Sinopsis
From movies and entertainment to lifestyle, science and politics, Dana and Dave dig into the more fascinating aspects of sustainable living. Its all about ending our cultures 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! Dave directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared could be the most important film ever made. Dana Hicky is a student leader at Georgia Tech.
Episodios
-
92: Economic Wisdom from the Natural World – The Serviceberry
05/08/2025 Duración: 43minIn this trial run for the “GrowthBusters Book Club,” we discuss The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World - by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Cannibal economies, gift economies, reciprocity, and doughnut economics all come up. Sally Gillespie in her Substack column, Psyche’s Nest wrote this about Kimmerer’s book: “As disruptions and destructions reach our communities in all manner of ways, acts of kindness and generosity are already challenging modernity’s stories of ‘never enough’ and ‘you’re on your own’. Often led by those on the margins, we are remembering how to pool resources and gather for action and care as we tend to losses, connections, breakthroughs, emergencies and emergence. It seems to me that no one word is sufficient to describe this devolving and evolving process we are now in. What we need more than a word or a phrase are stories bearing ancient roots and seeds of possibility for the future.” We also talk briefly about President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” beautifully illustra
-
91: Growth Addiction and Water in the American Southwest – with Gary Wockner
30/06/2025 Duración: 01h18sProlific river protector Gary Wockner gives us the straight scoop on the state of the Colorado River (and others), and the growth obsession that keeps southwest states and cities from responding rationally to increasingly scarce water resources. TODAY, nearly half the world’s population experiences severe water shortages at least part of the year. So far, fresh water issues in the American Southwest amount – mostly - to first world problems – like “I can’t water my lawn whenever I want,” “it’s hard to keep the golf course lush and green with less water,” or “How can I develop my next residential project if there’s no water?” But the future could be grim, if we can’t get the cities and states into a 12-step program to break the growth addiction habit. Our guest, Gary Wockner, works globally as an advocate and consultant for protection of rivers. He founded and directs: Save the Colorado Save the Poudre Colorado River chapter of CASSE He also cofounded Tell the Dam Truth, a nonprofit that supports river-pro
-
90: Degrowth – by Design or Disaster
25/04/2025 Duración: 54minLearn about a new think tank that’s doing some of the most important thinking on the planet. Matt Orsagh is co-founder of the Arketa Institute for Post-Growth Finance and co-author of a just-published white paper, By Disaster Or Design: How Finance Can Evolve to Avoid the Worst of the Ecological Challenges We Face and Enable the Transition to a Better Economic Model. That paper, and this episode, offer an introduction to degrowth, the rational response for a society in ecological overshoot. Degrowth is “an equitable downscaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions at the local and global level, in the short and long term.” We also explore how the financial industry needs to evolve as we transition to a post-growth economy. Matt is also author of the Substack column, Degrowth is the Answer. The Arketa Institute is working to “normalize the conversation around ecological economics and degrowth in the financial world.” Steve Rocco and Anastasia Linn are
-
89: Bezos - We’re Going to Need Another Planet
27/03/2025 Duración: 31minAmazon billionaire Jeff Bezos thinks the U.S. can grow its way out of a massive deficit. He says we need a “growth mindset.” Stephanie and Dave call it a “suicide economic model,” and note that growth addiction is exactly what afflicts most policymakers around the world. The dynamic duo discuss the little-understood fact that a shrinking economy can be healthy – when it accompanies a contracting population. Bezos also proposes that we plunder the universe in order to protect Earth “we've sent robotic probes to all of the planets in this solar system. This is the good one.”) Also: The Congressional Budget Office lowers U.S. population projections, further stoking the fires of depopulation panic – the result of a lack of overpopulation literacy Isaac Asimov’s “metaphor of the bathroom,” about the need for more regulation as our population grows (we dug up great video of Asimov; see link below) The parable of the Mexican fisherman A great poem, Rather Than by Sandy Trust. Featured in an episode of one of our fav
-
88: Shutdown315: Start Post-Growth Living Saturday
13/03/2025 Duración: 41minUnplug from an overshoot economy serving a growth-obsessed oligarchy. On March 15, the multitudes will begin a general strike across the U.S. – starving our profit and growth obsessed system. The commoners will reclaim power taken by the elite. Learn about Shutdown315 as Stephanie and Dave discuss, and chat with two Shutdown315 movement organizers, Chet and Bones. We’re excited to share this with you, because Shutdown315 may be a great on-ramp to post-growth living. It starts March 15, 2025, and continues. We also launch the GrowthBusters book club – listen to learn our first book selection. And we offer a few comments about actor Kieran Culkin’s appeal to his wife to give him four kids in his Oscar acceptance speech, of note because the Earth cannot meet the needs of our current 8 billion population without damaging critical life-supporting ecosystems. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: GrowthBusters Survey – https://growthbusters.org/survey Shutdown315 website – https://shutdown315.org Will the Wealthy Consume Less
