geopolitical ecology

geopolitical ecology

Author: youssef bouchi Language: English Episodes: 21
Hosted by Youssef Bouchi, geopolitical ecology is a podcast that digs into the complex and often unseen connections between political power, global systems, and the natural world. Each episode moves beyond simple environmental discussion to examine how borders, resources, and international relations are fundamentally shaped by-and in turn shape-our planet's ecology. We look at the stories behind the headlines, from water conflicts and energy corridors to the politics of conservation and extraction. The conversations aim to unravel how control over nature is exercised, contested, and reimagined across different landscapes and communities. This isn't just about science or policy in isolation; it's about their messy, fascinating intersection. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that frames the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity as deeply geopolitical issues, revealing the intricate webs where environment and power meet. You'll find this podcast sits at the crossroads of critical social science and ecological thinking, offering a necessary lens for understanding the forces structuring our contemporary world.
Episodes
CONTINENTAL SHIFT (4/4): Extraction North of Empire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:25
In Canada, intensive resource extraction has long been baked into the country’s political economy and, arguably, to nation-building itself. Resource booms and policy choices have opened landscapes and livelihoods to larg…
CONTINENTAL SHIFT (3/4): Extraction South of Empire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:05
The ratification of NAFTA—the North American Free Trade Agreement—in 1994 transformed Mexico in profound ways. Over the next thirty years it deepened and expanded the resource frontier across the country, disproportionat…
CONTINENTAL SHIFT (2/4): A (Not So) New Gold Rush [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:43
The term “critical minerals" suddenly seems to be all over the headlines. Securing access to this group of commodities, from familiar metals like lithium and copper to more obscure “rare earth elements” like yttrium, app…
CONTINENTAL SHIFT (1/4): Free Market Fictions and Trade Frictions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:12
Welcome to Continential Shift, a series from The Break—Down and Geopolitical Ecology, where we examine the global rush for critical minerals and the struggle for resource dominance on the North American continent.The phr…
Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature w/ Alyssa Battistoni [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:42
In this episode we speak with Alyssa Battistoni about her most recent book, Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature published back in August 2025 by Princeton University Press.Alyssa is a political theorist wit…
Can the State Protect Nature? w/ Rosemary Collard and Jessica Dempsey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:16
In this episode, we talk with Jessica Dempsey and Rosemary Collard about how to think about the capitalist state not as a unified actor, but as a contradictory and often incoherent set of institutions, practices, and rel…
Organizing the Tenant Class w/ Ricardo Tranjan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:56
In this episode, we’re joined by Ricardo Tranjan, political economist and author of The Tenant Class (2023). Ricardo’s work reframes housing—not as a temporary crisis—but as a long-standing, for-profit system that delibe…
Critical Minerals, Critical Conflicts w/ Emily Iona Stewart [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:00
In this episode, we speak with Emily Iona Stewart to unpack the complex and deeply political dynamics behind the global rush for critical minerals.Why are these minerals—like lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel—so import…
Chennai Floods: a decade’s hindsight w/ Priti Narayan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:55
In this episode, we speak with Priti Narayan about the devastating floods that hit Chennai, India—a city grappling with the compounding effects of climate change and urban inequality. Reflecting on the floods a decade la…
A state without borders; borders without states w/ Hicham Safieddine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:10
I had the honor to host Dr. Hicham Safieddine, a brilliant Lebanese scholar and historian at the University of British Columbia. His work has included a detailed study of the emergence and transformation of global and na…