Sustainababble

Babble listeners are definitionally a wise and discerning bunch, so just occasionally we permit the besplurgification of our inbox with probing questions that we absolutely promise to answer on air - unless they're shit.This week, then, it's Dave and Ol doing the shutting up and listening, minus the shutting up bit, as we subject ourselves to interrogation by you, our loyal enablers.Lines of enquiry include:- why haven't you covered the most controversial enviro topic in UK politics over the last few years, you cowards?- what *wouldn't* you do to save the planet, you cowards?- why don't you put your mics down and do some real activism for once, you cowards?Herewith 50 minutes of us inhofes trying to justify our cowardliness.**Donate to frontline organisations in Ukraine:* Medical relief – https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/emergency-response/war-in-ukraine/* Aid packages – https://novaukraine.org/* Support for journalists – https://cpj.org/2022/02/cpj-calls-for-protection-of-journalists-in-ukraine/Volunteer or offer practical help to UK-based organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers:* https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/support-us/volunteers/* https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-for-us/volunteer-opportunities/* https://www.roomforrefugees.com* https://www.refugeesathome.org/**Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

"No please, tell me MORE about your cavity walls!" said absolutely no-one, ever.And that's kinda the problem for poor ol' insulation: it's dull. Yawningly, achingly, Michael-Owen-in-that-weird-Dubai-helicopter-video dull. And as such, few people so much as shrug when Governments comprehensively fail to insulate Britain.BUT any muppet can see it's a spectacularly good idea not to waste heat. Especially when there's a war on, fuelled in part by people paying for that wasted heat.So why do politicians lag (geddit? GEDDIT??) so far behind the curve when it comes to making homes less leaky? Will the newly gruesome geopolitical context finally jolt suits into action? And - AND - is it ever OK to say that yes, actually, some people's homes are too damn hot?**Please support organisations assisting Ukrainians and victims of war everywhere, if you can:Donate to frontline organisations in Ukraine:* Medical relief – https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/emergency-response/war-in-ukraine/* Aid packages – https://novaukraine.org/* Support for journalists – https://cpj.org/2022/02/cpj-calls-for-protection-of-journalists-in-ukraine/Volunteer or offer practical help to UK-based organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers:* https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/support-us/volunteers/* https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-for-us/volunteer-opportunities/* https://www.roomforrefugees.com* https://www.refugeesathome.org/**Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Suing national Governments for gross Inhofery, whilst simultaneously laying the smackdown on oil and gas companies, sounds daunting and, frankly, a lot of work. Thank bejeezus then that international environmental & human rights lawyer Tessa Khan is busy doing all this and more, with no little success.We natter to Tessa, who founded and directs Uplift, about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its connection to all things fossil fuelled; the merits and pitfalls of trying to save the planet via the courts; and what to do with all the shit white men in positions of power.As mentioned in the show, please support organisations assisting Ukrainians and victims of war everywhere, if you can:Donate to frontline organisations in Ukraine:* Medical relief - https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/emergency-response/war-in-ukraine/* Aid packages - https://novaukraine.org/* Support for journalists - https://cpj.org/2022/02/cpj-calls-for-protection-of-journalists-in-ukraine/Volunteer or offer practical help to UK-based organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers:* https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/support-us/volunteers/* https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-for-us/volunteer-opportunities/* https://www.roomforrefugees.com* https://www.refugeesathome.org/Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

They're not birds, and approximately half aren't ladies. But ladybirds very much ARE beetles, and that alone is reason to celebrate them. Even if they do puke from their knee-joints.However, not everyone coos over these perfect shiny wonders. SOME PEOPLE (*cough* Dave *cough*) seem to think they're inhofes, especially the foreign ones coming over 'ere ruining aphid-munching for our natives species.So we delve into the mysterious world of Coccinellidae, from STDs to tooth powder, all in the name of helping Dave answer the entirely unnecessary question: Ladybirds - are they good or not?Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

