In this week's episode we take a look at a fascinating new scientific study that suggests the anthropocene has affected speech itself - and how this could irrevocably change the field of linguistics.

Extinction is a fact of life. But five times in Earth's history, cataclysmic mass extinction events have wiped out not a few animals, but up to 96% of life in one go. And scientists are now raising the question: are we now entering the sixth great mass extinction?Av Suzanne and Lucy

In this episode we take you into the murky world of global trade deals - including the secretive tribunals where companies get to sue governments for billions. Join us for this interview with the wonderful Dr Patricia Ranald, Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network.

What neolithic beverage is still the world's third most consumed drink? That's right: beer! We delve into beer's 14,000 year old history and do a couple of sidebar trips via witches and the world's coolest nun. We also dig into why a drink the grew from one major climate shift may be killed off by another.…

It's called the jewel of Sydney, but below the surface of Sydney harbour is a toxic legacy. In this week's episode, we bring you the astounding tale of how one company, with one factory, has changed the way we will use the harbour for generations.Av Halfway to the Moon

For years, we've protected nature on the idea that bigger is better: protecting big, isolated areas of 'untouched' wilderness is the only way to keep nature safe. But in 2018, research from Australia's University of Melbourne turned that idea on its head. This week we look into the question: when it comes to protecting nature, is size everything?…

To welcome us all into 2019 and start the year with some optimism, in this episode Suzanne and Lucy reflect on 5 of our top wins for the environment from 2018.

A very special interview this week, recorded LIVE at the Australian Labor Party 2018 National Conference! Suzanne speaks with Lisa Garcia, ex-Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and now with the US NGO Earthjustice, which provides legal support to communities confronting major pollution and health iss…

In this week's episode we delve into an aspect of the anthropocene that has been all over the news in recent weeks: bushfires. Devastating fires have been raging from California to Queensland, and in this episode we look at all the ways that humans are influencing the increase in the severity and frequency of fires - and although climate change is …

We go back in time to one of the most vicious fights of the 19th century: the war between Thomas Edison and Nicholas Tesla over who would power the United States. This battle last nearly a decade, and was marked by brutal commercial competition, a bizarrely large amount of public animal murder, and a propaganda campaign that would make Donald Trump…

Several recent high-profile arrests have brought forensic genetic genealogy - or identifying criminals through large, open-source genetic databases - to the public's attention. But is this the next big thing in crime fighting, or the top of a very slippery and very dangerous slope? Are we heading for a future where you have no control over who can …

How green are your solar panels? In this week's episode, we delve into the dark side of renewable energy, and the toxic trail it's leaving from California to Inner Mongolia.Av Suzanne and Lucy

There's growing evidence that plants can think and communicate. Though plants have no brains, scientists have uncovered evidence that they talk to each other, make decisions, learn and have a social life. This week, we take a journey into the secret mental life of plants and discuss what that tells us about being human.…

Tea. The solution to all life's problems. But your cup of tea maybe causing more problems than it solves: food waste, plastic pollution, deforestation and unfair labor practices are all side effects of the mainstream tea industry. We sit down with Julie Hirsch, co-founder of Eloments Organic Teas, to find out what makes the perfect sustainable cup …

We have a very special episode this week, in partnership with ActionAid Australia. Lucy will take us through a explosive new report revealing for the first time how Australia’s global fossil fuel giants are systematically undermining women’s rights in the global south and their plan to quadruple the number of mines they operate - and the impact tha…

Did you hear the one about the Illuminati lizard-king who controls the world? Because it's 100% true and he controls the Government. This week we delve deep into the fascinating conspiracy theories: why do people believe them and why are they so fascinating? And Suzanne and Lucy reveal which conspiracy theories they find dangerously believable.…

It looks like a punk rock peacock, and its "body popping" routine has to be one of the animal kingdom's most bizarre mating rituals. But now the iconic sage grouse of the western United States is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. This odd chicken-like bird is standing between Donald Trump and coal, oil and gas projects across on millions …

Is disagreement a dying art? These days, all public conversations seem toxic: no matter whether we're debating abortion or casting for the new Star Wars film, we don't seem to be able to agree to disagree. But what is that doing to our mental health and our democracy? And can we relearn the vital art of turning public debate from conflict to constr…

