1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to zero. I am at rati this week climate 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: negotiations as entertainment this sentence. Countries are urged to take 3 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: immediate actions to control the risks of climate change. Surely 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: we can all agree on this. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 2: No, no, No, mean countries are urged. 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: I'm sorry it is urgent. I feel urged. 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 2: I don't feel urged. 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: Do you feel urged? 9 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 3: Donel urgent? 10 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 2: Courage? Second? 11 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: Urged is a red line for us? Courage invited? Course, No, 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: we should all feel. 13 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 2: Urged the media. Countries are urged to take actions to 14 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 2: control the risk of climate change. 15 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:44,919 Speaker 1: What are these actions? 16 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 4: An idealistic promise made today could close a factory in 17 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 4: Detroit tomorrow with. 18 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 2: On actions that would be economically beneficial as well. 19 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: No regrets. We second that rechoice. The line, or whatever 20 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:57,959 Speaker 1: is left of it is a great. 21 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 5: A question for you. Actually, how many cops have you 22 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 5: been to? 23 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: Three? The last three? 24 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 5: They sound like marathon events. 25 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: Yeah they are. They are two weeks long and almost 26 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: always overrun, and everything gets shut down by the last 27 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: few days, and you're out of coffee and energy and 28 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: you're exhausted. It's sort of all cops, I think, not 29 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: just the last three. 30 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 5: It sounds a little drudgerous to be honest. I mean, 31 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 5: I'm not a fan of a very long meeting, so 32 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 5: I have to admit. When I heard that the Royal 33 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 5: Shakespeare Company was putting on a new play about Cop three, 34 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 5: which was held in Kyoto, I was very intrigued, but 35 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 5: also felt a little bit of trepidation about what it 36 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 5: is we would be sitting through. 37 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, me too. When I was told that there is 38 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: a play about the Kyoto Protocol, I was surprised. You know, 39 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: there is a lot of drama at these places. It's 40 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: high stakes, all countries are involved, the fate of the 41 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: planet is involved. But it is really boring in the 42 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: fact that it's negotiations done over text and over words 43 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,679 Speaker 1: that most people don't understand, and it's all a bit chaotic. 44 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: And so how do you make that entertaining? That was 45 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: the question to me when I heard there was a 46 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 1: play about it. 47 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 5: Today's episode is all about the play. We'll be hearing 48 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 5: from the director and one of the actors, and also 49 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 5: from someone who attended those Kyoto negotiations in nineteen ninety seven. 50 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 5: And yeah, it was long, but it didn't feel too long. 51 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 5: I thought part of what made it compelling was the 52 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 5: way it was staged. The stage is shaped like a 53 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 5: conference table. Members of the audience sit around it, so 54 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 5: they're kind of made to feel like they're part of 55 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 5: the negotiations. 56 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,519 Speaker 1: The playwrights had to figure out how to shrink ten 57 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: years of history and two weeks of negotiations into a 58 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: couple of hours, and they had to do it in 59 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: a fixed setting. So the choice of the stage was important, 60 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: and I asked one of the police directors, Justin Martin, 61 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,119 Speaker 1: about why the stage was shaped that way. 62 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 4: It's a conference table in which a lot of the 63 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 4: action happens around it, within the audience, but also yeah, 64 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 4: on top of the conference table. But as soon as 65 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 4: you put the audience in it, it has an inherent chaos 66 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 4: to it because they're in and around everything, and there 67 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 4: is a certain joy to the way in which the 68 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 4: actors move in and out around an audience. 69 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 5: There is definitely a bit of joyful chaos to the 70 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 5: whole thing, and it seemed to me, someone who's not 71 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 5: been to a cop before, that it probably did give 72 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 5: a reasonable approximation of what it's like when there's two 73 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 5: hundred different countries present trying to all agree on very 74 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 5: specific wording around how to take action on climate change. 75 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 5: The play really builds up to the end of the 76 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 5: Kyoto negotiation period where they reach an agreement in real life. 77 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 5: What did they actually agree on and why was it remarkable? 