Podcasts · Society & Culture

Planet: Critical

Rachel Donald

292 episodes · Explicit

Planet: Critical is the podcast for a world in crisis. We face severe climate, energy, economic and political breakdown. Journalist Rachel Donald interviews those confronting the crisis, revealing what's really going on—and what needs to be done. Visit planetcritical.com

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. The Power of Stories | Matt Golding

    · 1 h 03 min · Episode 284 · Explicit

    Other worlds are possible. Not only that, they exist alongside ours already. This is a truth that's difficult to remember when we're confronted with the global shitshow that is our geopolitical, ecological and…

  2. P:C ARCHIVES: Immy Kaur on The Power of Community Imagination

    · 1 h 35 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: When institutions fail—communities take back control. Community organising has never been more important in a world where people are increasingly isolated from one another, competing in a…

  3. Why We Must Abolish A.I. | Denise Utochkin

    · 1 h 03 min · Episode 272 · Explicit

    Denise Utochkin was a postdoc researcher at the University of Copenhagen investigating how artificial intelligence could be used in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. However, Denise was fired from their postdoc for…

  4. P:C ARCHIVES: Lisi Krall on How Economics Overpowers Culture

    · 1 h 15 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: How can we change an economic system that has a life of its own? 10,000 years ago, homo sapiens began farming a grain surplus. This surplus led to the creation of societal and cultural hierarchies…

  5. How Plastic is Corrupting Our Bodies and Our Institutions | Jane Van Dis

    · 1 h 03 min · Episode 283 · Explicit

    Since I first interviewed OB/GYN and independent researcher, Jane van Dis, on the dangers of plastic two years ago, the science has only become more stark. Not only are we discovering more ways in which plastics are…

  6. P:C ARCHIVES: Fadhel Kaboub on Decolonise To Decarbonise

    · 58 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: Fadhel Kaboub is a former Associate Professor of Economics at Denison University where he researched political economy, decarbonisation, colonialism, and the financial and agricultural policies…

  7. The Dynamic Energy Budget Theory | Starrlight Augustine

    · 42 min · Episode 281 · Explicit

    Starrlight Augustine is the director at the Institute of Ecotechnics, a research initiative developing technologies that exist in harmony with nature. She heads up their agroecology division, which is based at Synergia…

  8. P:C ARCHIVES: Nandita Bajaj on How Pronatalism Feeds The Economy

    · 1 h 26 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: We’re in planetary overshoot. So why are governments coercing women into having children? Nandita Bajaj is the Executive Director of Population Balance, an organisation offering education and…

  9. Low Tech Lives | Philippe Bihouix

    · 51 min · Episode 269 · Explicit

    The world is full of good ideas and solutions to the crisis. But good ideas cannot trump the laws of physics, and solutions will only be such if they are deployed in a manifestly different way than our current…

  10. P:C ARCHIVES: Sally Goerner on Citizens vs Oligarchies

    · 1 h 03 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: What happens when a small percentage of the population amass resources and power? Oligarchy. And polymath Sally Goerner says oligarchy is the final stage of most human civilizations—and a symptom of…

  11. Journalism in Crisis | Mark Lee Hunter

    · 57 min · Episode 278 · Explicit

    Mark Lee Hunter is an investigative journalist, a founding member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network and the principle author of Story-Based Inquiry: A Manual for Investigative Journalists. I asked Mark to…

  12. P:C ARCHIVES: Reverend Billy on How To Stop The Sixth Extinction

    · 1 h 20 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: Reverend Billy is the world-famous secular preacher singing out against climate change, corporate greed and consumerism. Billy has been pounding the streets of New York for decades, preaching…

  13. Being Alive | Melanie Challenger

    · 53 min · Episode 276 · Explicit

    What does it mean to be alive? Where does intelligence originate? What do we share with other living creatures? Where does the individual begin, and how do each of us fit into the living world? These are the questions…

  14. P:C ARCHIVES: James Dyke on Net Zero Won't Save Us

    · 1 h 14 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: This week I’m joined by James Dyke, a senior lecturer in Global Systems at the University of Exeter. James reveals why net-zero targets for carbon emissions do nothing but provide an excuse to…

  15. The Land-Based Living Collective | James Bullen

    · 43 min · Episode 273 · Explicit

    We need to live differently. Part of that means learning how to live together differently, both with each other, and with the wider environment around us. James Bullen is the founder of the Land-Based Living…

  16. P:C ARCHIVES: Simon Michaux on The Climate Crisis and The Climate Crash

    · 1 h 09 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: So much of the hope we put in solutions for climate change falls away under a microscope. Did you know wind turbines aren’t recyclable, for example? Guess where they’re buried. Are enough people…

