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Better World Books Podcast: Laura Flanders

Posted by Dana on 07.08.2009 at 7:20 am

bluegritI got the chance to sit down with Laura Flanders recently at the Green Festival in Seattle.  This is a busy, smart woman who knows how to talk and knows what she is talking about.  After all that’s what she does for a living.

In addition to being an author, Laura Flanders hosts GRITtv – a daily talk show which airs online as well as on satellite, cable and public tv.  The show also airs weekly on radio and focuses on both news and arts.

We talked primarly about the book BLUE GRIT which focuses on the Democratic party and Laura’s belief that the party has to stop pandering the middle and focus on it’s liberal base.  The Blue Gritters as she calls them.  Read more…

Interview with Laura Flanders [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1657)

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Better World Books Podcast: John Perkins

Posted by Dana on 06.23.2009 at 6:23 am

secrethistory John Perkins is the real deal.  A former economic hit man, he was actually part of the problem he describes in THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE.  But Perkins didn’t like what he saw happening and chose not to be a part of it anymore.  He literally risked his life to expose the game.

What’s great about Perkins’ books is they are written for real people like you and me who are not economists and who are not focused on this stuff on a daily basis.  Each region of the world is discussed not in mind-numbing detail but with just enough information to get you up to speed.  Read more…

Interview with John Perkins [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1410)

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Denver Green Festival

Posted by Dana on 05.07.2009 at 7:16 am

gf09logostackedbwSo I guess now I’m a veteran of the Green Festivals having now been to 3 of them.  DC last November, Seattle in March and now Denver this past weekend.

This was the first year the festival was held in Denver and though the weather wasn’t great on Saturday it cleared up and the traffic picked up on Sunday.  Unlike Seattle, where we just had an informational booth, in Denver we were the official bookseller for the festival.

It’s a lot of fun getting to meet our customers face to face as well as both the local and national authors.  One of the highlights for me was getting to meet Mike Farrell who played Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H.  Of course in addition to his acting, he is well known for his activism and has two books out which he was signing after his talk.  I’ll actually get the chance to sit down Mike for a podcast while when we’re in Chicago for the next Green Festival, May 16 & 17.

I’m looking forward to another fun but exhausting trip out there, so if you’re in the area, come see us.

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Seattle Green Festival

Posted by Dana on 03.31.2009 at 8:21 am

gf09logostackedbwI am sitting  at the gate in Chicago Midway airport on my way home from the Green Festival in Seattle.  What a great experience.  The event took place over two days in the Seattle Convention Center and brought together amazing speakers, companies and attendees who are all working to conserve, reuse, recycle, and just generally improve the environment and thereby the economy.

This is the second Green Festival I’ve been too.  The first was in DC in November when I had no idea what to expect.  I have come to learn over the last few months how closely tied our environmental and economic issues are.  If you’re not sure what I mean, check out Van Jones’ GREEN COLLAR ECONOMY, Herve Kempf’s HOW THE RICH ARE DESTROYING THE EARTH,  and John Perkins’ THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE just to name a few.

At first I struggled a bit with the idea of the festival.  Many of the speakers talk about the need for us to curb our out of control materialism and cut back on our consumerism in general, and yet the floor of the conference is filled with companies selling their wares.  (Including us!)  But after my interview with John Perkins this past weekend, I got it.  Read more…

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Paging Authors Podcast: Madeleine Kunin

Posted by Dana on 12.09.2008 at 12:14 pm

Paging Authors with Dana Barrett is a weekly podcast in which our lovely and talented Ms. Barrett sits down with your favorite bestselling authors as well as up and coming literary stars.

