Sustainababble

#274: The End.

24 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Well, this is it. Yer last ever Babble. Thank you - seriously, thank you - if you've lent us your attention over the years. It's been a plea...

#273: Chris Packham meets Sustainababble, again

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For our final interview, we're joined for a second time by the majestic Chris Packham, our first 'proper' guest all the way back in 201...

#272: Twitter

11 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If there wasn't twitter, would we have solved climate change by now? Might we at least have got round to thinking about solving climate change? W...

#271: Onshore Wind

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bat-chomping bird-slicing eco-crucifixes* are making a comeback! A mere eight years after some Tories effectively banned anyone from erecting wind tur...

#270: Heat Pumps

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Look, we're quitting, so if there ever was a leash we are now firmly off it. Problem is, while unleashed Dave might follow his nose into the bush...

#269: Just Stop, Ol

20 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Now then, we have Some News about the babble. Listen to the show to find out precisely what (don't worry, we haven't been bad), but suffice ...

#268: David Roberts meets Sustainababble

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Chances are you’ll have read David Roberts’ superlative writing on climate – at Vox or more recently Volts – and thought ‘coo, that’s sens...

#267: Eels

06 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If we said "name the weirdest, most mystical & inexplicable creature on earth" you would rightly say "80s English footballer Peter ...

#266: Poo

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Loathe though we are to be scatological, it's time to face faecal facts: the astonishing amount of human excrement on the planet presents a honki...

#265: Rainforests of Britain

23 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Britain has lost a lot of things lately: international standing; economic credibility; its collective shit. But we've also mislaid something more...

#264: Coke at COP

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Who knew climate conferences had corporate sponsors? 183,295 people, that's who, for they have signed a petition telling the UN suits to ditch th...

#263: Sorry

09 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mistakes have been made, lessons learned. Yet again, us being away for a few weeks coincided with the ass falling out of everything that is good.In fa...

#262: Liz Truss

11 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What, or who, is a Liz Truss and why does anyone care? Well buckle up because approximately 17 old white men from the rich bits of England have just m...

#261: Leah Thomas meets Sustainababble

28 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

'Intersectional environmentalism' is a) a lot of syllables, b) a brilliant concept explained simply and powerfully by writer and environment...

#260: Rupert Read meets Sustainababble

21 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rupert Read is an author, philosopher, and activist, perhaps best known for his prominent role in Extinction Rebellion. He's written more than a ...

#259: The High Seas

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you ever encounter a Sloane's Viperfish, you're in for a treat. The charming creature has a bite so ferocious that its first vertebra has...

#258: Roads

07 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU BABBLED ABOUT EVIL EVIL POO-BUM ROADS?!?!" yells twitter. Well, your bellowed word is our grudging command.But while w...

#257: Bird Flu

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Fans of our feathered friends, look away now...If you've been to the coast recently there's every chance you'll have seen, how can we p...

#256: 40 Degrees

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Famously soggy, predictably chilly. Well, not any more, cos Blighty has joined the global combustability club after turning in a world-beating and ver...

#255: Green Capitalism?

18 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How much, precisely, is one whale worth? Half an elephant? Three dozen gibbons?"Don't be silly, Ol and Dave, you can't put a price on n...

#254: Luke Turner Meets Sustainababble

11 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Epping Forest, or "Effing Forest" as it's known to the locals, is at the heart of Luke Turner's wonderful 2019 book about sexualit...

#253: Badverts

12 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The babble, it must be said, has a problem with authority. Probably cos of our upbringing or something. But this week, The Authority – specifically ...

#252: Business

05 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you were until recently, say, sustainability overlord at IKEA, should you be viewed as a suit who slapped green respectability onto a company that ...

#251: Australia

29 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bring out the bunting, close the streets, give everyone an extra holiday! No, not for the Queen's platinum wotsit, for the fact that the Aussies ...

#250: Light Pollution

22 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The night sky, it seems, is getting brighter. At least according to some not-science we got sent by some not-scientists. But whether it's true or...

#249: David Attenborough

16 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We live in a desperately cynical world - christ, the Babble should know - but a few public figures remain untarnished, standing tall as beacons of tru...

