The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast

Welcome back to another episode of Greenwashed & Unhinged — the podcast where we pretend to care about the planet while blindly stumbling through your questions like eco-conscious toddlers in a philosophy seminar. Before we dive in, a heartfelt shoutout to our beloved listener Hannen Beith. Hannen, darling, pull your finger out and send us a question. We know you’re lurking. Contribute or be c...

If you want the go to experts, that's not us, you've come to the wrong podcast. This is however the podcast where co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, discuss questions sent in by you the listeners. The first of the two listener questions for today’s episode comes in the form of this epic enquiry from Bronwen, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA - “Does hardship make our specie...

This is the podcast where  listeners send questions for us to conversate around, and although not always to do with the environment, we always try to bring an action back to the that in some way.  We're not the go-to experts. We're the go-to guys who are willing to explore things cold, and change our minds as we go through. The first listener question comes from Unity, in Paddock Wood, Ken...

An episode where there's no one in the Listeners Chair as Alex has returned to university to study Microsoft Paint so the remaining panel records blind. Listeners submit questions in advance; the hosts open them only when the red light goes on, responding cold and unrehearsed. The podcast welcomes teasing and detours, but the conversation always returns to the core question. This episode is ca...

Today’s episode marks a special moment as we welcome back Alex Kauffmann to the Listeners Chair for one final time before he returns to university. Before signing off, he expressed his gratitude for being part of the podcast and acknowledged that it may be a few months before he returns. This episode also highlights an important aspect of podcasting: listener interaction. Each episode features two...

It’s our 600th episode! I know what you’re thinking, they don’t sound jaded and tired, which could easily be the case, after so many episodes. That’s because with every episode, the tone is set by you dear listeners, who continue to send in questions for us to discuss. We've only got nine questions lined up at present, so get 'em in now and you'll be answered quite quickly, maybe even...

This is the People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast. Every episode we conversate around two listener questions, and where possible, spin the conversation around to the environment in some way, regardless of the topic covered.  In today’s episode we begin with an educational question from Unity in Paddock Wood, Kent, England - “What do you think about bringing climate change into the...

Alex is back in the listeners chair again today. You send in the questions, we tackle them live—always with an environmental twist and no peeking beforehand. Jess, from  Bishop’s Tatchbrook, Warwickshire, England sets the initial question - “I’ve been thinking about the police Stop and Search tactics in the UK. Should we keep it? Done for the right reasons, with truthful explanations, is it wrong?...

Alex Kauffmann has resumed his role as principal moderator of ‘The Listeners Chair’, reclaiming the central chair from which audience questions are drawn. These are then picked apart and reframed within environmental contexts to tease out wider significance. Lilly, from Summertown, Oxford, England sets the first question - “Should Oxford colleges open up more of their greenspaces to the wider popu...

Ever wondered what happens when a housing ladder turns into a pyramid, a mortgage that outlives its owner, and funding applications start behaving like job adverts? Then this is the episode for you! Welcome to The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast where you, the listener, send in questions for co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow to conversate around. In today...

In this episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow are once again joined by Alex Kauffmann, in the ‘Listener’s chair,’ to explore two very different, but equally thought-provoking questions sent in by listeners.  Faye from Islington, London, England, asks the first question: “We often talk about societal addictions a...

Welcome to the podcast that’s not really about people, and definitely not about the countryside—unless you count emotional landscapes and the occasional sheep metaphor. Since the Great Plague of Zoom Calls (aka COVID), you lot have been flinging questions at us like confetti at a wedding we weren’t invited to. We don’t read them beforehand—because where’s the fun in preparation? We hit record and...

We're the kind of people who'd lick a glacier just to say we’ve “explored it cold.” No matter what we're talking about—be it cheese, space travel, or ancient plumbing—we’ll somehow loop it back to the environment. And yes, between two questions, we casually teleport 11,000 miles—from croissants in Paris to kiwis in the Bay of Plenty. Our carbon footprint is basically a world tour. Marg...

Since COVID, this podcast has pretty much been all about the questions that you, the listener, have sent in for Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, the two co-hosts, to conversate around. In every episode, two of these listener questions are discussed, and by sheer coincidence, both questions in today’s episode, have come from the same person; Elodie in Brittany, France. The first o...

We cover two listener questions in today’s episode, with two guests once again in the Listener’s Chair, those being Alex Kauffmann and Suzi Darrington, who sit alongside the regular co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow. The two questions up for discussion are: “How do technological advancements alter scientific methodologies?” which was sent in by Floss in Gimli, Manitoba, Ca...

We don't necessarily talk about the countryside on this podcast as much as we used to or should do, maybe. You, the listeners, now send in questions for us to conversate around. We don't see the questions until we press record, and we always try to spin it back to the environment in some way. In this episode we have two guests in the listener’s chair, the first guests in a long while, or s...

You could rewind the podcast, listen in reverse, and Stuart (co-host) would still sound like he's decoding alien transmissions. People keep saying we should be 'industry voices'—but the world has plenty of self-appointed sages peddling their predictable patter. We’d rather stay unpredictable than be another echo in the expert chamber. Vinroy, from Linstead, Jamaica sets the first liste...

If you’re listening to this podcast, you've officially run out of things to do with your life. Now we’ve got your attention, here’s the first of two listener questions, your co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt, whose known for his willingness to challenge mainstream perspectives, and William Mankelow who always tries to anchor the discussion with thoughtful reflections, that blend aesthetics...

There is quite a bit to unpack in this, the latest episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast. Where conversations serve as springboards for deeper discussions that weave through nature, philosophy, climate, the human condition, sustainability, and social justice, all with the starting point of a question sent in by a listener.  In today’s episode your co-hosts discuss two su...

 Stuart and William don't see the listener questions before they press record. They don't really have guests. They explore these topics cold without preparation. Not trying to be the go-to experts as they feel there are enough out there already, they see themselves as the go-to guys who are willing to explore things cold. Scott, Arisaig, Scotland - “What are your biggest challenges persona...

 You the listeners send in questions to talk about. Your co-hosts Stuart and William, try and spin it round to the environment in some way. Neither see the questions before they press record. No preparation, they try and hopefully, a little bit like you, approach this stuff cold. Scott, Arisaig, Scotland - “Rewilding, a significant contemporary movement, entails the restoration and enhancement of...

“You often talk about the talks you give. Is your style accidental, evolving and planned?” This is the first of two listener questions your co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow discuss in this episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast. This question was sent in by Unity in Paddock Wood, Kent, England. From Unity’s question, Stuart and William discuss ho...

Floss from Gimli, Manitoba, Canada set the first of two listener questions in today’s episode   “Do either of you feel you have guardian angels?” Stuart and William come at Floss’s question in two very unique ways, which reflects how different they are from each other. William refuses to believe in literal guardian angels, as he feels you need to believe in actual angels. He does however acknowled...

Scott, a listener from Arisaig, Scotland sets today's first question  - “We have rebranded tourism, to backpacking, walking, cycling, mountaineering and exploring etc, so as to get an authentic experience of a place. Though in getting that authentic experience, often we turn a blind eye and we see places how we want to, not how they really are. In ways that fit our own narrative, maybe overly...

“I  heard someone on TV say they didn’t think Essex had wildlife, until someone said wildlife is everywhere. What is the world coming to?” That's the question left by listener James, in Ecclefechan, Scotland for your co-hosts Stuart and William to delve into.  Wildlife? More Like Wild Conspiracies! Join William and Stuart as they dissect the absurdities of British wildlife with all the enthusi...