Saving the World From Bad Ideas

In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with global ecologist Tom Crowther about a seductive but dangerous assumption: just leave it to the market. While part of the conversation focuses directly on capitalism, inequality, poverty, and wealth redistribution, the discussion is much broader than economics alone. Drawing on Tom’s new book Nature’s Echo, they explore how feedback loops shape everything from the birth of stars to the spread of ideas, the dynamics of ecosystems, the structure of societies, and the possibility of ecological recovery. The central argument is that markets can generate growth, innovation, and momentum, but without balancing forces they also drive instability, degradation, and collapse. It is a wide-ranging conversation about regeneration, resilience, scientific thinking, and how human systems might better mirror the stabilising logic of the natural world.🧠 Topics Discussed🔁 Why feedback loops are one of the most useful ways to understand nature and society🌌 How the same looping dynamics help explain the formation of stars, life, and ecosystems😱 Why climate doomism can become self-fulfilling if it closes off regenerative possibilities⚡ Why renewables and electrification may now be driven by powerful self-reinforcing momentum📉 Why no exponential growth system lasts forever, and why overshoot matters🌱 How regenerative feedback loops can build when livelihoods improve alongside nature🚜 Why Tom distinguishes regenerative livelihoods from simplistic anti-industrial romanticism🌾 How nature loss can eventually reduce agricultural yields, even in intensive systems🥩 Why plant-based proteins and nuclear energy could radically reduce ecological pressure💸 Why poverty is one of the strongest drivers of environmental degradation🧾 How wealth redistribution can act as a stabilising feedback in both society and ecology🌳 What the trillion trees controversy got wrong about restoration🗺️ How the Restore platform helps land stewards, funders, and the public support regeneration on the ground🧪 Why science needs both rigour and humility, especially when defining the world in fixed categories🧠 How constructivist thinking, belief, and consensus shape the way societies understand reality👩‍🏫 Guest BioDr Tom Crowther is a global ecologist working across multiple universities, with his foundation based in Switzerland. His research spans biodiversity, forests, restoration, agriculture, and the feedback loops that shape planetary systems. He is also the author of Nature’s Echo: Harnessing Ancient Feedback Loops to Heal a Changing Planet, which is now available.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesNature’s Echo: Harnessing Ancient Feedback Loops to Heal a Changing Planet by Tom CrowtherThe Restore platformResearch on ecological restoration, regenerative livelihoods, and nature recoveryWork on feedback loops in climate, biodiversity, and social systemsWriting and debate on trillion trees, reforestation, and restoration policy💬 Quote Highlights💬 “For me, the bad idea is that we’re doomed to a bleak future.”Tom Crowther💬 “There’s unbelievable potential for regenerative loops to build momentum as well.”Tom Crowther💬 “I am trying to think like a natural system.”Tom Crowther💬 “I think our economic system needs to perfectly mirror that.”Tom Crowther💬 “Poverty is the biggest driver of degradation.”Tom Crowther💬 “When they are lifted out of poverty, that is when nature thrives and they start to thrive more, which makes nature thrive more.”Tom Crowther🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is an international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through conversations like this one, we challenge bad ideas, spotlight better ones, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.📥 Join the Conversation💬 podcast@weplanet.org📩 https://weplanet.org/podcast👁️ https://twitter.com/weplanetint

10/06/2026 • 68:42

In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with science writer Rowan Hooper about one of the deepest misconceptions in biology: that life is only about competition. Drawing on Hooper’s new book Togetherness, they explore how symbiosis and cooperation run through life at every scale, from lichens and corals to ants, orchids, the human microbiome, and even the origin of complex cells. The conversation also revisits Darwin, Malthus, ecology, overconsumption, and the ways modern society has been shaped by an overly narrow reading of evolution. It is a wide-ranging discussion about why life’s greatest successes often come not from ruthless struggle alone, but from collaboration, interdependence, and living together.🧠 Topics Discussed🧬 Why cooperation and symbiosis have been neglected in biology for so long🍄 How lichens show that radically different life forms can combine into one successful organism🪸 Why coral reefs depend on symbiosis between animals and algae🔋 How mitochondria and chloroplasts reveal that complex cells were built through endosymbiosis🦠 Why humans are ecosystems, not just individuals, thanks to the microbiome🧠 How symbiotic microbes influence digestion, mood, sleep, and immunity📚 Whether modern understandings of symbiosis challenge Darwin, or deepen him⚔️ How Darwin strategically emphasized competition to make his theory acceptable📈 Why Malthusian thinking shaped both Darwinism and modern ideas of scarcity🌾 How artificial fertilizer helped humanity escape Malthus, while creating new ecological damage🐜 How leaf-cutter ants became extraordinary farmers through fungal symbiosis🌸 Why orchids cannot even germinate without fungal partners🌍 How ecological stress and climate change are breaking down vital symbiotic relationships🧪 Why technologies such as genetic engineering may help restore ecological function🌱 What it means to live more ecologically on a crowded planet👩‍🏫 Guest BioDr Rowan Hooper is a science writer and author whose work explores biology, evolution, ecology, and what science can tell us about the human place in nature. In this episode he discusses his new book, Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life’s Greatest Collaborations. The book is published on June 4 in the UK, and on August 14 in the US and Canada.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesTogetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life’s Greatest Collaborations by Rowan HooperCharles Darwin’s On the Origin of SpeciesWork on Lynn Margulis and endosymbiosisResearch on the human microbiomeWriting on ecology, soil health, plant-fungal symbiosis, and coral bleaching💬 Quote Highlights💬 “The emphasis ever since Darwin has been on competition. And while that is correct in many ways, it’s led to a terrible neglect of cooperation and symbiosis.”Rowan Hooper💬 “That’s done real damage to the way we live in the world.”Rowan Hooper💬 “I am an ecosystem, mobile ecosystem.”Rowan Hooper💬 “Darwin was actually... a very cunning plan basically. He did it deliberately in order for his book to be accepted.”Rowan Hooper💬 “Orchids are super successful and the whole root of their success is through symbiosis.”Rowan Hooper💬 “From the origin of life to now and then into the future. We need it.”Rowan Hooper🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is an international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through conversations like this one, we challenge bad ideas, spotlight better ones, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.📥 Join the Conversation💬 podcast@weplanet.org📩 https://weplanet.org/podcast👁️ https://twitter.com/weplanetint

03/06/2026 • 45:53

In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with journalist and author Nicholas Niarchos about the dirty, dangerous, and politically fraught supply chains behind lithium-ion batteries. Using cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a central case study, they explore how a technology essential to electrification and decarbonisation became tied to child labour, unsafe artisanal mines, corruption, colonial legacies, and weak global accountability. The conversation pushes back against a simplistic response, namely shutting down cobalt mining altogether. Niarchos argues that cobalt is a highly effective battery material and that the real problem is not the mineral itself, but the governance failures and moral outsourcing that allow abuse to persist across global supply chains.🧠 Topics Discussed🔋 Why lithium-ion batteries became central to the clean energy transition⚙️ Which minerals go into modern batteries, including cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, graphite, and phosphates🏭 How Exxon helped pioneer lithium-ion battery research before abandoning it🚗 Why lithium-ion batteries made modern electric vehicles viable⛏️ Why cobalt from the DRC became so important to battery chemistry👷 The realities of artisanal mining, including child labour, mine collapses, and extreme precarity📱 How major brands such as Apple are tied to these supply chains, even when they claim high standards⚖️ Why industrial mines and artisanal mines differ, but both still raise serious questions♻️ Why recycling alone does not solve the underlying justice problem🧪 Whether sodium-ion and other new battery chemistries will reduce dependence on cobalt🌍 Why the goal should be fixing the supply chain, not abandoning battery technology or Congo itself👩‍🏫 Guest BioNicholas Niarchos is a journalist and author whose work focuses on conflict, extraction, inequality, and global supply chains. In this conversation he discusses his book on the hidden human and political costs behind lithium-ion batteries and the minerals that power the energy transition, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesThe Elements of Power by Nicholas NiarchosReporting on cobalt mining and battery supply chains in the Democratic Republic of CongoResearch on artisanal and industrial cobalt miningWork on battery chemistry, electrification, and critical mineralsAnalysis of colonial extraction, governance, and resource politics in Central Africa💬 Quote Highlights💬 “The bad idea is the battery supply chain itself, which arose from a series of decisions that didn’t seem to be taken particularly consciously, but seem to be driven by avarice, essentially.” - Nicholas Niarchos💬 “I have been to mines that sit directly in Apple’s supply chain and watched as people without shoes go into these mines.” - Nicholas Niarchos💬 “The iPhone is the great success story for Apple. Don’t forget it. This success was built on the backs of these kinds of labor conditions. - Nicholas Niarchos💬 “If we start recycling all our material, which we’re admittedly a very, very long way off from, what gets left in Congo? - Nicholas Niarchos💬 “There’s no need to go to sodium. There’s no need to try and figure out new technologies... because we have the technology. The technology is the lithium ion battery.” - Nicholas Niarchos💬 “The bad idea is the supply chain, not the use of cobalt in batteries.” - Mark Lynas🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is an international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through conversations like this one, we challenge bad ideas, spotlight better ones, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.📥 Join the Conversation💬 podcast@weplanet.org📩 https://weplanet.org/podcast👁️ https://twitter.com/weplanetint

27/05/2026 • 56:52

In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with Stanford historian David Holloway about one of the most dangerous assumptions of the nuclear age: history shows nuclear war will never happen. Drawing on Holloway’s new book Nuclear Weapons and International History, they trace the development of the bomb from the Manhattan Project to the thermonuclear age, the Cuban Missile Crisis, launch-on-warning doctrines, arms control, and the unraveling of the post-Cold War nuclear order. The conversation makes clear that the fact nuclear war has not happened yet is no guarantee it never will. Instead, it is a story of repeated near misses, fragile restraint, and a continuing risk that humanity has learned to treat as background noise.🧠 Topics Discussed☢️ Why David Holloway wanted to write an international history of nuclear weapons💥 The difference between atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs🔥 Why thermonuclear weapons transformed the scale of human destructiveness🧊 How the Cold War became a confrontation shaped by catastrophic nuclear risk🚨 How close the Cuban Missile Crisis came to becoming a nuclear war🛳️ The Soviet submarine incident on Black Saturday and the role of sheer luck☎️ Why the hotline and early arms control efforts emerged after Cuba🕊️ How scientists helped launch the anti-nuclear movement🎯 How deterrence, mutual assured destruction, and launch-on-warning doctrines evolved⚠️ Why false alarms and misread signals remain one of the greatest nuclear dangers🤖 How artificial intelligence and new technologies may make nuclear risk worse🛰️ Why missile defense systems like Star Wars and the proposed Golden Dome are so controversial📉 How the arms control system built during the Cold War has eroded🌍 Why a world with fewer nuclear weapons is still a world in grave danger❓ Whether humanity can find an alternative to living indefinitely with nuclear arsenals👩‍🏫 Guest BioDavid Holloway is Emeritus Professor of History at Stanford University and one of the world’s leading historians of nuclear weapons and the Cold War. His work has focused on the Soviet Union, international security, nuclear strategy, and the political history of the atomic age. His new book, Nuclear Weapons and International History, offers a sweeping account of how nuclear weapons shaped global politics from 1945 onward.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesNuclear Weapons and International History by David HollowaySix Minutes to Winter by Mark LynasResearch and historical accounts of the Cuban Missile CrisisWriting on the Russell-Einstein Manifesto and the Pugwash movementHistories of nuclear deterrence, arms control, and the thermonuclear arms race💬 Quote Highlights💬 “I think we’re entering a new and very dangerous period, partly linked to changes in the world order.” - David Holloway💬 “The H-bomb is a big step forward in terms of sheer destructiveness.” - David Holloway💬 “It was a war they didn’t want that they came close to having.” - David Holloway💬 “We’re entering a new and very dangerous period.” -David Holloway💬 “We can live with nuclear weapons... I think it’s a very bad idea.” -David Holloway🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is an international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through conversations like this one, we challenge bad ideas, spotlight better ones, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.📥 Join the Conversation💬 podcast@weplanet.org📩 https://weplanet.org/podcast👁️ https://twitter.com/weplanetint