#248: Being Dead

08 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You might think being dead is when you can finally stop worrying about your impact on the planet. You'd be wrong.Be it burrying, burning, or bugg...

#247: Mary Colwell meets Sustainababble

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In a rare bit of good news for the nation's youth, a new natural history GCSE means 16 year olds might one day appreciate fauna as much as they d...

#246: Seaweed

24 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kelp. That's what's gonna save the world. Not trees, kelp. Or seagrass. Or some other form of wibbly algae that lives in the sea and isn&apo...

#245: Trespass

18 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Keep Out. Two little words that carry such unquestioned authority. But why are we so well behaved when what we're kept out of is often the thing ...

#244: Q & A

21 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Babble listeners are definitionally a wise and discerning bunch, so just occasionally we permit the besplurgification of our inbox with probing questi...

#243: Insulation

13 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

"No please, tell me MORE about your cavity walls!" said absolutely no-one, ever.And that's kinda the problem for poor ol' insulati...

#242: Tessa Khan meets Sustainababble

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Suing national Governments for gross Inhofery, whilst simultaneously laying the smackdown on oil and gas companies, sounds daunting and, frankly, a lo...

#241: Ladybirds

27 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

They're not birds, and approximately half aren't ladies. But ladybirds very much ARE beetles, and that alone is reason to celebrate them. Ev...

#240: Culture Wars

20 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What is a culture war? Are greenies like us now fighting one? Are we... the baddies?All questions we must, regrettably, now grapple with, because a ph...

#239: NFTs

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you thought Bitcoin was confusing, wait 'til you hear about 'non-fungible tokens'.In fact you've probably already heard about t...

#238: Katharine Hayhoe meets Sustainababble

06 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Very, VERY excitingly, this week we natter with one of the best climate communicators around, who also happens to be one of the planet's foremost...

#237: Food Waste

30 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It is bonkers that so much effort, land, water & energy is used to make so much food that never goes in anyone's gob. Bonkers and, as babble ...

#236: Don’t Look Up

23 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

SPOILER ALERT! This week we natter about the Netflix film 'Don't Look Up', so EFFIN' WELL WATCH IT it before listening.The second ...

#235: Sustainabauble 2021

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A statement from Dave and Ol: "All Sustainabaubles complied with the rules at the time of recording. Not that there have been any Sustainabaubles...

#234: Avocados

05 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The blood diamonds of Mexico. A hipster's fever dream. Compressed mushy peas disguised as a gonad. Is there *anything* to commend the avocado? A ...

#233: Black Friday

28 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's here! Black Friday-mas is finally here! Thank the lord. Thank Jeff Bezos. Thank f*ck.Sigh. It's probably not OK to go warm and fuzzy in...

#232: Good COP? Bad COP?

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Is it OK to feel sorry for teary Alok Sharma? Which country's delegation parties the hardest? Who put China in the shed? And was anyone at all st...

#231: Methane

07 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"So Dave, Ol, what IS your favourite tetrahedral molecule?" is not the most F of AQs we get, but the answer - since you asked - is of course...

#230: Sewage

31 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are few childhood rules that continue into grownupness, but 'don't shit in the sea' is definitely one of them. Which is why it&ap...

#229: Bugs

24 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bugs in all their freaky forms do a staggering range of critical jobs that keep the planet from, among other things, quickly becoming a massive pile o...

#228: Road to COP26

17 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A year late, for obvious reasons, but the imminent Glasgow climate shindig is still seismically important. But will this cauldron of egos be any more ...

#227: Circular Economy

10 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What shape best represents the absolute lunacy that is humans and their economic activity? Something Jackson Pollock-esque? Mr Messy off of the Mr Men...

#226: Gas Prices

03 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Everything's running out in Blighty. Gas (as in gas), gas (as in petrol) and everyone's patience. As far as we can tell, the two crises are ...

#225: A History of Motion

26 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Four wheels good, two legs bad. For a hundred years, the gas-guzzling car has been king. But its days are numbered - no-one seriously disputes that - ...

#224: Adaptation

22 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Despite what Assorted Inhofes say, climate change is a) real b) here already c) going to get worse. We'd better get ready. So how come we're...

