Planet: Critical

We’re living in the anthropocene — a geological period defined by the impact of human activity on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. Essentially, it’s our behaviour that’s at the root of the problem. But so often this isn’t addressed as the root. Our economic system claims tech will save us from ourselves—but imagine we do find a silver bullet, do we have the social cohesion in place to implemen...

Degrowth is making waves in academic and climate circles. Not only does the research field provide genuine hope for a more equitable and environmental future, but its advocates are hellbent on revealing the incorrect math, manipulated data and idiotic assumptions propping up capitalism’s regime. They’re debunking the myth of green growth. Ecological Economist, Tim Parrique, the lead author of ‘Dec...

Extinction Rebellion drew attention to the climate crisis like no other group before them. Founded in just 2018, they’ve forced the climate conversation into the mainstream, and their organisation is an inspiring reminder of what citizens can achieve when mobilized. But what happens after the alarm has been raised? How do activist groups evolve their messaging and their mission to identify a new g...

What happens when a small percentage of the population amass resources and power? Oligarchy. And polymath Sally Goerner says oligarchy is the final stage of most human civilizations—and a symptom of dysfunctional human systems. She joins me to explain why the future is integral and collaborative, why empowering people with vision and hope is key to creating systemic changes, why citizenship is the...

What’s a resilient biosystem? Healthy soil, healthy water, healthy cycles. They’re so key that even defence departments around the world are starting to invest in creating them, as research shows we have just 60 harvests left if we stick to our industrialised system of agriculture. There’s hope for us yet, and it lies in the soil. Microbiologist and regenerative agriculture expert, Walter Jehne ,...

Why, when armed with so much knowledge, are we failing to tackle the climate crisis? There must be some piece of the puzzle we haven’t grasped to continue overshooting the planetary boundaries at an alarming rate. Even this week’s IPCC report—the big piece of literature that’s meant to tell us what’s going on and what to do about it—came under fire from some climate scientists for continuing to pr...

There are no easy solutions to the climate crisis—most governments admit their hope lies in technology which doesn’t even exist yet. Science and “visionaries” propose increasingly mad ideas, like refreezing the Arctic, or sending humans to live in Space. But given the urgency of the situation, would we be mad not to consider these mad ideas? Joseph Merz thinks we’ve run out of time to ask question...

Geoengineering is often accused of falling prey to techno-optimism—that technology will get us out of this anthropocenic mess. A lot of proposals seem to have walked off the pages of a dystopian novel, existing only to prop up a destructive and unequal society. But do we need to diversify our strategy and accept these compromises just to buy time over the coming decades? This week, physicist and e...

Imagine if we could support 10 billion people on our planet using just 60% of our current energy demands. Sound too good to be true? Not according to degrowth scholars. Economic anthropologist and author, Jason Hickel , is one of the leading degrowth researchers leading the charge for ecosocialism. He says if we limit the energy demands of the elite and hungry multinational corporations—reimaginin...

In the fight against climate change, we have some of the key details down: reducing emissions, pollution, consumption. But what about the bigger picture questions: How did we get into this mess? And how do we not only combat the climate crisis, but create a society which doesn’t have to go to war against itself every 400 years? This is what David Orr tackles on this week’s episode: What roles do d...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a terrible, devastating conflict causing an inexcusable loss of life. The rest of the world has bound together to sanction the nation, Putin and his oligarch friends. But how effective will these sanctions be? And how does the current market paradigm allow for war between nations? I invited Chris Cook back on the show to discuss these key questions. He explains what...

“The media”. This is the 21st century’s term for journalism—netizens have clocked how many online publications are nothing more than content-churners. However, more care should be taken to separate what we understand as “journalism” and “media”. Rather than protect the privilege of a free press, we’ve begun using the laziest blanket word which puts journalism in the firing line alongside instituti...

