Monday Jan 27, 2020
S2E4 - Political Action
Disasters: Deconstructed Podcast
Reflecting on human society from diverse disciplinary and ideological perspectives to understand the root causes of disasters.
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Episodes
Episodes
Monday Jan 20, 2020
Monday Jan 20, 2020
Today we will be discussing the experience of risk, and disaster impacts by LGBTQI communities, who are often rendered invisible by those in power. The wonderful Darien Alexander Williams (MIT) joins us for this important conversation!
In keeping with the theme of Season 2, we also talk about the role of narrative/stories in the marginalization of LGBTQI people, and how we can do better.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Join the Community at Discord
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
An essay of Darien's that we enjoyed a lot - The Folly of Climate Change Philanthropy
Some of the literature discussed in the episode:
Jacobs, F. (2019). Black feminism and radical planning: New directions for disaster planning research. Planning Theory, 18(1), 24-39.
Goh, K. (2018). Safe cities and queer spaces: the urban politics of radical LGBT activism. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108(2), 463-477.
Smart, M. J., & Whittemore, A. H. (2017). There goes the gaybourhood? Dispersion and clustering in a gay and lesbian real estate market in Dallas TX, 1986–2012. Urban Studies, 54(3), 600-615.
Dominey-Howes, D., Gorman-Murray, A., & McKinnon, S. (2014). Queering disasters: On the need to account for LGBTI experiences in natural disaster contexts. Gender, Place & Culture, 21(7), 905-918.
Gorman-Murray, A., McKinnon, S., & Dominey-Howes, D. (2014). Queer domicide: LGBT displacement and home loss in natural disaster impact, response, and recovery. Home Cultures, 11(2), 237-261.
Hager, L. T. (2015). United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Oral History Review, 42(1), 134-138.
Our guests:
Darien Alexander Williams (@nigreaux)
Music this week from "Spring Rain Blues" by Kaleido Sea.
Monday Jan 13, 2020
Monday Jan 13, 2020
This week we are so pleased to have independent investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein - author of Disaster Capitalism - on the show to discuss his work documenting the struggles of oppressed people against injustice, all around the world.
We wanted to know more about his approach to storytelling and the kind of feelings he tries to evoke for his readers - particularly to create solidarity with people they don't know, who often have very different lives to their own.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Join the Community at Discord
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
Antony's website is a great place to start exploring his work - https://antonyloewenstein.com/
You should also sign up for his newsletter!
Our guests:
Antony Loewenstein (@antloewenstein)
Music this week from "Power" by Extreme.
Monday Jan 06, 2020
Monday Jan 06, 2020
Welcome back for Season 2 of Disaster: Deconstructed! For the next 20 weeks we will be exploring stories of disaster - what stories do we tell and how? Which voices are privileged or silenced? How are different mediums used to convey messages about disaster? What narratives are central to our discourse? How do people outside of academia discuss disasters?
Joining us today to introduce and frame the season we are so pleased to have Lori Peek on the show! We hope you enjoy the conversation, and the vision for S2.
As always, please let us know what you think and engage with the show. We have different special episodes in production or planned, where you can actively participate!
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Join the Community at Discord
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
Lori's books Behind the Backlash and Children of Katrina
Her excellent recent piece highlighting how the most marginalized are forced to "bear" vulnerability
Lori and JC Gaillard writing for Nature about the need for a Disaster Research Code of Conduct
Our guests:
Lori Peek - https://www.colorado.edu/sociology/lori-peek
Music this week from "Falling Forward" by Kevin Graham.
Friday Dec 20, 2019
Friday Dec 20, 2019
Today we have a surprise for our listeners - our first Christmas Special! WE MISSED YOU ALL!!
Season 2 starts in a few weeks but we wanted to send you all our best wishes as you recharge over the break. In this special episode we share stories and poetry with a Christmas theme, and sort of related to disasters. Ksenia even has some jokes. We think you had better check it out ;)
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Join the Community over on Discord
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Music this week from "Christmas Wish" by Bamtone.
Monday Oct 14, 2019
Monday Oct 14, 2019
Today we wrap up Season 1 of Disasters: Deconstructed! Thanks to everyone that has been a part of it - our listeners, our friends and family, and of course our brilliant guests. In this episode we revisit some of the key themes emerging from the Season, and discuss what we have in store for Season 2.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Join the Community over on Discord
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Music this week from "6 Feet Under" by John Isaac.
Monday Oct 07, 2019
Monday Oct 07, 2019
Back in June 2019, as part of the i-Rec conference, we recorded statements from participants in response to a prompt - What is the status quo that we need to disrupt, and how can we do it? The series of videos can be viewed here.
