Non-Toxic

Things are heating up in this episode of Non-Toxic. I'm talking to Clare Boerigter, a fire research fellow, science writer, and former wildland firefighter who has been on the front lines of America's increasingly out of control wildfires. Clare shares stories from her three seasons fighting fires, the impact of climate change on wildfires, and the challenges faced by women in the firefighting com...

In this episode of Non-Toxic, I dive into the world of extreme muscularity with Dr Roberto Olivardia, a researcher and clinician who helped coin the term “muscle dysmorphia.” Dr Olivardia charts the rise of muscle dysmorphia among men and his own journey into studying eating disorders and OCD through the lens of masculinity. His book, The Adonis Complex , came out in 2000, and we look back at how...

In this election special, we're diving deep into the not so surprising rightward shift among young men. Our guest, Shauna Daly, co-founder of the Young Men Research Initiative and a seasoned Democratic campaign operative, provides insights into why many young men turned to Trump in 2024. We explore the widening gender gap, the unique media consumption habits of young men, and the broader implicati...

In this episode of Non-Toxic, we’re talking with beauty critic Jessica DeFino about the evolving culture of male beauty standards. Jessica DeFino is an award-winning beauty reporter whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and more. A former editor for the Kardashian-Jenner apps, she now writes the newsletter Fleshworld and has been called “the woman the beauty industry f...

In this episode of Non-Toxic, we're traumatizing our egos in nature's vastness and exploring the roots of the term "toxic masculinity" in the mythopoetic men's movement. Through a conversation with Ian MacKenzie, host of The Mythic Masculine Podcast , we delve into the history, core concepts, and key figures of that largely forgotten (yet hugely influential) moment. We also examine how the mythopo...

In episode 1 of Season 3, I talk to one of the main figures responsible for the spread of the term “toxic masculinity,” Dr Terry Kupers, an academic, psychiatrist, expert witness, and former doctor for the LA chapter of the Black Panthers. (He’s led quite the life.) Terry’s research on the violent conditions he saw in US prisons helped spread the term “toxic masculinity” beyond its hippie origins...

This week we have a special Earth Day bonus episode. The intrepid producer of our show, Andrew Lewis, is reporting from the Society for Environmental Journalists. Andrew gives us an update on Money Island, the community at the center of his first book, who refused to sell their land to a New Jersey flood program. He also shares so very interesting polling data for the 2024 election that came out d...

For this bonus episode of Non-toxic, we're catching up with our producer, Andrew, and taking calls from our loyal listeners while dispensing poorly thought out advice. From how to get your brother-in-law to stop watching Formula 1 to the climate impact of AI, we are covering a lot of ground this week, and hopefully, helping you live a little less toxically. To thank these callers, we're asking lis...

In the Season 2 finale of Non-toxic we're talking with barrister Paul Powlesland about the universal right to enjoy natural places, despite what landowners may tell you. He's the legal counsel for the activist group Right to Roam, who are pushing for greater access to England and Wale's wild places and the end of restrictions on hikers and walkers (within reason). The more time people spend in nat...

Where does your crazy climate-denying uncle come up with those outlandish talking points that he trots out at Thanksgiving or Christmas? Things like: “Wind turbines cause autism!” Whatever he's saying probably isn't something he made up on his own. In all likelihood, he's been watching too much YouTube, the source of an alarming amount of climate disinformation. But it’s not just the volume of cli...

This week, we'll be talking with Mato Wayuhi, a musician, rapper, and composer from South Dakota, whose forthcoming major label debut is called Stankface Standing Soldier . You may have also heard his music in the film War Pony , and the hit television series on Hulu, Reservation Dogs. In this conversation, we talk about the tension between being a traditional versus contemporary Native artist, st...

This week we talk to photographer, filmmaker and artist Richard Mosse, who spent two years documenting the desctruction of one of the most ecologically sensitive areas of the world, the Amazon Rainforest. Using infrared film, GIS mapping technologies, and ultraviolet cameras, Mosse explores every scale of the rainforest, from miscroscopic organisms to hectares of cleared land. On the human level,...

This week, we're joined from Berlin by sustainability expert and author of The World Is On Fire But We’re Still Buying Shoes , Alec Leach. As a former fashion editor, Alec has spent a large part of his career understanding how men in particular are convinced, persuaded and tricked into buying things they don't really need. While in the past, we might’ve thought of the young woman at the mall as th...

In this episode of Non-Toxic, we talk to Nathaniel Rich, author of Losing Earth: A Recent History . It’s a bracing conversation about the little known story of the 1980s, when scientists, politicians, and policy-makers were all in agreement that something had to be done to lower carbon emissions—and how at the crucial moment—they failed to act. There are some surprising insights about what went wr...

What do abortion restrictions have to do with climate change? According to believers of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, it's all connected. Journalist and author Sian Norris joins Non-toxic to talk about her new book, Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global . We talk about everything from the fascistic obsession with the laws of nature to Vladim...

This week on Non-toxic we're talking about the state of advertising in the age of the climate crisis with Lucy von Sturmer, greenwashing guru and founder of Creatives for Climate. Lucy charts her journey from fossil fuel hack to climate activist and breaks down how ads continue to tap into the sexual insecurities and desires of men and women to sell them on the idea of sustainability—or underm...

Researchers are starting to discover surprising links between loneliness and biophobia. Why are people avoiding social interactions and staying inside so much? Why does an indoor life make the natural world seem so scary and gross? And how do these two trends affect men in particular, who are already more lonely than women? We talk to journalist Hannah Seo to find out. ⁠Support Non-toxic today.⁠ L...

When it comes to sustainability, something is popping in the state of Denmark. In this bonus episode, recorded in the offices of Ganni during Copenhagen Fashion Week, we talk with former Ganni CEO Nicolaj Reffstrup and (di)vision Creative Director Simon Wick about how Denmark has positioned itself as a global sustainability leader, what it takes to run a sustainable fashion company, and whether su...

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...