78 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: Well, by nineteen ninety seven was clear that climate change 79 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: is the problem that all countries have to deal with, 80 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: but rich, industrialized nations had contributed to the problem the most, 81 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: and the Kyoto Protocol was an agreement for all countries, 82 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: but developed countries signed up to legally binding targets to 83 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: reduce emissions over the next couple of decades, whereas developing 84 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: countries were exempt. 85 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 5: One thing I noticed while working on this episode is 86 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 5: that to this day, people still debate the significance of Kyoto, 87 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 5: like how monumental it was, because it was a big breakthrough, 88 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 5: but it wasn't nearly as decisive or successful as it 89 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 5: could have been. Back in the US Congress never ratified 90 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 5: the Kyoto Protocol, the US never was fully on board, and. 91 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: The countries that did sign up to those targets didn't 92 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: have particularly ambitious targets. Japan, for example, had to reduce 93 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: its emissions by six percent by twenty twelve, relative to 94 00:04:54,760 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety levels. Today, all countries have to reduce asis 95 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: by forty three percent by twenty thirty, So the scales 96 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: were completely different. And yet some countries like the UK 97 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: and European Union were able to achieve those targets quite easily. 98 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: Other countries like Japan still didn't meet them. 99 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,039 Speaker 5: Can you make the case though, that what was agreed 100 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 5: and Kyoto did lay the groundwork for the twenty fifteen 101 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 5: Paris Agreement? Is that fair to say? 102 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: All COP meetings sort of build up on each other, 103 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: but there are more significant COP meetings and Kyoto was 104 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: one of them. It was the first time you saw 105 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: the power of country blocks coming together in negotiations. So 106 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: island nations formed an alliance, and that alliance has grown 107 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: in size and was crucial at the Paris Agreement, where 108 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: the target for one point five degrees celsius would not 109 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: have happened had island nations not grouped together and argued 110 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: for that target to exist. There were other technical things 111 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,799 Speaker 1: that came from Kyoto, such as carbon markets have remained 112 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: in agreements. There is a carbon market framework inside the 113 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: Paris Agreement. And then there were fossil fuel lobbyists all 114 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: the way from the start of climate negotiations till now. 115 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 1: You know, we were at COP twenty eight in Dubai, 116 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: a country that built its wealth on oil and gas, 117 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: and that created so much controversy going into those negotiations. 118 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 5: And that's why you had mixed feelings about the choice 119 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 5: of the two writers on the play, Joe Robertson and 120 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 5: Joe Murphy, to make the narrator Don Pearlman, who's famously 121 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 5: a lobbyist working for fossil fuel companies, someone who Despiegel 122 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 5: called the high priest of the carbon Club. Let's hear 123 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 5: a bit of his opening monologue. 124 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 2: Runaway inflation, culture wars, real wars, race riots, fake news, 125 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 2: insane insurrections, global pandemics, and on top of all of that, 126 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 2: a planet in literal meltdown. And if you're a guy 127 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 2: like me looking at a time like now, the main 128 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 2: thing you think is wow, Man, the nineteen nineties were 129 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 2: freaking glorious. 130 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 6: Now. 131 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 2: I know what people like you think of lawyers like me, 132 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 2: But I'm the only one who can tell this story 133 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 2: because I'm the only one who was there. 134 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 5: Don Pearlman died in two thousand and five, but the 135 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 5: writer spoke to his family while researching the play, and 136 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 5: I thought they made him a really compelling, three dimensional character, 137 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 5: not just a cartoon villain. How familiar were you with 138 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 5: Pearlman before you saw the play? 139 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: Not very much. It did come up in a conversation 140 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,239 Speaker 1: I had with the former US Vice President Al Gore 141 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: at COP twenty eight last year, who remembered very clearly 142 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: the kind of role that Don played. 143 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 6: There was a very famous in those days, very famous 144 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 6: cole lobbyists from the United States named Don Pearlman. Never 145 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 6: speak ill of the parted, but he was extremely influential, 146 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 6: really legendary, working hand in glove with the Saudi Arabian delegation. 147 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 5: I feel like legendary is an understatement. There After we 148 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 5: saw the play, I was still really curious about what 149 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 5: Don was like in real life, and so I called 150 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 5: up someone who had crossed paths with him at several 151 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 5: climate negotiations, including that COP in Kyoto. 