Don't Eat Me

I am proposing to create a second series for early 2027, but I’d like some feedback first, please. 

I’m thinking of calling this Don’t Eat Me again. Although Don’t Eat Me 2 would also suffice. (Or even 'Don't Eat Me Too'.)

Now, I personally don’t like long podcast episodes. I have always had a short attention span, and it only takes me fifteen minutes to walk to work, so ... But let me know your preferred episode length and I will see if I can better match other people’s podcast episode expectations. 

I have a list, but if anything in particular piqued your interest and you’d like it expanded, please let me know. 

Politics — right, left and in between

Rule — dictatorship, superiority and race

The economy — who needs more money? (Check out limitarianism, for example: https://www.uu.nl/en/in-the-media/what-is-limitarianism-professor-ingrid-robeyns-explains)

The mind — AI, social media, ideas and the human brain (I believe beliefs are the biggest issue we face, along with climate change). 

War — what is it good for? 

Contact me and tell me what you think: [email protected]

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources:

You. 

We live in a world of amazing histories, incredible things, incredible animals, insects and sea life and, let’s be honest, incredible people.

So be incredible, people.

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources

Things will be cold, crude, smelly, scary, vexing and demoralising at first, but you can do this. 

You can do this because you’re a human and that’s what we’ve been doing for much of our existence.

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources

Learn First Aid: try your local Red Cross, for example. Here's the NZ link https://www.redcross.org.nz/first-aid/our-courses

Learn to forage: A New Zealand example is https://www.wildbotanica.co.nz/pages/free-beginners-foraging-guide but these are very locale-specific, so try and find one for your own area or country. 

Build a community: learn to ask questions rather than jump to judgement. Try and work out how to re=purpose someone's skills, hobbies and interests for the current situation. At the same time, try and pair people with those who can learn, to have skills passed on. 

https://www.wikihow.com/Create-Community

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources

On the Sarakatsani shepherds; check out Patrick Leigh Fermor's brilliant pre-WWII travel books. They are well worth reading for an intimate glimpse of 1930s Europe: A Time of Gifts (1977), Between the Woods and the Water (1986) and The Broken Road (2013) in which the Sarakatsani shepherds appear (pp 255-258). The language he writes is simply beautiful, and Fermor captured worlds elucidated by no other, in my experience. 

HPR Finberg in The Formation of England 550-1042, Granada Publishing Limited [Palladin] 1976 page 19.

On 'Zomia', The Art of Not Being Governed, James C Scott, Yale University 2009

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources

A nod to my sponsors here – I don't have any. No links as this is mostly opinion – if you've been following along, you should know how I got here. So these opinions are definitely not those of my non-existent sponsors. 

This is the beginning of chapter 5 of the unpublished book (Survive). How would we, could we move on from an apocalypse? 

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes

We need fat to survive, which sounds counter-intuitive since we're so paranoid about it, and it's true we get too much in many of our typical Western diets. 

But we can't live without it, either, and when things get tough, it's hard to find. There are reasons why even pescatarians like me might end up considering meat.

And then there are water-borne diseases to contend with...

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources

How many calories does work burn? http://calorielab.com/burned/

How cooking led to bigger human brains: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cooking-up-bigger-brains/

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Sources & Notes

Little House on The Prairie, what they really ate: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-they-eat-little-house-on-the-prairie

Make your own salt: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Sea-Salt/

Why we need salt: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146677.php

Canadian diet guide (protein): https://www.canadianliving.com/health/nutrition/article/calories-protein-carbohydrates-and-fat-how-much-do-i-need.

French agricultural production and World War Two: Alan S Millward in War, Economy and Society: 1939-1945 (Pelican Books 1987, page 269).

Western POWs and food: Parcels From Home: The Prisoner of War Parcel Scheme and the New Zealand Red Cross in World War Two by Mark Webster and Paul Luker, CreativeTech Publishing Ltd 2015 (electronic)

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026

Notes & Sources

Daily steps:

https://www.verywellfit.com/whats-typical-for-average-daily-steps-3435736

How much food do you need?

http://www.mydailyintake.net/daily-intake-levels

Written, edited and produced by Mark Webster, original music by kraM Left, plus self-generated & Logic Pro 12 foley, Aotearoa New Zealand 2026