Sustainababble

#174: No More Cars

25 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A car-free future is hurtling our way faster than even the most ardent greenies dared dream, pre-Covid.Backed into a corner by a pandemic that simply ...

#173: Pangolins

17 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What the world needs in these troubled times is someone to blame. A scapegoat or, in this instance, a scapepangolin.For it turns out everyone's f...

#172: The BBC

10 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Central to British cultural life, if not quite as dominant as it once was, the Beeb still solicits widespread affection, a refuge of familiarity in th...

#171: Mark Lynas meets Sustainababble

03 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If the global pandemic is leaving you wanting more on the existential angst front, try dipping into chapter 6 of journalist and former activist Mark L...

#170: Virus

09 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Look, we were supposed to be on a break, but then the world broke. So we're back for a remotely-recorded Covid special. Fair to say this virus l...

#169: Stop

08 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Shriek! One of us no longer works for an environmental charity. Is this the end? A more reflective / fewer-knob-jokes episode than usual. What happens...

#168: Who Owns England?

01 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's all very well wanting to plant trees everywhere and stuff like that but you need to own the land first. And we don't. Not only that, we...

#167: Kate Pankhurst meets Sustainababble

23 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Children's author and illustrator Kate Pankhurst often finds herself addressing classrooms of kids, so she was completely at home chatting to Dav...

#166: Chlorine Chicken

16 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Now that we've Br-ucked Off, Blighty can look forward to supermarkets chock full of chlorine-drenched poultry. Lucky us (lucky chickens).Why? Bec...

#165: Wildfires

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Australia's terrifying bushfires have made the climate emergency seem very real and very immediate. They've forced people everywhere to join...

#164: Climate Assembly

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a hotel room in Birmingham, one hundred ordinary people are doing something rather extraordinary. For four weekends, members of the UK's Clima...

#163: Jonathan Rowson meets Sustainababble

29 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chess Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson won the British Championship three times and has been the no.1 player in Scotland for basically ever. He's so c...

#162: Sustainabauble 2019

22 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We don't want a lot for Christmas - there is just one thing we need: piles of festive eco-guff underneath our (potted, reusable) Christmas tree. ...

#161: Five More Years

13 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Election 2019, then: Tories. LOTS of Tories. Boris is as delighted as pig in a massive pile of poo, and has carte blanche to sodding well do whatevs -...

#160: Orcas

08 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's possible that a terrifyingly high proportion of babble listeners haven't seen Free Willy, which, if the case, is truly appalling. Not b...

#159: Advertising

02 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

"The gentle art of persuading the public to believe that they want something they don’t need", so a 1905 definition goes. Selling in 2019 ...

#158: Floods

24 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bits of northern England have been inundated by floodwater in recent weeks. Even the perpetually soggy Venice has managed to get somehow more underwat...

#157: Tories

17 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chances are, if you listen to this podcast you're a bit of a lefty. And that's fine. And we are too.But lefties surely can't claim a mo...

#156: Fireworks

10 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Whizz! Bang! No, not BoJo's pillow talk, but the sound of millions of home explosives polluting the sky and making pets' insides go gooey. W...

#155: Beavers meet Sustainababble

03 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode, Dave and Ol leave stinky London behind and head off to rainy, muddy Cornwall to try to meet some actual beavers. Without wel...

#154: Eating Insects

27 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

One day, not very far from now, we might look back at 2019 and think it incredibly weird that people weren't stuffing their gullets with cockroac...

#153: What’s next?

20 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Even by recent high standards, some crazy big stuff is happening at the moment. Br- is about to actually -exit (or not), a general election is imminen...

#152: BP vs the RSC

13 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

"Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides: Who cover faults, at last shame them derides" said Cordelia in King Lear.Words with which th...

#151: Fusion

06 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Boris Johnson has promised - PROMISED! - that good ol' Blighty is going to produce infinite clean energy within two decades. That's right, &...

#150: Greta

29 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Prodigiously popular. Terrifyingly tenacious. Brilliantly bold. No silly, not Dave and Ol - we're talking about the globe-conquering, Inhofe-sil...

#149: Naomi Oreskes meets Sustainababble

22 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We chat to an actual proper Harvard Professor, blessed with a brain as large as her laugh. Author, activist and splendid person Naomi Oreskes - crusad...