152 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 3: So I started actually on another treaty, the Treaty to 153 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,719 Speaker 3: protect the ozone layer that's called the Montreal Protocol. That's 154 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 3: where I first bumped into Don Perlman. 155 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 5: Actually, David Donnegher is now a strategist with the National 156 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 5: Resource Defense Council. 157 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 3: And then I worked in the Clinton administration and I 158 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,599 Speaker 3: actually was part of the US negotiating team for the 159 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 3: Kyoto Protocol, and he was there, always standing in the 160 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 3: corner smoking. You would see him wait for the Saudi delegate. 161 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 3: Al Sabon represented OPEK Saudi Arabia, same goals. They worked 162 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 3: together in the play. 163 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 5: A lot of the drama is around these different representatives 164 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 5: arguing about the exact wording that everyone can agree on. 165 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, very much so. I mean, going into every cop, 166 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: we tell listeners and readers, this is what US reporters 167 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: are going to have to deal with when we get 168 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: to cops. It's just going to be words on pages, 169 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: usually in square brackets, which are for not yet agreed, 170 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: and there will be a lot of back and forth 171 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: on those words. And the way agreements come about is 172 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: fascinating because it's so many countries, even if it's country blocks, 173 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: they have really different desires and yet they have to 174 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: agree on those same words. In all the cops I've seen, 175 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: and I think it's true of all cops in general, 176 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: agreement is partly reached through compromise, but also through exhaustion. 177 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: You know, people run out of coffee and coke and food, 178 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,959 Speaker 1: and everything starts to shut down, and people's planes are leaving, 179 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: and you have to agree on something because this is 180 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: such an important problem and you cannot not do anything. 181 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 5: Yeah, that's what David remembered too. 182 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 3: We went all night and we finally achieved an agreement. 183 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 3: And by the way, this is when they had run 184 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 3: out of Coca cola, and I mean areas on fumes 185 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 3: and anyway, about five or six in the morning, we 186 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 3: agreed on the Kyoto protocol. I remember a Washington Post 187 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 3: reporter called me. My punchline was, this is a good 188 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 3: day to adopt a treaty, but a bad day to 189 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 3: operate heavy machinery. 190 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,839 Speaker 5: David hasn't seen the play at the moment. You can 191 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 5: only see it in Stratford upon Avon until the thirteenth 192 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 5: of July. But because he was there at the negotiations 193 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 5: in Kyoto, I wanted to know what he thought about 194 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 5: Don's presence and lasting impact on the whole agreement. 195 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 3: He was kind of an outsized personality because even though 196 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 3: he was quiet, because he just stood there and smoked 197 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 3: and glowered and muttered. So he became a symbol of 198 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 3: you know, the bad actor, but there are hundreds of them. 199 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 3: You could say that the legacy of Don Perman is 200 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 3: the capture of the Republican Party by the fossil fuel industry. 201 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: Clearly, Don Pulman was a big character, and he was 202 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: a big character not just in Kyoto, but in negotiations 203 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,959 Speaker 1: all the way through the nineties. But it was weird 204 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: to me that the playwrights chose him not just to 205 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: be a character but also the narrator. So you had 206 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: this guy who was in his real life showing disagreement 207 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: where you needed agreement, and then being the narrator telling 208 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: you why his attempts to sew disagreement weren't quite working. 209 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: And I felt that was a little disjointed, but you know, 210 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: playwrights have a difficult job. I've never written a play. 211 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: It was entertaining. 212 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:57,839 Speaker 5: I can see where you're coming from, as someone who 213 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 5: still had their climate reporter had on even while in 214 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 5: the theater. To me, I thought, there are some really 215 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 5: smart reasons why they had him as a main character, 216 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 5: and it pulled me in a little more into the 217 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 5: human drama. 