podcast

Ep 106 THE ECO-AWESOMENESS THAT IS ALLBIRDS

Ep 106 THE ECO-AWESOMENESS THAT IS ALLBIRDS

Allbirds is a billion-dollar B Corp with a bold carbon neutral strategy, and an obsession with new gen bio materials. But you probably already knew that. The brand has been profiled in the New Yorker and Forbes. TIME magazine called Allbirds “the world’s most comfortable shoes”, and fans include presidents, prime ministers and Hollywood stars.

Meet the visionary duo behind the San Francisco-based startup everyone’s talking about. Hear how co-founders Joey Zwillinger and Tim Brown set out to shake up the way sneakers get made and marketed, and put sustainability at the core of their business.

Ep 105 SAVING THE REEF - SCIENCE MEETS ACTIVISM

Ep 105 SAVING THE REEF - SCIENCE MEETS ACTIVISM

Special Report: How Climate Change is Impacting The Great Barrier Reef.

Is the Great Barrier Reef dead? Headlines to that effect zoomed around the world after two consecutive bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. But Australia’s most famous World Heritage wonder is still very much with us - a vast eco-system, roughly the size of Germany, it teams with life. It is however under threat from climate change and other factors - what’s being done to build resilience on the reef?

Ep 104 ADAM MINTER - REUSE, RECYCLE & THE SECOND-HAND ECONOMY

Ep 104 ADAM MINTER - REUSE, RECYCLE & THE SECOND-HAND ECONOMY

We are discarding clothing and other unwanted items at a record rate. So what happens to all our stuff when we’re done with it?

Meet ADAM MINTER - the recycling obsessive who grew up on a junkyard and now works for Bloomberg. The author of Junkyard Planet and Secondhand - Travels in the New Global Garage Sale travelled all over the world talking to the people who deal in trash.

In this fascinating interview, Clare picks his brains about everything from how metals get recycled to the politics of exporting our trash.

Ep 103 BIOPHILIC DESIGN & REGENERATIVE ARCHITECTURE - JASON MCLENNAN

Ep 103 BIOPHILIC DESIGN & REGENERATIVE ARCHITECTURE - JASON MCLENNAN

Biophilic design is a buzz phrase with good reason. What if our buildings weren't just a little bit more energy efficient or decorated with a few extra plants? What if they gave back to the environment instead of taking away from it?

Meet visionary US-based Canadian architect Jason McLennan, founder of the Living Building Challenge and the Living Future Institute, on a mission to “create a world that is socially rich, culturally just and ecologically restorative”.

How might we truly live in harmony with nature? And, as Jason puts it, “create places that are not only lovely but express the love we have for people, for animals and for the environment.” This Episode is all about how we can rethink our built environment so that it’s regenerative, and provides havens for other species too.

Ep 102 RAJ PATEL - CAN WE IMAGINE THE END OF CAPITALISM?

Ep 102 RAJ PATEL - CAN WE IMAGINE THE END OF CAPITALISM?

If we can picture the zombie apocalypse, surely we can imagine a new economic system? Political economist and co-author of A History of the World in 7 Cheap Things, Raj Patel talks colonialism, oppression and the exploitation of nature, labour and energy - and how the patriarchy and capitalism drive it all. What’s the alternative, and how is fashion involved?

Ep 101 GUNG HO & THE WOMEN LEADING THE SUSTAINABLE FOOD MOVEMENT

Ep 101 GUNG HO & THE WOMEN LEADING THE SUSTAINABLE FOOD MOVEMENT

Are you what you eat? EPISODE 101 IS ALL ABOUT FASHION & FOOD. Have you ever thought about the water footprint of beef or olive oil? Or how far your food has travelled before it reaches your dinner plate? And what has all this god to do with fashion?

