A Practically Real Podcast
Ithaca Local
Economy Lab
What would an economy look like if it was designed to take care of people?
One small city has spent 30 years finding out. The Ithaca Local Economy Lab tells the stories of real experiments in doing business differently: a medical practice with no insurance companies, a town that printed its own money, baristas who bought their coffee company, a store purchased with no bank in sight. Experiments with results, receipts, and instructions your town could borrow.
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Latest Episodes
All EpisodesHow to Own Your Power
Every month, money leaves the house for electricity, heat, and gasoline, and every month it is simply gone. Nothing accumulates. Paul Fenn has a name for that arrangement, energy rent,…
The Carbon Offset You Can Actually See – Sustainable Finger Lakes Climate Fund
There is an immigrant family somewhere in Tompkins County who bought their first home in the United States and spent the winter wearing their coats inside. There is a single…
Grounds for Change – How a Cup of Coffee Makes for a Better Economy
Most people walk into Gimme! Coffee and order a latte. They don’t think about who owns the espresso machine, who voted on the charitable donation policy, or how the packaging…
Your Host
Meet Dia
Dia hosts the show from Ithaca, where she talks with the people actually running these experiments, how they got started, what they’ve learned and where things might go from here.
Every conversation explores the realities of the new economy and asks if your town could do it too.
Keep the show independent
Independently produced. Your support keeps the conversations going.