Introduction

Hi! We are Mike Moreno and Rafael Lewis. Welcome to our podcast, The Pod Bros. In our podcast we examine the case study of the Achuar people and the abuse and exploitation of their land by big oil companies for profit.

The Achuar People

The Achuar people are an Amazonian community located on the border of Peru and Ecuador. As economic interest in oil started to grow around the 1970s, the Achuar have seen their land encroached on and exploited for economic gain. The Achuar tribe have received a lot of press over the years and are widely known for their protests and outspoken action against big corporations.

Research Questions

We were interested in this case study for a few reasons. First, we both have family from this part of the world so the case resonated on a more personal level for us. After learning a lot about water rights issues in the US, we wanted to research a comparative case in a different part of the world and see what the similarities and differences were. Our last question driving us was curiosity about what the Achuar, and any indigenous group, can do to reclaim their sovereignty.

Podcast 1

In our first podcast, we introduce ourselves and our case study. We talk about why we chose the Achuar people as our area of focus. We analyze how oil companies have knowingly polluted the land and water of the Achuar people in the Amazon basin. We also talk about some of they key players in the court cases that followed and what are potential long term consequences of continued encroachment of native land and oil pollution in general. If you want to listen to our first podcast, Click Here

Podcast 2

In our second podcast, we discuss the different research methods we used to gather data about the Achuar people and their grievances with the oil companies. We talk about potential people we'd like to interview to get firsthand knowledge of the case. We also discuss what our final podcast segment will be like. To listen to our second podcast Click Here

Reflections

Some of the biggest take aways from this course and the podcast format was the sheer amount of knowledge gained from this experience. We both had some previous background infromation with indigneous rights and struggles but no where near to the level that we wanted. We love the way that the podcast format allows demonstration of learning in an accessible way where other people can learn from us too by listening to the podcast. We both had never created a podcast before and are excited to incorporate this into many aspects of our lives in the future.