has an extensive background of working in bread, pastry and mixology in London. The chocolate industry is rife with several issues from mass deforestation to child slavery. The workers in the world's largest cocoa producers - Ivory Coast and Ghana - earn less than a $1 a day in a $103 billion industry. The rise of bean-to-bar chocolate makers such as Naviluna then are a means to address growing concerns of sustainability, ethical labour practices and transparency. In bean-to-bar everything from sourcing the cocoa beans from suppliers and farmers to crafting the chocolate bar is done by the one entity themselves. What then is the sweet spot between sustainability and scalability? What does India have to offer to an industry so heavily reliant on West Africa? What constitutes "good chocolate"? Are consumer palates and wallets ready for this evolution in their favourite foods? As ever, subscribe to us, share our episodes and say hi to us on IG: @amplifypodcast. Check out the incredible work Naviluna are doing at: https://naviluna.in. 

In conversation with Mihir Sharma, Indian economist and Senior Research Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, columnist at Bloomberg Opinion and Business Standard India. We talk about how the Indian economy had been showing signs of slowdown long before the double whammy of the pandemic and lockdown. In this episode we talk about how COVID19 will affect the way we live, work, travel and consume, whether our post-pandemic recovery will be the most coveted V-shaped recovery and if any portion of the $266bn relief and recovery package announced by the government will be invested towards sustainability and/or green growth. In addition to this the India-China brawl on June 15 has further complicated the relationship between our economies. What role will India play in the emerging geopolitical order? What are the consequences of banning Chinese goods and supplies? All this and much more in today's episode. As always don't forget to subscribe, rate and review to help us reach more people. Follow us on Instagram for updates and snippets on more interesting conversations: https://www.instagram.com/amplifypodcast/. 

I am joined by Rahul Nainani, founder and CEO of Raddi Connect a resource recovery social startup that works with multiple stakeholders like governments, brands, informal sector and consumers to divert waste away from landfills and oceans and into the economy to get reused, recycled or repurposed. India's 62 million tonnes of waste is picked up, cleaned, sorted and segregated by an invisible workforce of 1.5 to 4 million waste pickers. Our raddiwalas. They salvage waste that is recyclable and sell it further up the value chain to make a living. Waste progresses through the chain from bins of high-income homes to transfer stations before finally ending up in landfill sites. In this journey neither the households nor the municipal corporations do their bit to segregate their waste. Although infrastructure is being built to process and dispose off this waste there is still a long way to go before India becomes fully zero waste. We talk about the work done by raddiwalas, the policies and infrastructure needed, the impact of a pandemic on our waste and the work we need to do to close the loop on what we throw out. Don't forget to like, share, subscribe and follow us on Instagram: @amplifypodcast. If you're in India get in touch with Raddi Connect http://www.raddiconnect.com and be responsible with your rubbish. 

How has the rise and hegemonic presence of influencers on Instagram impacted sustainability? In this episode I am joined by Aditi Mayer, sustainable fashion blogger, model, writer and speaker on all things fashion to talk about the role of influencers in catalysing change. We trace the humble beginnings of Instagram in 2013 to the rise of the luxury lifestyle influencer, the #ootd throwaway culture it brought with it to the conscious, ethical influencer who uses their social currency to spread awareness. We talk about building a culture of accountability with brands, the Black Lives Matter movement and how fashion closely intersects with race, gender and class. Ultimately, it boils down to whether sustainability is compatible with scalability. When brands start off with the vision to do something different do they eventually have to trade this for growing their business? All this and much more in this episode, don't forget to like, share, follow, subscribe, rate and review us via your podcast provider. Follow Aditi Mayer on Instagram, follow us on there too and tune in next week. 

The food industry is undergoing a seismic shift as producers, farmers, policymakers, consumers come to terms with issues pertaining to current food cycles. In this episode I am joined by Andrew Ive, Founder and Managing General Partner of Big Idea Ventures a venture capital fund and accelerator investing in food tech, alt protein and food innovation in Singapore. As the chatter around how people can eat green/clean/ethically/locally etc increases we talk about the role of investors and mentors in propelling this sector. The rise of companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods in the US is testament to the fact that the alt protein sector is here to stay. It disrupts the filthy business of slaughter, meets the nutritional requirements of consumers and is kind to public and planetary health. The New Protein Fund of $50 million by Big Idea Ventures is backed by Temasek Holdings and Tyson Foods and is actively looking for entrepreneurs who are building the future of food. We talk about what investors are looking for in aspiring and current food entrepreneurs, contextualise the food systems to date and envisage what the future of food could look like. Andrew talks about some of the rising stars of this space including homegrown companies in India and how Singapore is paving the way to this edible and equitable future. Do check out the incredible work they're doing to amplify the work of food entrepreneurs and regardless of whatever stage you're at do approach them to know more about their fund and their accelerator program: https://bigideaventures.com. As ever, please do follow us on IG at @amplifypodcast and rate and review us via your podcast provider. 