-
87: The Shit Hits the Fan
12/02/2025 Duración: 25minIn the face of accelerated global warming and increasingly severe consequences of climate disruption, UN projections are outdated and understating the problem, and the U.S. is going to produce and burn fossil fuels like they’re going out of business. Meanwhile Trump wants to be sure Gazans aren’t using condoms to float bombs over the border, and to be sure condoms and other family planning resources are not available the world over. On a positive note, a small town in Canada has adopted a “Limits to Growth” policy. Learn more about it in this episode. Please take a short survey to help us do a better job of growthbusting! https://forms.gle/fFXMEVaGRwe92Aa97 MENTIONED: Global Warming Has Accelerated: Are the United Nations and the Public Well-Informed? By James Hansen et al.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2025.2434494 ReproductiveRights.Gov Vanished, So We Brought It Backhttps://www.theskimm.com/news/reproductive-rights-gov District of Tofino Council Adopts 'Limits to Growth' Policyhtt
-
86: Projecting Optimism in the Time of Overshoot
15/01/2025 Duración: 52minIs optimism required in order to alert folks to our ecological overshoot emergency? Dave and Stephanie discuss the challenge of communicating the depth and urgency of overshoot without shutting people down. Also: Dave shares how he and a group of local growthbusters projected a guerilla “pop-up” billboard on New Year’s Eve – attempting to provide an honest reality check, but not put revelers off (or entice police or security personnel to stop them) The wisdom in U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech Congestion pricing results in kids walking, riding bikes, or taking public transit to school China wants to goose consumption in order to keep high GDP growth Rampant growthism in reporting on UK economic contraction Incoming Trump advisors count on economic growth to balance the budget The enormous carbon footprint of stadium concerts and sporting events A new book by Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: President Jimmy Cart
-
85: Election 2024 – Stephanie Attempts to Talk Dave Off the Ledge
11/11/2024 Duración: 49minDave and Stephanie dig into what caused voters to ignore Donald Trump’s felony convictions, indecency, incompetence, narcissism, and dishonesty – and elect him president. This includes a review of the 50-year war waged by the mega-rich and corporations to undermine civility, compassion, equity and rule of law, to elevate the free enterprise system, rob the working class and enrich themselves. The Lewis Powell Memo kicked this into high gear 50 years ago. They also propose theories about why Dave’s campaign for president failed in its mission to alert the public, media and policymakers to the ecological overshoot emergency. Clips: Desi Lydic on The Daily Show on Comedy Central and Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. Mentioned in this episode: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Chris Hedges, Thom Hartmann, William Kristol, Andrew Egger, Dan Lashoff of World Resources Institute, American Petroleum Institute, Guttmacher Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Hoover Inst
-
84: Strong Economy Begins With Shrinking Workforce
12/02/2024 Duración: 26minA new study debunks depopulation panic. For decades economists have perpetuated the false narrative, “If population growth reverses and begins to decline, the economy is doomed.” This belief has so frequently been repeated by economists, politicians, business people and the public, that it is generally taken as gospel. Psychologists have characterized the phenomenon as the illusory-truth effect, or believing something to be true if it’s repeated often enough, even if it is false. For the first time in modern history, a handful of countries are witnessing actual population declines. The data is now available to separate reality from what has heretofore been baseless theory. An October 2023 study conducted by Professors Theodore Lianos, Anastasia Pseiridis and Nicholas Tsounis, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications and featured on Nature.com examined volumes of economic data of twenty countries experiencing population declines. To their surprise, virtually every country with a contracting p
-
83: We Roasted Elon Musk, Raising the Curiosity of Thousands
16/11/2023 Duración: 23minWe made it VERY clear that Musk’s worries about population collapse are ill-founded, and that attracted thousands more listeners than usual to our podcast. How did that happen? What kind of comments did we get? Find out in this episode. And get important truths about overshoot and overpopulation. Plus, learn how we’ll give YOU the mic for an episode of the GrowthBusters podcast. We explain the long wait for this episode, and share our offer to listeners to “adopt” a future episode to discuss an aspect of limits to growth important to you. If you do want to guest-host an episode, email us your proposal. Include a paragraph or two about you, and a paragraph or two about your proposed topic, guest, approach, etc. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Eight Billion is Too Many: Don’t be a Twit About Overpopulation (Episode 73 of the GrowthBusters podcast)https://www.growthbusters.org/8-billion-is-too-many/ This episode on YouTube (so you can read the comments)https://youtu.be/cKPnJU59tHw?si=rmkxk4mU9YT3d5G7 Paul Ehrlich
