Advertise on podcast: Your Brain On Climate

Fast fashion: terrible for the planet, awful for its workers, and hypercharged by the infinite marketing potential of social media. But we love to look cool (well, I don't, but you take the point). And let's face it, there's something very appealing about getting your clothes for very cheap.  So in this episode I ask one of the country's leading experts on the psychology, culture and systems behind fast fashion: what's to be done, where does the power lie... and is it really possible to think ourselves out of our obsession with Primark, Zara and the rest?  Joining me is the phenom that is Lucy Siegle. She's a broadcaster, author, documentary maker and general all round superbrain and superstar - as funny and down to Earth as you get, but with a knack for explaining how fast fashion really works that I think you'll just love.  Check out Lucy's Substack and see below for links to her stuff as discussed. This episode was recorded live in front of an audience as part of Sustainable Fashion Week. It took place at Hang On In There Baby in Crystal Palace, as part of a series of SFW events organised by Hana and the fab team in CP. As I hit publish there are still some events coming up so check them out here if you're local.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references below. 07.22: Lucy's 2011 book, To Die For. 11.37: Changing Markets report into fossil fibres.  20.02: More from David Birnbaum, he of the 101 steps to making a garment. 22.55: Where to watch The True Cost documentary. Your Brain on Climate is a show about human brains vs the climate crisis. It's  hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

**Warning: this episode contains swears** My guest on this episode of Your Brain on Climate says it's time environmentalism grew some teeth. He wants YOU to actively disrupt destructive activity – to sabotage the machines that are destroying the Earth – because asking politely isn't getting us where we need to be fast or fair enough. But yet hardly anyone is prepared to do stuff like this, despite rising temperatures and a planet on fire. So I ask: what does it take to get people taking disruptive direct action - and what stops the rest of us?  Joining me is academic, author and activist Nicholas Beuret. Nic's the author of Or Something Worse: Why We Need to Disrupt The Climate Transition. Nic thinks modern environmentalism has got too polite, and accuses the environmental movement of not doing enough to force a transition that is making life better for everyday people.  Nic is thoughtful, principled and funny - I think you'll like him - and just maybe you'll leave this chat reflecting on what it would take for you to chain yourself to a pipeline.  Join me on the 4 October for Your Brain on Climate LIVE in Crystal Palace - tickets here.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references below. 21:23 - How climate change is pushing up food inflation, from Carbon Brief. 29:52 - Inside the anti-fracking protests in Lancashire. 39:23 - John Jost's System Justification Theory. 50:21 - an interview with Jane McAlevey about how to organise for power.Your Brain on Climate is a show about human brains vs the climate crisis. It's  hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

Come with me for a walk around Crystal Palace Park in London - home to the world's first ever life-sized models of dinosaurs, built in 1854.  It's hard enough imagining what last Tuesday was like, never mind what living things might have looked like millions of years ago - so no wonder the Victorians got loads of the details wrong. But can you imagine how mind-bending it must have been to learn for the very first time that longer ago than we can imagine, there were zonking great lizards the size of small houses?  Can we do something like that to our heads now? Can pondering deep time - like, dinosaur deep - help get our heads around what climate change really is, and how to think about it?  This episode contains clips from my chats with Clayton Page Aldern and Ella Saltmarshe.  It was recorded on 1 September 2026.  Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

You're a mature, rational adult who can face massive, existential problems head-on, right? Or is your brain more like a medieval dungeon: a deep dark place in which you chuck things you don't want to think about, and throw away the key? Uh-oh.  My guest on this episode, the esteemed psychologist, TED talker and author Dr Renée Lertzman, thinks it's the latter - and she thinks it's about time you got them complex thoughts out.   Renée tells me why most traditional climate chat is more likely to cause us to shut down than authentically connect with how we feel about climate change (and all the rest of it). She draws from the worlds of therapy and trauma management to urge us all to be guides, not lecturers - and to help others to dig into what lies beneath.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references below. 18:14 - Psychosocial research = how our inner worlds relate to our social lives. 22:23 - Marshall Alcorn's Resistance to Learning.  24:49 - A Substack from Renée, including on how naming complex truths makes our immune system work better. 32:50 - Lisa Feldman Barrett's amazing work on how emotions work. 37:30 - A fascinating long read/listen on accompaniment.  44:56 - Another of Renée's Substacks, this time on the three As. Your Brain on Climate is a show about human brains vs the climate crisis. It's  hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

Why do people who care about climate change still jet off on planes (including, occasionally, me?) This is an excerpt of me attempting to answer that surprisingly complicated question on Joel Walker's Look Near First podcast - where Joel asked me all about the psychology and culture of flying.  How come despite knowing about climate change, and the damage aviation causes, those who fly keep on doing so - even if they're ostensibly really concerned about the planet? And if facts don't do it, what might persuade said people to holiday closer to home? I have a go at marshalling everything this show has taught me about human brains and how they work.   It was a pleasure to be invited on Look Near First. Here's a link to the full episode of my chat with Joel, and I commend his show to you in the highest terms.  Joel appeared on Your Brain on Climate a few episodes back telling me his story - the pilot who quit because of his climate anxiety.  Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