What is a culture war? Are greenies like us now fighting one? Are we... the baddies?All questions we must, regrettably, now grapple with, because a phalanx of Tory MPs - ably assisted by their outriders in the shite-wing media - are labelling 'net zero' advocates as woke-ist elites, determined to heap misery on the poor. So who are these finger-jabbing inhofes, and how much support do they have? Why do they hate climate action so much? Do they... have a point?Show notes:* Excellent Guardian piece on Net Zero Watch* 538 Podcast - 'Americans aren't as polarized as the news makes it seem'Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

If you thought Bitcoin was confusing, wait 'til you hear about 'non-fungible tokens'.In fact you've probably already heard about them, after a major conservation charity decided to flog NFTs of pictures of tigers and the like, only to be met with the mother and father of all backlashes.NFTs are modern and confusing, for sure. But are they really environmental kryptonite? Was the backlash deserved?Also this week, two wonderful and separate examples of creative activism from the good folks at Greenpeace and Insulate Britain.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Very, VERY excitingly, this week we natter with one of the best climate communicators around, who also happens to be one of the planet's foremost climate scientists.Professor Katharine Hayhoe is a United Nations 'Champion of the Earth', chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, and one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people.Her new book, Saving Us, makes the case that the most important thing we can do about climate change is the one thing we're terrible at - talking about it. But by talking, Katharine doesn't mean passive aggressively quoting IPCC reports and hurling Keeling curves at each other. Instead, we must 'bond, connect and inspire' if we want to actually change anything.If you, like us, want more Katharine in your brain, you can:- Pick up a copy of her new book- Watch her 2018 TED talk- Read her Time article about hope- Follow her on Twitter- Head to 'Count us in', a Don't Look Up follow-on, advised by KatharineSustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

It is bonkers that so much effort, land, water & energy is used to make so much food that never goes in anyone's gob. Bonkers and, as babble listener Alysia points out, VERY planety-imperilly.Alysia also notes that we've gone 236 episodes without focussing our babblenoculars on the matter, so this week we pinch our noses, gingerly approach the kitchen caddy and gag on the maloderous stench of the global food waste scandal.Question one, of course, is who are the inhofes? Supermakets and their BOGOFs? Governments and their "meh"s? Or is it Ol, Dave, and the rest of us? Should we be better at planning our portions? Should we ignore use-by dates?* Should we stop being scared of our children and tell them to EAT WHAT THEY'RE DAMN WELL GIVEN?And how, if at all, can we get the mountain of edible wasted food into the mouths of the hungry?Read Jack Monroe's excellent twitter thread, as mentioned in the episiode, here. *Please under no circumstance actually do this.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

SPOILER ALERT! This week we natter about the Netflix film 'Don't Look Up', so EFFIN' WELL WATCH IT it before listening.The second most viewed Netflix film ever, Don't Look Up tells the story of two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching - and, more to the point, LARGE - comet that will go bang on planet earth. The writer, Adam McKay, says the crashy comet is an allegory for climate change, and the film is a satire of various inhofes' indifference to the climate crisis even when it's literally falling from the sky.But what *we* can't decide is, is it any good? Should we be pleased that there's a popular film about climaggedon? Should we be cross that the analogy is a bit crude? Are we sure that it even is a climate change film? We dust off the Christmas hangovers to waffle our way towards an answer, aided significantly by some splendid listener reviews.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

A statement from Dave and Ol: "All Sustainabaubles complied with the rules at the time of recording. Not that there have been any Sustainabaubles. But should there have been, they would have been babble-secure. And, just to be sure, we've instructed Arabella to investigate a Sustainabauble that definitely didn't happen, in case it in fact did."RIGHT, ON WITH IT.**You can still watch Dave and Ol in a livestream event, together with access to watch the wonderful film The Atom: A Love Affair, until New Year's Eve. Find out more here.**Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].