218 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: I certainly enjoyed the actor who played Don Pearlman. And 219 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: after the break, we'll have a conversation with that actor 220 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: Stephen Kunkin. By the way, if you're enjoying this episode, 221 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: please take a moment to rate and review the show 222 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,079 Speaker 1: on Spotify or Apple. It helps other listeners find it. 223 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 5: The character of Don Pearlman, as you heard, was central 224 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 5: to the drama leading up to the Kyoto Protocol, both 225 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 5: in real life and in the play. In this production, 226 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 5: he's larger than life, and a lot of that has 227 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 5: to do with the way actor Stephen Kunkin inhabits the role. 228 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,680 Speaker 5: Actually caught up with Stephen the morning actor Kyoto's opening night. 229 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 5: They spoke in the offices of the Royal Shakespeare Company 230 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 5: in Stratford upon Avon. 231 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: You played the role of Don Pullman, the lawyer working 232 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,079 Speaker 1: for the Seven Sisters, the Big ol companies, and later 233 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: for Saudi Arabia. He's someone climate people are very critical of. 234 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: When I spoke with Al Gore last year, he called 235 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: him legendary and not in a nice way. Over the 236 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: span of many years, his job was to impede, to 237 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: slow down, to water down, or just really thwart any 238 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: possible meaningful action from being taken on climate change. Had 239 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: you heard of Don Pullman before you read this play 240 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: and what made you say yes. 241 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 2: I had not heard of Don Perlman before this play, 242 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 2: and I think that's it's that's not an accident. I 243 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 2: think Don very much lived in the shadows and was 244 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 2: most comfortable doing his work there. You know, coming to 245 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 2: the process of doing Don, it came out of a 246 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 2: real desire to want to reconnect as an artist to 247 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 2: doing things that felt important that we're challenging ideas and 248 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 2: concepts that I was struggling with in my own life, 249 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 2: and you know, we are walking through such a fractured 250 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 2: time right now, and I really wanted to try to 251 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 2: do something that helped me move my own understanding of 252 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 2: why it was impossible to connect with family members or 253 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 2: friends who had different political ideas or different social valuations 254 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 2: on things that I was very very sure about. And 255 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 2: you know, one of the responsibilities you have as an 256 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 2: actor is to find empathy for the characters that you play, 257 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 2: and I felt like when I read Don that we 258 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 2: weren't going to do a hit job on Don Perlman. 259 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 2: I think that's an easy thing to do, is to 260 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 2: shoot fish in a barrel. If you want to do that, 261 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 2: I think you're just preaching basically to the choir, and 262 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 2: so I wanted to find out what about Don made 263 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 2: sense to me, because that seems to me in this 264 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 2: moment to be the way that we can move forward 265 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 2: is to try to find commonality with the people that 266 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 2: we don't see eye to eye with. And the most 267 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 2: interesting thing I've sort of discovered about Don is the 268 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 2: same thing that lawyers often do, which is they provide 269 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 2: the best defense for often what from the outside world 270 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 2: we find reprehensible. You're only ever as good as the 271 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 2: strongest defense. And Don was providing a very strong defense 272 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 2: for the Seven sisters, and there is a lot of 273 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 2: ideology in there. It's been very, very interesting. I've ended up, 274 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 2: you know, I've spoken a bit with his son, and 275 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 2: he's become much more human in my mind and three dimensional. Now. 276 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: The writers of the play made a choice to not 277 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: just center the play around Don's character, your character. Terrible choice, terrible, terrible, 278 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: But they also made Don the narrator. Why was that 279 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: choice made? Because you flipped between these two roles, one 280 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: who is dedicated to spoiling any agreement versus one who 281 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: is observing an agreement form despite your attempts, And as 282 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: a viewer, that was the only thing I was a 283 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: little jarred about. 284 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 2: I mean, I personally think that this play is inert 285 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 2: if you have rale Estrata as your narrator, if you 286 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 2: have someone who not because he wasn't a remarkable human 287 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 2: being and had agency and the right to tell the story. 288 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 2: But what is compelling about this narrative is putting it 289 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 2: in the hands of the person who didn't want this 290 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 2: to go the way that it went. And for me, 291 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 2: that's the kind of the brilliant moment they the eureka moment. 