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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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Highway to Hell: The Dystopian Fantasies of Tech Billionaires
The dystopian visions of ecologically blind tech billionaires are shaping our future in alarming ways. Émile P. Torres, philosopher and historian, joins us.
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.
The Childfree Choice More Prevalent than Reported
Childfree adults make up a significant portion of the population, yet they remain largely invisible in policymaking and demographic surveys. Zachary Neal and Jennifer Watling Neal, psychologists and childfree researchers, join 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.
Breaking Out of the Baby Matrix
Pronatalism shapes how we think about parenthood and reproduction, often in ways we don’t even notice. Laura Carroll, an expert on pronatalism, the childfree choice, and author of The Baby Matrix, 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.
How Men Came to Rule
Patriarchy has shaped societies across the globe, but how did it take root? Angela Saini, science journalist and author of The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule, joins us.
How Population Became a Dirty Word
When and why did population become a dirty word? Diana Coole, political theorist and feminist scholar, 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.
Toward Animal and Human Liberation
Oppression, exploitation, and domination harm both humans and nonhumans, but how can we dismantle these systems? Hope Ferdowsian, president of Phoenix Zones Initiative and a public health physician, joins us.
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.
Japan’s Baby-Making Propaganda
How has Japan’s slightly declining population given rise to a toxic mix of patriarchy, biomedical capitalism, and nationalism? Isabel Fassbender, a Japan-based feminist scholar and author of Active Pursuit of Pregnancy: Neoliberalism, Postfeminism and the Politics of Reproduction in Contemporary Japan, 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.
Rewilding Nature and Ourselves
What happens when we renounce our ego and allow nature to become our teacher? Rainforest conservationist and educator Suprabha Seshan chats with us about her incredible efforts to protect and restore the forest at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary in Kerala, India.
Men Confronting Patriarchy
Male involvement in family planning is key to changing population dynamics and promoting gender equity in Uganda. Andrew Kyamagero, an award-winning Ugandan journalist and family-planning advocate, joins us to discuss how engaging boys and men is critical to confronting patriarchy.
The Right to Reproductive Autonomy
Reproductive autonomy and empowering choice are key to both human rights and planetary health. Robert Engelman, researcher, writer, and former newspaper reporter, 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.