Episode 682 Global Town Hall May 2025

Meir Amor is sociologist and an Israeli peace worker.Paul Meyer is a retired diplomat, formerly Canada's ambassador for disarmament. Jill Carr-Harris is a Gandhian organizer. Maryam Nayab Yazdi is a Canadian-Iranian human rights worker. For the video and audio podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-690-middle-east-today

Norbert Stute is a retired Austrian hematologist who created a remarkable website directory to hundrds of thousands of organizations that are devoted to making the world better. Rachael Mellor, his assistant, writes updates on the guides to various categories. Jill Carr-Harris works with Project Save the World and Ekta Parishad in India. For the video and audio podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-688-better-world.

John Washington is a journalist who covers migrants, especially from Latin America. Sheila McManus is a historian at the University of Lethbridge; Petra Molnar is a lawyer at York University and Jill Carr-Harris is a Gandhian organizer in India. They discuss the way international migrants are now being excluded and refused entry in many countries, especially under the influence of Donald Trump. For the video and audio see https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-687-migrants-and-deportation.

Leonid Kosals and Matthew Light are professors of criminology at the University of Toronto. Both study corruption, especially in Russia and the post-Soviet states. Here they report on changes in that region and factors that determine the severity of corruption. For the video and audo podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca.

Erin Hunt and Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan work for Mines Action Canada, which supports the global ban on anti-personnel mines. The Baltic states, with ther justifiable history of fearing Russia, are about to withdraw from the treaty unless NATO countries can talk them out of it. For the video and audio podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-685-updating-landmines-action

Rnnald St. John is a retired epidemiologist who worked in government and the WHO to limit the impacts of pandemics. Neil Arya is a family physician in Waterloo, Ontario, who recalls his climic during the SARS epidemic, which St. John was in charge of controlling. They talk about the new Treaty that has been adopted, which is intended to ensure that health resources are distributed equitably in the next pandemic. For the video and audio podcast: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-684-a-pandemic-treaty  

Robert Quinn works through Scholars at Risk to protect academics whose search for truth is being constrained anywhere in the world. He helps the to migrate to safe countries. Marc Spooner is Canadian professor of education who also studies the relationship between academic freedom and democracy. For the video and audio, https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-683-academic-freedom

This month we talked about our own disabilities with words in ageing; about dying and how to use our defunct bodies later, and about Gaza; AI; psychedelic drugs; DNA research; and the future of life after the transition to "stellar" civilization - the thing beyond capitalism. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-682-global-town-hall-may-2025.

Seth Klein heads a project that is part of David Suzuki's climate work. It will offer Canadian youth opportunities to work in the climate emergency as intensely as in World War II – a time of extraordinary efficiency. Can we make such a speed-up transition again? What is the main obstacle? We discuss. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-681-seth-klein-and-emergencies

Robia Akhtar, Tariq Rauf, and Earl Turcotte are experts on nuclear weapons negotiations. They are especially concerned these days about the recent military exchanges between two nuclear-armed states, India and Pakistan. They discuss the challenges and the extraordinary importance of achieving global and permanent nuclear disarmament. For the video, audio podcast, and comments: http://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-680-nuclear-diplomacy.