#148: Trees

15 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When we go away the Amazon burns down, Boris Johnson becomes king, and London gets as hot as a farting hippo's bottom. Sorry about that. Now. Eve...

#147: Cycling

19 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Basically all of us learn to ride a bike, but vanishingly few grown-ups regularly cycle, especially in 'car is king' Blighty.So why is pootl...

#146: Nature Crisis

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Someone needs to tell the UN to stop writing reports on the state of the planet. Their latest lolzfest, hot on the heels of 2018's IPCC report (a...

#145: Emergency

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Heavens to betsy! The UK parliament has declared a 'Climate and Ecological Emergency'. Amazing, impressive, Extinction Rebellion-vindicating...

#144: Fashion

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our clothes say a lot about who we are, but they also say "SCREW YOU, PLANET!" more often than not. Yup, clothes and fashion - like so many ...

#143: Glaciers

14 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Glaciers are shrinking, which is not good. Not good for glaciers, not good for people who like sea levels just the way they are, and certainly not goo...

#142: Right to Repair

07 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

You're probably listening to this podcast on a device that's deliberately designed to break in not very long and will be nigh on impossible ...

#141: Clusterf**k

31 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's fair to say Brexit isn't going superbly. Recent goings on in the UK parliament have redefined the very notions of chaos, calamity and -...

#140: Recycling

24 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Of the zillion eco topics we've covered on this podcast, none come any more 'I like to think I do my bit' than recycling. You know the ...

#139: Birthstrike

17 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Would you forgo having children because the future looks too bleak? A growing group of 'birthstrikers' have decided just that, speficially d...

#138: Hygiene

10 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Are we too clean? Is Ol clean enough? Should we stop using bog roll to save the planet? All these - ahem - burning questions and others are answered i...

#137: Is Fracking Dead?

03 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Despite years of effort, bottomless pockets, and unwavering state backing, there's still nothing resembling a fracking industry in the UK.And for...

#136: School Strikes

24 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Children, not thrilled about a dying planet and a compromised future, are rising up. In less than six months, one 15 year old's lone protest outs...

#135: Asad Rehman meets Sustainababble

11 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Asad is, according to his twitter bio, a "general activist against all bad things". And then some.Currently the Executive Director of anti p...

#134: Green New Deal

06 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A new band of young Americans is organising to get the planet out of a death spiral and give decent jobs to people in the process. Hooray!The central ...

#133: Caroline Lucas meets Sustainababble

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Caroline Lucas - CAROLINE LUCAS! -  is the UK's first and only Green MP, former party leader, former MEP, and pretty much the lone voice of sani...

#132: Sustainabauble 2018

21 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Deck the halls with boughs of Ollie! (And Dave). It's this year's Xmas Xtravaganza, and as always our sacks are bulging with ripest sustain...

#131: Molly Scott Cato meets Sustainababble

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For the past 4 years Molly has been a Member of the European Parliament, from where she's championed all sorts of planet-saving causes. Now heavi...

#130: Peat

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Occasionally on fire and forever associated with the word "bog", peat is many things to many people.Gardeners guiltily sprinkle it on petuni...

#129: Climate Act

02 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It's ten years since the UK passed a law compelling politicians to save the planet from a fiery death.Given recent news, you'd be forgiven f...

#128: Extinction Rebellion

26 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Climate protest has a new headline act, and its name is Extinction Rebellion. Seemingly from nowhere, ER is gathering attention and supporters at brea...

#127: Electric Cars

19 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We hate to PLUG ourselves but in our opinion this is one of the best TORQUEs we've ever had: a GRIPping and wide-RANGEing chat about cars what ru...

#126: Alarmism

11 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

There's every reason to be alarmed, but does it help? Does screaming from the rooftops about impending climate doom grab people's attention ...

#125: Just Transition

04 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Most people get it: blunting climate breakdown means ditching fossil fuels. Which is inconvenient for the men and women who dig up, drill, refine, shi...

#124: Work less

29 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Work can be massively tedious. But would doing less of it - e.g. working 4 days rather than 5 - really be better for the planet? How would we pay the ...