292 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 2: Otherwise otherwise it in some ways, it kind of becomes 293 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 2: a jingoistic and don't I don't want it to be 294 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 2: that I've always felt and I know that they feel 295 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 2: that they want this to be an even handed look 296 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 2: at what this time was. And I think don is 297 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 2: vital in telling that story. 298 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: So do you think of Pullman as a bad actor 299 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: in moral terms or just a consummate strategist, someone who's 300 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: really good at the politics and game theory, just a 301 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: very good lawyer. 302 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,880 Speaker 2: I think it's a really gray area on how one 303 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 2: splits that atom. He works in the gray area because 304 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 2: you know, as we discussed in the play, it's all 305 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 2: about language. You know, I think the big question was 306 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 2: what did Don know? And when did Don know it? 307 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,479 Speaker 2: And then once you know that, what do you do 308 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:45,640 Speaker 2: that information. I still think that everybody deserves the strongest defense, 309 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 2: and hopefully, you know, the policy that can be made 310 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 2: against a strong defense will last time as opposed to 311 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 2: just being watered down. 312 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: Now. Don died in two thousand and five. He was 313 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: a chainsmoker where I'm going to go and do a 314 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: few spoilers, but the last scenes are him on his 315 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: deathbed and his wife talking about him as a person. 316 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: Because as the writers the two Joe's figured this out. 317 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: They figured it out through reading about him, but also 318 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:22,679 Speaker 1: through meeting his family, his wife and then son. But 319 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: all through this, what do you think Don's character is? 320 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: Is it a tragedy? 321 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,479 Speaker 2: I think for Don it's a bit of an adventure story. 322 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 2: You know, here's a guy who was doing a very 323 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 2: specific thing in the Department of Energy under the Reagan 324 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 2: administration and he comes out of that period of time 325 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 2: looking for new purpose. And you know, when climate policy 326 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 2: was first being written, it was, as Don says in 327 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 2: the play, could be seen as a voluntary redistribution of wealth. 328 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 2: As countries who had a bigger claim to more immediate concerns. Suddenly, 329 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 2: were you know, tying up Western civilization again to quote 330 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 2: the play in a straight jacket. And I think he 331 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 2: worked very, very hard to find a rugged way through. 332 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,520 Speaker 2: And I go back to this discussion I had with 333 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 2: the family a long time ago, where I was sitting 334 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 2: at the table. I wasn't long out of graduate school 335 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 2: at Juilliard, where I just spent four years studying Shakespeare, 336 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 2: and I sat down with my family, sort of distant family, 337 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 2: who were lawyers, all lawyers who wanted to debate whether 338 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 2: Shakespeare was of any value anymore. It bore no relevance 339 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 2: to modern society. Most people couldn't understand it. They felt 340 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 2: most people they didn't like it, and they pretended that 341 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 2: they liked it, and most people would rather see a 342 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 2: modern play. So what was the actual purpose of Shakespeare? 343 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 2: And sitting amongst this these legal minds, I found myself 344 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 2: sort of devoid of any good, any good defense for Shakespeare. 345 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 2: And and but they took such an incredible joy in 346 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 2: sort of breaking down you know what I think would 347 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 2: be widely accepted as the great you know writer in 348 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 2: the English language. And there's that mind that I don't 349 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 2: know that I possess that kind of literal mind to 350 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 2: sort of when everyone else says black, prove that it's white. 351 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 2: And that to me has a lot about what Don 352 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 2: does in this play, and it's very very interesting. It's 353 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 2: very heavy to step into that, into that world where 354 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 2: you know that you are the one person who sees 355 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 2: something in one way and can manipulate people to walk 356 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 2: in that direction. 357 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: So there is a universality to his character in some sense, 358 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: which is to say, there are Don Pulman's in the past, 359 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,640 Speaker 1: there are Don Pulman's in the present, and there will 360 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: be Don Pullman's in the future. Who would you characterize 361 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: as the Don Pullmans of today? 