Episodios

  • Ep. 5 - The Flight of The Draco - With R. Chaitanya

    Ep. 5 - The Flight of The Draco - With R. Chaitanya
    Nov 8 2024

    In episode five of 'Politics, Ecology, and Everything in Between,' Rajeev interviews Chaitanya, a former IBM researcher who transitioned to herpetology and evolutionary biology. Chaitanya discusses his fascination with Draco lizards, their unique gliding ability, and the hypothesis that this trait evolved due to the presence of tall dipterocarp trees in Southeast Asia. The conversation explores Chaitanya's research journey, including his fieldwork across India, his PhD at Tel Aviv University, and the broader implications of his findings on the association between tall trees and gliding vertebrates globally. They also touch upon the challenges of conservation amid deforestation and the potential future directions for Chaitanya's research.
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    31 m
  • Ep. 4 - Locavore Action - With Megan Hobza

    Ep. 4 - Locavore Action - With Megan Hobza
    Apr 24 2023
    Megan Hobza - EP4 [00:00:00] Megan Hobza: The basic idea of what a locavore is, as someone who wants to keep. Money local and resources local because local self-reliance means that, you are better prepared as a community for, change. You're better, prepared for disaster and and you're also reducing your reliance on an extractive global economy. [00:00:26] Rajeev: Welcome to episode four of politics and environment and everything in between. Hey, this is your host Rajeev. And this podcast is all about issues that affect all of us human beings. Because I believe today, everything is connected. In the past episodes, we had covered issues relating to water conservation, tribal identity and colonialism. [00:00:50] Rajeev: In this episode, we talk to. Megan Hobza, a grant writer and community activist from Whittier, California. She specializes in locavore action, [00:01:00] which aims to keep the money local and support small businesses in her community. Thanks for making the time for the podcast, Megan. appreciate it a lot. [00:01:10] Megan Hobza: I'm honored to be here. Thanks for having me, Rajeev. [00:01:13] Rajeev: Awesome. That's great. So it's been what, more than a couple of decades, since I last saw you in Chennai. [00:01:20] Megan Hobza: That's right. it was a really, it was a really cool part of that trip too, to get to see what your family, does. You all have such cool projects. [00:01:32] Rajeev: Right. Yeah. I think my, my father-in-law was the one who,introduced you to, and he was working with NGOs. I think at some point. [00:01:40] Megan Hobza: Yeah, this was an, I think this was, Grameen Bank's, pilot project to bring microfunding to rural women. So we got to visit this village. Where all the women in the village had each taken out a little loan and they combined their loans to buy a cow, and then they sold the milk from the cow every week. [00:01:59] Megan Hobza: [00:02:00] And. Saved up money to buy another cow. And the bank had installed, ATMs in the countryside that, that took and gave smaller, coinage. so that, people with lower incomes could interact with them conveniently. The bank had installed, clean water resources in the village and also created, a central computer room. [00:02:24] Megan Hobza: So there was internet access for the whole village. And it was just really inspiring. I mean, that seeing what small things could transform the life of a little community in some ways inspired the rest of my life and what I ended up doing locally in my own community. [00:02:39] Rajeev: Right, right. I think it's, it's actually gone way beyond that today because, what's happened is there was this big push towards digitization and, I think the Indian government came out with something called the U P I or the Universal Payment Infrastructure. [00:02:57] Megan Hobza: and it's like u p i is basically this, it's, [00:03:00] imagine it's like this structure of tracks or railroads all crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country and money travels on that And a lot of the local vendors now have QR codes. And because you have 4G LTE connections everywhere and everybody has a smartphone, you no longer accept cash. You just scan and pay the vendor. So, street vendors have smartphones and they have,they have bank accounts and. Digital wallets, [00:03:30] Megan Hobza: Do they have to pay a fee to be allowed to have a digital wallet? [00:03:34] Rajeev: no, it's actually, it's everybody. I think, you have the AAR card, which is like your digital ID and everything is connected to that digital id. And if you have to have the digital id, then you have to have a bank account. So everybody gets to open a free bank account. in post offices you can open a bank account now. [00:03:53] Rajeev: yeah, so that's kind of transforming. [00:03:55] Megan Hobza: that's amazing.Yeah. to, cut, stockholders out [00:04:00] of those transactions is what I think is so inspiring because that's been a big part of keeping money local is that it's always siphoned off to these. Kind of corporate Ponzi schemes. [00:04:13] Rajeev: this has, really transformed large sections of the community. Of course, there's still a lot of work to be done, but they've done really well at, And especially UPI is, transformed, local, traders, the street traders, every shop you go will have a QR code now, so it's GPay. Become part the local language pretty much. Okay. I'll Gpay you, like Google it. So it's become part and parcel of, day-to-day activity in pretty much, more major parts of the country, I guess. [00:04:45] Rajeev: [00:04:45] Megan Hobza: Yeah, it just, it sounds like something that would strengthen local economies, [00:04:48] Rajeev: yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. how does that tie in with what you do? explain to me what the term Locovore mean. [00:04:56] Megan Hobza: So, the term locavore, which is, I think [00:05:00] that the basic idea of what a locavore is, as someone who wants to keep. Money local and resources local because ...
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    34 m
  • Ep. 3 - Tribal Identity - With DJ and Rajeev

    Ep. 3 - Tribal Identity - With DJ and Rajeev
    Apr 24 2023

    Welcome to another episode of politics, ecology, and everything in between. Hey, this is Rajeev. We are back after a long hiatus, DJ, and I. For this discussion, we picked a very interesting topic. Who is a tribal. A tribal is a very interesting term. Was Tarzan a tribal. The very image of a noble Savage. Or is it an invented term? And how is it relevant today? To answer all these questions, we have my good friend DJ.

