THE OVERPOPULATION PODCAST
Our Featured Podcasts
The Overpopulation Podcast features enlightening conversations between Population Balance Executive Director Nandita Bajaj, cohost Alan Ware, and expert guests. We cover a broad variety of topics that explore the impacts of our expanding human footprint on human rights, animal protection, and environmental restoration, as well as individual and collective solutions.
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Testimonials
“I'm a 17 year old student in Singapore and I'm currently studying geography in school. I recently came across your podcast and really loved how I get to relate what I learn in the classroom to the discussions you guys are having.” - Emma
“This podcast needs more attention! Covers so much ground, from parenting to politics to the environment. Great content, great hosts.” - Cooper
“I would like to thank you so much for your recent podcast episode (#68)! Your guests shared very good insights on the relationship between overpopulation and wildlife conservation. I have also gained more knowledge about the childfree life from them as well. In fact, I am seriously considering a vasectomy because I want to promote my advocacy for overshoot awareness and reproductive rights. It’s my way to “Be the Change you want to see in the world" so to speak.” - Brix
“I wanted to congratulate you on your overpopulation podcast. The interviews are so educational and enlightening. There is currently a resurgence amongst people on tik tok towards pro-natalism. Mostly fighting against a decrease in population because they think its racist and eco-fascist. I love how you explain these issues and I really think it would benefit so many people if you spread your message on tik tok. It's a place where a lot of young people are molding their world views and opinions.” - Juliana
Dr. S. Y. Quraishi: Tackling Islamophobic Population Myths | Apr 21, 2022
Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr. S.Y. Quraishi discusses his latest book The Population Myth: Islam, Politics, and Family Planning in India. Using logic and data from irrefutable sources, Dr. Quraishi debunks the myth around exaggerated fears of Muslim numbers, born out of right-wing Islamophobic political propaganda, while also sharing that lack of socio-economic empowerment rather than religiosity fuels higher fertility rates.
Dr. Esgar Guarín: One Small Snip For Man, One Giant Leap For Humankind(ness) | Mar 24, 2022
Columbian-born American award-winning Family and Reproductive Health Specialist, Dr. Esgar Guarín (goo-ah-reen) talks about his journey that led him to becoming a full-time vasectomist. Using a mobile vasectomy clinic as his advocacy vehicle to drive around the US spreading humor and activism, while offering free on-site mobile vasectomies, Dr. G is on a mission to help destigmatize male reproductive responsibility for the love of their partners and the planet.
Dr. Phoebe Barnard: Rome Is Burning. The Time Is Now. | Feb 18, 2022
Biodiversity scientist, collaborative team-builder, conflict-resolver, global change scientist and policy strategist, Dr. Phoebe Barnard is on a mission to bend the curve on population and consumption. Phoebe discusses the importance of moving beyond dichotomous thinking and rallying together leaders from communities across faith, science, and activism to urgently take actions to protect our incredible spaceship Earth - with humility, love, and deep collaboration.
Therese Shechter: The Not-So-Selfish Choice To Be Childfree | Jan 20, 2022
Award-winning filmmaker Therese Shechter discusses her new paradigm shifting documentary film My So-Called Selfish Life about one of our greatest social taboos: choosing not to become a mother. Therese shines a light on these oppressive unspoken but powerful cultural narratives that seek to maintain control over women's minds, bodies, and their imagined life stories.
Carter Dillard: Understanding The Right To Have Children | Dec 26, 2021
Legal scholar and ethicist Carter Dillard elegantly argues why the act of having children is interpersonal rather than personal, and shares his vision for a just and sustainable society in which each child is brought into this world in a manner that ensures they have an ecologically and socially fair start in life.
Michael Bayliss: Changing Our Consciousness So We Can Change The World | Nov 27, 2021
Michael Bayliss from Sustainable Population Australia shares his vision for a post-growth society that is rooted in a background in economics, on-the-ground town-planning advocacy, tangible conversations with stakeholders, indigenous consultation, experiential awareness, spirituality, compassion, and love.
Sarah Baillie & Kelley Dennings: Sex Education (As Good As The Show!) | Oct 27, 2021
Sarah Baillie and Kelley Dennings from The Center for Biological Diversity share their exciting initiatives and advocacy work on destigmatizing sex, contraception, and reproductive decisions. They also share the state of the sex ed. curriculum across the states in the US, as well as their important work on awareness campaigns relating to population and consumption pressures on biodiversity.
Sofia Pineda Ochoa: Are Children And Future Generations Being Betrayed? | Sep 22, 2021
Physician turned documentarian Sofia Pineda Ochoa explains why she is taking our society to task for ignoring the peril of human overpopulation. Habitat destruction, species extinction, and animal agriculture top the list of topics. Human numbers are the root of the problem. “Can’t we talk about something that’s so obvious and undeniable?” asks Ochoa.
Challenging The Social Pressures To Procreate | Aug 25, 2021
Are our decisions about having children really made freely – without pressure from government, church, business, media, family and friends? The decision to have children or not is arguably one of the most important decisions we make in our lives. It’s largely regarded as an isolated personal decision, but how personal is it really?
William Rees: Overdrafting The World's Ecosystems | Jul 29, 2021
“Humankind is using up the biophysical basis of its own existence.” That’s the bottom line of this Earth Overshoot Day conversation with William Rees, the father of ecological footprint analysis. According to Rees, “the only way out of overshoot is less production and less consumption, so it means a much smaller economy and far fewer people.”
Kathleen Mogelgaard: The Population Institute's New CEO | Jun 22, 2021
Great strides have been made in advancing women’s reproductive autonomy, but there is still much to accomplish. Kathleen Mogelgaard discusses the Institute’s work, including reducing the unmet need for family planning and an active effort to permanently repeal the global gag rule.
Alexandra Paul: Untucking Overpopulation | Jun 2, 2021
It’s an insane world where speaking the scientific truth is an act of courage. Actress Alexandra Paul has been courageously educating people about human overpopulation for over thirty years. We discuss her TEDx Talk, Overpopulation Facts - The Problem No One Will Discuss, her most notable effort in addition to her animal advocacy, and her childfree lifestyle.
Nandita Bajaj: Meet The New Executive Director of WPB | May 11, 2021
New Executive Director and podcast co-host Nandita Bajaj shares her brief history and the evolving path that led her to becoming a sustainable population advocate. She discusses the links between pronatalism, anthropocentrism and overpopulation and why our growing human enterprise is the most pressing planetary justice issues of our time.
Dave Gardner: Reflections On Six Years Of Leading WPB | Apr 21, 2021
Podcast co-host Dave Gardner reflects on the agony and the ecstasy of working to alert, educate, and inspire action to end our overpopulation crisis for the last six years as executive director of WPB. Who IS this guy? Why has he been working seven days a week for years to alert about overshoot and “save the planet?”
Roundtable: Bravo For The Baby Bust | Mar 31, 2021
On an overpopulated planet, a baby bust is cause for celebration. Yet today, because of growth addiction and widespread ignorance of the overpopulation crisis, dropping birth rates are being universally reported as bad news. We circle up for roundtable discussion of the phenomenon – and provide the very important alternative, science-based, viewpoint.
Christopher Tucker: Part 2 - Sex, Religion, Politics, & Overpopulation | Mar 16, 2021
In part two of our conversation with Chris Tucker, author of A Planet of 3 Billion, we continue exploring how to make the “uncomfortable” conversation more comfortable. He explains that we must absolutely figure out how to run a prosperous global economy under continuous population decline.