OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance

The meat industry and its defenders promise ethical consumption and sustainable farming, but animal agriculture fuels ecological destruction, entrenches human supremacy, and masks cruelty with comforting myths. John Sanbonmatsu, philosopher and author of The Omnivore's Deception , shatters the myths of "humane meat" and the 'naturalness' of eating meat, and explains why abolishing the animal econo...

The nuclear industry and its boosters promise clean, abundant energy, but nuclear power delivers expensive electricity while posing catastrophic radiation risks and a constant threat of nuclear war. M. V. Ramana, physicist and author of  Nuclear is Not the Solution , explains why respecting the limits of the biosphere means reducing our energy use and rejecting elites' push for endless growth. Hig...

The world is colliding with the ecological limits of growth - and mainstream economics is still looking the other way. Peter Victor, ecological economist and author of Escape from Overshoot , joins us. Highlights include: How 'the pre-analytic vision' of ecological economics, unlike mainstream economics, recognizes that all economic activity is embedded in the biosphere of Earth; Why population gr...

Academy Award-winning vegan filmmaker and former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos joins us to share how he is using the power of storytelling to spark transformation for animal rights, human health, and environmental conservation. Highlights include: How The Cove, his Oscar-wining documentary and the first documentary to sweep all the film guilds, inspired activism that helped reduc...

Modernity is dying within and around us, and we need to face that death with courage and compassion. Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, author of Hospicing Modernity , joins us. Highlights include:    How her mixed Indigenous and German heritage in Brazil exposed her to a complex mix of love and violence, deepening her understanding of how socialization and education can perpetuate harmful relationshi...

The rhetoric of "hopium" is failing as ecological overshoot deepens. "Hopium", a colloquial term that is a blend of the words "hope" and "opium" (as though it were a drug), represents a faith in technological and market-based solutions to address our multiple reinforcing crises, despite evidence to the contrary. We're living in the long defeat and we must own and confront it with courage. Award-wi...

There is no energy transition - only ongoing and symbiotic energy addition. Historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, author of More and More and More: An All-Consuming History of Energy , joins us. Highlights include: How the symbiotic relationships between wood, coal, and oil have led to increased use of all of them; Why decoupling economic growth from energy and materials use is a delusional myth; How t...

Patriarchy and misogyny fuel global conflicts that further increase the oppression of women and girls. But the resistance of women and girls remains steadfast. Sally Armstrong, award-winning war correspondent, author, and human rights activist, joins us to share their stories. Highlights include:  How Sally broke the story about mass rape in the Balkan War in the 1990s that was ignored by male-dom...

Our patriarchal culture animalizes women and sexualizes animals, and without compulsory pregnancy among human and nonhuman females, both patriarchy and animal agriculture would fail. Carol Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory , joins us. Highlights include: How Carol got started on her personal journey to veganism; Why patriarchal cultures associate mascul...

We have it in us to create a more beautiful, regenerative future that allows both humans and nonhumans to flourish. Dr. Sarah Bexell, professor of social work and co-founder of the Center for a Regenerative Future at the University of Denver, joins us. Highlights of our conversation include: Why captive breeding programs for endangered species are both cruel and ineffective; How the mental health...

Ecological overshoot is the second largest risk to humanity. Not reacting to it is the biggest. Mathis Wackernagel, co-creator of the ecological footprint and co-founder of the Global Footprint Network, joins us. Highlights of the conversations include: How ecological footprint is calculated as a measure of how much of nature's regenerative capacity humanity is using; Why the estimate that we're u...

ANNOUNCEMENT Hello everyone, here we are in 2025 and we have some important news to share. Last year was a really challenging year – we grappled with new climate records, we saw worsening global conflict, and we saw an upsurge in regressive pronatalism. And the year ahead looks like it will include much of the same—which means that all of us will have to remain steadfast, and become even bolder in...

Friendship is not a "nice-to-have" but a core, potentially transformative human connection. Rhaina Cohen, author of The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life With Friendship at the Center , joins us. Highlights of our conversation include: The "friendship recession" and how modern culture undervalues friendships compared to romantic or family ties; Historical and cross-cultural insights into...

Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment. For International Animal Rights Day, we are joined by Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and President of PETA, the world's largest animal rights organization. Highlights of our conversation include: The formative experiences that inspired Ingrid to co-found PETA and dedicate her life to animal liberation; PETA's groundbreaking ca...

Population dynamics are deeply connected to environmental sustainability and social justice. That's the message of Pam Wasserman and Hannah Evans from Population Connection - the oldest grassroots population organization in the U.S. Highlights include: The origins of Population Connection and its evolution from ZPG (Zero Population Growth) to a broader mission addressing the intersections of popul...

Healthy and thriving animal communities depend on healthy and thriving human communities. That's the message from this week's guest, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian and founder of Conservation Through Public Health. Highlights include: How a scabies outbreak among gorillas reshaped her approach to conservation, linking human health to the health of the gorillas; Th...

Obsession with growth is enriching elites and killing the planet. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and author of The Poverty of Growth , joins us. Highlights include: Why poverty is about more than low income and how unequal economic growth creates greater social exclusion and status anxiety for the majority of people that growth leaves behind; How glo...

Eating animals isn't just a personal choice. It's shaped by an invisible belief system, carnism, that conditions people to see eating animals as normal, natural, and necessary. Melanie Joy, social psychologist and author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows , joins us. Highlights include: How the three 'N's' - normal, natural, necessary - are used to justify systems like carnism and pronat...

Animals feel deeply, and recognizing their emotions could transform how we treat them. Marc Bekoff, animal behavior expert and author of The Emotional Lives of Animals , joins us. Highlights include: How cognitive ethology helps us understand the minds and emotions of animals, and why this understanding is essential for improving their wellbeing; What is wrong with the traditional animal welfare a...

Note : Despite the slightly compromised sound quality, Chris offers absolutely essential insights. Population growth and extreme weather events converge to create growing challenges in vulnerable regions. Chris Funk, climatologist and director of the Climate Hazards Center, joins us. Highlights include: How rapid population growth in already hot and humid regions of Africa increases the number of...

The dominant economic system delivers neither ecological nor social justice. Joshua Farley, an expert in ecological economics, argues for reclaiming our humanity from the destructive grip of mainstream economics. Highlights include: How mainstream economic ideologies disregard planetary boundaries and contribute to ecological damage through unchecked economic growth; A critique of the ' Homo econo...

We need to respect what water wants. Erica Gies, journalist and author of  Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge , joins us. Highlights include: Erica's personal decision not to have biological children as both a personal choice and a contribution to reducing human pressure on the planet; The concept of 'slow water' and allowing for water's natural cycles on the land contrast...

Hello, this is Nandita Bajaj, co-host of The Overpopulation Podcast and Executive Director of Population Balance. I am excited to share that we've launched a second podcast, Beyond Pronatalism: Finding Fulfillment, With or Without Kids . Please subscribe and share it widely. Episodes drop every two weeks and you can find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't mis...

Economic growth is failing the planet, and it's time for a change. James Hopeward, environmental civil engineering professor, joins us. Highlights include: Why decoupling economic growth from energy and material use relies on temporary efficiency gains and ultimately fails in a growth-based system, rendering the concepts of absolute and relative decoupling meaningless; How the IPCC treats economic...

Our legal system is failing animals by treating them as either property or persons. Maneesha Deckha, Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria and author of Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders , joins us. Highlights include: Highlights include: Maneesha's personal journey into exploring the links between animal legal studies and critical animal...