Host: Michael Toms Interview Date: 4/12/2010 Program Length: 1 Hour
Media:
MP3 Download
Price: $1.99
Program Description: "We as societies are creating a world that none of us as individuals would ever choose." With this singular bit of insight Frances Moore Lappé defines the pivotal issue of our time-none of us wishes for children to die of hunger, or for global warming to continue, yet every day it happens. Now, after more than three decades of helping us understand what it takes to live in harmony with the rest of the world, she's identified the reasons we haven't fixed all the problems-yet. And she's still confident we can turn things around. In this uplifting interview Dr. Lappé explains what often stops us from taking action, how to overcome the obstacles-and how to find inspiration in the miracles others have already achieved. Ultimately, she believes, we're capable of far more than we realize, because "we are 'soft-wired' for the most beautiful social feelings and attributes and capacities-we have what it takes. We know how to design social systems to elicit those beautiful qualities while keeping our negative potential in check. And that's really the challenge of this century."
Frances Moore Lappé is the recipient of seventeen honorary doctorates and numerous awards, including the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel." She is co-founder of the Institute for Food and Development Policy and the Small Planet Institute. She has written eighteen books, including the three-million-copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet (Ballantine 1991) and Getting a Grip 2: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage for the World We Really Want (Small Planet Media 2010). To learn more about the work of Frances Moore Lappé go to www.SmallPlanet.org
Topics explored in this dialogue:
Who's really responsible for the mess our planet is in
What three conditions bring out the worst in us
What progressives and conservatives alike do to undermine progress
How you can transform fear into positive, benevolent action
