The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast

Hopefully this podcast will stretch your thinking. Teddy, a listener from Norwich, England, sent your co-hosts Stuart and William a question to discuss - “For man to leave earth and colonise space, it's felt we need to lengthen our own lifespans somewhat, or become immortal, due to the time needed to cover the vast distances. Will we be doing that travel through avatars, or biological robots t...

Welcome to The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, where the aim is to be a friend in your ear during these challenging times. In today's therapy session for your co-hosts Stuart and William, you’ll take a dive into listener questions from Wally in Manchester, England, and Jayne in York, England. We begin with Wally’s question, which is: “What festivals do you guys like to c...

Join Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and William Mankelow, the down-to-earth co-hosts of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, as they dive into uncharted waters with no preparation, no scripts, just honest, genuine and relatable discussions. In this episode, they tackle thought-provoking questions from Paco in Wimbledon, England, and Fanaka from Kenya. First up is the questi...

Alan, a listener from Northway, Oxford, England sent in this question for discussion - “Is it excessive for the build up to Christmas to start in September, October and November? Is it a December thing?” Ah, the Christmas festive frenzy! William’s got a point: September to December can be like a shopping marathon – you start shopping early, stash gifts, often consuming them yourself, and then spri...

Fred, a listener from St Just, Cornwall, England, set the first question to be explored today - “In the UK we put the clock back an hour in October and forward an hour in March. Now we have digital clocks that automatically alter, and now we live in a world of quick communication, and we buzz between time zones readily. Is it time for the UK to stop doing this? I think we started doing this in the...

Welcome back to another wild ride with Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and partner in podcast crime, William ‘The Waffler’ Mankelow. In today's episode, they dive deep into two listener questions that have them pondering the mysteries of life, politics, and the great outdoors. The first comes from Alan in Northway, Oxford England, his question is:  “In October 2023 Rishi Sunak, UK Prime M...

A trigger warning is issued for this episode, as the conversation delves into the sensitive subjects of suicide and death. We urge listeners to consider their comfort level with such topics before proceeding. Prepare yourself for some delightful waffle in this episode! We appreciate the 26 listeners questions we have lined up; thanks for sending them in. If you have a burning question, feel free t...

Ivy, from Worthing, West Sussex, England poses the first listener question in todays episode for your co-hosts do discuss: Link to the question William and Stuart – the dynamic duo of deep thoughts and questionable life choices, offer their musings. William starts with the stigma of being arrested. It can be like a membership card/medal/trophy for some. Picture this though: William’s at a climate...

Elaine, from Telford, in Shropshire, England sends in this first listener question for discussion today. “Like you guys probably, I’ve been to many public meetings, run by scientists who specialise in systems thinking, filled with community activists, trying to develop new more sustainable circular systems that society can then hang itself on, and frame itself around. The aim being to try and miti...

A trigger warning is issued for this episode, as the conversation delves into the sensitive subjects of suicide and death, we urge listeners to consider their comfort level with such topics before proceeding. In this thought-provoking episode, Stuart and William embark on a journey, prompted by questions from listeners Iris in Wetley Rocks, Staffordshire, England, and Fanaka in Kenya. Two people g...

Nature can be a puzzle when trying to unravel the threads of and the motivations behind tree planting, and population growth. Welcome to another episode of The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, where your cohosts Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and William Mankelow delve into the intricacies of two thought-provoking questions posed by listeners. In this episode, listener...

“Hi guys, I’m back, always listening but not sent in a question for you to discuss too often these days. Can I ask, who do you feel the BBC is lining up to replace Sir David Attenborough? Who do you think could replace him?” That’s the first listener question sent for discussion, and that comes from Vandana in India. There are people like Chris Packham and Simon Reeve, who though aren’t exactly be...

2024 starts with a new format for this podcast. Instead of releases at 10am UK on Tuesdays and Sundays, with one listener question covered in each episode. We’re now just releasing on Sundays, but still at 10am UK time. Now though you’ll get two listener questions per episode. So we're going longer form. Debs, Didcot, Oxfordshire, England sets the first question of the year, which is: “Is the...

Stuart and William would like to wish you a Happy New Year, and don’t beat yourself up too much if you are unable to take your New Year’s resolutions beyond the 10th January. 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 We like to give you an ad free experience. We also like our a...

Stuart and William are taking a break over Christmas and New Year and are offering an opportunity to relisten to an important episode in the back catalogue of this podcast.  Stuart chose this episode as it was refreshing to have a female perspective on the podcast which listening still stretches his own thinking.  What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us t...

Stuart and William are taking a break over Christmas and New Year and are offering an opportunity to relisten to an important episode in our back catalogue.  William chose this particular classic episode because a lot of what he shares comes directly from personal experience. 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 em...

Stuart and William are just stopping by to wish you a Merry Christmas, and also to celebrate the 500th release of this podcast. We hope you’ll continue to make this podcast part of your future listening habit. We like to give you an ad free experience. We also like our audience to be relatively small and engaged, we’re not after numbers. This podcast's overall themes are nature, philosophy, cl...

Stuart and William are taking a break over Christmas and New Year and are offering an opportunity to relisten to an important episode in the back catalogue of this podcast.  Stuart picked this episode as he feels it’s good to listen back to this particular one with fresh ears, and that is also our second most listened to episode ever. What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question tha...

Stuart and William are taking a break over Christmas and New Year and are offering an opportunity to relisten to an important episode in the back catalogue of this podcast. William chose this particular classic as he felt that the subject of E Waste is important, and he likes how it demonstrates the format of this podcast. Him and Stuart can begin discussing one subject, and end up somewhere compl...

Co-hosts Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and William Mankelow explore thought-provoking questions sent in by listeners on a wide variety of subjects, which they discuss, chew over, analyse, break down, and sometimes even debate. We like to give you an ad-free experience. We also like our audience to be relatively small and engaged, we’re not after numbers. In this episode, Alivia from Ridgway...

Welcome to The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, where co-hosts Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and William Mankelow delve into the pressing questions sent in by listeners. In this special episode, we join forces with The LOAF Podcast , hosted by Lukas Seifert and Oliver Walsh, to tackle the following crucial question sent in by Rory from Darwin, Australia: “The world has...

Welcome to another episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast. Co-hosts, Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and William Mankelow, delve into a thought-provoking question, sent in by Gavin from Grove,Oxfordshire, England. Gavin raises concerns about the environmental impact of artificial turf, quoting conflicting statements about its effects on the environment. His question...

“After the Coutts Bank/Nigel Farage scandal, do you think banks have the right to close accounts of people that hold political views they don’t agree with? Ok they were wrong to discuss Mr Farage details with a journalist, but should they be allowed to decide who they do and don’t do business with?” That’s the listener question, this time sent in by Elaine, in Telford, Shropshire, England, which c...

We need to listen twice as much as we talk, that’s the big takeaway from today's episode. Which is the thinking inspired by today’s listener question, sent in by Gavin, in Grove, Oxfordshire, England. ”In life, and whatever culture you are from, should we pause more, and take more moments of reflection, and ask others what their perception is of any given situation, or are we already doing tha...

Welcome to another thought-provoking episode of The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast, where Stuart 'The Wildman' Mabbutt and William Mankelow delve into the following question from Ramona from Paraguay: “Some Pacific islands are doing deals with mineral and metal extraction companies that could have negative impacts on their indigenous societies, as well as good, as there...