The Blue Continent Podcast

Guest: Barbados Chef & sustainable food advocate John Hunte.  John has been engaged in building a sustainable food system for his island of Barbados, and several years ago presented this idea in a TedX talk from Bridgetown - how to conceptualise his entire island as a single farm environment, and make nutritious food available to everyone. 

https://www.slowfoodbarbados.org/

Brennan and designer Roya Aghighi discuss the future of fashion and her pioneering work in the field of biogarmentry. Learn more here:

https://www.royaaghighi.com/biogarmentry.html

Yihan Wang is the business development advisor for US Virgin Islands' Research And Technology Park. Here they attract innovative tech companies with a vision of developing sciences which make sense here, and utilizing them to spur unique types of growth for the islands.

https://www.uvirtpark.net/

RMI's Director of Projects Chris Burgess discusses how the Rocky Mountain Institute is helping Caribbean nations make near and long term investments to improve their sustainable energy infrastructure, and how the combination of renewable resources and high traditional energy costs creates an environment where progress can be self-funded.

https://rmi.org/

Brennan speaks with Albert Engbers of the Swiss-Serbian solar company Aeros Energie. The company utilizes a new application of the technology to utilize hyper-efficient thermal output. He says it's perfect for application in desalination plants or on islands.  
https://areosenergie.com/ae/eng/

As a guest on The Blue Continent Podcast, Guest Kari Eliassen of The Norwegian Refugee Council explains the suffering caused by the world's most under-reported conflict in Cameroon, and what the Norwegian Refugee Council is doing to provide support for affected people.

Brennan interviews Art Wollenweber of Mutiny Island Vodka of St Croix about the 1 year old company's role in their community. The company responded to the Covid crisis by adapting to produce the world's only commercial hand sanitizer made from breadfruit - and making it available to the whole of the US Virgin Islands.  (Apologies for the poor audio quality -- we thought our earpiece mics were picking it up, but they were not)

Rev. Dr. Robert Lee, III, of Fresh Ministries talks with Brennan about the history of his non-profit and their philosophy of engagement in Jacksonville and around the world. His team has led efforts to fight Aids in Africa, as well as holy land pilgrimages that actually facilitate cross cultural understanding. 

Guest Gavin Serkin, CEO of New Markets Media & Intelligence chats with Brennan in a wide-ranging conversation that traverses the globe from Ghana, Nigeria, Côte D'Ivoire, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine to Vietnam. 

Gavin and Brennan discuss the characteristics that spell success in emerging economies, as well as the minefields that befall any best laid plans.

In a wide ranging discussion, Dr. Bianchini of Collaborative Aggregates explains what "Green Chemistry" is, and how additives can be used to reduce the ecological costs of road construction.

The BBC world service provides thoughts and analysis from across the world. In today's special edition, we look back 25 years, at the Coronavirus, which affected the entire planet in the year 2020, and changed the international power dynamic, providing a bookend on America's supreme influence.

In this special edition of the Blue Continent Podcast, Brennan speaks with Laura Dodson, a former US Peace Corps response volunteer (Philippines). Dodson was near Lafayette Square on Monday, June 1, 2020, when federal riot police charged peaceful protestors and clergy, spraying them with tear gas to clear the path for President Trump to pose for a photo op with a bible outside of St. John's Church. Dodson recounts her experience in detail.

Brennan Speaks with Fron Nahzi, an innovative executive with more than 25 years of demonstrated successes in expanding not-for-profit and higher education's global reach and impact by establishing partnerships with US and international universities, NGOs, governments and businesses, and developing successful fundraising strategies. Fron apologizes that the development community didn't know to focus on climate issues over the past 30 years of development, and the two discuss some localized issues affecting governing in The Balkans.

The Blue Continent Podcast speaks with Dr. Bob Huish, professor of international development studies professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They discuss global health, and evaluate different countries' success or lack thereof in the context of each country's underlying health condition. They discuss US-Cuba relations, and Dr. Bob provides a deep historical assessment of the development of the WHO and multilateral health institutions.

Musical selections from: Machito (Cuba) , Ravi Shankar, The North Korean propagandists, Vinogradov, Tanzania's Vijana Jazz Band, Frank Zappa, Ghana's Guy Warren, Cuba's Irakere, and Venezuela's Marco Grandos.

The Blue Continent Podcast speaks with Hans-Martin Førsund, who has more than 30 years of experience from public and private sectors, all over the world, including decades of work in maritime policy development.  He's been a project manager, consultant and an entrepreneur, always focused on sustainability and waste reduction.  Hans-Martin discusses the acute need for sustainable electric systems in the developing world, and how his organization is providing much-needed support.

Distinguished Australian international trade advisor and University of Adelaide lecturer Simon Lacey speaks with host Brennan Purtzer about concerns and realities of global trade pacts, the weak points of agreements, and the difficulty in trying to predict anything American President Trump may try to do. Prof Lacey discusses how American leadership under Trump has hurt America's global status at 18:11 - 18:57.

Global Development.