In Over My Head

Michael talks with experts from around the world about environmental psychology. From confirmation bias to cognitive dissonance, they'll be thinking deeply about all the ways our cognition hinders or helps climate change.

Michael chats with Alison Gu, who at the age of 24 became a Councillor for the city of Burnaby British Columbia. Alison talks about her journey into politics, and some of the important climate-related work she is doing. She also offers advice for anyone considering a political career.   

Michael speaks with Steven Gonzalez about the human side of The Cloud. They cover the environmental impact of The Cloud and why it is so energy-hungry. Steven takes us on a journey to places like Printer's Row in Chicago, or Chandler, Arizona where the noise or water pollution from data centres is affecting these communities. He puts us in the shoes of the people running our data centres, and the...

Michael speaks with Henrik Saetra about the role of Artificial Intelligence as it relates to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They discuss how AI can influence climate action, the double-edged nature of AI, Big Tech, and social inequality. Henrik touches on AI and the shifting of power, data colonialism, privacy as a public good, and AI ethics. They discuss the role of human imperfection...

Michael speaks with Tilman Santarius about making our world greener through digitalization. They focus on his latest book Smart Green World? Making Digitalization Work for Sustainability. Tilman explains the problem of add-on consumption of digitalization, rebound effects, radical digitalization and digital sufficiency. Michael and Tilman discuss the importance of getting sustainable apps out of t...

Michael speaks with Ugo Vallauri, co-founder of The Restart Project, a UK-based charity that inspires and supports people to repair their digital devices. Ugo talks about what it's like to attend one of their restart parties and the exciting growth of the organization over the last decade. They discuss the environmental impact of the smartphone, and the importance of extending the life of our devi...

Michael speaks with Dr. Kelly Widdicks all about video streaming and our demand for data. She explains the findings of her study looking at household data demand in the UK and discusses media-multitasking, digital sufficiency, and streaming music through YouTube. She stresses the importance of putting pressure on data providers and explains the larger impact of ICT. They discuss efficiency and con...

Michael speaks with Dr. Anne Goodchild all about making urban freight more sustainable. Dr. Goodchild describes the journey your package takes from ordering to arriving, and what items are typically moving around a city. She stresses the importance of consolidated delivery, and what might erode this. Dr. Goodchild discusses some of her sustainable pilot projects focusing on the final 50 feet, incl...

Michael connects virtually with experts from around the world to talk about our digital life. He's going to try and figure out how all our clicks, comments, and constant connectivity affect the climate crisis, and what we can do about it.

One topic Michael couldn't fit into his conversations around money was the carbon footprint of money itself. So in this bonus episode, he sits down with Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi, Co-founder and Director of Research at Digital Planet to chat about the carbon footprint of cash. They discuss the life-cycle of cash, and how it compares to other transactions such as cryptocurrency. They touch on the nee...

Michael chats with Megan Takeda-Tully, Founder and CEO of Suppli, a Toronto-based reusable takeout container company. Megan talks about the logistics around implementing this zero-waste solution, the journey to making her idea a reality, and the committed community Suppli has built around sustainable takeout. In Over My Head Website Suppli Website

Michael talks with ShareAction's Senior Campaigns Manager, Michael Kind, all about the power of investments to save the planet. Michael breaks down how financial institutions work, and where your money goes. He explains investments, and divestments, and makes a case for having shares in fossil fuel companies. He covers the importance of pensions, the limits of growth in the investing world, and wh...

Michael chats with Michael SW Lee, Director of The International Centre for Anti-Consumption Research all about anti-consumption. They cover what it means to be an anti-consumer, the anti-consumption cycle, voluntary simplification, and the relationship between environmentalism and wellbeing. Michael touches on the role of anti-consumption and marketing and the effectiveness of boycotting. Lastly,...

Michael chats with David Font Vivanco all about the relationship between efficiency and consumption, known as rebound effects. They discuss how this applies to our lives when it comes to money and beyond. Michael and David talk about the connection between wealth and efficiency, and the importance of reducing our footprint. They cover the impact of our money - whether we save it, invest or just ma...

Michael talks with Anja Kollmuss all about buying carbon offsets. Anja explains what they are, and how they work. She covers challenges with offset programs such as double counting. They discuss the effectiveness of offsets for renewable energy implementation, industrial projects, and tree planting programs. Lastly, Anja illustrates the importance of personal behaviour, political, and economic cha...

Michael Talks with J.B. MacKinnon all about his new book, The Day The World Stops Shopping. They discuss what the world looks like when we slow our spending and drastically reduce our consumption - including how our products change and how we ourselves change. J.B. talks about conspicuous versus inconspicuous consumption, voluntary simplicity, and how the economy fairs in a lower-consuming world....

Michael chats with the Forethought Foundation's John G. Halstead, all about Effective Altruism and the impact of donating to environmental causes. John talks about one core tenant of Effective Altruism - pledging to give 10% of your income for life to charity. They discuss earning to give versus direct work. John touches on donating carefully, and the ethics of offsetting your emissions. He covers...

Michael talks with experts from around the world all about money, and how we can use it to address the climate crisis.

Michael chats with 18-year-old Amy Meek who with her sister Ella, co-founded Kids Against Plastic - a UK charity run by kids, for kids. They discuss what the charity is, why it got started and how you can get involved. Kids Against Plastic

Michael gets a history lesson from Seth Klein, author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, and learns how we can take inspiration from the Second World War to address the current climate crisis. They discuss numerous examples of how we mobilized at the individual, community and national levels during the war, and how we can support people in the current transition. They touc...

Michael talks with renowned social epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson all about how inequality affects society. Richard highlights how our spending habits and debt correlate with inequality. They cover status anxiety, the limit of economic growth and wellbeing, and the importance of our social relationships. He makes the connection to inequality and environmental involvement, and our ability to addr...

Michael digs into the data on residential energy challenges with Professor Runa Das of Royal Roads University. They discuss energy poverty, including different ways to measure who is affected, why geography matters, and the role of policy support. They touch on community housing and the impact of climate change on how we use energy. Professor Das highlights gaps to address and offers advice on wha...

Michael Talks with Dr. Giulio Mattioli, from TU Dortmund all about transport poverty. They discuss car dependence in Europe and how this compares to North America. They cover the different dimensions of this issue including mobility, affordability, and accessibility. They touch on time poverty and the adverse effects of long commutes. They discuss the connection between housing affordability and t...

Michael Talks with Dr. Tamara Krawchenko from the University of Victoria about implementing the Just transition at the community level. Professor Krawchenko offers international examples of notable communities in New Zealand, Spain, and Scotland, as well as how Canada stacks up. They touch on the urban bias, the role of social insurance programs, gaps in policy, and the importance of accountabilit...

Michael talks with Helen Corbett Director of Energy Poverty at the All One Sky Foundation. They discuss what energy poverty is and who it affects. Helen shares how she got involved in this work, and some personal stories of individuals she has met. She offers tips on how you can lower your energy bill. They cover the health implications related to energy poverty, the importance of giving a voice t...