Talks at Google

Our relationship with the ocean is undergoing a profound transformation. Just three decades ago, nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild - but rampant overfishing combined with an unprecedented bio-tech revolution has brought us to the point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex and confusing marketplace. We stand at the edge of a cataclysm; the distinct possibility that our children's children will never eat a wild fish that has swum freely in the sea. In Four Fish, award-winning writer and lifelong fisherman Paul Greenberg takes us on a culinary journey, exploring the history of the fish that dominate our menus---salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna-and examining where each species stands at this critical moment in time. He visits Norwegian megafarms that use genetic techniques once pioneered on sheep to grow millions of pounds of salmon a year; he travels to the ancestral river of the Yupik Eskimos to see the only Fair Trade certified fishing company in the world; investigates the way plastics and mercury find their way into seafood; discovers how Mediterranean sea bass went global; challenges people to taste the difference between a farmed and a wild cod; and almost sinks to the bottom of the South Pacific while searching for an alternative to the endangered bluefin tuna. Fish, Greenberg reveals, are the last truly wild food - for now. By examining the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, he shows how we can start to heal the oceans and fight for a world where healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception. Originally published on June 7, 2011, here is Paul Greenberg | Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

16 Jul 202157min

In this episode, Graham discusses his new book Home Stretch: A Novel about a small-town tragedy that reverberates throughout the lives of those involved and how shame and longing can become a legacy. It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony, a group of young friends, including the bride and groom, drive out to the beach. There is an accident. Three survive, but three are killed. In Home Stretch, Norton expertly explores the power of stigma and secrecy, and their devastating effect on ordinary lives through generations. Graham Norton is one of UK’s best-loved broadcasters of the acclaimed television show The Graham Norton Show, winner of eight BAFTA awards, a Sunday Times bestseller and winner of An Post Irish Book Award. He is also an award winning author of the novels Holding and A Keeper. Holding was a New York Times bestseller and won Norton the Irish Independent Popular Fiction award at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards in 2016. Most recently, he began a weekend show on Virgin Radio and writes a column for The Telegraph. Moderated by Ronan Harris, Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

13 Jul 202156min

After a successful career at Microsoft, Patrick Awuah looked back to his native Ghana and decided that the ills of the country could only by solved by educating the next generation of business and government leaders, providing them with training in critical thinking and ethics that the current generation lacked. To put his plan into action, he founded Ashesi University in Accra, West Africa's first liberal arts school. Now in its 19th year, Ashesi empowers young Africans to develop the motivation and the skills they need to create their own solutions to Africa's challenges. Ashesi students are known worldwide for applying their computer science and business skills in innovative ways to address local challenges. Nearly all Ashesi graduates have chosen to stay in Africa (over 95%), where they are known for ethical integrity and for their innovative and entrepreneurial talents. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video. From May 22nd, 2012.

9 Jul 202153min

This episode features Dr. Donna Christensen & Dr. Lauren Smith who discuss the significance of Minority Health Month from its inauguration, to the work that is being done for BIPOC communities today. The Honorable Donna M. Christensen retired from the US House of Representatives in 2015 after serving nine terms over 18 years. She is the first female physician to serve as a Member in the history of the U.S Congress. Lauren Smith, MD, MPH, is the Chief Health Equity and Strategy Officer for the CDC Foundation. In this role, Smith brings more than 25 years experience working at the intersection of health care delivery and management, public policy and public health fields. She partners with the CDC Foundation’s other senior leaders to develop and drive strategic efforts to embed health equity across the Foundation’s COVID-19 response activities with an explicit focus on addressing systemic racism and its impact on vulnerable populations’ resilience amidst the pandemic. Moderated by Dr. Garth Graham. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

6 Jul 20211h 2min

Ice has been around for billions of years but it has taken less than three centuries for human growth and industry to bring it to the point of extinction. Henry Pollack, professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan for more than forty years and one of the world’s leading experts on the temperature of the Earth, argues that ice is natures best thermometer and perhaps its most sensitive and unambiguous indicator of climate change. When ice gets sufficiently warm, it melts. Ice asks no questions, presents no arguments, reads no newspapers, and listens to no debates. It is not burdened by ideology and carries no political agendas. It just melts. Without taking significant measures, agriculture and drinking water are at risk, as are millions who live on the coast and are in danger of becoming climate refugees. A World Without Ice is the first book of its kind that tackles the idea of climate change from the ice standpoint including how we got to the melting of the ice caps, what it means, ramifications and what we can do about it. The topic is fascinating and the evidence of a meltdown stunning. Originally published in 2007, the year he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with fellow members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former vice president Al Gore. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

2 Jul 202150min

Dr. Cassandra Coburn joins us to discuss her book Enough: How Your Food Choices Will Save the Planet. Our food production systems are the single biggest cause of environmental change, while diseases linked to our eating habits are at epidemic levels and increasing. Enough uses the latest scientific research to address the vital question: can we provide a growing population with a healthy diet from sustainable food systems? Fortunately for us all, the answer is yes and the book shows exactly how we can tackle both of these urgent, interconnected challenges at the same time. Using a seminal piece of research published in 2019, Dr. Coburn reveals the hidden consequences of our food choices, and how we can easily make changes which are better for ourselves and the planet. She details which food groups we should be eating and which we should avoid - and why. Changing our way of eating is something that every one of us has the power to do. Enough is a clear, ultimately hopeful and hugely important roadmap for both our own health - and the planet's. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

29 Jun 20211h 1min

Named as one of TIME’s Most Influential People (2018), Peggy Whitson has an incredible list of record-breaking accomplishments to her name. She is the first woman to command the International Space Station, twice(!) in 2008 & 2013, the first female and first non-military Chief Astronaut, she has performed 10 spacewalks, the most of any female astronaut, and at 665 days, Dr. Whitson has spent more time in space than any other American. Moderated by Leigh Gallagher. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

22 Jun 202151min

In honor of International Woman's Day, Therese Caouette and Paula Bock from the nonprofit PARTNERS ASIA share the realities of human trafficking and examine proven methodologies to combat modern-day slavery. By connecting local organizations to global funding, PARTNERS ASIA is able to forge relationships with local leaders who work to serve the needs of invisible populations, such as refugees, migrants, ethnic minorities, & LGBTQ individuals who are living primarily along the Thailand-Myanmar border. More information about PARTNERS ASIA can be found at PartnersAsia.org Originally published in October of 2012. Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

18 Jun 202150min