21/05/2026 • 60:33

“Attenborough’s films ignore human impacts.”In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with filmmaker and environmental storyteller Colin Butfield, co-founder of Open Planet Studios and a long-time collaborator of David Attenborough. They discuss how Attenborough’s work has evolved from classic nature spectacle toward a much more explicit confrontation with ecological destruction, restoration, and humanity’s role in shaping the living world. Through the making of Ocean with David Attenborough, they explore the shocking reality of bottom trawling and Antarctic krill fishing, the changing grammar of nature documentaries in the Anthropocene, and why stories of damage now have to sit alongside stories of recovery. It is a rich conversation about storytelling, responsibility, and the power of film to show that human impacts can no longer be ignored.🧠 Topics Discussed:🎥 What it is like working with David Attenborough over nearly two decades🗣️ How Attenborough delivers those iconic pieces to camera🌍 How nature documentaries shifted from pristine spectacle to ecological reality🌊 Why Ocean with David Attenborough was made as an urgent film about human impacts🐟 How bottom trawling devastates marine ecosystems on an industrial scale🛑 Why bottom trawling is still allowed in many marine protected areas🐋 How Antarctic krill fishing competes directly with whales and destabilises the Southern Ocean food web🧾 Why “sustainable” seafood labels often deserve much more scrutiny📚 How films can remain true to documentary storytelling while still driving real-world campaigns🎬 Why Open Planet gives footage away for education and advocacy🌱 What ecological recovery can look like when people choose restoration and protection🤝 Why humans are not inherently destructive and can become a force for good🐻 What it takes to film extraordinary wildlife and wild places around the world🚀 Why “we can always go and live on Mars” is its own terrible environmental fantasy👩‍🏫 Guest Bio:Colin Butfield is co-founder and director of Open Planet Studios. As a filmmaker, writer and environmental storyteller, he has worked on major productions including A Life on Our Planet, Breaking Boundaries, Our Planet, and Ocean with David Attenborough. He has also co-written Ocean with David Attenborough and works at the intersection of documentary storytelling, conservation, and public engagement.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesOcean by David Attenborough and Colin ButfieldOcean with David AttenboroughOpen PlanetCampaigns and research on bottom trawling in marine protected areasWork on marine protection, krill fisheries, and ocean restorationSea Shepherd footage and reporting on the Southern Ocean krill fishery💬 Quote Highlights💬 “This is what we’ve chosen to do as a society or chosen to allow.”Colin Butfield💬 “I can absolutely sympathize with a community casting nets, even bottom trawling though I hope we can get away from that to feed their families, feed their communities, and earn a living. That’s a million miles away from going all the way down to Antarctica, hauling up krill for pet food and supplements.”Colin Butfield💬 “You just got to a point where it felt very strange... not to mention humanity or talk about the changes that are happening in them.”Colin Butfield💬 “It was unavoidable. You just can’t ignore this. It’s crazy to ignore it.”Colin Butfield💬 “I don’t think humans are inherently bad.”Colin Butfield🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is an international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through conversations like this one, we challenge bad ideas, spotlight better ones, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.📥 Join the Conversation💬 podcast@weplanet.org📩 https://weplanet.org/podcast👁️ https://twitter.com/weplanetint

14/05/2026 • 60:20

Antarctica is the least disturbed continent on Earth — and for some of the world's most powerful fishing nations, that's not a reason to protect it. It's a reason to go there next. Claire Christian, Executive Director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, joins Mark Lynas to make the case that the bad idea is to look at the antarctica regian as a pantry, plenty of krill in the ocean, right? That idea still persists, debated in closed rooms in Hobart, and dressed up in sustainability labels.Christian traces the arc from industrial whaling and penguin-boiling in the early 1900s — one of the first modern wildlife protection campaigns — through the Cold War-era Antarctic Treaty miracle, to today's battleground: krill. The Southern Ocean krill fishery is small by global standards but growing fast, dominated by Norwegian vessels, eyed hungrily by China, and certified "sustainable" by the Marine Stewardship Council despite trawlers threading directly through the feeding grounds of recovering whale populations.What emerges is a picture of governance under pressure. CAMLR — the commission governing the Southern Ocean fishery — operates by consensus, meaning Russia and China can block marine protected area proposals indefinitely while simultaneously pushing to expand catch limits. Two MPAs exist (the Ross Sea and the South Orkneys). More are on the table, extensively researched, scientifically rigorous — and stalled. The Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest-warming places on the planet, still has no formal protection.Christian also unpacks the krill industry's favourite talking point: that the catch is less than 1% of total biomass. The problem isn't total biomass — it's where the fishing happens. Krill concentrate in a few small areas. So do the penguins, seals and recovering whale populations that depend on them. The wildlife can't go elsewhere. The ships could. So far, CAMLR hasn't required it.The meta bad idea, in Christian's own words: that the burden of proof should rest on nature rather than on us.🧠 Topics Discussed:🐧 The original sin: industrial whaling, seal hunting, and boiling penguins for oil — and the early 1900s campaign that became one of the first modern wildlife protection efforts🐳 The recovery miracle: humpback whales possibly back to 80% of pre-whaling numbers — and the extraordinary discovery that more whales actually means more krill🦐 Krill 101: why almost everything in the Southern Ocean either eats krill or eats something that eats krill — and why a 50-armed predatory starfish is just as important as a penguin📜 The Antarctic Treaty system: how Cold War geopolitics accidentally produced one of the most forward-looking conservation treaties in history🎣 How krill fishing started: the Soviet Union, the El Dorado effect, and the logic of "the whales are gone, so there must be more krill for us"🏷️ The MSC certification problem: how a "sustainable" label on suppresses pressure on CAMLR to actually improve management 🌡️ Climate change as wild card: sea ice loss, shifting krill distributions, and why uncertainty is an argument for more precaution, not less🗳️ CAMLR's consensus trap: how Russia and China demand more science before protecting — but not before fishing⚖️ The burden of proof argument: who should have to prove harm — industry or nature?👤 Guest Bio:Claire Christian is the Executive Director of ASOC, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition — a global network of NGOs dedicated to the protection of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. She has been an observer at CAMLR negotiations and has written extensively on marine conservation governance, MSC certification, and Southern Ocean fisheries management. 📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:ASOC — Antarctic and Southern Ocean CoalitionCAMLR — Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living ResourcesThe Antarctic Treaty SecretariatHigh Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) — IUCN overview

07/05/2026 • 52:56

Clean energy won't work in the global south... right? At a moment when the fossil fueled economy is cracking under geopolitical pressure, Daan Walter of EMBER brings the data that reframes everything: clean energy is moving ahead, in developing countries — it's already winning. Walter unpacks EMBER's latest electricity review findings: for the first time, wind and solar absorbed nearly all global electricity demand growth in 2024, causing fossil fuel generation to actually fall. And unlike the economic shocks of 2020 or 2013, this is structural.The episode covers the ElectroTech revolution's three core drivers — none of which are explicitly about climate. Walter explains why emerging economies, far from lagging, are leapfrogging the West: over 50% of CVF nations now out-solar the United States. The Strait of Hormuz crisis is accelerating everything. Pakistan's bottom-up solar revolution — millions buying off Alibaba, DIY-installing, disconnecting from failing utilities — is the preview of what comes next everywhere.Nuclear gets a candid assessment too, the question is how it can play nice with solar dominating the grid. Walter closes with a refreshingly honest admission: we don't know yet how to solve the last 5-10% of the grid cleanly — but that's fine. The right move is to sprint the 90% we can solve and invest in R&D for the rest, rather than let perfect be the enemy of transformational.🧠 Topics Discussed:⚡ ElectroTech defined: why wind, solar, batteries, EVs, and heat pumps all cluster around electricity as their magnetic center📉 Bad idea autopsied: "clean energy is too expensive for developing countries" — true five years ago, dangerously wrong today🌍 CVF nations leapfrogging: 50%+ of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries out-solar the US💸 Capex parity moment: upfront costs of EVs and solar panels now matching fossil alternatives — the game-changer for capital-constrained economies🌞 Solar as baseload: 80-90% uptime solar + battery achievable at ~$100-120/MWh; UAE Masdar project hit 99.5% uptime below $70/MWh🛢️ Hormuz crisis as accelerant: biggest energy shock since the 1970s, turbocharging electrotech exports from China globally👨‍💼 Guest Bio:Daan Walter is a Principal at EMBER, where he leads global energy strategy research. His CV spans Rocky Mountain Institute (batteries, efficiency, mineral demand), McKinsey, and two graduate degrees from the University of Cambridge — one in nuclear energy, one in theoretical physics. He's one of the sharpest analysts tracking the real-time pace of the ElectroTech revolution.💬 Quote Highlights:"The answer is not 'you're wrong.' The answer is: you were right five years ago." — Daan Walter"The poorest countries in the world and the poorest families within countries are adopting ElectroTech because it's the cheapest option now, not the most expensive." — Daan Walter"We identify three key drivers of the ElectroTech revolution across the world. None of those three are explicitly climate." — Daan Walter"Every country in the world has a small Saudi Arabia worth of energy falling from the skies on them every year. All they need to do is put a panel up and capture it." — Daan Walter"By 2040, we might be in a very highly electrified, very low-carbon economy — in the same way that by 2040, we might be in an economy that largely runs on AI white-collar work." — Daan Walter🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

