
The Overpopulation Podcast
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The Overpopulation Podcast features enlightening conversations between World Population Balance Executive Director Nandita Bajaj, cohost Dave Gardner, staff, and guests. Stay tuned as we roll out more podcasts to raise overpopulation awareness and spread the great news that overpopulation is solvable!
The Overpopulation Podcast
3d ago
We have it in us to create a more beautiful, regenerative future that allows both humans and nonhumans to flourish. Dr. Sarah Bexell, professor of social work and co-founder of the Center for a Regenerative Future at the University of Denver, joins us. Highlights of our conversation include:
Why captive breeding programs for endangered species are both cruel and ineffective;
How the mental health of both conservation professionals and animal rights activists is deeply impacted by the ongoing suffering of both wild animals and farmed animals;
How ongoing ecological destruction is causing eco-a ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
2w ago
Ecological overshoot is the second largest risk to humanity. Not reacting to it is the biggest. Mathis Wackernagel, co-creator of the ecological footprint and co-founder of the Global Footprint Network, joins us. Highlights of the conversations include:
How ecological footprint is calculated as a measure of how much of nature’s regenerative capacity humanity is using;
Why the estimate that we’re using the natural regenerative capacity of 1.7 Earths is an underestimate of humanity’s actual ecological overshoot;
Why shrinking our ecological footprint needs to be framed as an opportunity for res ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
3w ago
ANNOUNCEMENT
Hello everyone, here we are in 2025 and we have some important news to share. Last year was a really challenging year – we grappled with new climate records, we saw worsening global conflict, and we saw an upsurge in regressive pronatalism. And the year ahead looks like it will include much of the same—which means that all of us will have to remain steadfast, and become even bolder in our work to fight back and advocate for life-affirming alternatives.
PODCAST NAME CHANGE
As part of that commitment, we’ve decided to rename the podcast. It’s been called the Overpopulation Podcast s ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
1M ago
Friendship is not a “nice-to-have” but a core, potentially transformative human connection. Rhaina Cohen, author of The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life With Friendship at the Center, joins us. Highlights of our conversation include:
The “friendship recession” and how modern culture undervalues friendships compared to romantic or family ties;
Historical and cross-cultural insights into how friendship has been understood and prioritized in different societies;
Stories from Cohen’s book about people redefining relationships, including platonic co-parents and friends who live together ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
2M ago
Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment. For International Animal Rights Day, we are joined by Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and President of PETA, the world’s largest animal rights organization. Highlights of our conversation include:
The formative experiences that inspired Ingrid to co-found PETA and dedicate her life to animal liberation;
PETA’s groundbreaking campaigns that include both bold, confrontational activism as well as behind-the-scenes deliberation and negotiation;
Major victories of PETA in transforming industries like food, fashion, experimentat ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
2M ago
We are joined by ecologist and author Carl Safina, whose writing explores the human relationship with the natural world. We discuss how human supremacy keeps us from appreciating the incredible beauty and complexity of other creatures, and has led to the diminishment of most wild beings and places. Carl's work fuses scientific understanding, emotional connection, and a moral call to action; he sees that the durability of human dignity and survival of the natural world will depend on each other; we cannot preserve the wild unless we preserve human dignity, and we cannot preserve human dignity w ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
2M ago
We are joined by Bill Ryerson, the founder and long-time leader of one of the most effective sustainable population organizations in the world—Population Media Center. A nonprofit leader internationally for the past two decades, Population Media Center's TV and radio shows have promoted important social and cultural changes and have helped 500 million people in more than 50 countries. Bill discusses the inspiration for PMC’s groundbreaking edu-entertainment—the Sabido-Bandura method, a combination Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory—that people learn from role models whose behavior they w ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
2M ago
Award-winning filmmaker Therese Shechter discusses her new paradigm shifting documentary film My So-Called Selfish Life about one of our greatest social taboos: choosing not to become a mother. At a time when reproductive rights are increasingly under threat due to growth-driven pro-natalist population policies, Therese shines a light on these oppressive unspoken but powerful cultural narratives that seek to maintain control over women's minds, bodies, and their imagined life stories. We also discuss the need to promote a broader conception of the word 'family', childfree dating, and ways to h ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
2M ago
Population dynamics are deeply connected to environmental sustainability and social justice. That's the message of Pam Wasserman and Hannah Evans from Population Connection - the oldest grassroots population organization in the U.S. Highlights include:
The origins of Population Connection and its evolution from ZPG (Zero Population Growth) to a broader mission addressing the intersections of population, environment, and social justice;
How their K-12 education program trains thousands of teachers annually to teach students the importance of population dynamics within the broader issues of env ..read more
The Overpopulation Podcast
3M ago
Healthy and thriving animal communities depend on healthy and thriving human communities. That’s the message from this week’s guest, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian and founder of Conservation Through Public Health. Highlights include:
How a scabies outbreak among gorillas reshaped her approach to conservation, linking human health to the health of the gorillas;
The role of family planning and community health education in reducing human population pressure, human-wildlife conflict and improving both conservation outcomes and local livelihoods;
The balance bet ..read more