-
82: Governor Whitmer Unveils Ponzi Population Policy
14/07/2023 Duración: 43minThe Michigan Governor is apparently unaware that the world, the U.S. and even Michigan are overpopulated. Michigan population has been growing a little too slowly for her taste, so Whitmer has appointed a Chief Growth Officer and formed the Growing Michigan Together Council. Not surprisingly, her bottom line is to “spur economic growth.” In an episode you should share with YOUR governor, you’ll get the details and find out why this news puts “a bee in Dave’s bonnet,” plus news about some outstanding new studies, a wonderful commentary in Newsweek, a crazy podcast you’ll like, and a possible candidate for U.S. President. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: A Just World on a Safe Planet: First Study Quantifying Earth System Boundaries https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/a-just-world-on-a-safe-planet-first-study-quantifying-earth-system-boundaries Gov. Whitmer Appoints Michigan’s First-Ever Chief Growth Officer (news release) https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/press-releases/2023/06/01/whitmer-appoints-mich
-
81 Overpopulation Think Tank – Part 2
07/06/2023 Duración: 01h10minAre many vegans self-righteous, overbearing and insufferable in their efforts to recruit us? Would you believe “overpopulation” is still a taboo word? Or that human population numbers are still an “off-limits” topic at some conferences? This episode continues the conversation we began in episode 79 with five smart people: Nandita Bajaj, executive director of Population Balance Sarah Bexell, director of humane education at the Institute for Human Animal Connection at University of Denver Paul Sutton, professor of geography & the environment at DU Stephanie Gardner, co-host of the GrowthBusters podcast Dave Gardner, co-host of the GrowthBusters podcast MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Population Balance https://populationbalance.org Population Denialism is Reminiscent of Climate Denialism - by Kirsten Stade https://www.ipsnews.net/2023/05/population-denialism-reminiscent-climate-denialism/ Pro-Birth Policies Are Killing Us – by Nandita Bajaj and Kirsten Stade https://www.newsweek.com/too-much-good-thing-pro
-
80 How Do We Get Out of This Mess? University Students Brainstorm
22/05/2023 Duración: 01h23minStudents in a DU ecological economics class discuss their biggest concerns and how our society might overcome them. Overshoot, polarization, the American Dream, politics, selfish individualism, and the capitalism growth imperative are among the topics explored – as GrowthBuster Dave Gardner sits down with leaders of tomorrow. Dave is joined by Professor Paul Sutton at the University of Denver and students Lilia Davis, Julia Gainey, Cassienne Levan, Nathan Cox, Mikey Ford, Geordie Shonk, Elsa Krantz, and Alexandra Van de Water. Surprisingly, all the students seem to have a clear picture of how deadly serious our overshoot predicament is, but - just as surprisingly - optimism wasn’t found wanting. MENTIONED: GrowthBusters Campus Tour https://www.growthbusters.org/campus-tour/ What Do College Students Think Their Future Holds? – Episode 65 of the GrowthBusters podcast https://www.growthbusters.org/college-students-think/ Overshoot: World’s Best Introduction – Episode 57 of the GrowthBusters podcast htt
-
79 Overpopulation Think Tank – Part 1
25/04/2023 Duración: 01h05minFive thought leaders break the silence on the role of human overpopulation in ecological overshoot –with an informed, engaging conversation about the subject. This is what intelligent discourse sounds like. For thirty years, many people – some well-intentioned – have been trying to silence discourse about human overpopulation. One of our goals on the GrowthBusters podcast is to break that silence, and this episode does that well by bringing together three great thinkers – actually five, educators and crusaders on the subject. The occasion was a visit to Colorado by Nandita Bajaj, executive director of Population Balance and co-host of The Overpopulation Podcast. Nandita designed & teaches the first graduate course on Pronatalism & Overpopulation: The Personal, Cultural, and Global Implications of Having a Child at the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University. As a bonus, we were joined by her hosts from the University of Denver, Paul Sutton and Sarah Bexell. Sarah leads DU’s Center for Sus
-
78 Discussing Overpopulation: Let's Clear the Minefield
30/03/2023 Duración: 01h06minWhy do discussions of overpopulation often elicit emotional responses of fear, anger, or indignation? Are anger and indignation what prevents productive discussion of population? These responses in a graduate college class provide an opportunity to explore how we might pave the way for productive conversations. Our guest in this episode, Professor Christopher Bystroff of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute wonders whether a “global therapy session” could end what he describes as a “global, sullen silence.” We need intelligent discourse on the subject, but too often it is being shut down. Open, honest, and factual discussion of the human overpopulation crisis can put an end to the myths, misassumptions and misinformation that cloud the subject. Spoiler alert: we don’t find a fast-acting, magic solution, but Dave does come up with one good idea – “a pill that makes men more mature.” MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Chris Bystroff https://faculty.rpi.edu/chris-bystroff Footprints to Singularity: A Global Population Mo
