Shows / GrowthBusters
GrowthBusters
Humankind has outgrown the planet, so we explore ways to recover from growth addiction. We dig into the more fascinating and hard-hitting aspects of public policy and the joy of living sustainably. It's all about ending our culture's love affair with "more," which is not making us happier and is killing our planet. No half-hearted greenwashing here; we share the brutal and joyful truth! Co-host Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul…
Episodes
- GrowthBusters
40 Is GrowthBusters a Good Earth Day Movie?
The documentary, GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth is guaranteed to provoke conversations. Over eight years after it originally premiered, it's still being…
- GrowthBusters
39 You Have to Stay Poor – I'm Having a Steak
On a full planet, where human civilization is already in overshoot and in the process of crippling life-supporting ecosystems, it's unfortunately not possible…
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38 Sustainable New Year's Resolutions
We're back! Today's episode of the GrowthBusters podcast welcomes the New Year with the Telegraph's 11 Green New Year's Resolutions That Put the Planet First…
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37 A Finer Future?
We could use some good news. According to the four scholars who wrote A Finer Future, we are already experiencing some of the dramatic changes our system must…
- GrowthBusters
36 Don't Make Me Stop this Spaceship!
When the world's scientists are concerned enough about something that they issue a warning – to the world, you might think we'd all take notice. Once you get…
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35 Decoupling Nonsense
Technological innovation cannot take the environmental destruction out of economic growth. Get the real facts, not the blind faith and hope, about whether…
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34 Coming Out as Childfree
More and more young women are declaring their intention not to conceive children. BirthStrike, Conceivable Future and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all made…
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33 Is the End Near?
There may be beer in your fridge when you open it, but that doesn't mean we aren't in the early stages of climate catastrophe. The crisis is now, this is a…
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32 Welcome to Overshoot: Have a Nice Day
Since 1972, study after study, and report after report, has warned we are in overshoot – the sum total of human activity is too much for the Earth's ecosystems…
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31 We're in Deep: Earth Overshoot Day 2019
In seven months humanity has burned through the resources it takes the Earth a full year to replenish. This is overshoot, and yes, it is a very big deal. In…
- GrowthBusters
30 Overshoot Playlist: Top 10 Environmental Songs
What's the soundtrack of human civilization's time on Earth? If we were to put ten songs into a time capsule to help historians in the future piece together…
- GrowthBusters
29 Avengers: Endgame – I Cut the Population in Half; Don't Make Me Do This Again
Did the heroes solve a problem or make it worse? Did super-villain Thanos in the blockbuster movie, Avengers: Infinity War, solve the overshoot problem when he…
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28 Masturbate, Don't Procreate
Bill Maher and Steven Colbert become the first honorees on the GrowthBusters podcast's "Wall of Excellence." You'll find out why in this episode. We want to…
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27 Climate Change Will Take Food Off Your Table
Will you be able to feed your family in ten or fifteen years? Mass starvation in industrialized countries due to climate change – in the near future – is not…
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26 Running Out of Gas
What if we told you the coming climate catastrophe MAY not turn out to be as bad as we all thought? I'm not sure I'm ready to buy that, but one of our guests…
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25 How to Have a Green Wedding
Love is in the air on Valentine's Day, so this seems the perfect time to learn what you can do to green up your wedding. With over 2 million weddings per year…
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24 Wild Hope - Nature Rocks!
When you've had a tough day and need some comfort, do you go for a long hike and commune with nature, or do you get on Amazon? What gives us joy, yet what do…
- GrowthBusters
23 What Do You Do When The End is Near?
How do we handle the despair of knowing we may not win this battle with climate change (which is really a battle with ourselves)? Should we keep fighting? And…
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22 Cleaning up Our Dirty Laundry
When you think of laundry, typically you're after the whitest whites, and no shrinkage. How about we think outside the box and "green" our laundry practices by…
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21 Drink More Wine, Eat More Chocolate
Life expectancy is declining in one of the richest countries on Earth, the U.S., due to suicides and drug overdoses. Several noted millionaires have checked…
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20 Pick One: Catastrophe or Disaster
A climate emergency has finally been declared. Grace and Dave explain the bad news from the IPCC and evaluate media, public and policymaker response. Has…
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19 Hurricanes, Climate Change & Contraception
Yes, they are related. Our business-as-usual response to Hurricane Florence last month starts the conversation. (This episode was recorded before Hurricane…
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#18 How Fast is Our Goose Being Cooked?