30/04/2026 • 68:08

“We can stop worrying about the climate.”In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with climate scientist Zeke Hausfather about a dangerously complacent idea: we can stop worrying about the climate. As recent years have broken temperature records and warming appears to be accelerating, they explore why that conclusion is badly mistaken. The conversation unpacks the hidden role of aerosols in masking warming, what recent spikes in temperature do and do not mean, whether net zero really stops further warming, and how seriously we should take tipping points, geoengineering, and carbon removal. The result is a clear-eyed discussion that pushes back against both panic and complacency, and argues for staying focused on the scale and complexity of the climate challenge.🧠 Topics Discussed🌡️ Why the rate of global warming appears to be increasing☁️ How aerosols have masked part of the warming caused by greenhouse gases🚢 Why shipping pollution controls became part of the climate conversation🧮 What happens if sulfur dioxide emissions fall even further♻️ Why reaching net zero means temperatures likely stabilise rather than keep rising📈 What explains the exceptional warmth of 2023 and 2024🌍 Whether the world has actually passed 1.5°C yet🔥 Why climate complacency is just as misleading as climate fatalism🧊 How to think clearly about tipping points, from permafrost to ice sheets🌊 What we know, and do not know, about AMOC slowdown and Arctic feedbacks🛠️ Why solar radiation management remains controversial, risky, and unresolved💨 Why geoengineering cannot replace emissions cuts🪨 Which carbon removal pathways seem most promising today💸 Why carbon removal is likely to matter, even if it stays expensive⚡ Why solving climate change will require many tools rather than one master fix👩‍🏫 Guest BioZeke Hausfather is a climate scientist and climate research lead at Stripe. He writes for Carbon Brief, publishes the The Climate Brink Substack, and has served as a lead author for the IPCC. His work focuses on observed warming, climate model performance, carbon removal, and the intersection of climate science and policy.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesThe Climate Brink by Zeke HausfatherZeke Hausfather’s work for Carbon BriefIPCC reports on 1.5°C, mitigation, and carbon removalFrontier and Stripe’s work on carbon dioxide removalResearch on aerosols, shipping emissions, and recent warming trendsResearch on solar radiation management and carbon removal technologies💬 Quote Highlights💬 “Our best estimate removing sort of natural variability is that the current rate of warming due to human activity is somewhere in the order of 0.27C.” — Zeke Hausfather💬 “If you were to get rid of sulfur dioxide emissions completely... you would end up at about two degrees of warming rather than the 1.5 or 1.4 we’re at today.” — Zeke Hausfather💬 “Getting to net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases and aerosols would lead to roughly flat temperatures.” — Zeke Hausfather💬 “All of these geoengineering approaches we’re talking about... are literally that.” — Zeke Hausfather💬 “There’s no silver bullet, but there’s silver buckshot when it comes to climate change.” — Zeke Hausfather🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is an international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through conversations like this one, we challenge bad ideas, test assumptions, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

23/04/2026 • 73:14

Are vaccines overrated?In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with Dr Seth Berkley, infectious disease epidemiologist, former CEO of Gavi, and co-founder of COVAX, about what the world got right and wrong during COVID-19. They discuss vaccine equity, pandemic preparedness, the politicisation of public health, and why the world remains dangerously vulnerable to future outbreaks. From the rapid development of mRNA vaccines to the rise of vaccine disinformation and the growing threat of H5N1 bird flu, this conversation is a sobering reminder that pandemics do not end just because societies stop wanting to talk about them.🧠 Topics Discussed🦠 Why societies so quickly try to forget pandemics, even when the threat has not fully passed🔬 Whether the origin of COVID matters for future policy and lab safety💉 How quickly the world developed COVID vaccines, and why that scientific achievement was extraordinary🌍 Why COVAX was created, how it worked, and what it achieved📦 The scale of vaccine nationalism and the human cost of hoarding⚗️ How mRNA vaccines changed the speed and future of vaccine development🧬 Why HIV remains one of the hardest viruses to vaccinate against🐦 The pandemic potential of H5N1 bird flu and why it deserves more attention📱 How social media, political polarisation, and public-health messaging failures fuelled vaccine hesitancy🏛️ Why attacks on institutions such as WHO, CDC, and public science undermine future pandemic response🚨 Why measles is resurging in countries that had once controlled it🤝 Why global cooperation, advance funding, and trusted scientific institutions remain essential👩‍🏫 Guest BioDr Seth Berkley is an infectious disease epidemiologist and Adjunct Professor at the Pandemic Center at Brown University. He served as CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, from 2011 to 2023, and was one of the co-founders of COVAX, the global effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. He previously led the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and has spent decades working at the intersection of global health, vaccine access, and epidemic preparedness. He is the author of Fair Doses: An Insider’s Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity.📚 Recommended Reading & ResourcesFair Doses: An Insider’s Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity by Dr Seth BerkleyGavi, the Vaccine AllianceCOVAXCEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)WHO Pandemic Accord / pandemic treaty processIAVI (International AIDS Vaccine Initiative)💬 Quote Highlights💬 “Vaccines are the most powerful public health technology [and] have led to the 40 year increase in life expectancy.” — Dr Seth Berkley💬 “COVID isn’t over. We could have worse strains… and we need to learn the lessons from the previous one so we’re better prepared for the future one.” — Dr Seth Berkley💬 “H5N1 is a really scary virus.” — Dr Seth Berkley💬 “Outbreaks are inevitable, but pandemics are optional.” — Larry Brilliant, quoted by Dr Seth Berkley💬 “The only thing that can protect us in a pandemic is science.” — Dr Seth Berkley🌐 About WePlanetWePlanet is a growing international movement campaigning for science-based solutions to the climate, nature and development crises. Through this podcast and beyond, we challenge bad ideas that stand in the way of progress, and make the case for a more abundant, resilient and hopeful future.What lessons should the world have learned from COVID-19, and are we any better prepared for the next pandemic?Let us know what you think, and share this episode with someone interested in vaccines, global health, and the future of pandemic preparedness.Follow Saving the World from Bad Ideas for more conversations with scientists, writers and thinkers challenging the dogmas holding us back.📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

16/04/2026 • 46:20

Geothermal energy isn't niche—it's everywhere. In this conversation, Mark Lynas speaks with Terra Rogers—program director for Superhot Rock Geothermal at Clean Air Task Force—about how next-generation geothermal technology could deliver 24/7 carbon-free baseload power anywhere on Earth.For a century, geothermal meant hunting for rare pockets where heat, water, and permeable rock aligned naturally—volcanic zones like Iceland, Japan, New Zealand. But it's hot everywhere. At 5 kilometers depth in the US West, temperatures hit 150-200°C. Go deeper—eventually to 10-15 kilometers—and you reach 400°C supercritical phase, where water acts simultaneously as liquid and gas, delivering 5-10 times more energy per well.Borrowing from the shale gas revolution, next-gen geothermal creates artificial reservoirs by fracturing hot rock and cycling water through it—two straws in a sponge. No natural water pockets needed. Just drill, fracture, inject, extract steam, generate power, repeat. The technology exists. Forge in Utah cut drilling time from 60 days to 15 days and reduced costs 50% in three years. Fervo just sold 500 megawatts to California. Japan targets four 100-megawatt supercritical projects.🧠 Topics Discussed:🌋 Conventional geothermal: 100+ years in Iceland/Japan/New Zealand, hunting natural water pockets🔥 Superhot breakthrough: 400°C supercritical phase = 5-10x more energy, works anywhere🛢️ Shale revolution parallel: fracture hard rock, create artificial reservoirs, cycle your own water⚙️ Engineering gaps: high-temp instruments, thermal-resistant cement, casing expansion management📉 Cost trajectory: Forge cut time 60→15 days, 50% cost reduction; targeting $20-40/MWh at scale⚡ Scale potential: 500 MW (Fervo), gigawatt plants possible, high school campus footprint🏭 Industrial heat cascading: Iceland model—power → pharmaceuticals → fish → melt streets🌍 Geographic expansion: UK (Cornwall), Germany, France all viable with deeper drilling🔬 Next-gen drilling: plasma/laser tech to penetrate hard rock, reaching 15-20 km eventually💰 Investment gap: $1B invested, need institutional money for wells 1-5 (each $5-20M)🛢️ Oil & gas pivot: trained workforce, rig assets critical for climate-relevant timeline🗾 Japan commitment: 4x 100 MW supercritical projects, desperate for firm power📊 Jobs & transition: existing oil/gas/power workforce ready to deploy👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Terra Rogers is program director for Superhot Rock Geothermal at Clean Air Task Force, where she advances policy, investment, and research to commercialize next-generation geothermal energy. Her work focuses on enabling firm, carbon-free baseload power by creating artificial geothermal reservoirs in superhot rock accessible anywhere on Earth.📚 Recommended Reading:● Clean Air Task Force geothermal resources ● FORGE (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy) Utah data ● Fervo Energy commercial deployments ● Japan supercritical geothermal initiatives💬 Quote Highlights:(01:08) "We are both blessed and cursed with 100+ years of operating data. The world has heard of geothermal and concluded it's not for them because they don't have it." — Terra Rogers(03:09) "It is really truly hot everywhere. It's now just a matter of can we access it with drilling technologies we have." — Terra Rogers(51:26) "The geothermal industry can do this without the oil and gas industry. It's just if we want to do it in a timeline that matters for climate, we need to do it with their assets." — Terra Rogers🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

08/04/2026 • 56:05

Conspiracy theories are psychologically reassuring closed systems that are corroding democracy. In this conversation, Mark Lynas speaks with Calum Matheson—associate professor and chair of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh—about why conspiracy thinking is more dangerous than ever.The appeal is simple: know the conspiracy, and everything makes sense. You're exceptional because you see the truth while others are "sheep." Every event fits the pattern. And there's always a kernel of truth—the Epstein files validate QAnon, Purdue Pharma's opioid conspiracy fuels anti-vax narratives. Real conspiracies exist, making fake ones nearly impossible to debunk.The problem? Conspiracy theorists use the same language we do—claiming we ignore evidence and suffer cognitive bias. Worse, conspiracy thinking now runs governments: RFK Jr. heads Health and Human Services, transvestigators claim all celebrities are secretly transgender, and deplatforming backfires. Matheson's prescription: stop trying to demolish conspiracies with facts. Instead, teach probabilistic thinking. Science isn't absolute certainty; it's extremely high probability. We must learn to live with uncertainty and accept that expertise means "more likely to be correct," not "infallible." The goal isn't eradicating conspiracy thinking—it's mitigating its democratic corrosion.🧠 Topics Discussed:☢️ Nuclear weapons psychology: why people fantasize about post-apocalypse instead of engaging policy🛖 Survivalism: impractical prep rituals, post-collapse fantasies of rebuilding society🌀 Conspiracy appeal: closed systems, psychological reassurance, certainty in chaos🔍 Evidence misinterpretation: conspiracists use same language as debunkers (cognitive bias, cherry-picking)🚬 Real conspiracies: tobacco, fossil fuels, Purdue Pharma—kernel of truth validates broader theories🦎 Wild theories: David Icke's lizard people, transvestigators, chemtrails, QAnon🏛️ Democratic erosion: RFK Jr., MAGA conspiracism, January 6th, anti-immigrant narratives📱 Social media: algorithm-driven radicalization, deplatforming backfires📊 Probabilistic thinking: science = high probability, not absolute certainty; tobacco industry exploited doubt🎓 Expertise failure: media/philosophy professors deny Sandy Hook—credentials ≠ immunity👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Dr. Calum Matheson is associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh and faculty at the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center. His work examines nuclear weapons psychology, conspiracy theories, and extremist movements. Author of Desiring the Bomb: Communication, Psychoanalysis and the Atomic Age, his latest research explores conspiracy communities including Sandy Hook deniers and transvestigators.📚 Recommended Reading:● Desiring the Bomb — Calum Matheson ● University of California tobacco industry document archive ● Merchants of Doubt — Naomi Oreskes ● Research on conspiracy theory psychology and social contagion💬 Quote Highlights:(29:13) "The issue is that conspiracists are misinterpreting evidence, not ignoring it. Their protocols for understanding are incorrect. They believe they have evidence for things they don't actually have evidence for." — Calum Matheson(01:01:33) "The world is probabilistic. A scientific discovery is not uncovering fundamental truth with absolute certainty. It's developing a hypothesis the evidence confirms is very likely to be true. Absolutes aren't appropriate for belief." — Calum Matheson🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

