Episode 179: Who Owns a Seed? Bangladesh Revisited, George Takei and more

Vandana Shiva's "Seed Satyagraha"

"For these corporations to sit far away from some distance and pretend it is they that are producing the harvest, and therefore there should be a royalty that they should collect at the time of harvest, is so very wrong." - Vandana Shiva is an environmental activist, and the founder of Navdanya

Six Ways to Fix Everest

"There are those Sherpas, they're Buddhists and they believe Everest is sacred and they believe that they've been punished in some way. That the mountain has taken revenge for all the excesses of the last 10 years."  - Mark Jenkins, contributor for National Geographic, climbed Everest last summer 

Hard Year in Bangladesh

"What I want is for the person who did this to feel the pain and hurt and suffering of losing legs and livelihood like I have. I want that person to be in a wheelchair like I am now." - Paki Begum, Rana Plaza survivor

"That money is only given to people in understanding and due sympathy so that we can take it and try to do something with it. But there is nothing you can do. And you cannot get back what you have lost even if you cry." - Rashida Begum lost her 15-year-old daughter at Rana Plaza

"If only the government would acknowledge us and that because we went voluntarily there we mean nothing. We acted as humans and for humanity we came forward.' - Rafiqul Islam, volunteer Rescuer traumatized by Rana Plaza 

Avril's J-Pop Misfires

"You just have to work harder. You have to aim higher. The audience is now much more sophisticated around the world than what was delivered to us on a platter (by Avril)." -Patrick Macias of Otaku USA and Crunchy Roll News

To Be Takei

"I didn't understand what was going on while we were imprisoned ... We began the school day every morning with the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I could see the barbed wire fence right outside my school house window as I recited the worlds 'with liberty and justice for all.' Each word stinging with irony."  - Activist, actor and gay icon George Takei