Non-Toxic

It’s the season finale of Non-toxic, and we’re thinking about endings. In this case, what happens to our bodies when we die. We’re asking why do we cremate people or pump them full of formaldehyde and then trap them in a casket six feet under? Bob Hendrikx, inventor and founder of Loop, thinks there’s a better way to return to the place from whence we came: Mycelium coffins that can compost a huma...

There’s a better way to landscape your garden. That's the message Jordan "JP Charisma" Parker is preaching on YouTube and TikTok, where he's teaching his tens of thousands of followers the lost art of native plant gardening. In our conversation with JP, we learn why native species are better than imports for your local environment (and your water bill) and how they can help fragi...

Did you know that illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest criminal enterprise in the world? Though it touches every corner of the globe–there is no international agency devoted to stopping it–so ex-intelligence operative Andrea Crosta stepped in. As head of Earth League International, Andrea has spent the past ten years investigating and exposing the people who get rich wiping out rare...

Fire up the grill, fellas… This week, Andrew talks to journalist and author Joe Fassler, who went undercover for The Guardian to investigate an invite-only “beefluencer” training program created by America’s biggest beef lobby. What he uncovered was a complex public messaging machine funneling beef industry climate denialism through university-affiliated research groups and into the Facebook feeds...

Brrrr. It’s cold in here. In the first part of a two-part conversation with author Eric Dean Wilson, we journey into the shady underworld of used refrigerant sales, take a look back at the history of air conditioning, and wonder how we almost managed to destroy all life on earth in our quest for personal comfort. Get yourself a copy of After Cooling: On Freon, Global Warming, and the Terrible Cost...

In this episode, it’s Man vs Pig, and Man is losing. We head to the hill country of Texas with journalist Lauren Larson to understand why scientists, hunters, and even conservationists are so concerned about the scourge of feral hogs destroying crops, polluting water, and even eating baby deer. Discussing her recent article on the pig problem for Texas Monthly, Larson unpacks all the weird dynamic...

In this explosive episode, we talk with the filmmakers behind How to Blow Up a Pipeline , a new movie adapted from Andreas Malm’s political manifesto about why we should all start sabotaging fossil fuel infrastructure. Featuring director Daniel Goldhaber, writer Jordan Sjol, and editor Dan Garber, we talk about why eco-thrillers usually end in tears, the political uses of direct action, and how to...

In this follow-up to Episode 1's conversation on incels (involuntary celibate men) and their obsession with the idea of the alpha male, we drill into the origins of the alpha — and discover it's all pretty much a myth. Our guest is Connor Meyer, a PhD student at the University of Montana who has been studying Yellowstone National Park's wolves, the animal the incel community seems most...

In the first of this two-part series, we're talking about the myth of the alpha male, where it came from, how it's developed, and why it has remained so prevalent in our culture, despite the fact that a lot of research has overturned the idea. Perhaps the group most obsessed with the idea of alpha males are incels (involuntarily celibate men), who have adopted an elaborate pseudoscientific...

Non-toxic is a new podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of masculinity and the climate crisis, hosted by critic and cultural journalist Daniel Penny. Every week, we’ll be looking at climate through the lens of culture, politics, media, and everyday life to understand what researchers call "the eco-gender gap." Join us for conversations with experts, journalists, and regular gu...