01/04/2026 • 64:06

At 90 years old, Sylvia Earle has witnessed more ocean change than perhaps anyone alive. In this conversation, the legendary oceanographer delivers an urgent message: we're destroying the very systems that keep us alive, and we're running out of time to stop. Earle dismantles the illusion that wild-caught seafood is sustainable.Since the 1950s, we've removed roughly half the ocean's wildlife. Ninety percent of big predators like tuna and swordfish are gone. Half the phytoplankton—the ocean's oxygen generators and carbon capturers—have disappeared. We're now killing whales not by hunting them, but by taking their food: industrial krill fishing in Antarctic waters strips food from penguins, seals, and the recovering whale populations that migrate thousands of miles to feed there.But there's hope. When commercial whaling stopped in 1986, populations began recovering. The technology exists: cell-cultured fish is already on menus in Singapore and the US. The knowledge is here, the choice is ours.🧠 Topics Discussed:🌊 Sixth mass extinction: first caused by one species (us) in geological time🐋 Whale recovery: populations increasing since 1986 commercial whaling ban, but now threatened by food depletion🦐 Krill crisis: taking Antarctic krill = killing whales, seals, penguins by removing their groceries📉 Ocean wildlife collapse: 50% gone since 1950s, 90% of big predators disappeared🫁 Phytoplankton loss: ~50% decline since 1950—ocean's oxygen generators vanishing🎣 Wild fish economics: 30-year-old lobsters, 50-year-old orange roughy, 400-year-old sharks taken at zero cost🐟 Salmon farming absurdity: chose carnivore requiring 3-4 years, fed wild fish—should farm plant-eaters🧬 Cell-cultured seafood: already available in Singapore/US, chicken/fish grown from cells without killing🏴‍☠️ High seas tragedy: half the planet's ocean = global commons raided by few countries/companies🌡️ Ocean life support: 97% of biosphere, generates most oxygen, captures carbon, maintains habitable temps🤿 Technology revolution: scuba (1940s), submersibles reaching 11km depth, exploring last wilderness📊 Shifting baselines: each generation accepts degraded normal (passenger pigeons darkening skies → gone)🎯 Mission Blue: 168+ Hope Spots globally, champions protecting ocean places from where they are to better👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Dr. Sylvia Earle is a legendary oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer who has led over 100 expeditions logging 7,000+ hours underwater. She was the first female chief scientist of NOAA, has been a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence since 1998, and founded Mission Blue to inspire ocean protection. At 90, she remains one of the world's most powerful voices for ocean conservation.📚 Recommended Reading:● Mission Blue: Hope Spots network (mission-blue.org) ● Sylvia Earle's books and documentaries ● Studies on whale recovery post-whaling ● Research on ocean wildlife collapse since 1950s💬 Quote Highlights:(03:23) "We've removed roughly half of the wild animals in the ocean since the 1950s. The sixth mass extinction is caused by one species—us." — Sylvia Earle(24:20) "About 90% of big predators—tuna, swordfish—are gone. We treat them like chickens. They're like lions and tigers, and they're disappearing fast." — Sylvia Earle(01:06:39) "All of us have a vested interest in the high seas, the global commons. Those who extract from it are taking from you, from all of us. Why do we let this happen?" — Sylvia Earle(01:29:06) "When the buying stops, the killing can too. Every fish you choose not to eat could be swimming out there. The ocean says thank you. The kids say thank you." — Sylvia Earle🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

25/03/2026 • 108:09

Are ultra-processed foods really the enemy? In this conversation, Mark Lynas sits down with Nesli Sözer, research professor at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and founder of NAPKIN (Nordic Alternative Protein Knowledge and Innovation Network—yes, the best food acronym ever). Sözer dismantles the myth that processing itself makes food unhealthy, revealing why the NOVA classification system is scientifically flawed and how it threatens the future of sustainable protein.The UPF panic labels whole grain bread, cheese, and plant-based burgers as "ultra-processed" while ignoring what actually matters: nutritional composition. The irony? UPF fear-mongering pushes consumers toward "natural" meat—more expensive, less sustainable, fiber-free, and genuinely linked to cancer and disease. We over-consume protein and under-consume fiber. Processing can fix both problems. The real bad idea isn't ultra-processing—it's letting pseudoscience derail the food system transformation we urgently need.🧠 Topics Discussed:🔬 NOVA classification: divides foods by processing degree, not nutritional quality🍞 Absurd UPF examples: whole grain bread, cheese, canned foods labeled "ultra-processed"🫘 Why processing matters: removes anti-nutritional factors, improves protein digestibility🦠 Fermentation power: generates umami, probiotics, reduces salt/sugar needs (miso effect)📊 Fiber crisis: Western diets over-consume protein, critically under-consume fiber🧬 Precision fermentation: genetically modified microbes produce identical egg/dairy proteins (no GMO in final product)🏷️ EU labeling ban: MEP Celine Imart pushing to ban "burger," "sausage" for plant foods🌏 Singapore vs Europe: pragmatic approval vs regulatory paralysis💰 Price paradox: plant burgers cost 2x meat despite cheaper inputs (pea/fava proteins expensive, soy/wheat cheap but stigmatized)🌾 Gluten myth: "gluten belly" caused by sugar/fat in baked goods, not protein itself (celiacs are tiny minority)🔄 Diversification imperative: reduce monoculture dependence (wheat/corn/soy/rice), build resilience🧪 Finnish innovations: Solar Foods (gas fermentation), enegaVTT spin-outs), cell-cultured avocados👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Nesli Sözer is a research professor at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, specializing in plant-based foods, microbial proteins, and hybrid food systems. She founded NAPKIN (Nordic Alternative Protein Knowledge and Innovation Network) and leads multiple EU-funded food innovation projects.📚 Recommended Reading:● VTT spin-out companies: Solar Foods, Enifer, ineVolar, Onego Bio, Happy Plant Protein ● EIT Food policy papers on protein diversification ● Research on extrusion processing and fermentation technologies ● Studies on dietary fiber deficiency and health outcomes💬 Quote Highlights:(03:31) "NOVA classification divides foods into four categories depending on degree of processing. Whole grain bread that is industrially produced is ultra-processed food and not recommended. It's so wrong." — Nesli Sözer(06:50) "It's not really the processing, it's how you formulate the food product that becomes important. All those examples given by UPF advocates focus on nutritional quality, not how foods are made or processed." — Nesli Sözer(15:56) "Think of the extruder like a cow, basically. Instead of feeding grass, you feed ingredients and it's processed into a meat-like structure." — Nesli Sözer(23:37) "We over-consume proteins. We take too much protein than we need. We are consuming very little dietary fiber, which has direct connection to certain cancer types." — Nesli Sözer🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

19/03/2026 • 54:28

Should we be fishing for krill in the Antarctic? In this extraordinary episode, Mark Lynas connects via satellite with three researchers aboard a Sea Shepherd vessel in the Southern Ocean near the South Orkney Islands—one of the most remote and important whale feeding grounds on Earth.Matt Savoca (Stanford/California Marine Sanctuary Foundation), Ted Cheeseman (UC Santa Cruz/Happy Whale), and Lucia Morillo (Sea Shepherd science coordinator) are conducting the first truly independent survey of this region. Their mission: understand the overlap between recovering whale populations and an expanding industrial krill fishery that takes 620,000 tons annually—the same amount of food consumed by hundreds of thousands of whales, seals, and penguins.This conversation exposes the krill paradox (why krill didn't explode after whales were removed), whale poop's critical role as ocean fertilizer, climate change shrinking krill habitat southward, and why the Marine Stewardship Council's sustainability certification is now facing objections from WWF and other major conservation groups.🧠 Topics Discussed:🐋 Fin whale recovery: from 500,000 to

12/03/2026 • 75:51

Is there really not enough land for renewables? In this conversation, Mark Lynas sits down with Tom Heap—BBC Countryfile presenter, Radio 4's Rare Earth co-host, and author of Land Smart: How to Give People and Nature the Space to Thrive—to tackle one of the most important yet least discussed environmental issues: land use.Heap makes the case that there's plenty of space for solar (and wind has minimal footprint), especially since solar excels at multifunctional use—combining with housing, car parks, farming, and floating on water bodies. The real land crisis? Livestock occupies a third of Earth's land and over half of agricultural land, delivering 6-16 times less protein per acre than crops. Meanwhile, biofuels require 50-100 times more land than solar for the same energy output, making aviation's biofuel dreams a land use nightmare.But the conversation goes deeper: rewilding's evolution from absolutist vision to pragmatic spectrum, why regenerative farming must avoid yield penalties, and the troubling vibe shift in climate politics. Despite renewables now being cheaper than fossil fuels and China's coal use peaking, environmental issues have dropped down the political agenda. Heap argues we're in a trough, not permanent decline—but only if we keep talking about it and bust the myths that disempowers action.🧠 Topics Discussed:⚡ Land requirements for solar vs nuclear vs wind (solar is tiny, shareable)🌾 Livestock's massive footprint: 1/3 of Earth's land, half of agricultural land🌱 Biofuels disaster: 50-100x less efficient than solar per area✈️ Aviation biofuels would require America's entire land area just for domestic flights🐑 Sheep-wrecked hills: green deserts masquerading as countryside🌿 Rewilding evolution: from absolutist to spectrum, avoiding food footprint export🥩 Regenerative farming challenge: needs yield parity or risks overseas displacement🧬 Gene editing progress: crops partnering with fungus for nitrogen, holy grail of nitrogen-fixing cereals🇨🇳 Pakistan's grid death spiral: behind-the-meter solar boom crashing legacy infrastructure🌍 Climate vibe shift: why environmental issues dropped off the agenda despite tech wins📊 Pluralistic ignorance: 66% support climate action but think they're a minority (actually believe it's 40%)🚗 Myth busting: rich countries driving less since 2005, renewables now cheaper, others ARE acting⚖️ Slavery analogy: decades-long progressive fights face backlash during insecurity (French Revolution parallel to Ukraine war)👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Tom Heap is a regular presenter on BBC One's Countryfile and co-presenter of Radio 4's Rare Earth. He's author of Land Smart: How to Give People and Nature the Space to Thrive and co-creator of the 39 Ways to Save the Planet podcast and book.📚 Recommended Reading:● Land Smart: How to Give People and Nature the Space to Thrive — Tom Heap ● 39 Ways to Save the Planet — Tom Heap & Dr. Tamsin Edwards ● Research on land use efficiency per energy type ● Studies on pluralistic ignorance in climate action💬 Quote Highlights:"We're moving to a world for the first time in human history where we can have more energy while burning less stuff." — Tom Heap"To power inland flights of America on biofuels, you need the entire land area of America." — Tom Heap"66% of people globally support climate action and would give 1% of income—but they believe they're a minority at 40%. This pluralistic ignorance is profoundly disempowering." — Tom Heap"The fact that cleaner energy is now cheaper is a huge deal. That penny is just beginning to drop." — Tom Heap🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

