February 3rd, 2012
The Economics of Happiness
an interview with Helena Norberg-Hodge
Author and filmmaker Helena Norberg-Hodge is the founder and director of ISEC. A pioneer of the ‘new economy’ movement, she has been promoting an economics of personal, social and ecological well-being for more than thirty years. She is a widely respected analyst of the impact of the global economy on identity, community and local economies, and is a leading proponent of ‘localization,’ or decentralization, as a means of countering those impacts.
Since 1975, she has worked with the people of Ladakh, or “Little Tibet,” to find ways of enabling their culture to meet the modern world without sacrificing social and ecological values. Trained as a linguist, she was the first Westerner in recent times to master the Ladakhi language, and co-produced the first Ladakhi-English dictionary. Her book, “Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh” has been described as “an inspirational classic,” and sold almost half a million copies. She is on the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, and is a co-founder of both the International Forum on Globalization and the Global Eco-village Network.
Helena speaks with Joanna about the pressure of globalization on traditional cultures, … the relationship between beautiful, healthy and sustainable, … local communities and economies as a sustainable alternative to global consumer culture, … the connection path of community and nature, … and her latest film as co-director: “The Economics of Happiness”…
Music: “Part 8” (from Salzau. Music on the Water) by Danielsson/Dell/Landgren
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Geoff Oelsner has built a following as a performer both of his own songs and of poems which he sometimes sets to music or chants and recites to the accompaniment of guitar, harmonica, dulcimer, autoharp, harmonium, and the shruti box (a drone instrument from India). He has released 2 CD’s of original songs, Morning Branches and Ordinary Mystery with musician friends, including Kelly Mulhollan and Leslie. Geoff has published a collection of his poetry, Native Joy: poems songs visions dreams (1963-2003) (2003, Trafford) and his work has been featured in several other books, including Writing Poetry from the Inside Out by Sandford Lyne (Sourcebooks Inc., 2007). His new book, A Country Where All Colors Are Sacred and Alive, A Memoir of Non-Ordinary Experience and Collaboration with Nature (2012) is now available from 
Ruth Zaporah is a New Mexico based performance artist, director and teacher. She is internationally known for her innovative work in performance and performance training, particularly in the field of physical theater improvisation. Zaporah spends much of her time on tour, performing and leading trainings both nationally and internationally. She is a two-time recipient of National Endowment Choreography Fellowships. She is the author of “Action Theater: The Improvisation of Presence”.
I’m celebrating My Birthday …
When Barretto Point Park opened in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx in 2006, it marked a major accomplishment —becoming the only riverside park in the neighborhood and one of the few greens space in the heavily industrialized area. But Misra noted that there was no transportation to and from the park and that pedestrians had to endure a smoggy walk through a key transportation route that serves some 15,000 heavy trucks daily. Misra and her teen advocacy group, ACTION, lobbied the New York transit authority (MTA) for a bus route to be extended to include stops at the park. Misra’s campaign was successful, and a seasonal city shuttle bus now serves the park in the summer, taking 4,000 Bronx residents to green space they might not otherwise be able to access. Misra is a 2010 Brower Youth Award recipient.
Graham Hill, a serial Designpreneur, holds a degree as a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa and has also studied Product Design at Emily Carr in Vancouver. In 1995, with his cousin, he grew (and later sold) the web-developer SiteWerks to 60 people, doing work for clients such as Microsoft. In 2003 he founded both TreeHugger.com and a ceramic cup business (WeAreHappyToServeYou.com). TreeHugger later became part of Discovery’s Planet Green initiative and is where Hill currently places his efforts. Past business ventures include fashion, viral email and plant-based air filters. Hill speaks English, French, German and Spanish and loves kitesurfing, squash and snowboarding. From his New York home, Hill schemes daily about how he can help humanity avoid rapid extinction.
Ben Hewitt is a best-selling author and farmer whose book The Town That Food Saved, published by Chelsea Green publishing, chronicles a rural Vermont town’s attempts to implement a local food system. Hewitt speaks frequently on the subjects of regionalized agriculture, relocalizing economies, and reframing America’s values to promote positive change and a durable prosperity that is not dependent on extractive industry. With his wife and two sons, he operates a diversified 40-acre livestock, dairy, berry, and vegetable farm in Northern Vermont. He lives in a self-built, off-the-grid home that is powered by wind and solar energy. To help offset his renewable energy footprint, Ben drives a really big truck.
