Your Brain On Climate

When's the last time you were bored? Thanks to our phones, it's easier than ever to be distracted, stimulated, and fed attention calories of varying quality so you never have to worry about being bored again. But what do we miss when we live life without giving ourselves time not to do anything at all? 
In this Micro episode, I revisit my chat from 2024 with broadcaster Simon Mundie, remembering what Simon told me about how much about the natural world - good and bad - we can notice and experience if we put away our phones for a bit. 
Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please. 
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate. 
YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

In this episode I go for a walk in the woods with a former airline pilot who packed it in because of his climate anxiety. Joel Walker flew for years but could never quite ignore the state of the planet - like the forest fires and melting glaciers he could see from his cockpit. Eventually, in 2025, the cognitive dissonance got too much and Joel left flying forever.  
As we natter through the trees not far from Luton Airport, Joel tells me what it feels like to walk away from a prestigious career he'd trained for for years, because he could no longer bear what it was doing to the world. He tells me about the culture of being a pilot, the ruthless logic of aviation expansion, and what he's learned about how to live a more fulfilling life from his rollercoaster journey. 
Joel is funny, kind and quietly inspiring. This is a fascinating chat with a man who has grappled hard with things we all face at some point. How to take big decisions when your values are telling you to do one thing, but your identity (and salary!) is built around doing something else. And what happens when you can no longer look away from how entangled you are with the climate crisis - whether you're an airline pilot or not. 
Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. 
Owl noises = references below. One additional last-minute reference: for more on 'sustainable' aviation and if it's possible, check out the latest Outrage and Optimism.  
21:34 - the Jeavons Paradox explained. 
24:23 - the Safe Landing group. 
34:31 - the overview effect: what seeing Earth from space does to you. 
37:36 - more about how contrails increase the warming effect.  
38:56 - slightly old stat, but 70% of flights taken by 15% of people is here. 
41:33 - extreme day trips. 
52:23 - my chat with Geoff Beattie about climate anxiety. 
57:00 -  Look Near First, Joel's new thing. 
58:08 - Joel profiled in the Times. 
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack. 
YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

Would you rather have a fiver today or a tenner this time next year? That kind of calculation is called 'discounting', and the more you'd rather have the fiver today, the more you are discounting the future.  Humans are hardwired to lean towards getting things now, unless the deal is sufficiently sweet. 
That preference makes sense when you evolved to not know where your next antelope was coming from. But our bias towards discounting the future is one of the reasons we haven't done enough about climate change. So.... we'd better learn to hack it.  
On this Micro episode, I revisit my chat from 2023 with cognitive scientist Adam Bulley. We chatted then all about foresight; the brain's amazing ability to jump forward (and backward in time) to make calculations about what to do today - and how it's a deeply imperfect but very human part of what made us the species we are today. 
OWL at 3:00: here's more about economic discounting. 
Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please. 
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate. 
YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.

Climate change is REALLY SCARY, right, but that doesn't mean you have to wibble helplessly in the corner. While the go-to currency of most climate awareness campaigns is 'hope' – does fear get a bad press? It turns out fear is a great motivator of climate action too, as long as we learn how to use its power for good, not the dark side. After all, if you think climate change isn't a bit alarming, you're not paying attention. 
Joining me on this episode is Professor Sarah Jaquette Ray. Sarah's written and thought loads about how fear, and its twin emotion of disgust, are used by bad people to divide us and scapegoat on climate change and the environment. But she's also thought loads about how to hack your fear: dosing yourself up just enough to make good things happen, without giving in to the terror entirely. 
Sarah is also the host of the fab Climate Magic podcast. 
Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. And do consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. 
Owl noises = references: 
11:57. The 2003 film, the Fog of War. 
18.26. Christiana Figueres: stubborn optimism. 
21.49: Greta: cathedral thinking. 
22.44: Hannah Proctor's book, Burnout. 
26.55: Check out my episode about Risk, with Adam Corner... 
35.01: ... and my chat about Disgust, with Yoel Inbar. 
36.48: Mary Douglas's book Purity and Danger. 
40.20: Don't Mess With Texas! 
48.31: Tending and befriending. 
50.03: Joanna Macy's three narratives / stories of now. 
58.58: Thích Nhất Hạnh's ideas about nutriments.
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack. 
YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me. Thanks as always to Ruth Everett for the voices. Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.

A few years ago I learned the Dutch word 'goedprater': the excuses we give to justify something to others, which we can barely justify to ourselves. I do it all the time and I bet you do too, whether it's not going for that run you planned (ow, leg suddenly hurt) or caring about climate change but taking loads of flights (well, they were just going to go anyway, right?) 
In this micro episode, I learn all about goedprater as part of understanding the BYSTANDER EFFECT. I revisit a snippet of my 2023 chat with Professor Gerdien de Vries. Within, Gerdien explains the three reasons we walk by on the other side, when doing our bit would probably be the right thing to do.  
Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please. 
The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate. 
YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.