    Thanks for supporting this podcast. Do send feedback to rajeev.nedumaran@gmail.com about this episode.

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    31 m
  • Ep. 2 - All About Water - With Peter Mayer, Urban Water Expert

    Ep. 2 - All About Water - With Peter Mayer, Urban Water Expert
    Feb 13 2021
    Ep. 2 - Peter Mayer [00:00:00] Rajeev: Hello and welcome to episode 2 of Politics, Ecology, and Everything Else in Between, and I'm your host, Rajiv. Today, we are going to talk about water. Water is essential for all life forms and human development. Our lives depend on it. Sometimes our livelihoods depend on it too. With climate change, the supply of water has the potential to influence geopolitics, diplomacy, and even conflict. [00:00:26] Rajeev: To discuss this very topic, I am talking to Peter Mayer from Boulder, Colorado. Long time friend of Madurai, my hometown, and an expert in the science of water management. He heads an organization called WaterDM. Over his career, Peter has worked with hundreds of water utilities and organizations across the US and Canada. [00:00:48] Rajeev: So, without further ado, cue music. [00:00:52] Rajeev: [00:01:00] So, hello, Peter. Welcome to the show. Hello. Hey, Peter. It's been a while since we've been in touch. So, just to begin with, for our listeners, could we start with a brief intro about yourself and what you do? [00:01:17] Peter Mayer: Sure. So, my name is Peter Mayer. I'm a professional engineer. I have a degree in civil engineering, and my specialty is in water resources, and particularly in water management, and on the demand side of water management. [00:01:37] Peter Mayer: So I got interested. First in water when I was living in India, actually in Madurai, and that decided I needed to get a technical degree in order to pursue a career in water. And so I got my civil engineering degree and then I ended up studying where people use water as part of my master's research and using [00:02:00] small devices. [00:02:01] Peter Mayer: called data loggers that record the flow of water as it enters the house through the water meter. And then we are able to, to then use computers to, to interpret that high frequency flow data and actually measure water use inside the house, including toilet flushes and clothes washer machines and dishwashers, faucets and showers and irrigation systems. [00:02:26] Peter Mayer: And to break all these different water uses into categories and quantify them for the. for the, uh, accurately for the first time. So that really launched my career. I started doing that type of research for water utilities, and it's really led to a variety of different interesting projects and things that I've worked on over the years, including testifying at the U S Supreme court as an expert in, uh, municipal and urban water use on behalf of the state of Georgia, where I understand you used to live. [00:02:56] Peter Mayer: And so they're actually still, uh, Georgia and Florida are [00:03:00] still engaged in a, in a legal dispute over, over the river, and I was hired as the expert from Georgia. So, I, I view, I have a lot to, to say about water, and I'm interested to have a discussion with you. Interesting. [00:03:14] Rajeev: So Peter, how did Madurai inspire your interest in water? [00:03:18] Rajeev: Well, [00:03:19] Peter Mayer: my first thought was that I wanted to do international development work that I really uh, Amanda and I my wife Amanda We really enjoyed living abroad. And so that's initially what we thought we would we wanted to do And I determined that the water was the most one of the most critical resource issues. [00:03:36] Peter Mayer: It was just so obvious and really Living in mother, I really brought it to the surface. You see the river that would dry up every year, essentially go from some points being bank to bank and then other points just being completely dry trickle and then also the groundwater changes and everybody is constantly worried about groundwater levels, seawater intrusion, so many issues related to [00:04:00] water and so that, and then, you know, when I also think back at it, I also had an inspiration from my childhood. [00:04:06] Peter Mayer: A man named Gilbert White, who was a family friend who was really one of the most eminent floodplain scholars and researchers. And so he lived in Boulder. And so, so I, there's sort of these combination of factors led me, I would say in, into it, but it was pure chance that I ended up studying water use and then how everything else kind of emerged. [00:04:30] Peter Mayer: I'm a real believer in sort of, you have to. Seize opportunities. You never know where opportunities might exist. [00:04:38] Rajeev: Absolutely. So the first question that I have for you comes from one of the James Bond films. [00:04:46] Peter Mayer: Ahahahahaha! Bum ba dum bum bum bum bum bum ba dum bum ba da [00:04:50] Rajeev: da da da! [00:04:51] Peter Mayer: Yeah, [00:04:53] Rajeev: ahahaha! So this, in 2008 there was a film came out, uh, called, uh, Quantum of Solace. [00:04:59] Rajeev: It starred, I [00:05:00] mean, it's a James Bond film, and, um Daniel Craig. Daniel Craig, yes. And he's pitted against an evil criminal syndicate. It's bent on global domination, right? So typical of a James Bond ...
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    29 m
  • Ep. 1 - The Manas Incident - With DJ and Rajeev

    Ep. 1 - The Manas Incident - With DJ and Rajeev
    Jan 28 2021

    The Manas Incident:

    Introducing a brand new podcast featuring Rajeev & DJ.

    DJ (Dhananjay Katju) is a Political Ecologist from Houston, Texas, will help breakdown complex issues that affect our times and Rajeev is the curious layman picking DJ's brains.

    In this opening episode, they discuss their brush with insurgency in the forests of Assam and the complicated history behind it.

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    26 m