#223: Katherine Trebeck meets Sustainababble

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A 'wellbeing economy' sounds like the sort of economy that might not ruin everything, and in that sense we are very much behind it. But it a...

#222: Fairness

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Does it really matter how 'fair' the solutions to climate breakdown are? So long as we stop the worst of it, who cares whether a few people ...

#221: Soil

25 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The list of things that enable life on earth is a pretty short one: a dollop of sunshine, drizzle of water, and a soupçon of air. But for anything fu...

#220: History of the Climate Crisis

11 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's more than 160 years since clever science people first worked out that digging up and burning long-dead bugs made Earth sizzly. So why are we...

#219:Ecocide

04 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A wise person once said that when it comes to buggering up the planet, prison is an underused deterrent. And just why should it be OK to be an Earth-n...

#218: Dams

27 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Amster-, E-, Jean-Claude Van-. All splendid dams in their own right, but topics for another time. THIS week we set our babble sights on the massive co...

#217: Shell Gets A Kicking

20 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Grand narratives of history are woven around pivotal moments, and it's just possible that when the history of this period is written, 26 May 2021...

#216: Amazon

13 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's the most successful website in the world, but many of us feel icky about using it. Is Amazon terrible for the planet or is it just, y'k...

#215: Tim Jackson Meets Sustainababble

06 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Boris "Gordon Gekko" Johnson aside, no-one likes greed. But growth - mmmmm, warm, cuddly, economic growth - well, that's another matter...

#214: Bitcoin

30 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pity our tiny little brains. For some reason that escapes us now we thought it would be jolly interesting and not at all SODDING BEWILDERING to attemp...

#213: Artificial Lawns

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pulp, the greatest band of all time, once sang that grass is "something you smoke". Perhaps that was true in 1995, but in the cool light of ...

#212: Chips

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Remember the past? A simpler time. A time before doxing and pile-ons and Katie Hopkins. A time when wholesome telly presenters on wholesome telly prog...

#211: What’s The Point?

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jo, a babble listener from Letchworth in the UK, sent in a question that kinda stumped us. What the hell, she asked, does one say to people who can&ap...

#210: Easter Eggs

04 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Alleluia! One of the great plot twists - perhaps only rivalled by Harold Bishop returning to Neighbours with amnesia (look it up) - is celebrated the ...

#209: North Sea

28 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Push is beginning to come to shove, climate action-wise, particularly when politicians ponder the fat piles of cash made doing things that are Very Ba...

#208: Policing

22 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The UK Government sometimes surpasses even itself. The 'Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill' is a new bit of legislation so universall...

#207: Eco-Parenting

14 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cos capitalism, cos inhofes, cos LIFE, it's all but impossible to be the planet's BFF most of the time. Having kids arguably makes that task...

#206: Jobs

07 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Saving the planet isn't really about the planet at all, it's about people. People who, for instance, currently have jobs in industries that ...

#205: Wikipedia

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Where'd ya read that then, Wikipedia?!?@!" used to be the refrain of bell-ends everywhere who couldn't be bothered to engage with...

#204: The Daily Express

21 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's awful confusing when those who've spent decades saying climate change is a hoax suddenly ask us to join their 'Green Revolution&ap...

#203: Bottom Trawling

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Stop it. STOP IT! This is a terribly Serious and Important thing, all to do with industrial fishing and delicate marine ecosystems and we could do wit...

#202: The Trembling Warrior

31 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Many of us are reluctant activists, perhaps so reluctant we barely consider ourselves 'activist' at all. So how do we become less reluctant?...

#201: British S**t for British People

24 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Where once this small island in the mid-atlantic was famous for exporting cricket, heavy industry, global oppression and the rule of law, we're n...

#200: America, WTF

17 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The last few weeks stateside make earlier Trumpgasms appear almost normal by comparison. Armed insurrection, an attempted coup, social media bans, a m...

#199: Is it really green?

10 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Among today's intractable divisions, few are more bitter, more incendiary than that between the washing-up-by-hand loyalists and the using-the-di...

#198: Hugo Tagholm meets Sustainababble

03 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wound up in the ocean with human faeces on your head, or a used sanitary product bobbing by? Us neither, thankfully, but many UK surfers have, wh...

