Urgent Futures with Jesse Damiani

Why is the world in crisis? How can we get a view of the bigger picture?

My guest this week is Rachel Donald—and she's something of an expert in these questions.

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Rachel Donald investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. She's the creator of Planet: Critical, a podcast and newsletter for a world in crisis with more than 23,000 subscribers in 180 countries. She recently launched Planet: Coordinate with her partner, a film series telling stories from the frontlines of communities who dare stand up against cruelty, injustice and indifference—and build a better world. Alongside these projects, her exclusive investigations into climate corruption have been published in major papers around the world, and her newsletters investigating the relationship between resources and genocide have been read millions of times. She's a sought after speaker on the big picture, and is currently writing her first book on the connection between violence against the earth and violence against women.

A podcaster is oftentimes a special kind of subject matter expert—an expert generalist. They are out researching and learning in public all the time, bouncing off of and commingling the various ideas they encounter in their work. Rachel lives up to this archetype powerfully—few have a more rigorous thousand-foot view of the big picture. In addition, Rachel has carved out a career as the first-ever climate corruption journalist, connecting dots and uncovering stories that powerful people would prefer stay in shadows. She has also just announced Planet: Coordinate, a film series that will bring her up close with these stories, and I’m excited to see what comes of that initiative sometime this year.

We discussed all of this, the unique challenges of being an independent journalist, how to instigate change—including her critique of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson—and much more.

CREDITS: This podcast is edited and produced by Adam Labrie and me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version of the podcast, which is available on YouTube. The podcast is presented by Reality Studies. If you appreciate the work I’m doing, please subscribe and share it with someone you think would enjoy it.

Find more episodes of Urgent Futures at: youtube.com/@UrgentFutures.