Seth Pollak

Los Angeles Times — An Illinois man has been charged in federal court with making threatening comments on Facebook that people would fire machine guns at a Thousand Oaks Hannukah celebration.

Thousand Oaks Acorn — A quarter-century-old event brought the community together to celebrate Jewish heritage and Hanukkah in Thousand Oaks last week just days after a mass shooting at a similar celebration halfway across the world. On Dec. 17, Thousand Oaks Chabad Jewish Center hosted its 25th annual Hanukkah Family Festival, which drew about 100 residents from throughout the Conejo Valley to the Janss [...]

The European Independent Film Festival — Peek inside the daily lives of the remote Yanomamo in southern Venezuela as they masterfully craft long blowguns for monkey hunting. Or the mournful and yet beautiful rituals of religious figures and community healers in one of India's most holy cities.

The European Independent Film Festival — According to The Guardian, 2023 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded. Various countries have documented their hottest record temperatures, causing events such as the death of a Taylor Swift concert goer in Brazil. Our world is continuing down a path of destruction. How does the documentation of this tragedy though filmmaking make an impact?

The European Independent Film Festival — In 2023, the European Union is expected to waste over 58 million tonnes of food, costing an approximate 132 billion euros. After German film director Valentin Thurn released his documentary depicting everyday examples, the German government “announced the beginning of a campaign against food waste,” funding “ a nationwide study,” into how best to reduce their consumption.

New Voices — "I learned there is almost no chance that I or any of my peers would be able to create enough near-future change to prevent climate catastrophe. When I left my environmental education, I only had hopelessness."

Environmental and Urban Changemakers Podcast — In this episode, Seth and Thereza welcome Mr. Mike Layton, a decade long politician in Toronto, to talk about his recent coupling with York University as the university's first Chief Sustainability Officer. Tackling issues like transportation and overall campus carbon-emissions, Mike Layton lays out the promises of change he hopes to bring as he heads the university's strides towards "positive change".

Environmental and Urban Changemakers Podcast — Today, we talk with Doctor Stephan Kipfer, who has recently published his book "Urban Revolutions" which brings together theorists such as Henri Lefebvre, Franz Fanon, and Antonio Gramsci and relates them to contexts around the world. We take a deep dive into several topics, conversing about the Canadian Indigenous conversation, the importance of democracy in urban revolutions, and so much more.