Sunday Podcasts

Sundays unfold in a similar way for me each week. It's as close as I get to anything I can call predictable in the course of my work. One thing I do every week, whether I'm travelling to Winnipeg via northern Ontario or through the U.S. Midwest, is stream CBC's The Sunday Edition podcast.

It's not that I always love the content, or the opinions expressed. I enjoy the format. It is always a deep dive and rarely superficial.  It is food for thought. It is also whimsy. Perhaps a radio documentary on fountain pens or an anniversary celebration of "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch may be on the show. I may also discover new people, like Ben Cowie of London Bicycle Café in my hometown of London, Ontario. This was an introduction through the podcast that opened the door for me to many different perspectives on urban planning, climate, civic responsibility, transportation, road safety, and Vision Zero, to name a few. It is a podcast that rarely disappoints with its varying view of the world.

The universe always unfolds in a systematic way. On Sunday morning I finished off a twitter conversation that had started the night previous about the selection of Steven Del Duca as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. He leaves me uninspired as a leader. I am open to being wowed by his performance but at present he doesn't seem to have the chops to carry us forward and lead us into a future in which my grandchildren will be able to thrive, or at the very least survive.

So I started my driving day, slipping on my headphones in preparation for a few hours of easy Sunday listening with thoughts of what the future may hold echoing in my mind.

So I listened to The Social and Environmental Costs of Mining for Green Energy. I thought about how the future really isn't about transitioning away from cars fueled by fossil fuel to cars powered by electric, it is about transitioning away from cars. Period. The future is really about a dramatic change in the way we move through and live in this world. An electric car, it's supporting infrastructure (continuous expansion of roads/parking) and consequential carbon footprint isn't a solution or a real change. Listen through the link above. Think about it.

Then there was Alberta's Growing Oil Well Problem. This is a deep dive into the financial reality of the problems faced by the citizens of not just Alberta but the world at large. We all need to take the time to listen to the people on the ground. This is not a partisan piece of reporting at all. I found it objective and informative. Listen to it and think about it. Our children depend on us making rational decisions on their behalf. This piece is a must listen. Listen through the link above. Think about it.

Then this. A Study in Contrasts. The weekly essay is a segment in which regular folks like you and I have the ability to submit a personal essay on pretty much any topic. It's about our shared humanity and the issues we all face. In this case an elderly couple that have lived a life of activism and face the prospect late in their life that nothing they have done has had an impact. The future their grandchildren face remains bleak and that is a source of great anxiety. It was a moving essay, especially when looked at in context of the other two pieces in the podcast that I linked to. I feel these emotions. There is a growing anxiety in me in terms of what my grandchildren will have to live with and deal with as a result of how we have lived our lives. I have been loathe to own up to this. I have not yet come to terms with it. Listen through the link above. Think about it.

Trucking for a living has its hazards. One of them is the time I have to think as my days stretch out across the countless miles. As my weekly pleasure in the Sunday Edition podcast wrapped up my mind fell into the abyss of thought that frequently dwells on my grandchildren and the future they face. We need leaders that are not afraid to make decisions for future generations rather than in our short term interest. We need to act now. We need to get off fossil fuels quickly, not by 2050, but now. We need to remake our society in a way that is not dependent on cars of any type no matter how they are powered. We need to do that now. This is not comfortable. It is necessary. I don't like it either but it is our responsibility to our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond.

The three pieces I have linked to above open the door wide to the reality of the present moment and the potential paths we face into the future. We live in difficult times. We need to make hard choices. Those choices will not be in our immediate self interest but in a liveable future for all of us. We all need to ask ourselves, what will my legacy be? As we are constantly reminded by our young people, we need to act. We need to act now. We need to act for them not for us. We need to act in a responsible way. We need to act.