Finding Nature

This week I am very excited to be bringing back onto the show one of my favourite people and someone’s been a tremendous teacher and guide to me professionally over the last few years. Pablo Berrutti was one of the first guests on the show back in early 2024 and he’s back today to share about the myriad projects and pieces of work he’s been involved with this year. Most notably, he’s been working...

Now today’s episode is timed somewhat perfectly. With the US midterms under way and the results unknown and their ramifications entirely unknown, today’s guest is someone who can help us all better appreciate the broader context and historical moment we are in, as well as how we got to now. Gary Gerstle is an American historian and Emeritus Paul Mellon Professor of American History at the Universi...

So what did you do when you met someone and you hear their story and it humbles you to your core? When you learn and feel firsthand the experience of another human that acts as a cattle prod to make clear that the path you’ve been on is no longer the path you can be on? That’s what today’s guest - Manoa Duwai - did to me when we spoke. Today I bring you a conversation that has unsettled and inspir...

This week on the show is Aubrey Blanche. Aubrey is somewhat of a professional enigma - she’s lived multiple careers already, from time inside big tech and early stage investing, and now she’s at the Ethics Centre, while she’s an expert in human resources, diversity and inclusion and ethical AI. Aubrey has also established one of Australia’s largest regular AI newsletters and her writing has been f...

Today’s guest is Geoff Mann. Geoff is a Canadian political economist who was recently in town and I loved having the opportunity to not only sit down and record this conversation, but to indulge in the breadth and depth of his unique background. His research, teaching and books have intersected around political economy, political theory and the history of ideas, with much of his writings in recent...

Today I’m particularly honoured and humbled by today’s guest, Sonia Orchard . Now Sonia isn’t a name most people would recognise, but her story likely is, which is exactly why she’s on the show and why I wanted to speak with her. 60% of Australian kids are reported to experience some form of abuse or neglect. 1 in 10 Australian men admitted to committing a sexual offence against a child. NSW polic...

If there is one topic that has come to dominate this moment, it is artificial intelligence. Is it going to wipe us out? Will I lose my job? Is a data centre going up in my neighbourhood? Why are all these tech bros so incapable of sounding anything like a normal, sane, relatable person? Why do I have to hear so much about AI? Can’t I just have my connection and attention and identity back, please?...

Today’s guest is Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez . This was a very special experience to meet and speak with Rosa, whose background, expertise and humanity made this a conversation I both really enjoyed but also took so much from. Rosa, originally from Peru, is one of Canada’s leading experts in pollution control and its effects on human health. She was appointed to Canada’s Senate in late 2016, repr...

Damon Gameau is on the show today. This one was many many months in the making so I’m incredibly excited to be sharing it and so glad the diary Gods eventually made possible a chat that will live long in my memory for me. Damon is a renowned, award winning actor, filmmaker, and director who has made some of my favourite documentaries of the last little while. Most recently, Future Council centred...

That’s Hugh White, and I’m Nathan Robertson-Ball, and welcome to or welcome back to the Finding Nature podcast. Each week I sit down with the leading thinkers and doers across policy, business, academia, civil society and the creative arts to explore their perspectives on and experiences in contributing to a world that is healthier, safer and more just. Lost in my career and having suffered a dram...

Today’s guest is Claire Scobie , who’s the author of the new book ‘ Wild Hope; Stories of Leading and Living In Uncertain Times .’ Now anyone who knows me knows that I’m generally a sceptic of hope and many of its connotations, especially in regards to the serious business of chasing political reform or addressing any and all of the many systemic and structural challenges we as a species and this...

Hello and welcome to a special edition of and extra episode of the Finding Nature podcast. If you’re new here, hello, if you’re a returning listener, welcome back. My name is Nathan Robertson-Ball and this is my show where each week I sit with people leading us towards a safer, healthier and more just future. This episode is different though - it’s my Fresh Start 2026 show that is a compilation of...