  17. How To Mobilise | Inea Lehner

    · 42 min · Episode 279 · Explicit

    Climate Vanguard is a youth-led organisation providing political education to the public and activists across the Majority World. I'm joined by Inea Lehner, one of their core team members, to discuss their outreach,…

  18. P:C ARCHIVES: Steve Keen on The Economics of Climate Change

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 282 · Explicit

    FROM THE ARCHIVES: Professor Steve Keen was one of the few economists to realise that a serious economic crisis was imminent in 2005. He publicly warned the world, and helped his native Australia navigate the 2008…

  19. The Real Story of "Invasive Species" | Clare Follmann

    · 55 min · Episode 280 · Explicit

    Non-native species management has very little to do with ecology and everything to do with economics. That's what activist and writer, Clare Follmann, uncovered in her book Scapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story…

  20. Treating The Epidemic of Violence | Gary Slutkin

    · 54 min · Episode 277 · Explicit

    Can violence be cured? According to physician and epidemiologist, Gary Slutkin, it can. Gary worked for decades treating some of the most virulent disease outbreaks around the world. Then he took that model and…

  21. Building An Eco-Civilisation | Jeremy Lent

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 275 · Explicit

    In an age of bad news, it is so important to remember that everything we need to remake the world is already with us. From how we produce food to how we organise our political systems, the solutions we need have long…

  22. Remaking The World | David Farrier

    · 50 min · Episode 268 · Explicit

    What is the role of art in any crisis? To understand what is and to imagine what could be; to transcend and birth and promise. This is the message of today's guest, David Farrier. David is a professor in literature…

  23. The Myth of Individual Responsibility | Michael Maniates

    · 46 min · Episode 274 · Explicit

    What can we actually do if we want to achieve real change? We have been sold a comforting lie that our purchasing power is the best way to change the world. But rather than offer anything substantial, this lie…

  24. The Eco-Crisis is a Feminist Crisis | Natasha Walter

    · 51 min · Episode 270 · Explicit

    The women's movement sprang into being in a different world. How must it adapt to meet the challenges we face today? Natasha Walter is a journalist, the founder of the Women for Refugee Women Charity, and the author of…

  25. Deep Ecology | John Seed

    · 43 min · Episode 267 · Explicit

    We don't need more ecological ideas, we need ecological selves. That's the message of this week's guest, John Seed, a longtime environmental activist who has been instrumental to the Deep Ecology movement. John joins…

  26. The Truly Sustainable Alternative | Julia Steinberger

    · 49 min · Episode 266 · Explicit

    A flourishing human society doesn't have to cost the earth. In fact, our wellbeing and Earth's wellbeing hinge on the same thing: reducing inequality. Julia Steinberger is a renowned degrowth scholar at the University…

  27. Tech Titans Won't Save Us | Paris Marx

    · 54 min · Episode 265 · Explicit

    Silicon Valley's robotic grip on the world is destroying our social fabric. "Artificial intelligence" models are now baked into our militaries, economies and political institutions—without there being a clear benefit…

  28. How Finance Ruined Capitalism | Hettie O'Brien

    · 52 min · Episode 264 · Explicit

    Capitalism was envisioned—and is still defended—as a vehicle for growth. This growth was meant to increase everyone's share of the pie. But one of the most opaque and unregulated finance sectors got its fingers into…

  29. Reform, Not Revolution | Andrés Velasco

    · 52 min · Episode 263 · Explicit

    Andrés Velasco is the Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Chile's former Minister of Finance. He and his colleagues at LSE recently released The London…

  30. The Founding Mothers | Laura George

    · 53 min · Episode 262 · Explicit

    The Founding Fathers were legal revolutionaries. But over two centuries on, the world needs an update. Reverend Laura George is the co-founder of the Founding Mothers, a movement dedicated to universal dignity, human…

  31. How Mexico City Unleashed Its Political Imagination | Ashwin Ravikumar

    · 48 min · Episode 261 · Explicit

    Under the left-wing leadership of mayor Clara Brugada, Mexico City has invested millions in the city's poorest neighbourhoods, building UTOPIAs which provide food, healthcare, therapy, and many other public services to…

  32. Feeding The Future | Nicole Negowetti

    · 49 min · Episode 260 · Explicit

    Wars have repeatedly shown us over the last few years how fragile our global supply chains are. But while we can live without semiconductors, collapses in our food supply systems are extremelhy dangerous. And this is…

  33. Rojava: The Feminist Resistance in the Heart of the Middle East | Matt Broomfield

    · 54 min · Episode 259 · Explicit

    For over a decade, an autonomous zone in the Middle East founded on the principles of women's liberation has controlled and sustained a territory the size of Lebanon. Rojava is a beacon of possibility and hope, and a…

