As a regular guest on the BBC’s Business Matters, I’m often asked to predict the future. I often feel ill-equipped to do so. But this week, freshly returned from London, and experiencing the British Summer of Discontent for myself, I had a strong feeling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s days were numbered. So I shared my prediction live on the BBC on Tuesday evening. Today, less than 48 hours later, I woke to the news that Boris Johnson has announced his resignation.
“I think it’ll be a matter of hours or days before Boris Johnson is pushed out.” Business Matters July 5th, 2022.
Here’s a transcript of the segment, edited for length and clarity.
BBC host, Sam Fenwick: Two of the UK government’s most senior ministers have resigned from Boris Johnson’s cabinet, plunging the government into a major crisis… There has been no reaction in the stock market to the developments in UK politics. Alison, what about in the States? Perhaps better news, bigger news there?
Alison van Diggelen: It’s not headline news here. One of the stories in the New York Times was: Who is Rishi Sunak? He’s not a household name here yet. But it’s clear the tide has turned. Boris Johnson has lost the trust of many of his influential colleagues and I expect Sunak might replace him when he is forced out.
And of course, this comes in the larger context of this climate of unrest and the term The Summer of Discontent applies to parliament, as well as the union action that’s sparking right across the country.
Sam Fenwick: Boris Johnson’s integrity is in question. Is it possible for a leader to come back from something like that when their honesty is being questioned?
Alison van Diggelen: The good parallel with the United States is Donald Trump. He, like Boris Johnson, seems to have a teflon outer coating: nothing seems to stick to him, to date! But with Boris Johnson, it seems the tide has turned and his propensity for obfuscating and lying means he’s going to get his comeuppance in the next few days. He failed to show any humility or change in strategy in the wake of the vote of no confidence will come back to bite him.
…I think the integrity of politicians around the world is in question and I think it’ll be a matter of hours or days before Boris Johnson is pushed out.
More Green Dialogues
I always try to focus on good news from the world of green tech when I’m on the BBC, so you might also be interested in hearing about our discussion of the new ballot measure to promote Electric Vehicles and boost forest management and fire prevention in California.
I can only imagine you share my disgust and horror at what’s going on in Ukraine. It’s heart breaking. This week on Fresh Dialogues, we get an intimate look at the war, from a Ukrainian in Silicon Valley who has team members on the front lines. Highlights of our interview were picked up by the BBC World Service. I asked Sergey Lubarsky what’s likely to happen in the next few days and week. He explained why he expects an apocalyptic escalation of violence in Ukraine and how that could be averted.
“The world has never been that close to a nuclear holocaust. Never. You have a deranged person with a nuclear strike capabilities who has nothing to lose. He has zero regard for human life….Putin is irrational. He cannot back off, has no exit strategy. He’s not going to be killed by his cabinet members.” Sergey Lubarsky, tech entrepreneur.
[Photo credit: Nicole, a half Russian, half Ukrainian girl attending an anti-war protest by Kaylee C Greenlee Beal, San Antonio Express News]
This week, I reached out to Lubarsky who was born in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, close to the border with Russia. Today, Lubarsky is a Silicon Valley based tech entrepreneur with a team of 15 in Ukraine. He shared:
powerful stories from colleagues on the front lines of the Ukrainian resistance.
why President Zelensky is “the George Washington of Ukraine.”
the worst case scenario he expects, and how it might be prevented.
BBC Host, Fergus Nicoll, invited me on Wednesday to share highlights of my interview on the BBC World Service program, Business Matters. We also discussed, with Peter Ryan of ABC in Australia, the propaganda war in Russia and Ukraine; the role of cryptocurrency; and how President Zelensky and his cabinet are expertly leveraging social media to rally support from tech companies and the Western world to meet their urgent needs. I also added my perspective on Donald Trump’s latest speech, when he calls the U.S a “stupid country” and praises Putin’s “smarts”. Given what’s happening today in Ukraine, in my view, it should make his Republicans supporters examine their consciences.
This week’s Fresh Dialogues podcast includes highlights of the BBC program and some powerful extracts from my interview with Sergey Lubarsky. Here is a transcript of some of our conversation (edited for length and clarity):
Sergey Lubarsky: I’ve never had Ukrainian by passport. I left (31 years ago) holding a Soviet passport. Until the first invasion in 2014, I would never consider myself Ukrainian because it was a moot point, I’m bilingual.
Alison van Diggelen: How do you feel about that now?
Sergey Lubarsky: I’m proud to be Ukrainian. I’m so proud of my people. A week ago if you asked me, I’d have said there’s corruption there… (Today) I’m speechless, they deserve so much credit.