The global financial system is exploitative, and squeezing the vast majority of people out of living a safe, well and happy life. It’s knackered, as this week’s guest puts it, and it’s got to change. Chris Cook is the former director of the International Petroleum Exchange and is now a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Resilience Studies at University College London. He firm...

I have a question for you all: Would you find interview transcriptions useful? I’m considering making them available to Patrons and paid subscribers on this platform. Let me know: rachel@planetcritical.com Religious ideology and doctrine has long been used to exact swift and lasting social change throughout human history. Could faith-based teaching provide the necessary shift in modern thinking to...

Which animal consumes more energy producing food than it does eating that food? None, except industrialised humans. You don't need to be a scientist to know that's bad news. Jason Bradford is a biologist and farmer working on how to transform food systems to make them more rural, sustainable, and to provide a net-positive energy consumption. He explains the failings of our current food production...

“Follow the science!” This value-neutral field with its objective logic and cold reasoning is our beacon of hope in an ecological crisis. But should we celebrate its lack of values, or is it time to shift our scientific paradigm? That’s the argument of this week’s guest, ecologist Dan Fiscus, who says the very nature of science as value-neutral is a driving force in the climate crisis. He argues s...

What’s Plato got to do with the environmental crisis? Everything, according to Carl Safina, ecologist, author, fellow, and winner of the MacArthur genius grant. Carl joins me this week to discuss his new book which examines culture’s across the world, and their relationship to the planet. He argues that Plato’s concept of profanity engendered the Judeo-Christian monotheistic religions which view t...

A post-carbon world could be our opportunity to do better—and make the difficult transition much easier to swallow. That’s the message of Alice Friedemann on this week’s episode, author of When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation . The transition is coming, perhaps collapse is coming, and if the world as we know it is going to change we might as well make the most of it. S...

According to the laws of physics, the economy can only sustain itself by growing. So how bound are we by the laws of thermodynamics? Professor Tim Garrett, atmosphere scientist at the University of Utah, argues we’re completely bound by those laws. He has modelled how the behaviour of snowflakes and clouds can be used to predict energy consumption and GDP, bridging the gap between economic theory...

Welcome to this special episode of Planet: Critical where we journey from the podcast’s humble beginnings to what it is today, and what I hope it will evolve into. None of this would be possible without you all and so I thank you endlessly for your support and encouragement. It’s wonderful to witness a community coalesce around the podcast and the information my incredible guests provide us, and I...

Did you know that four years of studying mainstream economics at university has such a profound impact on students that their value systems change? And not for the better. Economic theory affects the very fabric of human society, and the dominant neoliberal model is at the root of many of the crises we face. Assuming human nature is fundamentally selfish has created a terrible feedback loop of ind...

What’s theoretical physics got to do with trees? Everything. Life on this planet is in grave danger. While life does what it can to self-regulate (breaking the second law of thermodynamics to do so), when environments become disturbed beyond repair, the “biota” breaks down exponentially. To physicist Anastassia Makarieva, this is the reality of climate change. Planet: Critical is a resource for a...

Tackling climate obesity will take a very strict diet—and it’s not a one size fits all solution. We’ve got to make big changes, and fast. But who is “we” and what are these changes? Journalist and author Paul Greenberg joins me this week to break down some of the radical solutions individuals can make to fix their climate diet (that’s the fish part). We then go on to discuss renewables vs nuclear...

Welcome to the era of generalists, of the big picture thinkers who translate concepts into action. These are the people who join the dots to get a better sense of how our world fits together—and how we impact each other. Planet: Critical is a resource for a world in crisis, supported by people like you. Join the community by becoming a subscriber today. Nate Hagens is one of the most acclaimed big...

Ugo Bardi is a Professor in Physical Chemistry at the University of Florence, and a member of the Club of Rome . Ugo’s work focuses on promoting a sustainable transition to renewable energy on the basis of a quantitative energy yield analysis. In his blog , he examines among other things the “Seneca Effect”, a biophysical interpretation of the collapse of complex systems. In this fascinating inter...