  34. Designing Liveable Futures | Tatjana Schneider & Jeremy Till

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 258 · Explicit

    At the end of last year, I received a stunning book in the post: Architecture is Climate delivers an uncompromising review of the state of human and more-than-human affairs. Written by MOULD, a research collective of…

  35. The Copper Curtain | Art Berman

    · 1 h 15 min · Episode 257 · Explicit

    Trump's expansionist grabs at Venezuela and Greenland are not the moves of a madman. Whether we like it or not, they're coherent strategies to secure the USA economy and power in a world where resources are running low…

  36. Lithium: The "Miracle" Mineral | Javiera Barandiaran

    · 51 min · Episode 256 · Explicit

    In the age of the energy transition, Lithium is our miracle mineral, the key to carbon-free energy storage and unlimited, cheap, harmless power. This belief has prompted a massive mining boom all over the world,…

  37. Who Will Lead the Future? | Roger Hallam

    · 1 h 21 min · Episode 255 · Explicit

    Roger Hallam is one of the most prominent climate activists in the United Kingdom. Roger helped co-found Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain and other radical organisations. He has repeatedly put his…

  38. Liberating Social Contributions | Andrew Percy

    · 58 min · Episode 254 · Explicit

    You may have noticed that billionaires have come out in force over the past year to discredit Universal Basic Income. But here's an idea they hate even more: Universal Basic Services. I'm joined by Andrew Percy whose…

  39. From Coloniality to Decolonisation | Farhana Sultana

    · 51 min · Episode 253 · Explicit

    What is climate coloniality? What is climate apartheid? How does our exploitation of the more-than-human world feed into the oppression of people? And what are the real pathways towards decolonising? Interdisciplinary…

  40. How Fiction Makes Sense of the Crisis | Heather Milligan

    · 54 min · Episode 251

    We're kicking off the year with a very special interview about how present-day literature is reflecting the crisis we're collectively experiencing—and why some of the novels published today fail to grasp both the…

  41. For the Future We May Never See | Rachel Donald

    · 48 min · Episode 252

    Welcome to 2026, and this special episode of Planet: Critical where I discuss hope, collapse, effective action and what may yet be in store for us all. Here are the questions I chose this year: • What would be your…

  42. Exergy Economics | Tânia Sousa

    · 56 min · Episode 252 · Explicit

    You've heard of energy—but do you have any idea what exergy is? On today's astounding episode of Planet: Critical, scholar Tânia Sousa explains the concept of exergy—the quality of energy—and why it is critical to…

  43. The Myth of Progress | Samuel Miller McDonald

    · 44 min · Episode 248

    Obviously, the world is not on an inevitable upward trajectory. But witnessing the degradation of our environment, democracies and information has come as a shock to many of us who were raised on the belief that human…

  44. Hyper Local Futures | Chris Smaje

    · 54 min · Episode 251 · Explicit

    Who's going to grow your food when our complex supply chains fail? Chris Smaje, academic turned small-hold farmer, is an advocate for hyper-local agrarianism—because that's going to be our future whether we like it or…

  45. Categories of Control | Jules Falquet

    · 1 h 14 min · Episode 241 · Explicit

    Before European invaders sought to control every inch of Earth's territory, human beings organised themselves in radically different ways throughout the world. Entire cultures and knowledges were put to the sword,…

  46. The Future of Rebellion | Fernando Racimo

    · 47 min · Episode 245 · Explicit

    Just five years ago, two scientists in white coats threw red paint on the Royal Society HQ to protest against the damage being done to Earth. Their action sparked the Scientist Rebellion movement all around the world,…

  47. Why "Solutions" Fail | Dave Snowden

    · 58 min · Episode 244 · Explicit

    The best intentions of mice and men... aft never leave the conference centre, according to this week's guest, Dave Snowden. Founder of The Cynefin Company, Dave is a management consultant and complexity scientist who…

  48. Extractive Frontiers | Thea Riofrancos

    · 1 h 01 min

    Nations are rushing to secure resources within their own borders. Globalisation is over. Colonialism and mining have always gone hand in hand. But now that the Global South has more political muscle as a bloc, and now…

  49. Material Dependencies | Nina Djukanović

    · 57 min · Explicit

    Geopolitics is shifting with the supply of critical raw materials. Necessary for the so-called “green transition” these materials have created another resource rush, triggering a mining boom all over the world, which…

  50. Update on new website

    · 2:53

    Hi everyone, I’ve designed the new Planet: Critical website and I want your feedback. If there’s any sections, groupings, design changes that you’d like to see—or flaws you notice—I’ll spend the next week…

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