Finding Nature

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,...

Alexander Pui is back on the show today for his third appearance. He’s been one of the most popular guests over the history of the Finding Nature podcast and I jumped at the opportunity to chat again while he was recently back in Sydney. For those who know Alex they know they’re in for the usual standard of excellence regarding all things physical climate risk, the state of activity and effort und...

So imagine that it’s 5am and you're standing in the cold and dark in the Blue Mountains, you’re there with 1500 other people. You’re carrying all the gear you’ll need for the next 24 hours, a headlamp on, and what lays ahead is running 100 kilometres through the beauty that is the Blue Mountains. Up and down the cliffsides, through and across the Megalong, Jamison and Kedumba Valleys. For alm...

Today’s guest is Thom Woodroofe. Thom is the author of the latest In the National Interest series titled ‘ Power, Prosperity and Planet: Climate and Energy Policy For All ’. For the best part of 20 years Thom has worked across diplomacy, global affairs and climate policy - from playing a key role in securing the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015 and helping to establish the High Ambition C...

As for remarkable and impressive people - Holly Rankin is one of those. Born and raised in regional New South Wales, she experienced the worst form of loss and trauma during her teenage years and over the past two decades has built a life and career and accomplishment set that is as incredible as it is diverse. From being nominated as an ARIA breakthrough and best new pop release artist, to helpin...

Gillian Moon is today’s guest. Gillian is a legal scholar who in recent years has been leading the Australian Climate Accountability Project within the Australian Human Rights Institute. Over the course of her career she’s worked in and specialised at the intersection of human rights law, climate change, international economic law and development policy. I first came across Gillian a few years ago...

Hello out there, welcome to or welcome back to the Finding Nature podcast. My name is Nathan Robertson-Ball and when I started this show in 2024 I could only have dreamt about having today’s guest on the show. Matt Kean needs no introductions, and it was a pleasure to have him on. Matt has developed a reputation as a maverick in the Australian energy and environment sphere - all because he’s favou...

Beth Goldblatt is today’s guest. Beth is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney where her research and teaching sits at the intersection of feminist legal theory, equality, discrimination law and human rights. In recent years her work has become increasingly oriented towards how climate change impinges on social security and equality, and what role laws currently...

Gerbrand Haverkamp and Pauliina Murphy from the World Benchmarking Alliance join the show today. The WBA exists to assess, test and make transparent the performance of the world’s 2,000 most influential and important companies. In a neoliberal capitalist economic system, business have been and remain one of if not the most significant actors if our human civilisation is going to reverse ecological...

William Burckart is today’s guest. Bill was recently in Sydney from New York where his list of credentials, accomplishments and titles is impressive - he’s the CEO of The Investment Integration Project , co-founder of Colourful Capital, an adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs and the Brandmyere Fellow for Impact and Sustainable Investing at Colombia University, he’s published a co...

Today’s guest was the person I needed to speak with - Geshe Lhakdor. Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who fled his homeland of Tibet when he was six years old and has committed his life to spirituality, Buddhism and service. Geshe served His Holiness the Dalai Lama as his English translator and religious assistant from 1989 until 2005, and has co-translated and co-produced several books by the Dal...

Today’s guest is Dr Emma Camp , a marine biologist who’s pioneering research into the resilience of coral reefs and their restoration. The awards and recognitions she’s already received are longer than my arm - A National Geographic Explorer, appointed a Young Leader for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the World Economic Forum, A Time Magazine Next Generation Leader, and many more. All of...

Today’s guest is someone who’s seen just about everything though, and is also the first person on the show with a knighthood - Sir Geoff Mulgan . Geoff is one of those people who’s seemingly done it all across government, academia, the public sector and the private sector. His knighthood was awarded for services to the creative economy, which downplays the significance and influence of his work ov...

Steve Martin is one of the world’s foremost experts on influence, persuasion and how change happens. Maybe I could have just read his research and books and acted on them instead of this elaborate rous, but that wouldn’t have been as fun. Steve’s books have sold over 1.5 million copies, he’s a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller and his work has been featured in publications like the...

Today’s guest is Nicole Yade and this episode is about another crisis in Australia - the perpetration of violence, abuse and coercion by men towards women. Nicole is the CEO of the Women’s and Girls Emergency Centre - a literal refuge for those getting away from dangerous and hostile home environments in search of support, safety and sanctuary. The statistics and situation for what girls and women...

Hi out there, how goes it? My name is Nathan Robertson-Ball and welcome to the finding nature podcast. Today is a huge episode and one I’ve been excited to share with this audience for months. Nina Jankowicz is one of the world’s leading authorities on disinformation and democratisation - and what a time to be having this conversation. Nina was recently in Australia and after having the privilege...

Now imagine receiving a life threatening health diagnosis and not only ignoring it, but speeding up the underlying causes and drivers of what’s making you unwell in the first place? Or imagine subsiding a product with public money that everyone everywhere knows contributes to and worsens that life threatening health diagnosis? Can you imagine getting that diagnosis from 97 to 99% of the doctors on...

Something I’ve been mulling over a lot the past couple months is this last point - what do we do if we can’t relate to each other? What if our information systems are fundamentally different on a person to person basis? What do we do without a shared set of facts and sense of reality by which to agree upon and then work to address any issue or challenge of concern? To help me better explore this i...

Today’s guest is Reece Proudfoot, a co-founder and director at Regen Labs. I’ve known Reece for nearly a decade - and he’s always struck me as someone at the forefront of attempting to organise and reform systems and structures. Across his career in campaigning, not for profit innovation and now at Regen Labs, Reece is someone who believes deeply in the power and potential of collectives of caring...

On the show today is Iain Walker, Executive Director at the newDemocracy Foundatio n, a Sydney-based organisation that works to develop and deliver alternative decision making processes and outcomes that aim to uphold Australia’s and other nations healthy functioning. I’m coming to appreciate that how we relate to each other - or maybe more appropriately how we don’t relate to each other - is one...