-
77 Fact-Checking News of China’s “Demographic Crisis”
11/02/2023 Duración: 55minThe news that China’s massive population dropped by nearly a million people last year was almost universally reported as a “crisis.” In this episode we unpack the news coverage and take journalists to task for completely overlooking the fact that, in an overpopulated world, population contraction should be greeted with a collective sigh of relief. The population news was accompanied by an announcement that China’s economy grew by only three percent, less than half the previous year’s 8.1 percent. This, too, was reported as bad news for China. Of course, obsession with GDP growth is what’s driving China’s recently-found determination to convince its citizens to start birthing more laborers. And globally the GDP growth fetish is killing the planet. Dave explains how China’s efforts to keep its population growing are an effort to perpetuate a Ponzi scheme, and this is not the behavior of a good global citizen. “We need to make one-child families the norm, for the next hundred years, if we want those children to
-
76 Now Here's What We Call an Eco-Superhero
15/01/2023 Duración: 01h18minGetting take-out in your own reusable container, recycling bubble-wrap properly, and getting arrested – it’s all in a day’s work for an eco-superhero. Stephanie and Dave learn about climate activism with Extinction Rebellion, sharing quirky sustainability life hacks on social media, and the joy of a 58-hour train trip – from Stephanie’s former co-worker and friend, James Comiskey. Find out... why James is angry and thinks he has a right to be if #AmtrakLife should be your new favorite hashtag why Steve Bannon wears three shirts at one time why Dave proposes we organize a conference for journalists (spoiler, we can’t resist: to “deprogram” the pro-growth bias that’s been instilled in them) LINKS: Before the Flood – documentaryhttps://www.beforetheflood.com/ James Comiskey on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/jamescomiskey/ Avoiding Air Travel and Going by Trainhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CmALljmPh9-/ Reusable Take-Outhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CJcnt_vnGhb/ The One About Bubblewraphttps://www.instagram.com
-
75 A Vasectomy Could Save Herschel Walker a Lot of Money
28/12/2022 Duración: 06minMore men are stepping up and taking responsibility for avoiding unplanned parenthood. Dave celebrates this trend as he shares GrowthBusters plans for the new year in this special year-end mini-episode. A typical vasectomy takes about ten minutes. It’s much less invasive, and less expensive, than the equivalent procedure for women. GrowthBusting highlights for next year: GrowthBusters online community continues into its second year, developing resources and providing support for sustainability activists. GrowthBusters Campus Tour now has 8 impressive speakers to virtually enter your classroom, campus event, conference, workshop, seminar, symposium, forum, colloquium, service club, church or community group meeting. The GrowthBusters podcast continues. We depend on your financial support to keep these important initiatives humming. Please make a one-time or recurring donation at https://www.growthbusters.org/donate/ Mentioned in this Episode: Fewer Abortions, More Vasectomies: Why the Procedure May Be Getting
-
74 Bleak Friday, 8 Billion Post-Mortem and Damage Done by Guilt
01/12/2022 Duración: 55minExamining news coverage and commentaries about human population passing 8 billion on November 15, we unpack the reasons far too many of us avoid discourse about human overpopulation. Why are we tap-dancing around the very dialogue needed so people around the world can make informed, responsible family-size decisions? We conclude the guilt many feel about their privilege is actually hurting those who don’t share our fortune. Also, find out why Black Friday was really bleak, and how TV networks refused to run Buy Nothing Day commercials. Plus, should Dave get over his obsession with phantom power and wall warts? And, how do you approach the occupant of an idling vehicle and educate them about wasting gas and needlessly polluting – without getting shot? LINKS: GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth – the documentary (see it free)https://tinyurl.com/growthbustersmovie World Population Hits 8 Billion: What Do People on the Street Think? – our YouTube videohttps://youtu.be/ncT-J5BsVuc 8 Billion is Too Many: Don’t be a T
-
73 Eight Billion is Too Many: Don’t be a Twit About Overpopulation
09/11/2022 Duración: 01h08minWhile Elon Musk erroneously claims population collapse is our biggest worry, world population is hitting 8 billion, adding the latest billion faster than any time in history. The UN has declared world population will surpass 8 billion on November 15, 2022. We persist in adding about 80 million people to the planet every year, despite overwhelming evidence we’ve outgrown our planet. Christopher Tucker, author of A Planet of 3 Billion: Mapping Humanity’s Long History of Ecological Destruction and Finding Our Way to a Resilient Future, joins Dave in a conversation intended to help cure the rampant overshoot illiteracy resulting from misguided silence on the subject. This illiteracy is demonstrated as Dave shares his new YouTube video (link below) about the 8 billion milestone. Tucker shares his disappointment in United Nations messaging around World Population Day (July 11) and the 8 billion milestone, and Dave turns his criticism up to eleven. He makes this important point about the silence on overshoot and ove