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OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance
OVERSHOOT tackles today’s social and ecological crises driven by our excessive population and consumption and explores the paradigm shifts needed to bring our human footprint into balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests, hosts Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware examine the drivers of overshoot: from the pronatalism fueling overpopulation, to economies based on consumerism and social injustice, to the worldview of human supremacy that exploits animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance offers transformative pathways beyond technological fixes, toward interconnectedness with all beings. With a global rank of 1.5%, we draw listeners from across 150 countries.
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There are over 90 episodes of OVERSHOOT. If you are new to the podcast and looking for a good place to start, we recommend you listen to these episodes first.
Episodes
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Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?
How many humans can the planet support without capsizing? Alan Weisman, journalist and author of Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, joins us.
Catastrophe Ethics
Modern life is filled with confusing and often terrifying problems, leaving many of us struggling with how to make morally decent choices. Travis N. Rieder, bioethicist and moral philosopher and author of Catastrophe Ethics, joins us.
The Megamachine and Green Growth Delusions
Techno-industrial extractivism is driving environmental destruction, and the media is complicit in upholding the growth model that sustains it. Christopher Ketcham, author of This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption Are Ruining the American West, joins us.
Welcome to the Great Unraveling
Environmental and social breakdown from intersecting crises is accelerating, but how can we navigate it? Asher Miller and Rob Dietz of the Post Carbon Institute join us to discuss their latest report, Welcome to the Great Unraveling.
Confronting Ecological Overshoot
How has blind faith in human exceptionalism, neoliberal economics, and technological optimism led us into a state of ecological overshoot? Bill Rees, population ecologist and co-creator of ecological footprint analysis, joins us.
Population Growth, Modern Slavery, and Ecocide
Modern-day slavery persists as a global tragedy, violating fundamental human rights and causing widespread ecological destruction. Kevin Bales, Professor of Contemporary Slavery and Research Director of the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham, UK and an expert on modern day slavery, joins us.
Population: A Threat Multiplier
Human activity is driving climate change, biodiversity loss, resource scarcity, and pandemics, creating compounding crises that demand urgent attention. Camilo Mora, professor and researcher, joins us.
Overpopulation and the Ethics of Procreation
What are the ethical implications of bringing new life into existence, both for the child and the planet? Trevor Hedberg, environmental and procreative ethicist and author of The Environmental Impact of Overpopulation: The Ethics of Procreation, joins us.
Wellbeing Economy
What happens when we stop treating people and the planet like they're here to serve the economy and start treating the economy like it's here to serve us? Amanda Janoo, Economics and Policy Lead at the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, unpacks the fundamentals behind the Wellbeing Economy.
The Dangers of Free-Market Fundamentalism
Free-market fundamentalism undermines democracy and exploits marginalized communities to benefit a small minority of elites. Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University and co-author of The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market, joins us.
Powering Down: Beyond Growth, Toward Simplicity
Humans are overpowering Earth’s natural systems and oppressing one another. Richard Heinberg, one of the world’s foremost experts on energy and sustainability, joins us to discuss his latest book, Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival.
An Inconvenient Apocalypse
The human species faces multiple cascading social and ecological crises that require embracing the limits to growth. Robert Jensen, retired journalism professor, social activist and organizer, and co-author of An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity, joins us.
Driving Life Over the Edge
Human population has exploded, species extinction has accelerated, and humanity is busy “sawing off the limb on which it is perched”. Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, joins us.
Overdrafting Earth’s Ecosystems
“The only way out of overshoot is less production and less consumption, so it means a much smaller economy and far fewer people.” William Rees, ecologist and co-creator of ecological footprint analysis, joins us.