Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”)

In the second of two CITES-centric episodes , this episode finds David in conversation with Australian filmmaker Abraham Joffe – director of Trade Secret , the award-winning documentary exposing the global trade in polar bear skins. While climate change relentlessly erodes the sea ice these animals depend on, Abraham reveals how polar bears are still legally trophy-hunted, skinned and sold as luxury rugs and taxidermy, their fate decided in conference halls thousands of miles from the Arctic. David and Abraham explore how Trade Secret follows journalists, advocates and Arctic guides – including previous guest Iris Ho – as they investigate both legal and illegal polar bear markets, and push for the species to be “uplisted” to the highest level of CITES protection. Along the way, they discuss the blurred line between filmmaking and journalism, the ethical weight that comes with shaping a story in the edit, and the power – and limits – of a documentary to change international policy. Crucially, the conversation also turns north, to the Indigenous communities who have lived alongside polar bears for generations. Abraham reflects on the cultural and subsistence importance of traditional hunting, how little money actually reaches those communities from the luxury trade, and why giving polar bears the protection they deserve doesn’t have to mean erasing the people who share their icy home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”) is an episode from Trees A Crowd by David Oakes.

This episode is 34:59 long.

This episode was published on Dec 9, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Trees A Crowd when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.