#123: Brazil

21 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Beautiful Brazil looks set to elect a git. He goes by the name of Jair Bolsonaro and he is bad news for rainforests and those that live in them. We as...

#122: 1.5 Degrees

14 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Climate scientists have piped up again! 2,000 international brainboxes report that the nitty gritty of *actually* doing what the world said it would d...

#121: William Doyle meets Sustainababble

08 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

As East India Youth, electronic musician William Doyle has been nominated for a Mercury music prize and travelled the world promoting two highly succe...

#120: Hedgehogs

30 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Poor little sods are in big trouble. We pick over the plight of our prickly pals and ask: whose fault is the demise of the hedgehog? What's Boyci...

#119: Vybarr Cregan-Reid meets Sustainababble

23 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Vybarr is not only the most fabulously named babble guest we've had, but also the author of TWO incredible books about humans and our environment...

#118: Heat

22 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

There's a plan to make cold things hot - and hot things cold - using the lost rivers that wind under cities like London. Sounds like magic? Is ma...

#117: Trump Baby

12 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Trump Baby will fly!Remarkably, permission has been granted for a 6 metre inflatable, nappy-wearing, perma-tweeting, orange skinned crying baby to fly...

#116: Solar

08 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Solar boomed in the UK a few years back, but now hardly any of it's going up. Which seems a shame what with this INFERNAL sunny weather.What&apos...

#115: Population

01 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

More and more people on Earth = nailed-on environmental catastrophe. Yes? We talk to Alistair Currie from Population Matters to find out.Dashedly thor...

#114: Organic Farming

25 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Helen Browning is an organic farmer and Chief Executive of the Soil Association. For one very lovely summer's day, she was also our host and tour...

#113: Periods

10 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

There's no escaping that throwaway plastic menstrual products are just as bad for the fishes as throwaway plastic anything else.But what are the ...

#112: Cricket

03 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ooh, dash it. Seems we may have to add cricket to the very long list of things that climate change is going to nause up entirely. We investigate, once...

#111: Tourism

28 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

New research suggests - somewhat irritatingly - going on holiday is four times worse for the climate than previously thought.Flying, lavish eating, ho...

#110: Shipping

24 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Captain Birdseye and his pals have finally come to the climate party. An unprecedented agreement - signed just down the road from Babble HQ - will see...

#109: Neoliberalism

15 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

 'Neoliberalism', then. What the hell is it? Is it wrecking the planet? Is it responsible for Ol's hair? And what's it all got to...

#108: Carbon Bubble

09 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we meet one of the most influential people on climate change you've probably never heard of.Mark Campanale is Founder & Executive D...

#107: Sheffield’s Trees

02 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

 Sheffield's gone to war with itself over its trees. Is it all Margaret Thatcher's fault? What have bunnies, squirrels and geckos got to do...

#106: Russia

26 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

You'll have noticed that Russia is cross with Blighty for being cross with Russia for allegedly attempting to bump off a spy and his daughter. A...

#105: Batteries

18 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists with beards have invented a battery. Trust us, it's more interesting than it sounds.Despite shameful scientific illiteracy, even the &...

#104: Cats

11 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Vicious, bird-killing machines totally devoid of  conscience, or unfortunate scapegoats (scapecats?) for humanity's somewhat more ruinous ecolog...

#103: Monkey Exhausts

05 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014, ten monkeys were watching cartoons in a sealed chamber, into which ACTUAL SCIENTISTS pumped exhaust fumes from a VW Beetle. For four hours.Wh...

#102: Students

25 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Good-for-nothing lay-abouts, potnoodling their future away while the rest of us do REAL JOBS and PAY TAX.Maybe. But do today's students in fact c...

#101: Straws

18 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone's falling over themselves to stop using plastic straws. GOOD! Will this bring an end to the scourge of ocean plastic and save the ugly...

#100: A Century of Babbles

23 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

BUMPER EPISODE! Because we've got two very large reasons to be merry. It's CHRISTMAS, so anything can happen - even, apparently, Liam Galla...

#99: Ocean Plastic

10 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As Blue Planet II comes to a close, we ask if people having spent the last 7 weeks cooing at the pretty fishies will make any difference to whether th...