For most of the last two decades, the right of UK politics were all for climate action. Heck, in 2019 a Conservative Prime Minister signed us up to net zero emissions by 2050!  But a few short years later both of the two major parties on the right are now very much against 'net "stupid" zero', and everything they think that means.  What's going on? What are they trying to do? And - will it work?  I'm joined by Becca Massey-Chase, Head of Citizen Engagement at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).  Becca tells me the different attack lines that the right are using against net zero - whether they are persuasive to the average person, and what deeper stories they're tapping into.  We discuss why the right has done such a reverse ferret on climate change, after decades of broad consensus - and how much of it is cynical politics vs sincerely held worldviews.  And I ask: if some people's views about climate action can really shift that quickly - what does that reveal about how firmly any of us really believe what we think we believe about it?  You can find Becca's brilliant report here.   Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references below. 21:34: Political identity guides climate belief. 22:14: Motivated reasoning. 30:00. Becca's research (again). 40.04: Janan Ganesh's vibes theory of politics (paywalled alas)43.06: A brilliant piece from Climate Barometer about climate salience. Your Brain on Climate is a show about human brains vs the climate crisis. It's  hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

If you've ever caught yourself writing off a  group of people with a simple and dismissive description of why they do what they do - or been thusly written off yourself - then you'll be familiar with 'thin description'. It's a bad way to learn what makes someone tick and probably annoys them as well. So instead, here's the idea of 'thick description': properly spending time with people to understand their complex inner lives and what they really think about things, including climate change.  In this Micro episode, I revisit my chat from 2025 with anthropologist Karl Dudman. Karl's  inspiring work with the Trump-voting yet climate-threatened communities of Down East is description that is beautifully, nourishingly, and enlightenlingly thick.  I also mention my appearance on the Look Near First podcast, talking about the psychology of flying and aviation. Check that out here.  Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

I am good. I protest. I save people. I must save the world - now.  If this even slightly feels like something you've told yourself, then this episode is for you.  Author and campaigner Anthea Lawson's brilliant new book is called How Not To Save The World. It's about the 'script' that activists - including her - tell ourselves, often without realising it. From this script, which can come from deep cultural and psychological places, comes many things that aren't much help - like burnout, the excusing of bad behaviour, and pushing people away rather than persuading them.  Instead Anthea's got a new recipe for change-making which is better for the activists, and better for the world.  I loved Anthea's book and, as will become abundantly clear, it spoke to me good and proper. If you've ever wrestled with how to be a good activist, I commend it, and this chat, to you in the highest terms.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references below. 01:19: the episode of Sustainababble in which I talked about why I quit.  16:47: here's Wikipedia explaining (using too many long words in my opinion) the Cartesian divide.20:44: a great article about Jung's idea of the shadow.  24:46: What's the amygdala? 39:03: More in Common's deep dive into Progressive Activists.40:00: My interview with Deborah Prentice about pluralistic ignorance.  Your Brain on Climate is a show about human brains vs the climate crisis. It's  hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

When's the last time you were bored? Thanks to our phones, it's easier than ever to be distracted, stimulated, and fed attention calories of varying quality so you never have to worry about being bored again. But what do we miss when we live life without giving ourselves time not to do anything at all?  In this Micro episode, I revisit my chat from 2024 with broadcaster Simon Mundie, remembering what Simon told me about how much about the natural world - good and bad - we can notice and experience if we put away our phones for a bit.  Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

In this episode I go for a walk in the woods with a former airline pilot who packed it in because of his climate anxiety. Joel Walker flew for years but could never quite ignore the state of the planet - like the forest fires and melting glaciers he could see from his cockpit. Eventually, in 2025, the cognitive dissonance got too much and Joel left flying forever.   As we natter through the trees not far from Luton Airport, Joel tells me what it feels like to walk away from a prestigious career he'd trained for for years, because he could no longer bear what it was doing to the world. He tells me about the culture of being a pilot, the ruthless logic of aviation expansion, and what he's learned about how to live a more fulfilling life from his rollercoaster journey.  Joel is funny, kind and quietly inspiring. This is a fascinating chat with a man who has grappled hard with things we all face at some point. How to take big decisions when your values are telling you to do one thing, but your identity (and salary!) is built around doing something else. And what happens when you can no longer look away from how entangled you are with the climate crisis - whether you're an airline pilot or not.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references below. One additional last-minute reference: for more on 'sustainable' aviation and if it's possible, check out the latest Outrage and Optimism.   21:34 - the Jeavons Paradox explained. 24:23 - the Safe Landing group. 34:31 - the overview effect: what seeing Earth from space does to you. 37:36 - more about how contrails increase the warming effect.  38:56 - slightly old stat, but 70% of flights taken by 15% of people is here. 41:33 - extreme day trips. 52:23 - my chat with Geoff Beattie about climate anxiety. 57:00 -  Look Near First, Joel's new thing. 58:08 - Joel profiled in the Times. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