Sergey has a team of 15 in Ukraine. He says some are on the front lines, some are hiding in subways or basements and some have fled the country.
Alison van Diggelen: Are you concerned that they’re in danger?
Sergey Lubarsky: Several of them joined the national territory defense. It’s basically the national guard.
Alison van Diggelen: Are they sharing details?
Sergey Lubarsky: One of my developers said: This is open safari. We’re burning their tanks, the Russians are fleeing their tanks, the locals are killing them by the bunch, their dogs are eating their flesh and we’re burying them.
They can only use the roads because it’s springtime, they can’t move their weapon systems through open fields. It’s guerrilla warfare. If you take down the first two tanks, the whole convoy is stalled. There’s nowhere to go. They can’t do a U-turn and go back.
Lubarsky points to the Orange revolution and the Budapest Treaty in which the U.K. and the U.S. committed in 1994 to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. He feels that the West has not lived up to its side of the bargain.
Alison van Diggelen: What more should be done by Facebook? Sergey Lubarsky: Zuckerberg had no problem to block accounts from people who didn’t agree with him politically. Zuckerberg should suspend accounts of people who support this war. It’s informational warfare. There’s a reason why Putin took half of the TV broadcasting station in Kiev. Information is important to morale. Zuckerberg should turn on his censorship machine and start censoring people who actively support Putin, or there will be more corpses. The people will not know the truth.
Alison van Diggelen: What would you say to Putin, if you had the chance?
Sergey Lubarsky: If you have a madman running in your street, killing your neighbors, do you have a desire to talk to him? He’s a a deranged dude…a madman with nuclear capabilities on the loose.
Alison van Diggelen: What about President Zelensky, he’s a global hero?
“All of a sudden, Zelensky is a Ukrainian George Washington, the father of the Ukrainian nation. What we’re witnessing right now is the birth of a nation. He has a bullseye on his back, not metaphorically: there are several special forces groups deployed to kill him and his cabinet. President Biden calls him to offer him a ride (flee the country) and Zelensky broadcasts his whereabouts in Kiev. That’s what keeps them going. Without his courage, the resistance would probably have collapsed three days ago.” Sergey Lubarsky
Sergey Lubarsky: Nobody can work. Every friend of mine from Russia calls me and apologizes. (They say) we can’t believe it’s happening….We have a huge support from them.
Alison van Diggelen: Are they in tears? Sergey Lubarsky: Oh yes. A have a best friend, a Muscovite. He knows me well and says: are you still talking to me? Every person of Russian descent, we’re all ex-Soviet Union. For me: Am I Russian, Ukrainian, am I a Jew? Who cares? It makes no difference. People call and say: I’m in tears with you. A friend asks me where can I donate the money?
Alison van Diggelen: What is the best case scenario for a resolution? Sergey Lubarsky: I see a nuclear strike at Ukraine. Putin is an international pariah, he has no exit strategy. He’s destroyed the Russian economy, the Russian people suffer. A friend of mine is medical doctor and professor in Russia. He can’t send money to support his children studying in Europe because of the SWIFT system sanctions. Russia is in the economic stone age and Putin can’t go back and say: on second thought, that was a bad idea, let’s move the troops back. I don’t see a best case scenario.
Sergey Lubarsky: What would you say to President Biden?
Sergey Lubarsky: Biden is doing everything right, one step too late….The West is not working proactively. The West needs to declare Putin a war criminal today. It would stop the generals of his army. They will know “I was just following the commands” is not a line anymore. They will be hanged. The West needs to declare that any Russian soldier, officer will be implicated if they use weapons of mass destruction and be prosecuted personally. That will deter them, they have families. Biden needs to do it today before it’s too late. When the (nuclear) bomb goes off in Kharkiv it’ll be too late.
The only way to assure nothing happens is to declare Putin a war criminal today, it will send a chilling message to his entourage that they will be hanged, as the Germans were hanged after Nuremberg. That might deter him.
Lubarsky is collecting money for the Ukrainian resistance. You can support him and contribute here.
If you’re stuck at home and thinking: what can I do to help my community? I hope today’s podcast will inspire you.
Last week, my colleagues at The BBC World Service invited me to join the show Business Matters and share news from Silicon Valley. Even though the valley is one of America’s COVID-19 hotspots, I was determined to report something positive.
For inspiration, I thought of Mr. Rogers, America’s beloved TV personality and puppeteer. He famously said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
During this unsettling time, when it’s easy to get scared and give in to despair, I find his advice reassuring. But I think he meant more than one thing. I think, if Mr. Rogers was alive today, he’d say:
Find people who are helping…
Find opportunities to help, and encourage others to help in their communities.
