Jeansland Podcast
This is why I do this. Jeansland is a podcast about the ecosystem in which jeans live. There are an estimated 26 million cotton farmers around the world, and about 25% of their production goes into jeans, which could mean 6.2 million farmers depend on denim. I read estimates that at least 1 million people work in retail selling jeans, and another 1.5 to 2 million sew them. And then there are all the label producers, pattern makers, laundries, chemical companies, machinery producers, and those that work in denim mills. I mean, the jeans industry, which is bigger than the global movie and music business combined, employs a lot of human beings. And many of them, like me, love jeans. The French philosopher and existentialist Simone de Beauvoir, when visiting New York, said, "Everyone in the New York subway is a novel." I never met her, but I guess she made the observation because of the incredible diversity of people who ride the subway system. I'm convinced the people in our jeans industry are like those in the subway. They are unique, with rich and complex stories to tell, and I want to hear them. And deep inside me, I think you might feel the same way.
https://jeansland.co/
Jeansland Podcast
Ep 45: What COP30 Actually Means
In this week’s episode of Andrew’s Take, Andrew breaks down COP30 in Belém, Brazil and why so many people still don’t know what COP is or why the world gathers every year to discuss climate goals that rarely materialize.
He walks through the entire arc, from COP’s 1992 origins to the Kyoto years, the Copenhagen disaster, the Paris moment of optimism, and the long loop of promises made and ignored. COP30 added its own contradictions: billions pledged for adaptation and forest protection, a strong Amazon backdrop, and the UN declaring “cooperation is alive,” even as the US and UK barely showed up.
Andrew also looks at what was missing: no fossil fuel phase-out, no clarity on who pays for what, and an open runway for polyester production to keep expanding. The numbers are blunt. We are nowhere near the 1.5°C target, and emissions need to fall 43 percent in the next five years.
A clear, honest walk through the history, the progress, and the uncomfortable truth of a process that keeps sounding like a victory speech delivered by the losing team.