362 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 2: Oh gosh, I mean, you know, it's funny. Just the 363 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:15,680 Speaker 2: other night, I came home from the show and I 364 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 2: was really I had a lot of energy and stupidly 365 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 2: was doom scrolling through Instagram and found some sort of 366 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 2: friend who who has gotten in a very different political 367 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 2: way than I have. And I don't know why. I 368 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 2: don't usually answer people on Instagram. I don't usually engage 369 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 2: in political discourse online. But for this whatever reason, is 370 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 2: probably because Don Perlman was still strong in my in 371 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,479 Speaker 2: my engine. I got into a you know, one thirty 372 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 2: am because of the time difference fight with this with 373 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:55,160 Speaker 2: this friend. And you know, Dohn Perlman's exist on both sides. 374 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 2: You know, the people who are in our country who 375 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 2: are watching Fox News think that the Don pearl Ones 376 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 2: were on CNN, and the people who were watching CNN 377 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 2: think that the Don Pearlmans are on Fox News and Bloomberg. 378 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 2: I think is much more right down the middle. It's 379 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 2: very very fair. So but yeah, I mean they're you know, 380 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 2: punditry has become the place I think a lot of 381 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 2: the Don Peerlmans live because so much policy is now 382 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,119 Speaker 2: made in the public, in the social media, really in 383 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 2: the social media realm, where people's opinions start to really 384 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 2: shape and shift. And so if you can get to 385 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 2: them early, even long before they get to a voting booth, 386 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 2: you can get it just by putting up a fake 387 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 2: viral video, or you can put out a factoid that shapes, 388 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,360 Speaker 2: you know, a movement. So I'm it's hard to put 389 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,160 Speaker 2: my finger on it. I wouldn't say that it's on 390 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,360 Speaker 2: one side or the other. I mean, I think it's 391 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 2: just the it's the art of manipulation, and you know 392 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 2: that's it's it's everywhere. 393 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: What do you hope the audience is left with at 394 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: the end of the performance. 395 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 2: The biggest thing that I have found, and I discovered 396 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 2: this in sort of like this aha moment that happened 397 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 2: when we were still rehearsing in London and we got 398 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,119 Speaker 2: to the big scene in this play. And you know, 399 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:14,920 Speaker 2: it's not a spoiler because I think we can all 400 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 2: read the history of what happened in Kyoto, although that 401 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 2: history is you know, malleable if you look at it 402 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 2: through the lens of time. But the process of agreement 403 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 2: ultimately seems to me not to be intellectual. It's emotional, 404 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 2: and I've found that incredibly hopeful and inspiring that you know, 405 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 2: you take a brilliant mind like Don Perlman, who could 406 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 2: dot every iron, cross every tee and make every cow 407 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 2: dance on the head of a pin. But at the 408 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 2: end of the day, if the emotional commitment to get 409 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 2: something done outweighs that intellectual commitment, things can change. And 410 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 2: we're in this moment where I think we feel powerless 411 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 2: to make change because things don't make sense. The problems 412 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 2: of climate change are so massive and seem like they're 413 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 2: just there's there's nothing we can do, And all really 414 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 2: takes is is the belief and the hope that we 415 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 2: can do something and that can actually be the one 416 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 2: thing that moves the ball across the line. So that's 417 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 2: that's what I hope people take away, that there is 418 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 2: there is power in one's belief. 419 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:42,439 Speaker 1: Thank you, Steven, thank you for listening to Zero, and 420 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: for those who stayed till the end. Here is the 421 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: sound of. 422 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 3: The WEE. 423 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 6: Will recommend this, but. 424 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 3: Let me recommend it. 425 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: Will recommend the adoption of this protocol to the conference 426 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: by you. That is the sound of the Kyoto Protocol 427 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:10,400 Speaker 1: being agreed on in nineteen ninety seven, recorded on AVHS 428 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: tape using electrical energy converted into magnetic energy, then converted 429 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: back to electrical energy as it was uploaded to YouTube 430 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: by the United Nations. If you liked this episode, please 431 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: take a moment to rate or review the show on 432 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Share this episode with a friend 433 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 1: or with someone who likes going to theater. You can 434 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: get in touch at zero pod at Bloomberg dot Net. 435 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: Zero's producer is Mighty Lee Rao, Bloomberg's head of podcasts 436 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: is Sagebauman and head of Talk is Brendan newnam Our 437 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 1: theme music is composed by Wonderly Special thanks to Kirra Bindrim, 438 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 1: Alicia Clanton, Anamazarakis and the Royal Shakespeare i am Kshatrati 439 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: back So