Planet Pod's Podcast

For our last podcast of the season we are in conversation with two beacons of hope. We talk to Professor Professor Richard Templer, who led the climate innovation centre at Imperial College and went on to found Undaunted in partnership with the Royal Institution and look back over his career and the huge impact he has had on students, businesses and start ups with Tom Robinson, CEO of Adaptavate.

Should solicitors or barristers turn down work from fossil fuel companies? What is the role of law in the transition from an oil based economy? We explore the changing face of accountability with Haley Czarnek, National Director of Law Students for Climate Accountability, Alexander Rhodes, Partner and Head of Purpose at corporate law firm Mishcon de Reya and Paul Powlesland, Barrister and Founder of Lawyers for Nature.

Three species go extinct every hour. We talk to zoologist, wildlife TV presenter and photographer Megan McCubbin and Dr John Ewen, Senior Research Fellow at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology about their work to highlight and tackle threats to wildlife, how far we should go to stop a species going extinct and the painstaking work, hope and courage it takes to bring a species back from the edge of extinction.

A conversation with author Nicola Chester about her life, shaped by the landscape she has fought so hard to save. Author of the Wainwright Prize-nominated 'On Gallows Down', Nicola talks protest, nature, belonging, hope and the future of climate action.

Insects - pollinators, major carnivores, herbivores and recyclers. They sustain our diet. Most animals eat insects. Our food relies on insects. The ecology of the world has evolved around insects. Yet they are in crisis, the situation is dire. We speak to Matt Shardlow, the Chief Executive of Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, and Dr George McGavin, television presenter and author, whose recent book “The Hidden World” offers a fascinating insight to how insects sustain life on earth today and will shape our lives tomorrow.

We take a deep dive into the threats facing our waterways and why it matters with Feargal Sharkey, former frontman of punk band The Undertones and de facto figurehead of the battle to save Britain’s rivers, author and Right to Roam activist Amy-Jane Beer and author, academic and campaigner Mark Wormald. To mark the conference Owned By Everyone? Chalk Streams in Culture and Crisis, we explore the scandal behind the terrible state of our rivers and find out what we can do to be part of the solution.

What is the meaning of geese? This podcast explores what climate change, personal action and hope hold in store for our local spaces through the story of Nick Acheson, renowned naturalist and conservationist, who cycled 1,200 miles during lockdown, the exact length of the pinkfeet's migration to Iceland, to try and discover what geese mean to communities, landscapes and the future of the planet.

Migratory birds are in sharp decline. We talk to pioneering conservationist Sacha Dench about her work to raise awareness of the threats facing these incredible creatures and efforts to create systems to protect them and their flyways. We talk about her recent expedition, the Flight of the Osprey, her recovery following the tragic accident on the Round Britain Climate Challenge and the future of her conservation work.

Do we need to rethink farming? Farmers are not just food producers; they are custodians of the land, businesses, innovators and our partners in the hunt for solutions to climate change. What does the Government's new payment scheme mean for them? We catch up with Martin Lines, arable farmer in South Cambridgeshire and UK Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and Dominic Buscall, Project Manager at Wild Ken Hill, who aims to restore nature, fight climate change and farm regeneratively at his family farm in Norfolk. In our Animal, Vegetable, Mineral slot - where we explore the many astounding facts and feats of the natural world - we find out how a certain bird can survive bashing its head against a tree 20 times a second, each time withstanding deceleration 1000 times the force of gravity!