Your Planet, Your Health

Apr 14 2024 61 mins

Your Planet, Your Health Podcast artwork

"Your Planet, Your Health" strives to summarise the science behind earth's climate and our existence on it – Our aims are to contextualise the history of discourses and ideas about the environment and to debunk misinformation – We share positive stories, and explore the knowledge and tools that we can use to be good earthlings. This podcast on planetary health is hosted by Ralph Levinson, MD Health Sciences Professor (emeritus) School of Medicine, UCLA, and Luc Lewitanski, a journalist covering technology, politics and power. Planetary health is about how the environment affects us and the people and the beauty in the world we love. Read more at https://www.planetaryhealthforbusypeople.com/

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How Diplomacy Closed The Ozone Hole

Apr 14 2024 108 mins

In this episode, Ralph and Luc spotlight an environmental success story: the Montreal Protocol's role in healing the ozone layer. We draw comparisons to the pitfalls of the IPCC's COP process and try to derive a diplomatic blueprint for climate policy. We look into the science of how ozone and chlorine works in the stratosphere, the history of the activist scientists (Sherwood Rola

Talking Climate with Conservatives

Feb 12 2024 70 mins

In this episode, Ralph and Luc chat with Michael Jefferies, Regional Conservative Outreach Coordinator for the Citizens' Climate Lobby. Together, we get out of our filter bubbles and find some common ground.We discuss Michael's faith-based journey on climate issues, bipartisan proposals on issues ranging from a carbon tax ("Carbon Fees and Dividends") and import tariffs, along with

Gaslighting (Big Oil Knew)

Nov 14 2023 99 mins

In this episode, Ralph and Luc spotlight what the oil companies knew about CO2’s impact on the climate, and how they lied to you to sustain their fossilized business model – even if it risks drilling us into oblivion… This argument will soon be heard in court as part of a series of lawsuits against Big Oil.We start by looking into the history of scholarship on this issue, dat

Rainforest Restitution

Aug 29 2023 46 mins

In this episode, Ralph and Luc venture into the thorny discussions of what to do about the rainforest’s impact on the globe. In the aftermath of Lula's conference in Belem, Brazil, in August 2023, we spotlight some good news: great strides are being made against deforestation, and South American leaders are keen to protect the Amazonian rainforest. We also unpack criticisms and h

Save the Earth? (ft. George Carlin)

Apr 18 2023 22 mins

In this episode, Ralph and Luc listen to a stand-up routine by comedian George Carlin about environmentalists. We engage with Carlin’s pontifications and his ingenious framing by providing context from a scientific perspective. We also gesture at disarming some of his cynicism while steering clear of fully explaining away what made his take comedic in the first place.This episode

Greenwashing

Mar 16 2023 23 mins

On this inaugural episode, Ralph and Luc briefly describe the practice of greenwashing, with examples ranging from:BP's popularisation of the carbon footprint, to the labels on water bottles, to Volkswagen evading emissions tests, and the practice of carbon offsets…