04/03/2026 • 55:46

Is nature really as fragile as we've been led to believe? In this conversation, Mark Lynas sits down with veteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce, author of Despite It All: A Handbook for Environmental Hopefuls, to challenge one of environmentalism's core assumptions.Pearce argues that nature isn't fragile—it's resilient, adaptive, and constantly evolving. The evidence shows ecosystems have survived for hundreds of millions of years through asteroid strikes and ice ages, constantly adapting through species turnover and change. Conservation's obsession with protecting "pristine" ecosystems in aspic misses the point: nature needs room to evolve, not to be frozen in time. Novel ecosystems mixing native and invasive species aren't failures—they're nature adapting.This conversation covers the defused population bomb (global fertility now at replacement level), peak stuff (material consumption declining in rich countries), successful technofixes (renewables now cheaper than fossil fuels), and the critical role of indigenous communities in protecting ecosystems. Pearce makes the case for pragmatic optimism: the worst could still happen, but pessimism is for defeatists. From rewilding Europe's wolves to China's authoritarian eco-modernism, the evidence suggests humanity can rise to the challenge—if we embrace innovation over nostalgia.🧠 Topics Discussed:🌿 Why nature is resilient and adaptive, not fragile🦎 Species turnover and novel ecosystems as signs of health👶 The defused population bomb (fertility at 2.3 children globally)📦 Peak stuff: declining material consumption in rich countries🔧 Technofixes that worked: acid rain, ozone layer, renewables🇨🇳 China as authoritarian eco-modernist pioneer🐺 Rewilding success: wolves returning across Europe🌍 Indigenous land management vs. fortress conservation♻️ Circular economy and mining rare metals from waste🚗 Why rich countries are driving less since 2005👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Fred Pearce is a veteran environmental journalist and author who has covered global environmental issues for over 40 years, primarily for New Scientist. His latest book is Despite It All: A Handbook for Environmental Hopefuls.📚 Recommended Reading:● Despite It All: A Handbook for Environmental Hopefuls — Fred Pearce ● The New Wild — Fred Pearce● Eleanor Ostrom on managing the commons ● Ecomodernist Manifesto💬 Quote Highlights:"The evidence is that nature is resilient, it's adaptive, it evolves. Nature's been going for hundreds of millions of years, whereas we've not." — Fred Pearce "Change isn't bad. Change is actually an example of ecosystems that are functioning well, are doing what they should do, are adapting, are changing, evolving and moving on." — Fred Pearce "The population bomb has been defused. By the second half of this century, we're going to have a stable population." — Fred Pearce"Since about 2005, almost all rich world countries, people have been driving, including the US, which is the car economy on stilts really. Even there, they're driving less." — Fred Pearce "Pessimism is destructive and it narrows your horizons. Optimism allows you to look for potential, look for things that will work, push at the open doors." — Fred Pearce 🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

25/02/2026 • 51:05

Is industrial food actually the villain — or one of humanity's greatest achievements? In this provocative episode, Mark Lynas sits down with Jan Dutkiewicz, assistant professor at the Pratt Institute and contributing editor at the New Republic, co-author of Feed the People: Why Industrial Food is Good and How to Make it Even Better.Dutkiewicz challenges the consensus that "the food system is broken" — arguing that industrial production has created unprecedented abundance and eliminated diseases of malnutrition. The real problems aren't industrialization itself, but specific fixable issues: worker exploitation, factory farming's animal welfare crisis, and agricultural lobbies' outsized power. 🧠 Topics Discussed:🏭 Defining industrial food: scale, standards, regulation creating abundance (not just "ultra-processed")🍽️ Why "the food system is broken" is the wrong diagnosis (it's a complex system, not a broken appliance)📚 The food writing industry: Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, and agrarian romanticism🌾 Wendell Berry as anti-Norman Borlaug: romanticizing pre-industrial famine and malnutrition👶 Child labor realities: agriculture has most injuries and deaths, minimum age exemptions persist🏛️ Agricultural exceptionalism: carve-outs from labor laws, environmental regulations, animal welfare🐖 Manure lagoons, gestation crates, and why artificial insemination gets bestiality exemptions🍖 Factory farming inefficiency: 80%+ calorie loss converting feed to meat (not actually "efficient")🌍 Environmental impact: livestock causes the biggest footprint by far (emissions, land, water, biodiversity)🧬 "Grass-fed" as marketing: labels like "humane" and "free-range" are unregulated buzzwords🧪 Plant-based alternatives and cellular agriculture: the real path forward (not small farms)🚫 Europe banning "burger" and "sausage" labels: livestock lobby blocking competition👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Jan Dutkiewicz is assistant professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and contributing editor at the New Republic. He co-authored Feed the People: Why Industrial Food is Good and How to Make it Even Better with Gabriel Rosenberg, offering a data-driven defense of industrial food systems while demanding better labor rights, animal welfare, and environmental regulation.📚 Recommended Reading:● Feed the People: Why Industrial Food is Good and How to Make it Even Better — Jan Dutkiewicz & Gabriel Rosenberg● Michael Pollan — The Omnivore's Dilemma● Wendell Berry — Essays on agrarianism● Bruce Friedrich — Meat (Good Food Institute)● Studies on agricultural exceptionalism and labor laws● Research on livestock environmental impacts💬 Quote Highlights:"Industrial food means food produced using principles of scale, standards, and regulation to create abundance. On balance, that has made the world a better, healthier, more abundant place." — Jan Dutkiewicz"Saying the food system is broken is like saying your house is broken when the air conditioner fails. Identify specific problems and seek specific solutions." — Jan Dutkiewicz"The Dust Bowl — perhaps America's greatest ecological disaster — was caused by poor land management by small-scale family farmers before agriculture was industrialized." — Jan Dutkiewicz"Every call to produce everything from scratch is implicitly a call for more unpaid labor by women in the household." — Jan Dutkiewicz"If we abolished factory farms: 99% less chicken, 97% less pork, 67% less beef. We'd all be vegetarian overnight." — Jan Dutkiewicz"8 out of 10 worst-paid jobs in America are in food. The people getting results aren't food writers — they're food workers themselves." — Jan Dutkiewicz🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow: @weplanetint

18/02/2026 • 67:16

Can technology save us from environmental collapse — or is it just another false promise? In this epic conversation, Mark Lynas sits down with Adam Dorr, Director of Research at RethinkX and author of The Degrowth Delusion, to explore four simultaneous technological revolutions reshaping our world: energy (solar, wind, batteries), transportation (EVs and autonomous vehicles), food (precision fermentation), and labor (AI).🧠 Topics Discussed:💡 Technology as "practical knowledge" and how it compounds autocatalytically (self-accelerating)📈 S-curve adoption and X-curve decline: Why disruptions happen in 15-20 years, not centuries⚡ Solar, wind, batteries (SWB): Now the cheapest electricity ever, with near-zero marginal cost🌞 Why massive solar overbuilding beats battery storage (the Clean Energy U-curve)📦 Modularity advantage: Solar/batteries work from wristwatches to gigawatt plants🔌 From scarcity to super-abundance: Rethinking efficiency as "use what's available" not "use less"🚗 EVs and autonomous vehicles: Battery breakthroughs and transportation-as-a-service🥩 Precision fermentation and cellular agriculture: 10-100x more efficient than animal farming🏛️ Political resistance: GMO bans, cellular meat bans, and horseshoe theory opposition🤖 The fourth disruption: AI replacing cognitive, operator, and general human labor💼 Post-labor economics: Universal basic income, luxury services, and navigating abundance🌍 Why abundance makes allocation easier than scarcity (and nobody has all the answers yet)⚛️ AI existential risk vs opportunity: Superintelligence as doom or salvation?🌟 Star Trek vs Terminator: Which future will we choose?👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Adam Dorr is Director of Research at RethinkX, a nonprofit think tank analyzing technology disruption. He authored The Degrowth Delusion: Dispelling One of History's Truly Terrible Ideas and researches energy, food, transportation, and labor disruption. He's also a science fiction author exploring superintelligence and humanity's cosmic future.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:● The Degrowth Delusion — Adam Dorr● RethinkX research reports⁠ https://www.rethinkx.com⁠● Clayton Christensen — The Innovator's Dilemma● Tony Seba and disruption theory⁠ https://tonyseba.com⁠● Mark Lynas — Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet⁠ https://www.marklynas.org/books/six-degrees/⁠💬 Quote Highlights:"Life is unequivocally better on almost every indicator you care to measure than it was historically — life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy, everything down the line." — Adam Dorr"The more energy we have available, the more abundant energy is, the more useful things we can do to garner prosperity." — Adam Dorr"My team has documented more than 1,700 instances of new technologies spreading like wildfire once they catch — it only takes 15 to 20 years." — Adam Dorr"Solar panels just sit there and happily make electricity for decades at near zero marginal cost. They really are a marvelous technology." — Adam Dorr"We're headed into a world of fantastic abundance. That means hugely expanding our capacity to restore ecologies we've damaged." — Adam Dorr"Our environmental issues are not an epic struggle of good versus evil. They are just problems. And problems are solvable with the right tools. Now for the first time in history, we finally have the tools we need." — Adam Dorr🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org📩 Subscribe to new episodes: weplanet.org/podcast👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: @weplanetint

13/02/2026 • 104:04

Can we really solve climate change just by fixing energy — and ignore food? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with Bruce Friedrich, founder and President of the Good Food Institute, to tackle Bad Idea #37: “Solving energy is enough for solving climate.”Bruce argues that focusing exclusively on decarbonising energy while ignoring food systems is one of the biggest blind spots in climate policy. From antibiotic resistance and zoonotic disease to geopolitics, national security, and the S-curve of technological change, this conversation makes the case that the protein transition must stand alongside the energy transition if we’re serious about saving the planet.🧠 Topics Discussed: ● ⚡ Why decarbonising energy alone only solves about half the climate problem ● 🍖 Global meat demand: why “eat less meat” has never worked ● 🌍 Land use, deforestation, and rewilding at planetary scale ● 🧫 Cultivated meat, fermentation, and next-generation plant proteins ● 📉 The inefficiency of feeding crops to animals ● 🦠 Antibiotic resistance and industrial animal agriculture ● 🦆 Pandemic risk and zoonotic spillover from livestock systems ● 🐟 Cultivated seafood and the future of ocean recovery ● 📈 The protein S-curve and lessons from solar, EVs, and the internet ● 🏛️ Why government support matters — and where it’s already happening ● 🇨🇳🇮🇳 China, India, and the geopolitics of alternative proteins● 🌱 Farmers, land sparing, and the future of agriculture ● 🌎 Food security, resilience, and feeding a growing world👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Bruce Friedrich is the founder and President of the Good Food Institute (GFI), a global non-profit accelerating the transition to alternative proteins. He has worked for more than three decades at the intersection of food, climate, and innovation. Bruce is the author of Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food and Our Future, and a leading global advocate for plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated meat as climate, biodiversity, and food-security solutions.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food and Our Future ● Good Food Institute● GFI Europe ● SYSTEMIQ & Good Food Institute – The Protein Transition: Pathways to Lower Climate, Land, and Water Impacts● What’s Cooking? (UNEP alternative proteins report)● Livestock’s Long Shadow (FAO) ● World Resources Institute: Creating a Sustainable Food Future● IIASA land-use & food systems research● Our World in Data: Meat and dairy production ● UNEP & ILRI: Preventing the Next Pandemic 💬 Quote Highlights:“Focusing on energy alone while ignoring food is like lifting your foot off the accelerator — but keeping it on the highway to hell.” “If alternative proteins reach 50%, we could free more land than the entire Amazon rainforest.” “People aren’t going to give up meat — so we need to change how meat is made.” “This isn’t a moral problem. It’s a science and engineering problem.” “The protein transition is one of the most tractable climate solutions we have.”🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human well-being. Learn more at https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation: 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

