The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast

Thanks very much for joining us for this episode of the People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast. We answer listener questions that we’ve not seen before we press record, approaching each one cold. We’re not experts, but we talk freely and honestly, as people often do when faced with important issues unexpectedly. The first listener question in this episode comes from Andrew in Bradford,...

You have found our first episode of 2026, well done! This is the podcast where there are no scripts, no prep, just two guys, Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, who are willing to approach the questions sent in by you the listener. They aren’t afraid of talking about stuff cold that they've never necessarily explored before. The first listener question for this episode comes fro...

On this New Year’s Day special from The Peoples Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast we want to say how grateful we are for your support, your voices, and your commitment. What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by sending an email to ⁠ thepeoplescountryside@gmail.com Sign the Petition - Improve The Oxfordshire Countryside Acce...

You send the questions; we discuss them, highlight the environmental insights, and share practical takeaways.  John, from Charlbury, Oxfordshire, England sets today's initial question - “We’re fishing our oceans to death. Where's the business sense in that? Would we then become vegan and vegetarian?” Your co-hosts feel industrial fleets and small-scale fishers face the same shrinking seas....

It's a Merry Christmas to you from Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, the co-hosts of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast! Whether you’re surrounded by family, friends, or just a strong cup of something warming, we hope the day brings a moment of calm, laughter, or at least decent food. Whether you celebrate or not, whether today’s loud or quiet, busy or bliss...

Digital IDs and homophobia. Two huge topics co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow have attempted to tackle in this episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, the podcast where you, the listeners, send in questions for us to discuss. Stuart and William don’t see the questions before recording and they usually try to relate them back to nature, the country...

Our listeners send in thoughtful questions, and we dive into them without preparation or prior review. This way, our responses stay spontaneous and authentic. Today’s questions come from Bradford and Port Carlisle—two communities in Northern England with rich histories and unique local perspectives. Andrew, from Bradford, England sent us this - “Are we too focused on Net Zero etc? Why don’t we dri...

We’re a veteran podcast, two surprise listener questions per episode, zero prep—cold takes, hot chaos. Ryszard, from Bydgoszcz, Poland offers up the first question - ”How did life evolve from nonliving matter?” Stuart feels after eons of cosmic boredom, water shows up, algae crash the party, oxygen gatecrashes, and then life takes a billion-year nap before evolution finally stumbles in. He squints...

Trigger warning, this episode includes a discussion around a sensitive topic that you might find distressing. Listener discretion is very much encouraged. Criticism of the Catholic church, the concept of existence, and whether infinity is real. They are the three big topics for this episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, the place where you the listener send in questions...

Should we shift to electric in all motor sports? Are we too sensitive these days?  These are the two big questions your co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow discuss in today’s episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast.  On this podcast we never see the questions before we press record. They are presented to us on the spot, often challenging and always u...

We sit here bravely tackling listener questions hurled at us from every corner of the globe — completely unprepared and slightly afraid. We don’t see them until we hit record, which explains a lot. As for Grzegorz’s name, William took one look and noped out like a man dodging a spelling bee in Polish. He respects names too much to turn them into interpretive dance. Paul, from Queensland, Australia...

Welcome back to another episode of Greenwashed & Unhinged — the podcast where we pretend to care about the planet while blindly stumbling through your questions like eco-conscious toddlers in a philosophy seminar. Before we dive in, a heartfelt shoutout to our beloved listener Hannen Beith. Hannen, darling, pull your finger out and send us a question. We know you’re lurking. Contribute or be c...

If you want the go to experts, that's not us, you've come to the wrong podcast. This is however the podcast where co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, discuss questions sent in by you the listeners. The first of the two listener questions for today’s episode comes in the form of this epic enquiry from Bronwen, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA - “Does hardship make our specie...

This is the podcast where  listeners send questions for us to conversate around, and although not always to do with the environment, we always try to bring an action back to the that in some way.  We're not the go-to experts. We're the go-to guys who are willing to explore things cold, and change our minds as we go through. The first listener question comes from Unity, in Paddock Wood, Ken...

An episode where there's no one in the Listeners Chair as Alex has returned to university to study Microsoft Paint so the remaining panel records blind. Listeners submit questions in advance; the hosts open them only when the red light goes on, responding cold and unrehearsed. The podcast welcomes teasing and detours, but the conversation always returns to the core question. This episode is ca...

Today’s episode marks a special moment as we welcome back Alex Kauffmann to the Listeners Chair for one final time before he returns to university. Before signing off, he expressed his gratitude for being part of the podcast and acknowledged that it may be a few months before he returns. This episode also highlights an important aspect of podcasting: listener interaction. Each episode features two...

It’s our 600th episode! I know what you’re thinking, they don’t sound jaded and tired, which could easily be the case, after so many episodes. That’s because with every episode, the tone is set by you dear listeners, who continue to send in questions for us to discuss. We've only got nine questions lined up at present, so get 'em in now and you'll be answered quite quickly, maybe even...

This is the People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast. Every episode we conversate around two listener questions, and where possible, spin the conversation around to the environment in some way, regardless of the topic covered.  In today’s episode we begin with an educational question from Unity in Paddock Wood, Kent, England - “What do you think about bringing climate change into the...

Alex is back in the listeners chair again today. You send in the questions, we tackle them live—always with an environmental twist and no peeking beforehand. Jess, from  Bishop’s Tatchbrook, Warwickshire, England sets the initial question - “I’ve been thinking about the police Stop and Search tactics in the UK. Should we keep it? Done for the right reasons, with truthful explanations, is it wrong?...

Alex Kauffmann has resumed his role as principal moderator of ‘The Listeners Chair’, reclaiming the central chair from which audience questions are drawn. These are then picked apart and reframed within environmental contexts to tease out wider significance. Lilly, from Summertown, Oxford, England sets the first question - “Should Oxford colleges open up more of their greenspaces to the wider popu...

Ever wondered what happens when a housing ladder turns into a pyramid, a mortgage that outlives its owner, and funding applications start behaving like job adverts? Then this is the episode for you! Welcome to The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast where you, the listener, send in questions for co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow to conversate around. In today...

In this episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow are once again joined by Alex Kauffmann, in the ‘Listener’s chair,’ to explore two very different, but equally thought-provoking questions sent in by listeners.  Faye from Islington, London, England, asks the first question: “We often talk about societal addictions a...

Welcome to the podcast that’s not really about people, and definitely not about the countryside—unless you count emotional landscapes and the occasional sheep metaphor. Since the Great Plague of Zoom Calls (aka COVID), you lot have been flinging questions at us like confetti at a wedding we weren’t invited to. We don’t read them beforehand—because where’s the fun in preparation? We hit record and...

We're the kind of people who'd lick a glacier just to say we’ve “explored it cold.” No matter what we're talking about—be it cheese, space travel, or ancient plumbing—we’ll somehow loop it back to the environment. And yes, between two questions, we casually teleport 11,000 miles—from croissants in Paris to kiwis in the Bay of Plenty. Our carbon footprint is basically a world tour. Marg...

Since COVID, this podcast has pretty much been all about the questions that you, the listener, have sent in for Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, the two co-hosts, to conversate around. In every episode, two of these listener questions are discussed, and by sheer coincidence, both questions in today’s episode, have come from the same person; Elodie in Brittany, France. The first o...