Dana sat down with Governor Madeleine Kunin following her talk at the recent Green Festival in Washington DC to talk about her latest book.  Pearls, Politics, and Power is a call to action for new political engagement and leadership from the women of America. Informed by conversations with elected female leaders from all levels, Kunin, former three-term Vermont Governor and Ambassador to Switzerland, asks: What difference do women make? Read more…

Madeline Kunin [ 18:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (279)

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Destinie’s DC Green Festival Trip

Posted by Kelly on 11.20.2008 at 12:00 pm

As a 24 year old who has never been out of the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana (aside from Chicago, Illinois and Niles, Michigan, lame I know), I was pretty excited to hear that I had won the extra ticket to the Washington, DC Green Festival. I was pretty nervous, having never been on a plane or so far from home, so my anxiety was running a bit high. I spent literally 2 weeks packing for a 4 day trip… very OCD. Then the day to leave finally arrived.

All the way to the airport I was about to pass out from nerves. But as soon as I got on the plane (which was very tiny) I felt a little bit better. Then it started to move. Read more…

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Chicago, Navy Pier, Game Time!

Posted by admin on 05.15.2008 at 2:26 pm

What are you doing this weekend?  A veritable ton of Better World Books employees will be on hand at the Chicago Green Festival, as BWB is the OFFICIAL BOOKSTORE!  We’ll have signgings from some great green authors, great books, and some SWEET new shirt designs that you will want to have (two stores in San Francisco have already asked to sell them for us, and I just was wearing one, I didn’t even make a sales pitch!).

Come hang out, meet the SF team, meet some of the warehouse crowd, and let us shake the hands of our customers!

May 17 + 18 at the Navy Pier in Chicago.  Bring 3+ books and get $5 off admission for the weekend (and I’ll love you forever).

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Seattle Green Festival

Posted by Jack on 04.16.2008 at 12:28 pm

Seattle Green Festival = major success.  First of all I’d like to thank our lovely volunteers who helped us collect 3 pallets of books(!) at the festival and looked good doing it.

Next I’d like to thank all the people who came by the chat it up with us lads, about the environment, books, and pretty much anything else (and whoever bought Jaime’s hide-a-book (as I put it, to hide things from your friends who don’t read), enjoy that awesome piece of craftsmanship).

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I’d like to thank the burrito place, for making delicious, delicious, organic burritos, AlterEco for their myriad delicious chocolate selection (try the mint, wow!) and HonesTea for the case of lemon black tea that I nabbed at the end of the conference.  Muy delicioso!  OK, OK, so more thanks to the people who came to talk to us (including the gent who said he had bought 60+ books from us and knew our business model better than some of us did, wow).

Book your tickets now, Chicago, May 16, making it happen as the official bookstore of their Green Fest!

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Seattle Green Fest!

Posted by admin on 04.11.2008 at 4:52 pm

Today if you want to find five good looking guys who are into supporting literacy by selling books (as well as bicycling, basketball, and Patriot League sports/Notre Dame football) then swing by the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle.  There, if you can wade through the awesomeness at the Greenfest you’ll find, Rudy (of ARC fame), Xavier, Justin, Geoff and myself making the rounds and reppin’ BWB at our booth.  Come by, get a shirt, tote or just say hey!

Expect some new enhanced (ooooo!) content this weekend.

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The San Francisco Green Fest

Posted by admin on 11.18.2007 at 10:28 am

Last weekend Better World Books attended the Green Fest in San Francisco to promote BetterWorld.com.  What an incredible event!  Over the course of three days, we spoke with thousands of people, ran a very successful book drive, and learned a good deal about other green initiatives happening throughout the world.  All in all, the event was a great success, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!


Above: Paul Drake, Geoff Schwarten, Silvia Sweidan, Brad Weirich, Natasha Harris, Justin Brandon


Above: Plastic Man

The man above was one of the flashier participants at the Fest.  He single-handedly ran his own awareness campaign about plastic, and came dressed in 700 plastic grocery bags (the amount of bags the average person throws away in a year) in order to effectively demonstrate how much waste our lives contribute to the environment.  Makes you want to buy reusable grocery bags, right?!

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