The Response to the Australian Bushfires

<p><strong> </strong>In episode 64, we explore the philanthropic response to the ongoing bushfires in Australia and what it highlights about philanthropy issues and trends. We also give take a look at some of the other top philanthropy stories in the news.</p> <p><strong>The Aussie Bushfires:</strong></p> <ul> <li>How does the philanthropic response to the Aussie bushfires compare to the Notre Dame Cathedral fire last year?</li> <li>Does it tell us anything about the differences between our response to man-made vs natural disasters, or disasters affecting man-made heritage vs natural heritage?</li> <li>Does the fact that the Aussie bushfires are highly dispersed make a difference?</li> <li>Are environmental issues less likely to be perceived as “elite”, and thus philanthropy focused on them less likely to be criticised as “self-interested”?</li> <li>Is the response to the bushfires partly about people feeling a sense of agency over the issue of climate change, which often seems so huge that it can cause donation paralysis?</li> <li>Does the fact that animals as well as humans have been affected make a difference?</li> <li>Has the ongoing nature of the fires helped to make the relief effort itself a focus of philanthropy?</li> <li>What questions does the voluntary nature of the firefighting services some raise about state responsibility vs that of philanthropy?</li> <li>Has the response of elite philanthropists been slower than in the Notre Dame case? If so, why?</li> <li>Could the fact that many Aussie philanthropists have made their money in extractive industries play a part in making them reticent to engage with a problem that is clearly being linked to climate change?</li> <li>Celeste Barber’s Facebook fundraiser: what does her runaway success tell us about the distributed nature of fundraising in the future? What challenges does it highlight?</li> <li>Other fundraising efforts: “The Nude Philanthropist” and altruistic drug dealers…</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>In other news:</strong></p> <ul> <li>MIT releas