So I scoured the news for uplifting stories about people who’re helping in my community. A tweet from California Governor Gavin Newsom caught my eye. He praised the rapid response of a Silicon Valley company that’s stepping up to meet the urgent need for ventilators to keep COVID-19 patients alive. I immediately got in touch with Bloom Energy and interviewed its chief operating officer, Susan Brennan that afternoon. She told me she challenged her team by saying, “We’re going to solve this thing!” I wanted to know: was the solution the brainchild of one person, or a team effort? You’ll find out below.
My interview aired on the BBC World Service on April 2, 2020.
Here are highlights of my conversation with the BBC’s Jamie Robertson and Enda Curran, chief Asia economics correspondent at Bloomberg in Hong Kong. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
We began by discussing the record 10 million people in the United States who’re unemployed, many almost overnight. Jamie Robertson: Alison, you must know people who’ve been made unemployed. Are they just lying down and taking it or are they getting up and doing something else, finding other opportunities? Alison van Diggelen: In California, Governor Newsom has set up a job matching site. The state has partnered with private companies so you can go online and find jobs that fit your skills. Other people are doing coding classes, or online training, to become yoga teachers for example.
This week, I interviewed Susan Brennan of Bloom Energy and heard about an engineer called Joe Tavi. He hasn’t lost his job, but has found a new job. He was on the production team for fuel cell making, but is now on the “Tiger Team” to refurbish ventilators for the cause. People are really seeing opportunities within this devastation. Robertson: We’re going to be hearing from him in the last piece on this program. You’ve got a fascinating report….
Over in Silicon Valley, a fuel cell company called Bloom Energy has stepped up to refurbish non-functioning ventilators for hospitals in record speed by repurposing their warehouses. Here’s the company’s COO, Susan Brennan. Susan Brennan: Valves, pumps, airflow, batteries: If you look at the pieces, there’s so much commonality between a ventilator and a fuel cell. Completely different function and process, but at its base level: very common inputs.
I spoke to the head of health and human services on March 17th, St Patrick’s day. That’s when I built the Tiger Team. I said: this is a mission, either you’re in or you’re not in. But if you’re in, we’re going to solve this thing!
My engineer, Joe Tavi, went home on a Wednesday. He downloaded the manual, taught himself overnight, developed processes the next day, Thursday. On Friday we convinced the state that we were capable of doing this. Everybody’s asking: what they can do right now? Where is that niche that you have, that you can go fill?
Susan asks a very good question: where’s the niche that you have, that you can go fill?
Find out more
Bloom Energy is refurbishing between 1000 and 2000 ventilators a week. To date, it has delivered over 1000 ventilators in California and Delaware. If you have ventilators in need of refurbishment, please contact Bloom Energy today. You could save a life.
If you’d like to share what you or your company is doing to help fight the pandemic or support people in your community, join the conversation at Facebook
This week, Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager, stole the show at the United Nations General Assembly. Thanks to her, climate change is on the minds of the world. I was invited to discuss climate change action on the BBC World Service this month and we explored the role of activists like Thunberg, indigenous people, and technology pioneers like Elon Musk.
With visible rage, Thunberg described the urgency of action in stark terms on Monday.
”People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth.”
Then Thunberg made a passionate plea to each one of us, especially political leaders, to examine our consciences.
“How dare you continue to look away? The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”
Greta Thunberg’s fury was evident to everyone who watched her, but she ended on a positive note:
“Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.”
BBC host, Jamie Robertson led a lively discussion exploring the urgency of climate change action and we were joined by ABC Australia’s Clare Negus. I took the opportunity to praise Thunberg’s tenacity.
The program started with a soulful report by the BBC’s Frey Lindsay. He reported on a gathering of indigenous community leaders from around the world who met at University College London to listen, exchange ideas and build solidarity in the fight against environmental degradation and climate change.
Listen to the podcast at the BBC World Service (environmental discussion starts at 10:40)
Here’s a transcript of conversation highlights (edited for length and clarity):
Jamie Robertson: In California, you’re very much on the front line, we think of the wildfires…do indigenous people have a role to play here?
Alison van Diggelen: It’s important for us in California, and around the world, to listen to the indigenous people. What we do over the next ten to twenty years is going to determine the fate of humanity. We need to remember environmentalist, John Muir, who said:
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”
Technology plays a role in this by increasing transparency. Almost everyone has a mobile phone (and can take photos of environmental abuses), so multinationals can’t get away with what they used to.
Jamie Robertson: How high up the news agenda are questions about environmental problems and climate change?
Alison van Diggelen: Greta Thunberg, bless her heart, is keeping it on our agenda, but I wish it were higher. Looking at the Democratic Party Presidential debates, climate change was there, but I wish we could raise the issue more. People are concerned about what’s impacting them on a daily basis. There’s not enough of a long term view. We need more people like David Attenborough (and Greta Thunberg and Bill McKibben) speaking up for the environment.