Meet Gung-Ho designer Sophie Dunster, food writer and photographer Sara Kiyo Popowa, and chefs Lauren Lovatt and Abi Aspen Glencross. Whether they’re vegan or just very excited about colourful vegetables; sure that what we eat can affect our mental health or just really keen on yummy food that doesn’t cost the Earth - these four female foodies are combining fashion with activism to put change on the menu. Bon appetit!

Ep 100, SINEAD BURKE - A NEW PERSPECTIVE, INCLUSIVITY IN FASHION

Ep 100, SINEAD BURKE - A NEW PERSPECTIVE, INCLUSIVITY IN FASHION

Welcome to our 100th Episode! This week's guest is Sinéad Burke, the Irish fashion journalist, activist and inclusivity advocate. Maybe you've watched her TED talk, Why Design Should Include Everyone, or heard about reminding the World Economic Forum at Davos this year, to ask: "Who is not in the room?" Probs you saw her on the cover of the Duchess of Sussex edited September issue of British Vogue.

This interview was recorded during London Fashion Week, so of course we talk clothes. These days, Sinéad sometimes gets about in custom-made Gucci, but that wasn’t always the case...What happens when clothes don’t fit you? When the world is not designed for you? Why doesn’t the fashion industry embrace the opportunity to cater to more shapes and sizes and abilities, why does it so often exclude, and how can we change that?

Podcast 99, MARY CREAGH - FIXING FASHION & THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT COMMITTEE

Podcast 99, MARY CREAGH - FIXING FASHION & THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT COMMITTEE

Should the government step in? Why do we need to "fix" fashion? Try because textile production consumes vast amounts of water. Because fashion contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined. And if current consumption levels continue, the industry could account for 25% of the world's carbon budget. Because our wardrobes are full of clothes we don't wear, yet we keep buying more and more garments, most of which are made from polyester and shed tiny plastic microfibres every time we wash them.

Because we buy fashion to throw it away.

This episode’s guest is Mary Creagh, at the time she was chair of the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) and the Labour MP for Wakefield - the woman responsible for raising these issues with the British parliament in 2019.

Podcast 98, COURAGE! HOW TO DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE FREAKOUT, WITH ACTIVIST ANNA ROSE

Podcast 98, COURAGE! HOW TO DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE FREAKOUT, WITH ACTIVIST ANNA ROSE

How are you doing with all this climate news? Is it getting you down? This Episode to the rescue! It's all about climate hope and how we can feel more courageous and positive about our activism.

Meet climate activist, Anna Rose. She started forming environmental groups when she was a school kid. By the time she was at university, she, and her friend Amanda McKenzie, cofounded the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, which today has more than 150,000 members (Clare tells this story in Rise & Resist). Anna has been involved in leadership for Earth Hour, is on a bunch of important academic advisory boards and today works with an organisation called Farmers for Climate Action. But the reason you need to listen to her is that Anna has a long view on how to stay motivated with our activism . She talks about "hope as a strategic decision" and reminds us that we all have difference capacities that "it's only called impossible until it's done."

“Often I don’t feel brave, but I have to do things that I know are important,” she says. "I see courage as a muscle we can build up over time."

In this upbeat, inspiring conversation, we discuss where to begin, why courage is important, how to foster it and how we can use it to change the world.

Podcast 97, EXTINCTION REBELLION - NO FASHION ON A DEAD PLANET

Podcast 97, EXTINCTION REBELLION - NO FASHION ON A DEAD PLANET

Is it time we tore it all down? Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a grass roots activism movement demanding radical action on the global climate crisis. The group formed in the UK in October 2018 on the premise that trying to be a bit more sustainable, tinkering around the edges of the system but essentially carrying on with business as usual, will not save us from climate breakdown. They are calling on governments to declare a climate and ecological emergency, and to act immediately to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2025.

In this Episode, you’ll hear from some of the XR protestors who staged a “funeral” for London Fashion Week in September, then sit down with activists: Clare Farrell, Sara Arnold and Will Skeaping to find out why they think civil disobedience is the way to go, what to do about the scary science, and where fashion fits in with all of this.