05/02/2026 • 65:49

Is the 1.5°C temperature target helping or hindering climate action? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with his co-authors Kwesi Quagraine (climate scientist at NCAR) and Erle Ellis (professor at University of Maryland Baltimore County) to discuss their groundbreaking new paper published in Nature that proposes a complete rethinking of how we measure climate progress.The team argues that global average temperature targets — the organizing principle of climate policy since Paris 2015 — are intangible, unactionable, and increasingly counterproductive now that we've essentially crossed the 1.5°C threshold. Instead, they propose the Clean Energy Shift (CES) — a simple, measurable metric that tracks how fast clean energy is displacing fossil fuels in real time.🧠 Topics Discussed: 🌡️ Why global average temperature targets are intangible and don't translate into clear policy actions🔢 The problem with "1.5 to stay alive": What happens when you cross a threshold framed as a limit of safety?📊 Introducing the Clean Energy Shift (CES): Growth rate of clean energy minus growth rate of total energy demand🔌 Why clean energy is now the cheapest option in most developing countries🌍 How regional climate impacts differ dramatically from global average temperature (Africa vs Europe vs small islands)🎯 Why "percent clean energy" should replace temperature as our north star metric (aiming for 100%)📉 The challenge of measuring energy: Primary vs useful energy, and why efficiency gains complicate the numbers⚡ Heat pumps, electric vehicles, and electrification: 💡 Why clean energy shift creates positive competition between countries (not just climate guilt)🗳️ Why clean energy targets need to enter UNFCCC discussions alongside temperature goals🔬 The data challenge: Why IEA and others need to release standardized, open-access energy data📐 The paradox of our time: Passing "safety limits" while developing real solutions🔭 The narrative shift from "avoid catastrophe" to "build clean energy abundance"👨‍🏫 Guest Bios:Kwesi Quagraine is a climate scientist at NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) and former senior lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, where he taught physics, meteorology, and atmospheric science. Originally from Ghana, Kwesi brings vital perspectives on how climate policy impacts developing nations and expertise in climate modeling, including solar radiation management research.Erle Ellis is a professor of geography and environmental systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. His work with the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report focuses on aspirational indicators for making a better future. Erle has spent decades studying global environmental change and teaching students how human societies interact with planetary systems.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:● The Clean Energy Shift paper — Quagraine, Ellis, Lynas et al. (Nature, 2025) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00246-z● Michael Liebreich — "The Pragmatic Climate Reset" essay Part 1 / Part 2● EMBER energy data and analysis https://ember-climate.org● International Energy Agency (IEA) energy statistics https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics● Mark Lynas — Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet https://www.marklynas.org/books/six-degrees/● WMO (World Meteorological Organization) temperature data https://wmo.int/topics/climate● Paris Agreement (2015) — text and NDC framework https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org📩 Subscribe to new episodes: weplanet.org/podcast👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: @weplanetint

28/01/2026 • 64:28

Is “degrowth” a noble environmental solution — or one of history’s truly terrible ideas? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with Adam Dorr, Director of Research at RethinkX and author of The Degrowth Delusion: Dispelling One of History’s Truly Terrible Ideas.Dorr argues that degrowth — the increasingly popular environmental movement calling for economic contraction — meets every criterion of a “Truly Terrible Idea”: it sounds virtuous, promises the moon, spreads easily, appeals especially to the young, and catastrophically backfires when implemented.Mark and Adam explore why degrowth misunderstands economic growth itself, why material “stuff” is not the same as value, how technological progress consistently decouples prosperity from environmental harm, and why shrinking the global economy could never solve climate change — and would instead cause mass deprivation, collapse, and tyranny.If you’ve ever heard the phrase “you can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet,” this conversation will challenge your assumptions. And it lays the groundwork for next episode’s deep dive into the optimistic, data-driven alternative: a future where humanity and nature both thrive.🧠 Topics Discussed:💡 What makes an idea a “Truly Terrible Idea” (TTI) — and why degrowth qualifies🌍 Why degrowth’s core logic (“too many people consuming too much”) is seductive but false📉 Why “infinite growth on a finite planet” misunderstands value, not stuff🐎 How technological progress (e.g., cars replacing horses, digital replacing film) eliminates old harms🔌 Why degrowth would block the very innovations (solar, EVs, biotech) that solve environmental problems🔥 The “house on fire” analogy: why reducing emissions 50% still leaves the house burning📉 GDP vs wellbeing: is economic growth actually correlated with human development?🌐 Why degrowth is a luxury belief seldom embraced by people who’ve experienced real poverty😡 The role of resentment, pessimism and misanthropy in the appeal of degrowth🏛️ Why degrowth requires authoritarian state control and cannot be implemented democratically🤝 The win–win path: how technology enables prosperity and ecological restoration🔭 Why environmentalism desperately needs a credible, optimistic, tech-enabled vision of the future👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Adam Dorr is the Director of Research at RethinkX, a nonprofit think tank analyzing how new technologies disrupt existing systems. He is the lead author of The Degrowth Delusion, a sweeping critique of degrowth ideology and a roadmap for a technologically enabled, sustainable future. Dorr’s work spans energy, food, transportation, and long-term civilizational pathways.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● The Degrowth Delusion — Adam Dorr ● RethinkX research reports (energy, food, transport disruptions) ● Studies on GDP vs Human Development Index (UNDP) ● The Limits to Growth: Malthus and the Classical Economists ● Steven Pinker — Enlightenment Now ● Literature on zero-sum vs non-zero-sum thinking💬 Quote Highlights:“Truly terrible ideas don’t die out on their own — they must be actively refuted.” — Adam Dorr“It’s not that we need to do less — it’s that we need to do better.” — Adam Dorr“There is no sustainable amount of fire. Reducing emissions by half still leaves your house burning.” — Adam Dorr“Poverty is not virtuous. It is not something to aspire to. To believe otherwise is a failure of compassion.” — Adam Dorr“Technology is the only way we have a rational, data-driven basis for optimism.” — Adam Dorr🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human progress. Learn more at weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org📩 Subscribe to new episodes: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: @weplanetint

22/01/2026 • 65:20

Welcome to season three of Saving The World From BAD IDEASBad Idea #35: ‘THIS is the Future’ Why Forecasts Fail – with David Wallace-WellsIn the season three opener of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with David Wallace-Wells, New York Times columnist and author of The Uninhabitable Earth, to tackle a deceptively simple bad idea: the belief that we can predict the future with confidence.David explains how even sophisticated models can be wildly sensitive to small assumptions, drawing on examples from climate economics and the pandemic era, when many expert forecasts failed to anticipate outcomes even a couple of weeks ahead. The conversation moves from climate targets and energy transitions to the psychology of “normalisation”, the social aftershocks of COVID, and the way politics can swing dramatically with small changes in public mood.The result is a wide-ranging, clear-eyed discussion about uncertainty, risk, and how to stay serious about climate and democracy without pretending the future comes with a reliable timetable.🧠 Topics Discussed: Why long-range climate and economic modelling can hinge on fragile assumptionsWhat COVID forecasting revealed about the limits of near-term predictionHow humility about uncertainty gets weaponised by those who want inactionDavid’s shift since The Uninhabitable Earth: less apocalyptic certainty, more systems thinkingFaster-than-expected clean energy rollout, and the stubborn unknowns around fossil retirement“Normalisation” as a human superpower, and as a moral failure when disasters fade from viewThe post-pandemic social hangover: loss of trust, atomisation, and the politics of public healthVaccine backlash, the contradictions inside “anti-establishment” health coalitions, and what might endureWhy the “world is drifting inexorably right” narrative misses how messy politics really isA cautious look toward 2050: warming, geopolitics, AI hype cycles, and nuclear risk👩‍🏫 Guest Bio:David Wallace-Wells is a journalist, writer, and weekly columnist at The New York Times. He rose to global prominence with his 2017 essay “The Uninhabitable Earth”, later expanded into the bestselling book The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming. His work spans climate change, politics, and the social consequences of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic.David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (Penguin Random House)David Wallace-Wells, “After Climate Alarmism” (New York Magazine, 2021)Martin L. Weitzman, “Fat-Tailed Uncertainty in the Economics of Catastrophic Climate Change” (Review of Environmental Economics and Policy)💬 Quote Highlights:“Everything we think we know about where we’re heading is bedevilled by epistemic problems.” David Wallace Wells“The future is more manageable than what we feared, though the system is still full of unknowns.” David Wallace Wells“We normalise a lot, and that will govern a lot of our climate future.” David Wallace Wells“Every small shift in the vibes feels permanent, until a few weeks later it doesn’t.” David Wallace Wells“Treating one percent per year as a precise forecast feels abstracted from how decisions actually get made.”David Wallace Wells🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement advancing bold, evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and prosperity. We challenge bad ideas and champion better ones, grounded in human wellbeing and ecological restoration. Learn more at weplanet.org.📥 Join the ConversationEmail: podcast@weplanet.orgSubscribe: weplanet.org/podcastFollow on X: @WePlanetInt

