Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Welcome to the Bristol Conversations, an eight-part podcast and video series by Local Futures featuring Helena Norberg-Hodge in conversation with some of the great minds who joined us in Bristol for the Planet Local Summit.
In this episode, we hear from perhaps the world’s leading expert on local finance and local business, Michael Shuman. With roots in the peace movement and social justice struggles, Michael is a Harvard-trained lawyer and economist who has spent his career going against conventional economic dogmas to champion the local. Local economies, he maintains, can deliver greater justice and wellbeing in society, and greater prosperity and political power to people. He shares his wisdom across the world in talks, workshops and his publication The Main Street Journal.
In this highly informative episode, Helena and Michael deliver critical but creative takes on buzzwords like ethical investment and impact investing. Drawing on demonstrative examples, they explore how place-based institutions, economies and the policies that support them can revolutionize not only our local communities but global geopolitics, and ultimately give rise to an ‘economics of happiness’.
Find out more about The Bristol Conversation series: localfutures.org/programs/the-bristol-conversations
Listen to the podcast with Michael Shuman: localfutures.org/programs/global-to-local/local-futures-podcast/the-bristol-conversation-michael-shuman
The series is produced by Local Futures, an international non-profit organization dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies.
Learn more about Local Futures here: localfutures.org
Sign up for the Local Futures newsletter: localfutures.org/sign-up-to-our-newsletter
Welcome to the Bristol Conversations, an eight-part podcast and video series by Local Futures featuring Helena Norberg-Hodge in conversation with some of the great minds who joined us in Bristol for the Planet Local Summit.
In this episode, we hear from perhaps the world’s leading expert on local finance and local business, Michael Shuman. With roots in the peace movement and social justice struggles, Michael is a Harvard-trained lawyer and economist who has spent his career going against conventional economic dogmas to champion the local. Local economies, he maintains, can deliver greater justice and wellbeing in society, and greater prosperity and political power to people. He shares his wisdom across the world in talks, workshops and his publication The Main Street Journal.
In this highly informative episode, Helena and Michael deliver critical but creative takes on buzzwords like ethical investment and impact investing. Drawing on demonstrative examples, they explore how place-based institutions, economies and the policies that support them can revolutionize not only our local communities but global geopolitics, and ultimately give rise to an ‘economics of happiness’.
Find out more about The Bristol Conversation series: localfutures.org/programs/the-bristol-conversations
Listen to the podcast with Michael Shuman: localfutures.org/programs/global-to-local/local-futures-podcast/the-bristol-conversation-michael-shuman
The series is produced by Local Futures, an international non-profit organization dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies.
Learn more about Local Futures here: localfutures.org
Sign up for the Local Futures newsletter: localfutures.org/sign-up-to-our-newsletter
