5 Podcasts to listen to about sustainability
’ve often found podcasts about sustainability have not been the most engaging, there are so many out there that seem to repeat a lot of content. So I’ve chosen to share the 5 podcasts with sustainability and better mental health that I regularly listen to and enjoy after many episodes of listening to. Also I learn a thing or two from them! I often use podcasts to distract my mind whilst running or cycling, and these 5 are absolute winners for helping me go further by grabbing my interest.
Sustainababble:
Sustainababble is a weekly podcast hosted by Dave and Ol, climate charity workers who share a passion for sustainability, and make it informal and accessible for their listeners. The podcast aims to tackle any “babble” - any news or greenwashing behaviour that appears positive on the surface, but turns out to have no real substance. The hosts do a great job of calling these out.
Experts often feature on the show and expand on a topic, using quiz formats to help the listener learn and absorb the knowledge. These guests form a great reading list and further resources to expand knowledge on a particular topic you might be interested in. The one thing that sets this pod from the rest, is the great use of sound bites. From music clips to snippets from television shows, these enhance the points and comments made.
Funny, informative and great use of guests. I recommend to any person interested in expanding their knowledge of sustainability and spotting hollow claims for sustainability. The podcast can get a bit dry at times, but has gotten a lot better as it progressed with fantastic use of sound bites and music.
Review: 4.5/5
Jon Richarson and the Futurenauts - How To Survive The Future:
I’ve listened to this podcast since it started during the first lockdown in 2020. It is wonderful! There are three hosts: Jon Richardson, Mark Stevenson and Ed Gillespie, the last two bringing most of the content around sustainability to the show and explaining a topic to Jon as he becomes more upset with the situation.
The format for the show is that Ed and Mark will explain all that is wrong with a topic and how far away we are from being in a good place to highlight how bad the situation is. Then following this the hosts expand and explain how we are able to get ourselves out of it.
This has genuinely been one of my favourite podcasts I’ve ever listened to. It touches all the right tones, whilst delivering an important message of how bad things are, but most importantly how to find a way out and end the show on optimism. The chemistry between the three also keeps the flow of the show going well. I’ve clocked up many miles on my bike while laughing at this.
Review: 5/5
Happy Place:
Another lockdown find, I caught this randomly on my spotify feed. This is not an out and out sustainability podcast. However, it is hosted be Fern Cotton, and is sponsored only by companies who are offering sustainable products.
The podcast focuses on mindfulness, as in the title is very important. We should focus on what we find positive, and what is soul food for us all. The show has a guest each week and Fern takes the time to discuss with them how they’ve dealt with mental health. It’s often raw with the guests, full of examples of coping with stress and tough situations, whilst on the whole making you feel happier for listening to it and sharing the concerns with the host and the guest.
If you want a lift and some source of happiness, gives this pod a listen. It’ll maybe help you find some inner peace, and some strategies/methods to set your focus on the right track.
Review: 4/5
Great Green Questions:
Great green questions takes on a format of asking a “great green question”, normally the title of the episode. Then the host Juliet Davenport invites experts in the field around the topic to answer questions she presents the guests. Some examples of topics on the show are:
Investing
Flying
Vegan diet
Racism
Media coverage
The show gives you great insight into how the industry experts think about these problems, how they accept flaws in their lifestyles due to convenience (something we should all embrace, and not be upset about). Talking about the fact you take a flight for your holiday with your family because there is not an awful lot of choice or that the train network where you live is either not a good service, or for the instance of the UK, very expensive compared to flying.
If you’re like me, you’ll enjoy this podcast! It’s informative, and provides a catalyst to further dig into a topic. Talking about the trade offs attempting to reduce your footprint have at present time.
Review: 4/5
TED Radio Hour:
Hosted by Guy Raz originally now Manoush Zomorodi, the TED Radio Hour podcast is not truly a podcast focusing on the topic of sustainability. However, often the topics on the show are related if not have a wonderful theme to practice personal development and understanding.
The format of the show works really well, they take a handful of talks which share a common theme, then discuss with the speaker about there talk as you hear extracts from the original talk. I really like this style as you get more than just the TED talk, you get the background and some discussion around elements of what is being discussed.
For some talks focused on sustainability I recommend listening to the following shows:
The Food We Eat
Unintended Consequences
Circular
Finite
Changing The World
I’ve been listening to this podcast since 2015, it's been my travel companion ever since. A go to pod if I want to learn something and expand my knowledge and understanding on many topics.
Review: 4/5