15/01/2026 • 62:37

Is nuclear power too slow, too expensive, or too essential to ignore? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with Baroness Bryony Worthington — crossbench peer, climate policy architect, and co-host of the Cleaning Up podcast — to take on Bad Idea #34: “Nuclear? No Thanks.”🧠 Topics Discussed: ● ⚛️ Why nuclear costs haven’t fallen — and why China may change that ● 🇫🇷 What France got right (and wrong) in its Mesmer-era nuclear buildout ● 🇨🇳 China’s nuclear ecosystem: HTRs, molten salts, SMRs, and industrial policy ● 🧱 Why huge gigawatt-scale reactors fail — and when modularity matters ● 🌡️ Heat: the forgotten one-third of global energy that renewables struggle to replace ● 🇺🇸 The growing bipartisan nuclear consensus in the U.S. ● 🔥 Geothermal, CSP, and advanced drilling as zero-carbon heat sources ● 👾 AI and data centres: the quiet driver of surging electricity demand ● 🧪 Thorium, molten salt reactors, and the cult of “better nuclear” ● ♻️ Nuclear waste, fuel recycling, plutonium, and the politics of the NRC ● 🛡️ Risk, radiophobia, and why safety rules became so irrational ● 🌍 Authoritarianism, industrial strategy, and what China’s system gets right (and wrong)👩‍🏫 Guest Bio: Baroness Bryony Worthington is a crossbench member of the UK House of Lords and one of Britain’s most respected climate policy thinkers. She was a lead author of the UK’s Climate Change Act, co-founded the children’s environmental charity Sandbag, and serves as co-host of the global energy podcast Cleaning Up with Michael Liebreich. Bryony currently leads work on clean industrial transitions, including repowering coal infrastructure with zero-carbon heat from nuclear, geothermal, and advanced solar technologies.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources ● Cleaning Up podcast – https://www.cleaningup.live ● BloombergNEF – https://about.bnef.com ● Kairos Power (advanced reactors) – https://kairospower.com ● Oklo (fast microreactors) – https://www.oklo.com ● TerraPower (Natrium reactor) – https://www.terrapower.com ● High-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTR info) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_gas-cooled_reactor ● Molten salt reactor background – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten-salt_reactor ● Tsinghua University Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology – https://www.inet.tsinghua.edu.cn/ineten/ ● Repower Initiative – https://www.repower.world/ ● Jamie Beard on geothermal – https://www.texasgeo.org ● IAEA on nuclear fuel recycling – https://www.iaea.org/topics/spent-fuel-management  ● Waste Not (WePlanet nuclear fuel recycling report) – https://www.weplanet.org/reports/waste-not ● China’s solar overcapacity & exports – https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy ● Our World in Data: electricity mix – https://ourworldindata.org/electricity-mix 💬 Quote Highlights:“Once you build nuclear, you never regret it — it just quietly produces heat and power for 80 years.” “China has already built almost everything we were going to tell them to try.” “Heat is a third of global energy. Batteries can’t solve that. Nuclear can.” “Radiation is everywhere — from rocks, from the sun, from your partner in bed. We’ve regulated nuclear as if none of this exists.” “I’m not pro-nuclear everywhere. I’m pro-nuclear where it makes the transition faster.” “I’m a pro-humanity environmentalist. Nuclear is part of that story.”🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human well-being. Learn more at https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

11/12/2025 • 61:51

🔍 Episode Summary:Is the food industry slowly killing us? Is processing of food the problem? Do we really need personalized nutrition? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with Professor Sarah Berry — nutritional scientist and Chief Scientist at ZOE — to take on Bad Idea #33: “Ultra Processed Foods are killing us”From the gut microbiome to micronutrients, ultra-processed foods, polyphenols, insulin resistance, fats, carbs, and the myth of the “perfect diet,” Sarah explains why individuals respond so differently to the same foods — and why population-level dietary guidelines often fail to deliver.They dig into the largest personalised nutrition study in the world, break down the science behind metabolic health, explore why the food environment keeps pushing us toward unhealthy choices, and examine how AI, big data, and microbiome analysis could revolutionise how we think about food.🧠 Topics Discussed: ● 🧬 Why one-size-fits-all nutrition fails ● 🍽️ What personalised nutrition actually means (and doesn’t mean) ● 🧪 The PREDICT studies — the world’s largest personalised nutrition programme ● 🦠 Gut microbiome diversity: why it matters ● 🔬 Ultra-processed food: what the science really shows ● 🧁 Why sugar behaves differently in different bodies ● 🧂 Salt, fats, omega-3s, fibre, polyphenols — a practical breakdown ● 🧠 Why “calories in, calories out” isn’t enough ● 🏥 Why metabolic health is declining (and what to do about it) ● 🧘 How sleep, stress, and exercise influence food responses ● 🤖 How AI and microbiome data could shape the future of nutrition👩‍🏫 Guest Bio: Professor Sarah Berry is a nutritional scientist at King’s College London and the Chief Scientist at ZOE, where she leads research on personalised nutrition, metabolic health, and the gut microbiome. She is one of the lead scientists behind the PREDICT studies — the world’s largest programme looking at individual responses to food — and has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. Sarah is a leading communicator on evidence-based nutrition and co-hosts the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources ● ZOE personalised nutrition programme – https://joinzoe.com ● PREDICT 1 study – https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0934-0 ● Professor Sarah Berry (King’s College London profile) – https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sarah-berry ● ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast – https://zoe.com/learn/podcast ● Tim Spector’s work on the microbiome – https://www.tim-spector.co.uk ● Ultra-processed foods overview (WHO) – https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2025/06/19/who-ultra-processed-food-guidance/ ● Our World in Data: Diet & Obesity – https://ourworldindata.org/diet-compositions ● Meta-analysis on glycaemic variability & health – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31220802 ● The Nurses Health Study – https://nurseshealthstudy.org/ ● Gut microbiome science summary (Microbiome Journal) – https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com💬 Quote Highlights:“There is no perfect diet — there is only the best diet for you.” — Sarah Berry “Two people eating the same muffin can have completely opposite metabolic responses.” — Sarah Berry “We’ve been telling people what to eat for decades. It hasn’t worked. We need a new approach.” — Sarah Berry “Ultra-processed doesn’t always mean unhealthy — but most of what’s on shelves today definitely is.” — Sarah Berry “We cannot separate nutrition from sleep, stress, and movement. They’re part of the same system.” — Sarah Berry🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human well-being. Learn more at https://www.weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

04/12/2025 • 66:04

Is a world powered by clean energy possible without nuclear power? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with Julia Pyke, Managing Director of Sizewell C, to challenge Bad Idea #32: “We don’t need nuclear.”From financing and grid stability to biodiversity and public opinion, Julia explains why nuclear is essential to reaching net zero — and why the UK’s new fleet of reactors could reduce consumer bills, not raise them. They discuss the economics of megaprojects, how to avoid first-of-a-kind overruns, the role of heat in decarbonisation, small modular reactors, and how the Sizewell C project is reshaping both the local community and the nuclear industry itself.Whether you’re a nuclear skeptic or advocate, this episode offers a rare, detailed look inside one of Europe’s biggest clean-energy projects.🧠 Topics Discussed: ● ⚛️ Bad Idea #32: “We don’t need nuclear” ● 🏗️ Why Hinkley Point C cost overruns won’t repeat at Sizewell C ● 🔧 “7,000 design changes” — and why copying Hinkley avoids them ● ⚡ How nuclear cuts system-wide grid costs ● 💸 The Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model explained simply● 🏭 Why the UK needs firm, low-carbon power alongside renewables ● 🇨🇳 China’s nuclear programme and the myth of “negative learning” ● 🌳 How Sizewell C aims to be nature positive ● 🐦 Engagement with RSPB, Wildlife Trusts & Natural England ● 👩‍🔧 Women in nuclear — and transforming the industry’s diversity ● 🏗️ Local jobs, apprenticeships, and long-term economic benefits ● ♨️ Using nuclear heat for direct air capture and industry ● 🌬️ Is SMR hype overshadowing big reactors? ● 🎶 The Sizewell Choir: wellbeing, culture, and community👩‍🏫 Guest Bio: Julia Pyke is the Managing Director of Sizewell C, the UK’s next large-scale nuclear power station. A former lawyer who helped finance Hinkley Point C, she now leads one of Europe’s biggest clean-energy projects. Julia specialises in nuclear financing, infrastructure delivery, and public communication.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● Electricity Distribution Networks study: government responsehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-distribution-networks-study-government-response  ● Aurora Energy Research (national system modelling) https://auroraer.com ● UK Government: Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model explainerhttps://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g ● Hinkley Point C project overview https://www.edfenergy.com/energy/nuclear-new-build-projects/hinkley-point-c ● Rolls-Royce SMR Programme https://www.rolls-royce-smr.com/ ● Natural England – Tony Juniper https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/about-natural-england/ ● Suffolk Wildlife Trust https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ ● RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) https://www.rspb.org.uk/ 💬 Quote Highlights:“The thing that stops nuclear being built isn’t engineering — it’s financing.” — Julia Pyke “Counterintuitive as it seems, building Sizewell C reduces consumer bills.” “If we could drop Sizewell C into place without construction impacts, there’d be almost no opposition.” “Nuclear isn’t in conflict with renewables. It makes them cheaper.” “If nuclear had been built out as planned in the 1980s, we wouldn’t have global warming.” “We need nuclear that looks like the society it serves — not just white men.” “Big infrastructure can be nature positive.”🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global science and citizen movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature and human flourishing. Learn more: https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

27/11/2025 • 52:08

Is China secretly saving the world from climate catastrophe? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas is joined by Lauri Myllyvirta, Lead Analyst and Co-Founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), to examine Bad Idea #31: “Climate crisis? It’s China that’s the problem!”As one of the world’s most trusted analysts on China’s energy system, Lauri explains why this narrative is outdated — and how China’s clean-energy boom has become the most important climate story on the planet.They dig into China’s extraordinary expansion of solar, wind, batteries, EVs and long-distance transmission lines; the politics behind continued coal-plant construction; the country’s dramatic air-pollution turnaround; and the global consequences if China’s emissions really have peaked.🧠 Topics Discussed: ● 🔥 The “bad idea”: China will always burn more coal ● 📉 Why China’s CO₂ emissions have been stable or declining for 18 months ● ☀️ The solar boom: 100 solar panels installed per second ● ⚡ China’s new clean electricity each year = powering the UK twice ● 🏭 Why coal plants are still being built — and why many may sit idle ● 🪫 Battery deployment hitting 100 GW, transforming grid flexibility ● 🚗 EVs: 50% of new car sales and eating into China’s oil demand ● 🛻 The rise of electric heavy trucks and buses ● 🌬️ Wind, solar and nuclear in China’s power mix ● 🌁 China’s dramatic air-quality turnaround — and the global warming side-effects ● 🌎 Why China’s decarbonisation is now shaping global energy trends ● 🐉 Geopolitics: US decline, China’s clean-tech dominance ● 📊 Data transparency in China and how Lauri tracks the numbers ● 🔋 Solar + batteries as the cheapest power in world history👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Lauri Myllyvirta is the Lead Analyst and Co-Founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). A globally respected expert on China’s energy system, he publishes widely in international media and frequently contributes analysis to Carbon Brief. Lauri previously worked with Greenpeace and has over a decade of experience tracking air-pollution, fossil-fuel and clean-energy trends across Asia. More about Lauri’s work: ● CREA – https://energyandcleanair.org/ ● Lauri on Carbon Brief – https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chinas-co2-emissions-have-now-been-flat-or-falling-for-18-months/ 📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● CREA – China emissions & energy analysis – https://energyandcleanair.org/ ● Lauri’s latest China emissions report – https://www.energyconnects.com/news/renewables/2025/november/china-s-september-emissions-drop-keeps-annual-decline-in-play/ ● Carbon Brief: China energy & climate coverage – https://www.carbonbrief.org/category/china/ ● Bloomberg: China’s clean-energy boom – https://www.bloomberg.com/green ● IEA World Energy Outlook – https://www.iea.org/weo ● China solar deployment data (NEA) – http://www.nea.gov.cn/ ● China EV market overview (CPCA) – https://www.cpcaauto.com/ 💬 Quote Highlights:“China’s clean-energy boom is the biggest climate story in the world right now.” — Lauri Myllyvirta “Solar additions this year alone can power the entire UK — twice.” “Electric cars in China are already cutting into oil demand.” “China has the ability to peak emissions now — the question is political, not technical.” “Air pollution improved faster in China than anyone predicted — and it shows what fast action looks like.” “China didn’t just decarbonise itself — it made clean energy cheap for the whole world.”🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development. Learn more at https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/weplanetint 