Would you rather have a fiver today or a tenner this time next year? That kind of calculation is called 'discounting', and the more you'd rather have the fiver today, the more you are discounting the future.  Humans are hardwired to lean towards getting things now, unless the deal is sufficiently sweet.  That preference makes sense when you evolved to not know where your next antelope was coming from. But our bias towards discounting the future is one of the reasons we haven't done enough about climate change. So.... we'd better learn to hack it.   On this Micro episode, I revisit my chat from 2023 with cognitive scientist Adam Bulley. We chatted then all about foresight; the brain's amazing ability to jump forward (and backward in time) to make calculations about what to do today - and how it's a deeply imperfect but very human part of what made us the species we are today.  OWL at 3:00: here's more about economic discounting.  Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

Climate change is REALLY SCARY, right, but that doesn't mean you have to wibble helplessly in the corner. While the go-to currency of most climate awareness campaigns is 'hope' – does fear get a bad press? It turns out fear is a great motivator of climate action too, as long as we learn how to use its power for good, not the dark side. After all, if you think climate change isn't a bit alarming, you're not paying attention.  Joining me on this episode is Professor Sarah Jaquette Ray. Sarah's written and thought loads about how fear, and its twin emotion of disgust, are used by bad people to divide us and scapegoat on climate change and the environment. But she's also thought loads about how to hack your fear: dosing yourself up just enough to make good things happen, without giving in to the terror entirely.  Sarah is also the host of the fab Climate Magic podcast.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references:  11:57. The 2003 film, the Fog of War. 18.26. Christiana Figueres: stubborn optimism. 21.49: Greta: cathedral thinking. 22.44: Hannah Proctor's book, Burnout. 26.55: Check out my episode about Risk, with Adam Corner... 35.01: ... and my chat about Disgust, with Yoel Inbar. 36.48: Mary Douglas's book Purity and Danger. 40.20: Don't Mess With Texas! 48.31: Tending and befriending. 50.03: Joanna Macy's three narratives / stories of now. 58.58: Thích Nhất Hạnh's ideas about nutriments.The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

A few years ago I learned the Dutch word 'goedprater': the excuses we give to justify something to others, which we can barely justify to ourselves. I do it all the time and I bet you do too, whether it's not going for that run you planned (ow, leg suddenly hurt) or caring about climate change but taking loads of flights (well, they were just going to go anyway, right?)  In this micro episode, I learn all about goedprater as part of understanding the BYSTANDER EFFECT. I revisit a snippet of my 2023 chat with Professor Gerdien de Vries. Within, Gerdien explains the three reasons we walk by on the other side, when doing our bit would probably be the right thing to do.   Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

Hope! What is it good for? (Absolutely every'thin).  We ain't doing much about the climate crisis without it. Movements are founded on it, and most campaigns are about wanting us to feel it. Which is exhilarating for those who feel it most urgently - but what about everyone else?  The good news is it turns out there are lots of different ways to have climate hope, even ones that might not look like it. Raising kids in the age of climate breakdown; doing a strange little climate podcast; even being a mopey wee doomer: this episode, we learn about how all these things are types of hope.  Joining me on this episode is researcher Pancho Lewis, who's got a brilliant paper all about the many different types of climate hope there are. We talk about how politics is all about the feels, why being a Man U fan has tested Pancho's hope reserves no end - and how to truly have hope in the dark.  All that, and a bit of Terry Pratchett too.  (last minute edit: The term 'slow hope' was coined by Christof Mauch. Forgot to owl that) Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.  Owl noises = references:  13:33: My micro chat with Geoff Beattie about optimism bias. 16.38: Pancho's paper about fluid hope. 34.21: Over to Wiki to explain collective effervescence.40.17: Jonathan Lear's book about radical hope. 45:20: Mathias Thaler's paper about eco-miserablism. 45.30: an owl is necessary to explain the Dark Mountain Collective. 50.46: Andreas Malm hates doomsters: see his book. 57:02: Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark. If you read nothing else, etc. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

Your brain is literally made of the food you eat. And *how* you eat it - slowly, or wolfed down at your desk - will affect how well you digest it. So way before any of the psychology stuff, getting a proper lunch might be the most important way to start getting your brain to be useful, in doing something about climate change.  In this micro episode, I revisit my chat with the brilliant Kimberley Wilson from 2021. Kimberley's an author, mental health expert, nutritionist and science communicator, who knows more about the value of a hot dinner than you've had hot dinners.  Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please.  The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate.  YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.