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Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping returns with an urgent update: he is facing a year in jail for leading a colorful protest at a bank in NYC.Get a free audiobook of your choice, and support the PBC Podcast: sign up for free trial at Audible.com and they will kick in $15 for you!
Bill Talen and a colleague are being prosecuted in New York for a protest they staged at JP MorganChase wealth management offices recently. A group from the Earthalujah Choir descended on the bank wearing Golden Toad masks. As The Rev. explains, golden toads are extinct due to human-caused climate change, and JP Morgan is funding the frackers, mountain top miners, and other extractors who are hurting the planet and hastening its decline.
Talen uses his role as a phony preacher to engage and entertain with a very serious message that links consumerism to greed and the exploitation of the earth. While he has logged more than 75 arrests, this is the first time prosecutors seem serious about locking him up. Here’s a Village Voice story about the incident.
Toward the end of our chat, Rev. Billy offers some alternatives to the mad holday dash to acquire stuff from big box and chain stores, and encourages you to shop locally. The think tank PBC couldn’t remember is the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The hymn is by World Party, called And God Said. And that was a muddy copy of Up With People at the start.