20/11/2025 • 63:48

Could democracy really die in America? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with Susan Stokes, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy, to challenge Bad Idea #30: “It can’t happen here.”Drawing on her acclaimed book The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies, Stokes reveals the playbook that elected leaders use to quietly erode democracy from within — the same tactics that have turned Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela into hybrid autocracies. She and Mark discuss the United States’ alarming slide under Trump’s second term, the global rise of “backsliders,” and why inequality may be the hidden fuel of modern authoritarianism.This conversation exposes the real risks facing democratic societies — and what can still be done to save them.🧠 Topics Discussed: ● ⚖️ The Bad Idea: “It can’t happen here” — and why it already is ● 🧱 The authoritarian playbook: courts, press, civil society, universities, and elections ● 🌀 “Firehose authoritarianism” — how chaos itself becomes a political tool ● 📉 Project 2025 and the new blueprint for executive overreach ● 🧮 How Bright Line Watch measures democratic decline ● 💰 The root cause: why inequality erodes democratic resilience ● 🌍 Why backsliding happens in both rich and poor countries ● 🧠 Right-wing ethno-nationalism vs. left populism — different faces, same logic ● 🎓 Why the educated elite have lost touch with working-class voters ● 🗳️ What Sweden and Brazil can teach us about democratic survival ● 🔮 Can the U.S. still hold a free election — or is this democracy’s last chapter?👩‍🏫 Guest Bio: Susan Stokes is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where she directs the Chicago Center on Democracy. Her work focuses on democratic accountability, political participation, and comparative politics.She is the author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies (Princeton University Press, 2024), which explains how elected leaders across the world — from the U.S. to Hungary to India — erode democracy from within. Stokes also co-founded Bright Line Watch, a project monitoring the health of American democracy through expert and public surveys.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies – Susan C. Stokes ● Bright Line Watch – Ongoing surveys tracking the state of U.S. democracy ● Chicago Center on Democracy – University of Chicago research initiative ● The Precipice – Toby Ord ● Freedom House: Nations in Transit – Annual global democracy report ● V-Dem Institute – Democracy indices and data ● Project 2025 – The conservative blueprint shaping U.S. governance💬 Quote Highlights:“We live in a country where the government acts like an autocracy — and the people still act like it’s a democracy.” — Susan Stokes “Autocracy doesn’t arrive with a coup. It arrives through the ballot box.” “Income inequality is democracy’s most powerful poison.” “The courts, the press, the universities — they’re always the first targets.” “Democracy dies not with a bang, but with a thousand executive orders.” “If you invest in reducing inequality, you’re investing in democratic survival.”🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development. Learn more at https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

12/11/2025 • 52:11

Is net zero possible — and what’s really holding us back? In this second part of his conversation with Mark Lynas, clean energy expert Michael Liebreich dives deep into the technologies, policies, and economics of the energy transition. Together they explore Bad Idea #29: “The Green transition is failing.”Liebreich, founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and host of the Cleaning Up podcast, challenges magical thinking in climate policy and explains why achieving net zero demands realism, not slogans. From grid build-out and nuclear revival to hydrogen hype and global energy justice, this episode tackles the messy, pragmatic side of decarbonisation — and why optimism grounded in physics, finance, and fairness is our best bet for a sustainable future.🧠 Topics Discussed:● ⚡ The myth of an easy energy transition ● 🌍 Global energy inequality and why the Global South matters ● ☢️ The comeback of nuclear and the politics of fear ● 🔋 The limits of batteries and why grids need diversity ● 🌬️ Wind, solar, and the real bottlenecks of scaling clean power ● 🛢️ Fossil fuel phase-out: economics vs. ideology ● 🧮 The physics of net zero and why “energy realism” matters ● 💰 How finance, markets, and policy must align for decarbonisation ● 🚀 Why clean energy innovation — not austerity — is the path forward👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Michael Liebreich is the founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), a leading provider of strategic research on the energy transition, and host of the influential podcast Cleaning Up. A former Olympic skier, investor, and advisor to the UK government on clean growth, Liebreich is known for his pragmatic, data-driven approach to climate and energy issues. Follow him on X/Twitter: @MLiebreich📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:● Bloomberg New Energy Finance – Market intelligence on the global energy transition ● Cleaning Up Podcast – Conversations with leaders in clean energy and climate policy ● The Liebreich Lecture (London Climate Week) – Annual keynote on energy and sustainability ● Mission Innovation – International initiative to accelerate clean energy innovation ● International Energy Agency (IEA) Net Zero Roadmap – Data and analysis on pathways to global net zero ● WePlanet – Global citizen movement advocating evidence-based solutions for climate and development💬 Quote Highlights:“Physics doesn’t negotiate. You can’t get to net zero by passing a law — you have to build stuff.” — Michael Liebreich“The energy transition is happening, but it’s not happening fast enough — and not fairly enough.” — Michael Liebreich“We need to be hard-headed about technology, but soft-hearted about people.” — Michael Liebreich🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development.📥 Join the Conversation:💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on X/Twitter: @weplanetint

06/11/2025 • 71:21

Are sharks really the monsters we’ve been taught to fear — or the ocean’s misunderstood guardians? In this episode, Mark Lynas sits down with Arzucan “Zuzu” Askin, National Geographic Explorer, conservation scientist, and co-founder of Miyaru NGO, to take on Bad Idea #28: “Jaws - aka sharks are scary”From diving daily with tiger sharks in the Maldives to pioneering the world’s first free-swimming shark ultrasounds, Zuzu shares what it’s really like to live and work among these ancient predators — and why our fear of them is one of conservation’s biggest barriers. 🧠 Topics Discussed: ● 🦈 The myth of the “man-eater”: why sharks aren’t scary, they’re essential ● 🎬 Jaws and how a single movie reshaped global shark perceptions ●🏝️ How the Maldives became the “Galápagos of the Indian Ocean” for sharks ● 🌊 The 2010 Maldives shark sanctuary — and how it saved populations ● 🤰 “Mama Shark”: the world’s first free-swimming ultrasound scans of tiger sharks ● 👩‍🔬 Shark pregnancies and live births — motherhood in the deep ● ⚖️ The fight to stop the return of shark fishing in the Maldives ● 🧴 Hidden sharks: in cosmetics, pet food, and even vaccines● 🧠 How sharks inspire biomedical and design innovation● 🐋 Collaborating with Dr. Sylvia Earle and Tongan scientists on whale research ● 🧩 What individuals can do to protect sharks — from banning fins to consumer choices👩‍🏫 Guest Bio: Arzucan “Zuzu” Askin is a conservation scientist, diver, and National Geographic Explorer based in the Maldives. She co-founded Miyaru NGO, the country’s first national-level shark conservation organisation, dedicated to protecting predatory shark species through research, education, and community engagement. Zuzu led the groundbreaking “Mama Shark” project, conducting the world’s first free-swimming ultrasounds on tiger sharks to study reproduction. She has worked with National Geographic, the Maldives Ocean Alliance, and partnered with researchers like Dr. Sylvia Earle to advance ocean science and storytelling.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● 🌐 Miyaru NGO – https://miyaru.org/ ● 📄 Ultrasound Scanning of Free-Swimming Tiger Sharks – Frontiers in Marine Science (2023) – https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1500176/full ● 🐋 Mission Blue – https://missionblue.org/ ● 🧬 Blue Marine Foundation – https://www.bluemarinefoundation.com/ ● 🌊 Maldives Resilient Reefs – https://maldivesresilientreefs.com/ ● ✍️ Petition to Save the Maldives Shark Sanctuary – https://only.one/act/maldives-sharks ● 🎥 Jaws (1975) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(film) ● 🧴 Hidden Shark Ingredients – https://sharkallies.com/blogs/shark-allies-news/squalene ● 🧠 Sylvia Earle – https://missionblue.org/team/dr-sylvia-earle/ ● 🐳 Humpback Whale Research Project (Tonga) – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237530779_Humpback_Whales_in_Tonga_An_Economic_Resource_for_Tourism 💬 Quote Highlights:“A lion would never let you do what a tiger shark lets you do underwater.” — Arzucan “Zuzu” Askin “When you show a shark as a mother, not a monster, people see them differently.” “Sharks are older than trees — and we’ve managed to wipe out most of them in a century.” “Europe is still one of the biggest exporters of shark fins and meat. That has to stop.” “If you’ve used sunscreen, cosmetics, or pet food today, you might have already used shark.” “An ultrasound image of a pregnant tiger shark — that’s conservation storytelling at its best.”🌐 About WePlanet: WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development. Learn more at https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation: 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

29/10/2025 • 54:38

Can thinking about the end of the world make us better people? In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas sits down with philosopher and existential risk researcher Dr SJ Beard to unpack Bad Idea #27: “There’s no hope for humanity’”Drawing on their new book Existential Hope (Polity), SJ argues that we need to look beyond fear and fatalism to build a future worth surviving for. They explore how the same forces driving environmental destruction, inequality, and technological danger also threaten humanity’s long-term survival — and how rediscovering our shared humanity could be the key to building resilience and hope in an age of crisis.🧠 Topics Discussed: ● 🌍 Why the same systems that harm people and planet now endanger our collective future ● 🧠 What “existential risk” really means — and why it’s about justice as much as survival ● 🏭 How extractive capitalism links everyday harm to global catastrophe ● 🤖 AI, technology, and the ethics of progress ● 💣 The limits of doom thinking and why apocalypse narratives can paralyse us ● 💡 The concept of existential hope — a practical philosophy for long-term survival ● ✊ Building solidarity, moral courage, and collective action as the real foundations of safety ● 🌱 Why saving humanity starts with saving our humanity👨‍🏫 Guest Bio:Dr SJ Beard is a philosopher and senior research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge. Their research explores the ethics of global catastrophic and existential risks — from AI and climate change to inequality and social justice. SJ’s new book, Existential Hope (Polity, 2024), argues that the same human capacities that create danger also give us the tools to survive and flourish. They are known for bringing humanity, empathy, and philosophical depth to one of the most urgent topics of our time.📚 Recommended Reading & Resources: ● Existential Hope – https://www.sjbeard.com/existential-hope.html ● Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), University of Cambridge – https://www.cser.ac.uk/ ● CSER Podcast: Existential Hope and Risk – https://www.cser.ac.uk/work/24-october-2025-conversations-on-existential-hope/ ● The Precipice by Toby Ord – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Precipice:_Existential_Risk_and_the_Future_of_Humanity ● Our Final Hour by Martin Rees – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Final_Hour ● Climate Endgame (PNAS, 2022) – https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2108146119 ● Effective Altruism Forum: Existential Hope and Moral Progress – https://forum.effectivealtruism.org 💬 Quote Highlights:“If we want to save humanity, we need to start by saving our humanity.” — SJ Beard “The same extractive systems that harm people and planet now are the ones that endanger our future as a species.” “Existential hope isn’t utopian — it’s pragmatic. It’s about building the moral and collective capacity to survive.” “Thinking about extinction isn’t just about avoiding the end; it’s about imagining a future worth existing in.”🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development. Learn more at https://weplanet.org📥 Join the Conversation 💬 Feedback or questions? Email: podcast@weplanet.org 📩 Subscribe to new episodes: https://weplanet.org/podcast 👁️ Follow us on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/weplanetint

22/10/2025 • 69:07