This week’s guest is German philosopher Hanno Sauer . Hanno was here in Sydney for the Festival of Dangerous Ideas and the opportunity to go deeper with him then he could in a panel talk or presentation was a thrill. Hanno is a moral philosopher, and his much acclaimed book ‘ The Invention of Good and Evil; A World History of Morality ’ is one of those rare reads that has deeply affected me and fe...

That’s Sophie Bretag , I’m Nathan Robertson-Ball and this is the Finding Nature podcast. The modern professional seems to lead a life of ever-increasing juggling complexity. As the expectations mount and the speed to meet them grow, at the same time trying to manage the circumstances of our individual personal lives and all while supporting friends or colleagues or parents or kids or any combinati...

Hello wherever you might be, welcome to or welcome back to the Finding Nature podcast and my name is Nathan Robertson-Ball. Now what a week I’ve had and having, my cup feels very full after attending conferences and events, moving forward on lots of different Finding Nature ideas and programs - including something very big for 2027 that I’m going to be very excited to share more about over time, a...

At the end of 2023 when I was starting to get this Finding Nature show on the road I was fixated on two questions after 20 years in and around large organisations where I felt both lost in my career but also demoralised by another leadership decision to avoid the harrowing reality of what climate change means for everyday people, their finances, home security, access to insurance and their right t...

Joy McCann is an environmental and public historian who has worked to understand and share the stories of how the histories of people, places, ideas and the non human world have and do interact to create the cultures, practices and rhythms of life on this planet. Her work and research has taken her across Australia and over the last decade she has explored the oceans, ice, islands and coastlands o...

Today’s guest is Simon O’Connor, who for more than two decades has worked at the forefront of responsible investment and sustainable finance. From his training and time as an economist and working with the Australian Conservation Foundation, running the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia for over a decade and helping to established the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative, Simo...

Hello out there and welcome to or welcome back to the finding nature podcast. My name is Nathan Robertson-Ball and today’s episode is a slightly different format to what is usual here. Today I’m chatting with the show’s most popular guest, and someone I consider a teacher, friend and colleague Cameron Tonkinwise about the eight years I spent in the organisation that will not be named. Sounds a bit...

A category of guest I really enjoy speaking with though are those who are on the way up. People like Holly Ransom or Kal Klanznig or Vanessa Pirotta who are clearly going places - it’s a thrill to spend a little bit of time with them before they accomplish even more. Today’s guest doesn’t have the public or social media profile of those three, but I hope that is to change in next little while. Tim...

One person who for a decade now has fought against the construction of what would be the largest mine in the South Pacific in Papua New Guinea by an Australian headquartered but Chinese backed mining operation in a pristine landscape in one of the world’s most seismically active locations. Manu Peni is that man and today’s guest, and I was fortunate to meet and spend time with Manu during his rece...

Is artificial intelligence here to solve every wicked and intractable problem our society currently faces? Will it morph into Skynet and become a paperclip maximiser that eradicates humanity to optimise for paperclip manufacturing? Will it just slowly degrade our information, political and economic systems? Will it be a net positive for a very small, very powerful and very rich group of white men...

Today’s guest is Katherine Trebeck. Katherine is a political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change and from when I saw her speak at the end of 2024 I knew I wanted to spend some time learning directly from her. She’s the Economic Change Lead at The Next Economy, Strategic Advisor to the Centre for Policy Development and member of the Club of Rome. She teaches at the University...

Now today’s episode is with Kate Turner. Kate is a recognised leader here and abroad in the world of responsible investment, sustainable finance and ESG data, not to mention an all round great person who hikes, triathlons, meditates, parents and in general is pursuing ways to be helpful and service-oriented. I’ve known Kate a few years now, and having her on the show was a great pleasure. Kate has...

Today’s guest is Alexander Horton - or Big Al as he’s seemingly become through his social media alter ego in recent weeks. Alex is in the midst of breaking a Guiness World Record for the biggest BBQ lesson of all time, as part of a larger mission to break and take back for Australia the record for the biggest BBQ ever - somewhere in the vicinity of 45,000 people. But beyond the BBQ record efforts,...