This week we will be sharing some of the responses with you and briefly discussing the key themes. Please join us over on Discord if you want to unpack further!
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
The series of videos on "Disrupting the Status Quo" can be viewed here.
Our guests:
In order of appearance - Wes Cheek (@wesinjapan), Diana Contreras (@DianaContrerasM), Emmanuel Raju (@EmmanuelRaju7), Heidi Harmon (@heidiismighty), Gonzalo Lizarralde (@invisibl_houses), Tony Oliver-Smith, Lisa Bornstein, Terry Cannon, Aaron Opdyke (@aaronopdyke), Mittul Vahanvati (@MittulVahanvati), Lee Bosher (@leebosher).
Music this week from "Chimera Soldiers" by Max H.
Monday Sep 30, 2019
Monday Sep 30, 2019
This week Ksenia visits Auckland, New Zealand and sits down with some disaster researchers who were recently involved in drafting quite the provocative "Manifesto". Thanks to JC Gaillard, Loic Le De and Jake Rom Cadag for sharing about the importance of this document and related efforts in the past. The conversation centers on the unequal relationship between researchers based on insider/outsider, North/South, developed/developing divides.
Tune in to hear about what is planned to move this agenda forward!
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
Power, Prestige & Forgotten Values: A Disaster Studies Manifesto
Post-disaster research: Is there gold worth the rush?
Disaster studies inside out
Our guests:
JC Gaillard (@jcgaillard_uoa)
Loïc Le Dé
Jake Rom Cadag (@jake_cadag)
Music this week from "Hiemal" by Charlie Ryan.
Monday Sep 23, 2019
Monday Sep 23, 2019
This week Daniel Aldrich and Wes Cheek join us to discuss what a successful disaster recovery looks like (or indeed if such a thing is possible), particularly in the context of Japan, where they have both worked extensively. Why is Japan held up as an exemplar for recovery? Does its technocratic approach work, and are we seeing the full picture? What is the role of social capital in determining recovery outcomes?
Join us to hear about all this and more!
Daniel P. Aldrich is a professor of political science and Director of the Security and Resilience Studies Program at Northeastern University.
Wes Cheek is a post-doctoral fellow at Ritsumeikan University with a background in urban studies and post-disaster reconstruction.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
Daniel's latest book - Black Wave: How Networks and Governance Shaped Japan’s 3/11 Disasters
Our guests:
Daniel Aldrich (@DanielPAldrich)
Wes Cheek (@wesinjapan)
Music this week from "When I Get There" by Maya Isac.
Monday Sep 16, 2019
Monday Sep 16, 2019
This week we continue our discussion of the misnomer "natural disaster" and connect with the founder of the #NoNaturalDisasters Twitter campaign, Kevin Blanchard!
Kevin is the Director of DRR Dynamics, a UK-based research organisation focused on ensuring the inclusion and empowerment of marginalised groups in the policy and practice of disaster risk reduction and humanitarian emergencies. He has undertaken extensive work developing inclusive DRR and humanitarian policy for national governments, international agencies and NGO’s.
In the last couple of years, #NoNaturalDisasters has become influential online. We discuss the campaign's origins and vision!
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
Kevin on DRR Voices Blog #NoNaturalDisasters - Changing the discourse of disaster reporting
Ksenia, Jason, Lee and JC in Open Democracy
A Dilemma of Language: "Natural Disasters" in Academic Literature - in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Our guests:
Kevin Blanchard (@DRRDynamics and @NoNatDisasters)
Music this week from "Believe the Hype" by SLPSTRM.
Monday Sep 09, 2019
Monday Sep 09, 2019
Today it's just us - your hosts Jason (@vonmeding) and Ksenia (@KsChmutina) - to talk about our 2 years of work investigating the expression "natural disaster" in academic literature.
We reflect on our new paper, A Dilemma of Language: "Natural Disasters" in Academic Literature, and talk more broadly about the importance of language in influencing how people understand risk and how they behave towards it.
Who is served by disasters being understood as natural? Is it actually harmful?
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @DisastersDecon
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Further information:
Our piece in Open Democracy
A Dilemma of Language: "Natural Disasters" in Academic Literature - in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Our guests:
N/A
Music this week from "On the Way" by Ian Post.
About Disasters: Deconstructed
Jason and Ksenia bring you regular content reflecting on human society from diverse disciplinary and ideological perspectives to understand why disasters really happen.
There is no other podcast centering the most marginalized in disasters-a “people’s” story; recurring themes are structural violence, inequality, injustice, resistance and organizing.