Jamie Robertson: Clare ?
Clare Negas: It’s a major criticism of ABC Australia that we do too much on climate change and not enough on cost of living stories!
Jamie Robertson: I want to take the conversation on to the Frankfurt Motor Show and the extraordinary confrontation between the “Lords” of the auto industry and ordinary citizens worried about climate change, worried about cars and what they’re doing to the environment.
Alison, you’re in California at the forefront in the development of electric vehicles and things which could actually make a difference. Is there a sense of optimism that these things will work?
Alison van Diggelen: Absolutely. California is where Elon Musk jumpstarted this electric vehicle revolution. Tesla is doing phenomenally well. They’re due to sell about half a million electric cars this year. California is a state that is doing all it can to boost the sales of electric vehicles (EVs). It accounts for half of all U.S. sales of EVs thanks to rebates and state government policies. It has a goal of getting 5 million EVs on the road by 2030 and it does things like fast tracking permissions for charging infrastructure; that’s a key part of making EVs the number one form of transport.
Elon Musk has predicted that within 10 years, the majority of cars produced will be electric. Others like Morgan Stanley say it’s more like 20 years. It may be somewhere in the middle.
Jamie Robertson: Clare, do you have such faith?
Clare Negas: I do! I think globally electric cars will be the future. In Australia it’ll be a bigger battle because there is such a cultural identity around petrol and diesel fueled engines. We’re a strong car culture and that will continue. A few years ago, we drove a Tesla hundreds of kms to prove it wouldn’t run out of energy. There were no problems. Check out Clare’s fascinating report here.
End of Transcript
Extra: The program included a discussion about the college admissions scandal and I made a shout out to the hard working team and students at Breakthrough Silicon Valley who arguably have the most to lose. Their leader John Hiester recently wrote a moving oped about his outrage at cheaters like Felicity Huffman.
Find out more about clean tech and technology’s role in climate action at Fresh Dialogues.
This month, the modern space race is really firing up. Three of the world’s most exciting entrepreneurs are vying for supremacy in space exploration: Elon Musk of SpaceX, Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic.
Last week, I joined Rob Young on the BBC World Service to explore: who’s most likely to win today’s space race; and what’s motivating them?
Richard Branson is focused on taking tourists into space. His Virgin Galactic company offers sub-orbital space flight for a cool $250,000 a ticket. He plans to be one of Virgin’s first “citizen astronauts” later this year.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have much more ambitious goals – to establish colonies in space. But that’s where their missions diverge: Bezos wants to create a colony on the moon and on multiple giant space stations orbiting the Earth. He just released detailed plans for Blue Origin’s “Lunar Lander.”
“We will go back to the moon,” Bezos says, “This time to stay!”
But Musk has even loftier goals. He famously told me, “I want to die on Mars, just not on impact!”
Musk envisions a thriving colony on Mars. To fund that mission, he has created a booming SpaceX business, launching private satellites into space, as well as offering rocket-courier service to the International Space Station. But Musk is also vying for a slice of the Trillion dollar internet connection business.
This month, SpaceX’s plans to launch its first 60 satellites in the Starlink mission to bring fast internet connection to billions of the world’s unserved population. Bullish as ever, Musk’s ultimate plan is for 12,000 satellites in low earth orbit.
Rival, OneWeb, backed by Richard Branson has more modest plans for a 600 satellite constellation. The race is on!
The BBC’s Rob Young started by asking my fellow guest, Liz Gwynn, Prime 7 TV Anchor (from Wagga Wagga, Australia) if she’d take up Richard Branson’s invitation to go for a ride on Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity. Her answer made me chuckle!
Here’s a transcript of some of our conversation:
Rob Young: Which of the billionaires will win this space race?
Alison van Diggelen: I’d put money on Elon Musk. He’s defied naysayers time and time again. His company – SpaceX – has pioneered reusable rockets which has driven down the cost by a factor of four.
This summer, they plan to be the first private company to launch astronauts to the International Space Station. Previously, it’s just been superpowers.
Rob Young: Is it a serious business, or just bragging rights?
Alison van Diggelen: Elon Musk has had a lifetime ambition. He’s famously said: I want to die on Mars. Just not on impact!
He’s doing it for the adventure, but also as an inspirational objective, and something that can make humans a multi-planetary species. It’s a big dream, a big vision.
***
Find out more
Our BBC conversation moved on to Clean Energy and California’s ambitious goals to decarbonize its energy sources. Listen to the BBC World Service @42:30 when we discuss Governor Gavin Newsom and his bold stance on clean energy.
