Mothers of Invention

By Doc Society

What's Mothers of Invention about?

Climate change is a man-made problem with a feminist solution! Join former Irish President Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins in this uplifting and fascinating podcast, and meet a host of game-changing women fighting to save all our lives.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Mothers of Invention episodes:

12.16.2020
Bernie Sanders Specialsode: Democracy with a very big D
In an extra special live edition of Mothers Of Invention, US Senator Bernie Sanders and Mary meet for the first time! Moderated by Thimali, they discuss reentering the Paris Agreement, reimagining global governance and planned migration. With help from our...
11.11.2020
How To Listen To Mothers Of Invention
Are you new to climate justice and want to learn more? Looking to get involved in the movement and not sure where to start? Mary, Maeve & Thimali have the rundown on what you need to get going.
11.04.2020
Brave Enough To Imagine
The only way to create the future is to imagine it first. In our final release of Season Three, Mary, Maeve & Thimali explore regenerative futures for all on the other side of a very special US election.
10.28.2020
We May Be Small But Our Impact Is Huge
The climate crisis has made our young people a marginalized group. But the youth climate movement is being led by no ordinary generation. They are passionate, educated and organized. In our season finale, six days before the US election, Mary,...
10.21.2020
The Meeting Circle
Thimali engages in a little self-care with her friend, climate essayist and co-host of Hot Take podcast, Mary Annaïse Heglar. Strolling through a New York City forest, they share good and bad experiences being of colour in nature, but have...
10.14.2020
The Very Nature of Ownership
Extractive capitalism has caused so much destruction to our planet. So with all we've learnt this season, how can we rethink the value of natural resources, and the people who work hard to bring them from the land to our...
10.07.2020
Oh my God, Mom
Keep having climate chats with your family that end in eye rolls, clenched or lost teeth? Well in this week's minisode, Maeve & Thimali talk to two youth activists from The CLEO Institute in Florida, our friends Gabi Rodriguez &...
09.30.2020
Microbial Magic
We sometimes forget that the most sophisticated carbon sequestration infrastructures in the world are thousands of years old! Reforestation may reduce fossil fuel emissions, but replanting monocultures won’t solve the problem. Our ecosystems are ancient, complex and not easily replaced....
09.23.2020
How to Sue Your Country
Taking your government to court over their climate impact is a fast-growing phenomenon that’s seeing powerful change. Individuals and organisations all over the world are setting new precedents and holding governments to account. But it’s not exactly a walk in...
09.16.2020
We are the People of the Beans
We learned in our last episode that food insecurity will cause huge swathes of climate migration by the end of the century. So are there ways large-scale farms could nurture our soil? What could small-scale farming do to bring justice...
09.09.2020
Two Grow Wild in the City
Do you do a sad face when you see a big grey space in the town centre where a tall green tree should be? Well this episode is for you. Maeve is on (another) mission - this time to green...
09.02.2020
Universal Language
This late into the climate crisis, it’s now time for us to embrace adaptation as a solution, as communities reconsider the fight for their ancestral homes. We welcome Mary’s friend, Ursula Rakova, executive director of Tulele Peisa on the Carteret...
08.26.2020
Take Action, Even If You're Scared
Yearning for good news? Hungry to get involved in IRL change? Well we could all learn a lot from our friend Tara Houska who has been smacking climate justice victories out of the park this summer. Frankly, it’s kind of...
08.19.2020
Million Dollar Questions
The IPCC uses the Industrial Revolution as the keystone for human-induced climate change, but there is a different marker for black, brown and indigenous peoples who have also been measuring climate change. How can the colonial impact on their homes...
08.12.2020
Dear Ruler: Letter Writing Tips for Exasperated Voters
Ever wanted to write a letter or email to rage and complain to the Powers That Be, but found yourself lost after “Hey. You.”? Yeah, us too. But take a deep breath and join Maeve and Thimali as they...
08.05.2020
We Are Really Big Huggers
We moved heaven, Earth and Covid, and we are back! But with too many emergencies stacking up, and no way to press pause on the climate crisis, how do we cope? How do we visualize what happens next? Daiara Tukano...
08.03.2020
We Are Really Big Huggers
We moved heaven, Earth and Covid, and we are back! But with too many emergencies stacking up, and no way to press pause on the climate crisis, how do we cope? How do we visualize what happens next? Daiara Tukano...
07.29.2020
SEASON 3 TRAILER - We’re Back! And We’re Not Backing Down!
We’re Back! This year Mary, Maeve & Thimali reunite to bring you a brand new season of Mothers of Invention from their home studios in Dublin & New York. Season 3 will bring an unparalleled line-up of Mothers from every...
08.21.2019
You Probably Have Everything You Need
The fashion industry constitutes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, and is reported to be the fifth-largest polluting sector in the world. But with a growing ambition to both revisit ancient practices and develop futuristic technologies, can fast fashion...
05.23.2019
The Lungs of the North
The Arctic and it’s melting glaciers are the first images to mind when we think about climate change. But what do we know about the millions of indigenous peoples, who are fighting back against not only shifts in climate, but...
05.07.2019
Jugglers of Time
Reecha Upadhyay of Purpose Climate Lab India joins Mary & Maeve from Delhi as co-host for this week’s episode on city life. Cities currently consume almost 70% of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2...
04.21.2019
Minisode 3: Earth Day
Happy Earth Day! Today marks the countdown to Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in 2020. Mary invites Susan Bass of the Earth Day Network onto the show, who takes us back to the very first Earth Day in 1970, and how...
04.15.2019
Specialsode: Displaced with Mary Robinson
This week we loan out Mary to International Rescue Committee’s podcast, Displaced, for a chat with Ravi Gurumurthy & Grant Gordon. If you came for Maeve but don’t know about Mary, this week’s specialsode is a chance to hear the...
04.08.2019
The Climate Name Game
This week Maeve & Thimali play The Climate Name Game! Environmental activist George Monbiot published a compelling list of alternate climate vocabulary. His list encourages us to take another look at the way we describe the climate crisis, and remind...
04.01.2019
A Second Chance at Life
As we imagine new ideas for our natural resources, a new green economy presents us with a second chance at making good with both the earth and our communities. What will it take to transition to renewable energy, and what...
03.18.2019
Fish Out of Hot Water
Co-hosting our episode this week is Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a lifelong ocean conservationist who creates solutions with social justice in mind. Ayana, Mary & Maeve take a wade through the work our oceans have been doing while we’ve been sleeping....
03.05.2019
Ghosting the Planet
This week’s episode is co-hosted by Rhiana Gunn-Wright, one of the lead policy writers of the Green New Deal. She joins Mary & Maeve in the studio to discuss public opinion on climate change in the United States, where it’s...
02.26.2019
Paw Print
In our first minisode, Maeve and our new series producer, Thimali, have a sit in the park to stalk cutie pie dogs and contemplate meat alternatives to pet food for Maeve’s pal, Shadow.
02.19.2019
Nothing Happens Unless You Press the Button
We recap the last four months in climate justice; dig into the rise of school strikes around the world, learn about the IPCC Special Report 1.5 direct from one of its authors, and hear how to convince a room full...
09.30.2018
We Want a Colour TV!
This episode comes to you direct from New York City where Maeve lives and Mary was attending Climate Week. Governments, diplomates, business leaders and climate change gathered to assess progress and push for solutions to avert the climate crisis and...
09.17.2018
Against the Grain
This episode serves up an all-you-can-eat investigation into food and its connection to climate.
09.12.2018
BONUS: When Mary met Gina
Mary Robinson sits on a park bench with Gina McCarthy, ex-head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US under President Obama. They watch the ducks and talk turkey about how America’s environmental protections can survive the Trump administration. Overheard by...
09.03.2018
Under the Weather
This episode explores the impact of climate change on public health, traversing political, scientific, radical and spiritual realms with our Mothers of Invention.
08.30.2018
BONUS: The Greatest Taxi Driver in New York
Taking into account Uber and Lyft there's now around 60,000 cabs in New York City — but Maeve thinks she's found the very best of them who's on a mission to effect while on the move...
08.20.2018
Taking Over
This week Mary and Maeve turn up the volume on the women who are helping us consciously-uncouple from our toxic relationship with single-use plastic, a material created to be used for mere minutes but designed to last for thousands of...
08.12.2018
BONUS: Hello, Maeve Calling
True to her word, Maeve has decided to divest her own personal savings. Here’s the phone call when she lets her bank know...
08.05.2018
The White Man Stole the Weather
Mary and Maeve are talking about money, money. Fighting climate change might be a moral necessity but women are learning to hit vested interests where it hurts the most, in the pocket.
07.22.2018
BONUS: What the Actual Paris?!
Before Maeve and Mary’s new podcast series can truly begin, Maeve’s got a confession to make; she doesn’t really, properly, understand what the Paris Climate Agreement actually is. Luckily her co-host, the former Irish President, is more than...
07.22.2018
All Rise
Mary and Maeve are laying down the law. Three years ago, 886 ordinary Dutch citizens sued their government over climate change... and won. Tessa Khan, a Bangladeshi-Australian lawyer is in the studio to talk new legal strategies for climate action....
07.16.2018
Introducing Mothers of Invention - Launching 23rd July
Climate change is a man-made problem with a feminist solution! Join former Irish President Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins in this uplifting and fascinating new podcast, and meet a host of game-changing women fighting to save all our lives.

