Episode Two Hundred And Six – On Science, Politics, Alma Sana And An Atmosphere Of Hope

This is episode two hundred and six of the Token Skeptic podcast! As always, you can support the show on Patreon.com/kyliesturgess, where I post updates, bonus content and even reward you for supporting my podcasts.

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Alma Sana’s dream is that children’s lives can be saved – through timely vaccination with the use of a simple reminder bracelet.

It’s a human-centered, award-winning design, and the brainchild of Lauren Braun, who in 2009 was a volunteer at the Santa Rosa public health clinic – helping nurses look for indigenous mothers to remind them of the dates of their children’s upcoming immunizations.

Lauren designed a simple immunization-reminder bracelet for children to wear so that mothers would be more likely to remember their children’s appointments and better understand their children’s vaccine records.

Thanks to a $100,000 grant awarded to Alma Sana in November 2012 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Alma Sana grew to an organization of twenty people as Lauren and her team prepared to implement a 6-month pilot study of the bracelet’s use in Cusco, Peru and Tena, Ecuador. They are currently pursuing additional funding opportunities to scale up their work in three countries – you can help by checking out their website at AlmaSanaProject.org.

Follow Alma Sana on Twitter at https://twitter.com/almasanaproject

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It’s been 10 years since Professor Tim Flannery released his internationally best-selling book The Weather Makers and now he’s back on the shelves with the optimistically titled Atmosphere of Hope.

In the new book the author, documentary maker and climate change activist explains exactly how much trouble we’re in while outlining some new
technologies that give cause for hope in the battle against climate change. The Climate Council had their second birthday this week – so it’s a timely release for this new book.

Professor Tim Flannery joined me on RTRFM’s The Mag program to tell me more.

Follow The Climate Council on Twitter at https://twitter.com/climatecouncil

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Tremendous thanks to the radio station RTRFM, where these interviews have aired previously, especially producer Peter Barr.

A quick note about supporting the podcasts! Check out https://www.patreon.com/kyliesturgess – and consider becoming a Patreon for these shows. 

Theme songs “Cosgrove” by Pogo, from http://pogomix.net and “Leap Second” by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com. 

This episode is brought to you with thanks to Patreon supporters – they include: Steven, Finch, Josh, Linley, Gold, Brian, Paul, Dr T, Iggy, Lukas and Andrew. Thanks to everyone who contributes and please consider joining to help continue these shows at patreon.com/kyliesturgess.

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