There are as many podcasts about sustainability and environmental issues as there is plastic in the ocean (ok, not THAT much, but a lot). Dad’s have better things to do than wade through hundreds of hours of podcasts to get trusted information and concepts. Fortunately I’ve done a lot of that work over the years. So here’s four single podcast episodes you need to listen to in order to get a grasp on what’s at stake. I’ve included a short description of each one below.
- Inside the Hive: July 23, 2021
“Long Term Disaster is the Best-Case Scenario” Author Nathan Rich Sounds the Alarm on Climate Change
What I say: This podcast talks a little about the history of the conversation about global warming and how it got politicized.
Here’s the description from Inside the Hive:
Floods, wildfires, skies filled with smoke and ash—it’s been a summer full of alarming signs of climate change. This week, journalist and novelist Nathaniel Rich joins Joe Hagan on Inside the Hive to discuss the looming catastrophe we’ve known about for decades but have consistently failed to slow, let alone stop. Should we take the climate fight to politicians and corporations, or is our system too hopelessly broken to respond to the earth’s rising temperatures? How much do individual choices like eating vegan or driving electric cars really help? The author of Losing Earth: A Recent History talks about his personal response as he paints a portrait of ignorance and bad faith among the powers that be. Rich also suggests new ways to change and deepen our relationship to our planet in crisis—including the power of fiction.
- Freakonomics: January 19, 2019
Two (Totally Opposite) Ways to Save the Planet
Here’s the description from Freakonomics:
The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technologists say that human ingenuity can solve just about any problem. A debate that’s been around for decades has become a shouting match. Is anyone right?
What I say: Prophets have overestimated pending disasters and engineers/technologists have overestimated their ability to prevent disasters. This podcast episode describes the debate between wizards and prophets in one hour. One thing that this podcast did not hit home is the fact that oftentimes solutions that have saved or helped us in the short term have had unseen long term consequences that we again need to be saved from. Still a good primer to grasp concepts that may come up in environmental conversations.
- Akimbo Podcast by Seth Godin: January 12, 2022
Externalities
What I say: Seth Godin is one of the most important thought leaders in my opinion. He is a marketing guru that applies pragmatic and insightful concepts to many different facets of life. As such, he is a pro at taking complex concepts, providing some anecdotal color and describing that concept succinctly just as a marketer can. In this episode he talks about the costs that we all take on (or at least people in the area of an industry) when someone else makes a profit. These are externalities. One favorite story is how a business along the hudson river made money by storing toxic waste in a building and when they left, it was up to the people and government to clean it up. That industry got the profit that the community stills pays for. Just listen, he explains it better.
3. BONUS Akimbo Podcast by Seth Godin: June 2, 2021
The Practical Ethics of the Jet Ski
I’m not including this in the 4 because I think this is a bonus episode for you my dear reader. You’re welcome bro. This short rant also touches upon externalities but more from a person to person basis and how some people’s selfish, short term incentives pass the costs on to the rest of the population. This is also about unchecked capitalism.
- Sustainable(ish) December 10,2021
The Day the World Stops Shopping
In this episode Sustainable(ish) talks with JB Mackinnon about consumer culture’s impact on the environment is one of the most pressing issues facing sustainability today. What I like about this episode is that it is a conversation that anyone would have with someone who knows a lot about the effects of our buying habits. It can be a bit rambling but it does deliver some good insights for us to think about. The conversation really picks about about the 13 minute mark. The most surprising statistic that they discuss is how in just 20 years 2000-2020 our consumption of fashion has increased 60%! Give it a listen to get the gears rolling on how we can address our psychological need to buy more and the balance between protecting our environment and keeping our economy robust.
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Thanks for the encouragement. Sorry I am not very quick on the replies.
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