Is Earth Overshoot Day meaningful? How sound is ecological footprint and biocapacity data behind it? Dave and Grace examine a critique from Robert B…
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#17 Trump Can't Keep It Up (Economic Growth)
We should NOT be celebrating (or pursuing) 4.1% economic growth, according to co-host Dave Gardner. Listen to this podcast to find out why pursuing GDP growth…
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#16 Earth Overshoot Day
Did you know we are in overshoot? What does that mean, and what should we do about it? Also in this episode, which has a smaller footprint – milk, or milk…
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#15 Do Only Villains Care About Overpopulation?
In Avengers: Infinity War the villain Thanos wants to solve overpopulation by exterminating half the population of the universe. Whenever overpopulation pops…
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#14 One Thing That Will Guarantee Climate Disaster
While the U.S. announced intention to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement is bad news, it seems to have inspired a lot of carbon-reducing promises at other…
GrowthBusters#13 Downsize Me
Imagine you can live large – trophy house, fancy toys, caveman diet – but the costs are miniscule. Would you find that appealing? Or would you rather simplify…
GrowthBusters#12: Are We Too Stupid to Manage the Planet?
Are human beings too stupid to manage the planet? Just asking the question invokes some misplaced conceit; we've wreaked havoc on the Earth largely because of…
GrowthBustersGreen Cars, Coffee and Kitchen Scraps
America's love affair with big, gas-guzzling vehicles is up for discussion. Is your environmental impact in mind when you decide whether to buy a pickup truck…
GrowthBustersSmall is Beautiful After All
One more reason to avoid factory-bottled water, why Californians may have to allow high-rise buildings in their quiet residential neighborhoods, and why we're…
GrowthBustersWould You Eat a Bug to Save the Planet?
To what extremes are we willing to go to fit more and more people and bigger and bigger economies on a finite planet? It seems we're willing to give up many…
GrowthBustersTrashing the Planet is Macho
A new study reveals some men feel environmental stewardship is not manly. Is this just one more reason we should leave the women in charge? Or should we market…
GrowthBustersMore Kids, Fewer Kids, or No Kids?
Are children bad for the health of the planet, and therefore human civilization? Should we stop making them? Or do we need to step it up and make lots more…
GrowthBustersChanging the World Starts at Home
Is reducing child-tax credits to encourage smaller families a good idea? Is it "coercive" public policy? Would it be good for your city to be the winner in the…
GrowthBustersCities Must Bend Over & Accept Population Growth
One of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., Bend, Oregon has doubled in population over the past two decades. Still, it has at least some intelligent…
GrowthBustersGrowth Addiction Set Stage for Hurricane Disasters in Houston & Florida
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma highlight the fact that cities have prioritized growth over safety, valued concrete over nature, and bought into the myth of…
GrowthBustersWilliam & Kate Plus 8
Are Prince William and Kate Middleton setting a bad example by having a third child in an overpopulated world? Should we do away with child tax credits and…
GrowthBustersWater Insanity in the West & Sustainable Ecological Footprint
The Colorado River rarely flows all the way to its delta, and the state of Colorado has determined demand for water will far outstrip supply if anticipated…
GrowthBustersWelcome to GrowthBusters Podcast #1
New study reveals conceiving one fewer child eclipses all other CO2 reduction strategies. Why Japan's birth dearth isn't bad news. What countries are…
GrowthBustersPaving Paradise #3: Drinking the Pro-Growth Kool-Aid
In spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, what keeps us convinced that growth leads to widespread prosperity? It's a never-ending stream of pro-growth…
GrowthBustersPaving Paradise #2: The Local Growth Machine
How the growth machine games the system in your community. Real estate developers, homebuilders, construction companies and banks are most likely pulling the…
GrowthBustersPaving Paradise #1: World Population Day & Water in the West
GrowthBusters director Dave Gardner examines the insanity of watching water levels in Lake Mead drop while campaigning to grow the population in places like…