Non-Toxic

In just over two weeks, Carbon Bros , a collaboration between Non-Toxic and Drilled , will be making its long-awaited debut on July 25. Here’s the gist: You’ve heard it from cable news pundits, Democratic strategists, and your favorite YouTuber: young men swung the last U.S. election for Trump. Understanding what’s driving “the manosphere” and how to reach the young men in its grips is on everyone...

Join me in the studio of artist and activist Jay Critchley, a Provincetown legend known for his provocative work at the intersection of masculinity, environmental degradation, and consumption. Each year in his annual RE-ROOTER Ceremony, the artist includes the public in an attempt to discard the objects and experiences that prohibit us making from a deeper connection with the earth and human life,...

In this episode, I’m joined by Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days , Palo Alto , and What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis , out April 15, 2025 and available for pre-order. His new book is a survey of left political-economic thought, broken down into what Malcolm sees as the three viable strategies for addressing the climate crisis. To end our economic addiction to fossil fue...

Like a rhizomatic network, Non-Toxic is linking and building with investigative climate journalist Amy Westervelt. She and the Drilled podcast team will be helping out with a special mini-season of Non-Toxic x Drilled, launching summer 2025. For those of you who aren’t already devoted Drilled listeners, it’s one of the best climate podcasts out there. They’ve covered everything from the birth of c...

On this bonus episode, we're joined by environmental reporter and former Non-Toxic co-host, Andrew Lewis, to discuss the first weeks of the Trump administration's climate policy. We've also got some personal life updates like moving to Cape Cod, and trying to build a house without wrapping it in plastic. Listen in for insights on FEMA investigations, woke weather, future climate predictions, and o...

On this episode of Non-Toxic, we're going Hollywood, breaking down the PR wars and legal wrangling between the stars of the domestic violence drama, It Ends With Us . Justin Baldoni, the director and co-star of the film, is facing serious allegations  of sexual harassment, inappropriate on-set behavior–and a coordinated PR campaign to destroy the reputation of the film's leading actress, Blake Liv...

For this end of year episode of Non-Toxic, we dive back into the vault to revisit a fascinating conversation with Alec Leach, a sustainability strategist and author of The World is on Fire but We're Still Buying Shoes . (He's also ⁠got a great substack. ) Alec shares his eye-opening journey from a high-flying fashion editor to an advocate for mindful consumption. We discuss the myths around sustai...

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...