It's been 100 years since the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918 - the deadliest natural disaster in human history. But as deforestation, climate change and global rapid transport incubate the next big global pandemic, we're asking: are we ready for it?Av Suzanne and Lucy

We all know that pulling resources of the ground can be bad for the environment. But some types of mining go out of their way to destroy everything in their path, causing earthquakes and levelling whole mountains. This week we look at the crazy lengths we're willing to go to get at those sweet, sweet fossil fuels.…

Traditional funerals have a big environmental impact... and with 55 million of us dying every year the outcomes can be massive. Recently the green burial movement has sprung up to look at alternatives - you can become part of a forest, a reef, a giant urban compost bin or help solve crimes from beyond the grave. How do you want to spend eternity?…

China is currently the world's largest carbon emitter, and what happens there over the next generation will literally shape the globes future. The ruling Central Party has committed that their carbon emissions will peak by 2030 and then start to go backwards - but will they make it? Will, in fact, they do way way better... and what does that mean f…

The world is in the grip of a costly, destructive and quite often deadly environmental crime of which most people have never heard. Communities around the world are waking up to find their local beach, riverbank or lake have been stolen by a very 21st century branch of organised crime: the sand mafia. These criminal gangs control governments and ma…

Everyone agrees that humans have impacted this planet and the space that surrounds more than any other species in the history of this solar system. But to be able to understand that impact we need to describe it. Enter the environmental humanities and their quest for the anthropomeme: the perfect way to encapsulate this new era of humans.…

This week, the magnificent Jess Panegyres tells us all about Australia's deforestation crisis - one of the worst in the world - what we can do about it. We also talk about home, landscapes and get treated to an impromptu cover of 1980s west australian salinity songs.Av Suzanne and Lucy

It's the only question that *always* starts an argument at a party: how can we eat ethically? Vegan vs meat? Low emission vs high animal welfare? And how much slavery is in our prawn cocktails? This week we talk ethical eating in all its controversial glory, and try to find our way through the swirling mass of contradictory and confusing informatio…

Suzanne and Lucy share some of their most personal stories that led them to care about all things nature and climate, and their coping mechanisms for the anthropocene (not including drinking [not that there's anything wrong with that]). This week we also reveal which one of them has a recurring nightmare about John Howard selling them lipstick in a…

DUN-DUN-DUUUUNNNN!!! It's time to talk about Landscape of Fear. More specifically, it's time to talk about predators, and all they do for us. Do predators have the power to shape landscapes and the health of the world around them? Or is that just science myth?Av Suzanne and Lucy

Recycling has become a hot topic in Australia. Local councils across the country are threatening to shut down their kerbside recycling service because of China, and no-one's really sure why. This week we explain the whole China snafu, how Australia's recycling system works and why we can no longer sort, set and forget our waste.…

This week we're joined by author and environmentalist, Bill McKibben. Bill is a giant in the climate movement and founded 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement. We talk divestment, activism, the effect of Trump on US climate politics and keeping hope alive in the age of humans.…

The modern world is a scary place. The climate is changing, animals are dying, we don't seem to be able to stop it - and it's taking a toll on our mental health. This week we ask: can we stay sane in an age of ecocide?Av Suzanne and Lucy

Nuclear tests in the 1950s and '60s spewed radioactive material all around the globe. The fallout can be found on nearly every part of the globe, from the Siberian tundras to the Loneliest Tree in the World down in waters of the Antarctic. But could it also be the sign we've reached a new geological era - the age of humans?…

Every dark cloud has a silver lining. While humans have caused a lot of destruction to the natural world, some non-human creatures have found a way to use that to their advantage. This week we look at the animals, plants and other living things that thrive in a human-dominated world.Av Suzanne and Lucy

The politics of climate change seem to be endlessly toxic, but has it always been this way? This week, Lucy dives into the murky business of seeding doubt about climate reality and science.Av Suzanne and Lucy