Welcome back to Season 2 of Amplify! Our very first episode this season is with the brilliant, funny and minimalist designer Payal Khandwala. With a background in fine art, her foray into fashion is simply a shift in her canvas. Her clothes are an extension of her personality and values that emphasise function, form, colour, traditions and Indian heritage. She is a firm believer in not sacrificing comfort for the sake of style and speaks up about the perils of following trends in the fashion industry. We talk about her design process, why she distances herself from fashion and how her clothes seek to empower the wearer to go about their daily chores whilst feeling put together. We talk about the ins and outs of building a sustainable brand from scratch and how we will dress post-pandemic when the lines between public and private life has been reduced to the edge of a screen. Payal also shares some of her sustainable practices that at present include repairing the toys torn apart by her puppy! You can check out her incredible designs at https://payalkhandwala.shop. Do follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/amplifypodcast/, like, share, follow and leave a review via your podcast provider. 

Continuing the conversation from last week, in Part 2 with Sana Powell, MA, LPC a.k.a Curly Therapist we talk a bit more about the cultural context of accessing therapy. In a country like India where mental health is still not openly talked about, how does one begin to access resources they may need? What about when you don't have the language to articulate what you're feeling or going through? Are you still experiencing depression, anxiety or loneliness in that case? Desi households often comprise of multiple generations living together and many have to toe the line between enmeshment and isolation. Although having a community helps with people who are experiencing mental health issues how does one strike the balance between asserting healthy boundaries and seeking connection? This episode is a fitting finale to a Season 1 where various aspects of sustainability has been poked, prodded and examined. Nearly all of our guests talked about mental health and we hope that this episode will resonate with you as we record during these tumultuous times. Do check out Sana's freely available blog and resources via @curlytherapist on IG. For people living in India, https://thelivelovelaughfoundation.org is a comprehensive place to begin in order to access resources close to wherever you are. Stay tuned, stay safe and keep in touch with us via Instagram: @amplifypodcast

Our guest for this episode is Sana Powell, a Licensed Professional Counsellor and blogger under the handle Curly Therapist who lives and works in the US and is working towards diversifying and decolonising therapy. As we come to the end of our series, one of the common themes apart from sustainability, intersectionality, climate action etc has been mental health. Many of our guests on the episodes have credited their transition to living and consuming more consciously to an introspection of and investment in their mental wellbeing. So it only seemed fit that mental wellbeing was covered as a distinct topic. Especially now when the world navigates a pandemic, an economic and social recession as well as uncertainty and anxiety about what the future holds. Although mental health awareness has increased in the recent years, progress in mental health service delivery has been relatively slow. Existing barriers include public health priorities and its influence on funding, challenges to delivery of mental healthcare in primary-caregiving settings, the low numbers of people trained in providing mental health care as well as the lack of sensitisation to people undergoing treatment and their social inclusion.  Mental Health Awareness month has come to an end and this episode is just one small contribution to the larger discussion of mental well being that everyone needs to be having across the world.

What we choose to eat affects everything. Our current methods of rearing animals for meat and dairy are highly inefficient and are contributing to issues such as environmental degradation, global poverty and compromising human health. In this episode we are joined by Varun Deshpande, Managing Director at The Good Food Institute in India. The GFI is a global non profit organisation engaged in promoting the plant based and cultivated meat sector by fostering innovation, supporting startups, engaging with corporations and influencing institutions. We talk about the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, its role in pandemics and the filthy process of slaughter. We talk about how companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods in the USA are disrupting the way we consume meat and how they would fare in a country as diverse and divided as India. If you're interested in the work they do check them out at https://www.gfi.org. If you'd like to understand the issues we talk about in more depth then head over to their own podcast Feeding 10 Billion co-hosted by Varun himself. As ever, don't forget to like us on Instagram @amplifypodcast, give us feedback at hello@amplify-podcast.com and rate our show on your podcast provider.