What's Mothers of Invention about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Mothers of Invention episodes:

Bernie Sanders Specialsode: Democracy with a very big D

How To Listen To Mothers Of Invention

Brave Enough To Imagine

We May Be Small But Our Impact Is Huge

The Meeting Circle

The Very Nature of Ownership

Oh my God, Mom

Microbial Magic

How to Sue Your Country

We are the People of the Beans

Two Grow Wild in the City

Universal Language

Take Action, Even If You're Scared

Million Dollar Questions

Dear Ruler: Letter Writing Tips for Exasperated Voters

We Are Really Big Huggers

We Are Really Big Huggers

SEASON 3 TRAILER - We’re Back! And We’re Not Backing Down!

You Probably Have Everything You Need

The Lungs of the North

Jugglers of Time

Minisode 3: Earth Day

Specialsode: Displaced with Mary Robinson

The Climate Name Game

A Second Chance at Life

Fish Out of Hot Water

Ghosting the Planet

Paw Print

Nothing Happens Unless You Press the Button

We Want a Colour TV!

Against the Grain

BONUS: When Mary met Gina

Under the Weather

BONUS: The Greatest Taxi Driver in New York

Taking Over

BONUS: Hello, Maeve Calling

The White Man Stole the Weather

BONUS: What the Actual Paris?!

All Rise

Introducing Mothers of Invention - Launching 23rd July