#197: SustainaBAUBLE 2020

20 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Well here we are, a festive season distinctly lacking in bantz. BUT THAT'S WHAT YER BABBLE IS FOR! So strap in for an unashamedly lol-centric and...

#196: Juliet Davenport meets Sustainababble

13 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

These days energy companies fall over themselves to tell us how good for the planet they are, with varying degrees of chutzpah. When it comes to actua...

#195: COP 26

06 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Had 2020 been a bit less pandemic-y, we'd be celebrating / commiserating the conclusion of another mahoosive climate shindig about now. A shindig...

#194: Innovation

29 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Luddites, us greenies. People think it's an insult to say we all want to go back to living in caves, but - lack of wifi aside - lots of biosphere...

#193: Hydrogen

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hydrogen - one of those words that prompts people in environment world to nod sagely before quickly steering the conversation onto safer territory. Be...

#192: Democracy

15 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The climate catastrophe isn't exactly hanging about, so do we really have time for fiddling around with democracy? Sure, giving people a say is n...

#191: Donald Trump Schadenfreude Special

08 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

HE'S GONE! HE'S ACTUALLY GONE! THE TANGERINE TOSSPOT, THE BELLICOSE BELL-END, THE CLIMATE-DENYING CRACKPOT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN BOOTED OUT!Obvi...

#190: Juliet Gellatley meets Sustainababble

01 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

1 November is World Vegan Day, so what better time to meet the boss of vegan campaign group Viva!, the magnificent Juliet Gellatley.Juliet has been ad...

#189: Clocks Back

25 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Winter is coming. You'd think we'd have been let off in 2020 of all years, but no. This most cyanide-y of bitter pills is sugared by an extr...

#188: Rewilding

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Who fancies dodging a wolf on the way to work? Or perhaps a lynx barging through your catflap while pelicans pinch the fish in your pond?If rewilders ...

#187: What The Hell Has Been Happening?

11 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're back! And there's been a touch of news since we were last a-babblin'. Some of it actually not shit, too!So, this week Dave dons h...

#186: Talking Climate

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It is just possible that yelling about wet-bulb temperature and the certain heat death of everything isn't as effective a climate communications ...

#185: Eco-anxiety

09 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What if a problem even greater than climate change or ecological collapse is our sense of powerlessness in the face of these crises? Is it our inabili...

#184: Robert Llewellyn meets Sustainababble

02 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kryten is on the Babble! SMEGGIN' HELL!Robert Llewellyn is an actor and comedian who since 1989 has played angular faced mechanoid Kryten in cult...

#183: Gillian Burke meets Sustainababble

26 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The BBC's Springwatch is a cultural institution in the UK, showcasing the extraordinary but often overlooked wildlife of these crumbling isles wi...

#182: Roman Krznaric meets Sustainababble

20 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Are you being a good ancestor? Are WE being good ancestors? What the hell is a good ancestor and do I have to buy them a present? Public philosopher R...

#181: Litter

12 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The instant we were allowed out again we covered everything in rubbish: plastic and cans and humous packets and, er, cool boxes and chairs. Why? Has f...

#180: Being Ecofriendly

05 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"Smash capitalism" is among the least helpful answers people like Dave and Ol give when asked "So what should *I* do to help the planet...

#179: Footballers

28 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Modern footballers eh? Spoilt, obscenely rich, carbon-guzzling narcissists who couldn't spell planet, let alone save it. They're an open goa...

#178: Jonathon Porritt meets Sustainababble

21 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you've taken so much as a passing interest in environmentalism in the UK, you'll have doubtless encountered the campaigner and writer Jon...

#177: Q&A

14 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You asked, so we filibustered, obfuscated and prevaricated. That's right, just 177 episodes in we've dared to switch from 'broadcast&ap...

#176: Nappies

07 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Poor wee infants can't help it but they *do* produce an awful lot of poo and wee. Ol should know, he's got two of the little, er, darlings. ...

#175: Swifts

31 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Swifts: bloody 'ell. The weight of a Creme Egg, Apus Apus spend their entire lives in flight; eating, sleeping and shagging on the wing before po...