It's Bioapocalypse time! Sick of climate change bogarting all the good apocalypse stories, this week Suzanne takes us through some all natural end-of-the-world scenarios. From biodiversity holocausts to snails that make you bleed out your eyes, the natural world shows it's perfectly capable of wiping us out on its own, regardless of what we do to t…

This week we're joined by Neha Madhok, Digital Director at Democracy in Colour, Australia's first national racial justice organisation lead by people of colour. We talk about the organisation and why it's so very needed, as well diving into the inner workings of the Marriage Equality campaign.Av Suzanne and Lucy

For a while, scientists have been worried about how climate change will affect animals that have adapted to live in only one or two places on the globe. Where will they go when the snow melts or the waters rise? And how far will we go to save them?Av Suzanne and Lucy

Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close to hand and out of the Yamalo-Nenets region of Russia zombie viruses crawl in search of blood. This week Lucy takes us to the frozen darkness of the Arctic to look at some of climate changes most crazy (and horror-movie worthy) impacts.Av Suzanne and Lucy

Is a river a person? Can nature have the same rights to protection and safety as a human? The campaign for rights for nature is gathering steam all around the world. Ecuador has recognised the rights of nature in their constitution, and in 2017, three of the world's great rivers were gained the rights of people under the law. This week, we dive int…

Space race 2.0 is on, as private and public companies compete to find a viable Planet B for humans to settle once we've finished fully trashing the Earth. Lucy takes us through some of the most viable plans and what we'd need to do to really start living among the stars.Av Suzanne and Lucy

We all know Australia is only the driest, flattest, no-volcano-having island continent on Earth, right? Turns out it's not that simple... or that boring. Join us for a quick journey into over 4.5 billion years of Australia's rocky history as we explore the coolest things about that wide, brown land.Av Suzanne and Lucy

In the icy wilderness of Svelbard, deep in the bowels of an imposing mountain, may lie the future of human­kind. It’s one of the world's most vital resources: seeds. This week we talk about what makes these little genetic reservoirs so important, what's happening in the world of agriculture and why we need a doomsday vault at all.…

There's been some great disaster films, but why are so few about climate change given the scale of real-world disaster coming our way? This week we look at the best climate disaster films, what they tell us about how climate change is processed through popular culture, and what that means for how we think about and understand climate change as a so…

The domesticated chicken may not be an arresting or exciting bird, but it's one of the few species found everywhere on this planet. But while humans have been raising chickens for thousands of years, there's one chicken that has really taken over the world: the chicken of tomorrow! We look into its hilarious beginnings and how the chicken of tomorr…

This week, the podcast shoots into the atmosphere as we explore the world of space junk. Just above our heads is a tangled junkyard of old radioactive satellites and space shuttles, shooting round the earth at 24,000 km per hour and occasionally crashing to earth in spectacular fashion. We look at this junkyard in the stars as well as the incredibl…

Wilderness holds a special place in our hearts, especially in Australia and the US. It seems eternal, unchanging, remote and beautiful. But did you know it's pretty recent concept? And that it was mostly a few dudes in America who made it happen? In this weeks episode we delve deep into the idea of wilderness, and see if we think it's a good way of…

This week we take a wander through the crazy, unbelievable world of geoengineering, where scientists attempt to change the planet and all its systems at once. Is it science fact or science fiction? We'll cover everything from how to stop a storm with cannons to how to bring about a nuclear winter and every dubious Plan B in between. It's super inte…

What can 28,000 friendly ducks tell us about our oceans? And what crazy thing did the sea captain see? This week, Lucy and Suzanne delve deep into the weird world of plastic in our oceans.Av Suzanne and Lucy

We all know plastic is a big problem, but why? What even is it? In Episode 2 of Halfway to the Moon Suzanne and Lucy will delve into the tragic history of plastic - which involves beetles, 19th century entrepreneurs with grand ambitions, and Coke and Pepsi (of course).Av Suzanne and Lucy

In our first episode, we tackle the biggest topic around as part of our quest to understand life in a time when human impact reaches every part of the globe and beyond. We ask if we're living in the age of humans, and who is Mr Anthropocene anyway? And while tackling the big questions, we throw major shade at terrible websites and limnologists in g…