You'll have noticed that Russia is cross with Blighty for being cross with Russia for allegedly attempting to bump off a spy and his daughter. Allegedly.All this crossness has made people jittery about whether Blighty's gas supply might suddenly develop a mysterious... glitch.Could this actually happen? We find out.Also this week, rhinos (dead), coal mines (also dead), Tory keep cups (dear) and more fact checking with Big Dave.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Scientists with beards have invented a battery. Trust us, it's more interesting than it sounds.Despite shameful scientific illiteracy, even the 'Babble gets that this invention - a rechargable proton battery, no less - is potentially Very Important Indeed and quite possibly planet-saving. We investigate.Also this week, Arnie pwning oil companies and the meat industry calling a spade an exquisite, thoughtfully re-imagined mastication aid.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Vicious, bird-killing machines totally devoid of  conscience, or unfortunate scapegoats (scapecats?) for humanity's somewhat more ruinous ecological destruction?One thing's for certain: lots of people have VIEWS when it comes to cats. So this week we try to understand some of the facts (spoiler: cats are really good at killing), and wrestle with questions like: Can you be a greenie and have a cat without being a massive hypocrite? Can cats be vegan? Is Ol's cat a git?Also this week, less than ideal weather news from the Arctic. Gulp.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

In 2014, ten monkeys were watching cartoons in a sealed chamber, into which ACTUAL SCIENTISTS pumped exhaust fumes from a VW Beetle. For four hours.Why? Who was behind it? And why did people get so much more upset about the gassed monkeys than about the hundreds of thousands of people dying early 'cos of diesel fumes?We delve deep to find out, trying to avoid being sued by evil car companies as we go.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Good-for-nothing lay-abouts, potnoodling their future away while the rest of us do REAL JOBS and PAY TAX.Maybe. But do today's students in fact care quite a lot about the planet? Do they get taught about it? Do they get angry about it? Or is the spectre of a lifetime's debt and vanishing employment prospects more than enough to keep them occupied?And, most importantly, how do the yoof feel about the distinctly impoverished planet they look set to inhabit when their Top Shop discount finally expires?We quiz NUS president Shakira Martin, SOAS solar supremo Hannah Short, and some actual, living breathing (and smoking, mostly) students to find out.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Everyone's falling over themselves to stop using plastic straws. GOOD! Will this bring an end to the scourge of ocean plastic and save the ugly fish? Or will shunning straws be the beginning and end of efforts to kick our collective plastic habit? What if hating on straws distracts people from even worse environmental inhofery?Also this week, why no-one with a brain should be pleased about 'talking' orcas, and how the Babble saved ALL the elephants.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

BUMPER EPISODE! Because we've got two very large reasons to be merry. It's CHRISTMAS, so anything can happen - even, apparently, Liam Gallagher turning out to be the voice of the planet.And as the Babble finally hits 100, we look back on a ton of podcasts and ask: have things got better or worse? Does anyone remember any of the politicians that were around when we started? And why can't Dave still say the word sqwiwwel?All this, and Boris Johnson's been drinking nuclear waste, that charming Monsieur Macron's been putting other people's money where his mouth is, and someone's making electricity out of Ol's Christmas dinner.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell.Available on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

As Blue Planet II comes to a close, we ask if people having spent the last 7 weeks cooing at the pretty fishies will make any difference to whether they hoik Fanta bottles into the sea. Ol and Dave would walk the plank if Attenborough told us to - will anyone else?Meanwhile, a clothing company is suing the wobbly bottom off the President of the Free World, and the Conservative party are trying very hard to not be seen to be being nasty to animals.And: Bitcoin. What the hell is it? And can it really be responsible for killing polar bears?Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymooAvailable on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

In a first for the Babble, we talk to someone very much on The Other Side.David Hone is chief climate change advisor... to Shell.After 30 years in the energy industry he's written a new book, Putting The Genie Back: Solving the Climate and Energy Dilemma, in which he maintains that fossil fuels will be with us for many decades to come."He would say that, wouldn't he?". Very possibly, but David is also unquestionably committed to finding ways to meet the Paris Agreement aims.So we ask how on earth he squares the 'more fossil fuels, less climate change' circle; what it's like trying to save the planet inside a company that's a life member of Inhofe Corner; and why gaffa taping CO2 in the ground is such a great idea.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – https://soundcloud.com/dickymooAvailable on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Environmentalist. Author. Guardian columnist. Campaigner. Brain on legs. We grab some time at home with George Monbiot, everyone's favourite font of wisdom.In a wide-ranging babblechat, we find out why everyone being so bloody lonely is knackering the Earth, and how we can come together and make it all better again. Can saying hello to our neighbours more often really save the planet?We also chat rewilding and the perils of being a professional miseryguts. And Ol sneaks in a question he promised he wouldn't ask, but did anyway.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – https://soundcloud.com/dickymooAvailable on iTunes, Acast, Soundcloud & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].