We’re back with Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow, the latter who, to be clear, absolutely was not ready for the recording to start, but the big red button was pressed and now he has to pretend he was.
As always, we’ve got two listener questions you lot send in. We don’t see them before we hit record, because apparently we enjoy chaos. We do try to drag every question back to the environment somehow, though some of them fight us all the way.
And as we ramble through, we usually stumble across some kind of action you can take, environmental, practical, or just something that pops out of our conversation like a startled Jack Snipe.
So settle in, listen closely, and who knows, something might stir in you. In a good way, hopefully.
James based in Ecclefechan, Scotland hands us the first question today - “Stuart, you often talk about your love of Speedway racing. I’ve heard Harry Rednapp, at 78, is now employed to oversee the rebranding of the sport to engage and bring in a wider and hopefully younger audience. Is this indicative of the wider world, in that we need recognized people to motivate us to change habits and get involved in something new?”
Stuart reckons part of Harry Redknapp’s charm is simply the crowd he drags along with him. Trouble is, Harry might not fully grasp what younger folks want, and banking on borrowed fame is about as secure as a deckchair in a hurricane.
He says getting people through the door is easy; keeping them there takes creativity, like those 1930s speedway promoters who threw in mid‑race stunts just to stop the audience wandering off for a pie.
William agrees celebrity power fades fast, Attenborough-level longevity is rare. He asks listeners whether they’re letting someone else steer their actions, especially around the environment. Maybe start by questioning your own habits instead of waiting for a famous face to tell you to recycle.
Stuart adds that environmental campaigns lean too heavily on big names when what’s needed are relatable humans. William doesn’t mind seeing Chris Packham everywhere, but insists motivation should come from within.
And as Stuart says, attracting an audience is pointless if you’ve got nothing to keep them once they arrive.
Ray, in Newmilns, Scotland sent the next question - “Why is the universe even there in the first place?”
Stuart says there’s really no answer to Ray’s question, so technically the episode should end right there. William, refusing to pack up early, brings up Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, four elephants, giant turtle, whole cosmic circus, and admits the big “why does the universe exist” question is basically unanswerable.
Stuart agrees nobody truly knows what the universe is, or if it’s just our own perception wearing a fancy hat. Sure, chemistry and gravity explain bits of it, but the rest is a mystery.
William wraps it up by reminding us that Earth, and everything on it, is a tiny blip in a massive universe, making the question of “why” almost impossible to crack.*
What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by sending an email to [email protected]
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