A smorgasbord of good and bad news about efforts to achieve a sustainable population on this planet. The good news is more and more people are recognizing – and speaking out about – the need for society to end our obsession with growth.

We give a shout out to James Pogue, a writer at Harper’s Magazine, for his enlightened comment on Real Time with Bill Maher about the fact that we WILL need a national conversation about ending our obsession with infinite economic growth (hear his words in this episode).

Also, good news that South Korea’s fertility rate has dropped below 1.0. While growth-addicted policymakers, economists and journalists are treating this as a problem, it is actually very good news for a nation that imports more than half its food supply.

The bad news is Canadian politician Garnett Genuis continues to defame the One Planet, One Child billboard campaign, despite Dave’s repeated attempts to correct his misassumptions. Also, scientists’ assessment of our progress on diminishing the climate crisis is not good.

A shout out to Population Matters Head of Campaigns Alistair Currie for his interview with Judy Lynn Wong, founder of the Black Environment Network, who said, “"Young people have a hunger to protect the environment – let’s talk about population. They’re ready for it."

Plus, celebrities are making big bucks with sponsored tweets announcing their pregnancies. Should World Population Balance sponsor tweets sharing the good news of negative pregnancy test results?

 

See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:

https://www.populationbalance.org/podcasts/2021-02-15-episode-56-good-news-bad-news

 

ABOUT US

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. Learn more here: https://www.populationbalance.org/