#98: The Man From Shell

03 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In a first for the Babble, we talk to someone very much on The Other Side.David Hone is chief climate change advisor... to Shell.After 30 years in the...

#97: George Monbiot meets Sustainababble

26 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Environmentalist. Author. Guardian columnist. Campaigner. Brain on legs. We grab some time at home with George Monbiot, everyone's favourite font...

#96: John Vidal meets Sustainababble

19 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For 27 years John Vidal was environment editor at The Guardian, scouring the world to bring underreported environmental issues to light.John talks to ...

#95: Inside The Climate Talks

12 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Right now, a lot of hideously sleep-deprived people are in Bonn, Germany, figuring out how nations should work together to stop the planet frying.Thou...

#94: Community Energy

05 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Fancy getting your hands on a bit of lovely solar or wind power, while making friends and sticking it to the big energy companies? Course you do.So, ...

#93: Liz Bonnin meets Sustainababble

29 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We meet that Liz Bonnin off of TV and science to talk about the Galapagos Islands. It's far away, an ecological wonder, and slowly getting ruined...

#92: Insects

22 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Insect numbers are plummeting and no-one knows why. What they do know is that the implications are, frankly, terrifying.Is it possible to get our head...

#91: Scotland

15 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hoots! Scotland's banned fracking! Ol and Dave don their Tam o' Shanters and find out why.Elsewhere, there's more suspiciously good ne...

#90: Apathy

08 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is apathy the biggest barrier to stopping climate change? How do we persuade millions of preoccupied people to put climate into the "urgent/impor...

#89: Germany

01 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Germans went to the polls recently and, somewhat astonishingly, elected a rather large number of fascists in the process. Nicht so gut.We talk to Kenn...

#88: Formula One

24 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Lewis Hamilton's jacked in the meat and dairy cos he's scared about the planet. We applaud, then ask: hang on, you drive pointless belchy...

#87: Bruce Parry meets Sustainababble

17 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

BAFTA award winning BBC presenter Bruce Parr, star of ‘Tribe’, ‘Amazon’ and ‘Arctic’, tells us all about his brand new film ‘Tawai: A V...

#86: Macron vs Trudeau

03 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

France and Canada have bagged themselves two energetic young leaders, not only impossibly photogenic but also saying all the right things about the pl...

#85: Michael Gove

18 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

He's back! The man who tried to ban climate change from the national curriculum has been anointed as Environment Secretary. Knickers are properly...

#84: Election: Blimey

10 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Holy Moley! What just happened? And what does it mean for the planet and stuff? Fresh from an election all-nighter, Dave and Ol interview superbrain p...

#83: Trump vs Paris

04 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A man of his silly orange word, Donald Trump has finally confirmed the USA will quit the landmark Paris Climate Agreement. Aaargh! But just how sodd...

#82: Ivory

28 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Very many elephants get their blocks knocked off every year for ivory. Grisly business. But are the UK Government doing enough to stop it? And are y...

#81: Manifestos, again

21 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Yes, again. Ol, Dave and Arabella summon some enthusiasm for yet another election and pick out the manifesti-babble from the manifesti-chaff.Fracking,...

#80: Fox Hunting

14 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

FOXES BEWARE! Your days of not being chased by dogs and men on horses in red coats might be numbered, according to that nice Mrs May.But is fox death ...

#79: Flying

07 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

If YOU take a flight, are you a planet-wrecking bastard? Are some bastards more hypocritical bastards than others? And why aren't politicians ...

#78: Shell knew

23 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A sensational report claims oil giant Shell took part in a vast bribery scheme that robbed the Nigerian people of over a billion dollars.We talk to Ba...

#77: Kate Raworth meets Sustainababble

16 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What's wrong with economics? EVERYTHING. That's what Dave & Ol found out when they interviewed the brainy & bags of fun 'renega...

#76: Dirty Diesel

10 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone's being mean about diesel cars all of a sudden. Why? Weren't they supposed to be better for the planet?And why was Ol on the telly ...

#75: Stanley Johnson meets Sustainababble

02 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Writer, politician, former Eurocrat, lifelong environmentalist, fearsome Remainer - oh yeah, and he's also Boris's dad. Dave and Ol chat al...