OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance

We need to shift from systems of domination - rooted in control, hierarchy, and violence - to systems of partnership grounded in mutual respect, equity, and care for all life. Riane Eisler, a social systems scientist, futurist, cultural historian and author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations, joins us. Highlights include:  Riane’s childhood experiences of being a Holocaust survivor and living as a refugee in Cuba, which informed her study of contrasting societal models of dominator versus partnership; How domination systems enforce violence through rigid rankings, while partnership systems reduce abuse through democratic structures; How gender inequality, pronatalism, and population growth are integral to domination systems, and why engaging in population denial perpetuates hierarchies of domination within the family and within politics; How partnership model values, such as caregiving and non-violence, were prevalent in pre-historic times and are more conducive to individual human happiness and flourishing; Why examining past societies' egalitarian models can help us redefine power structures and gender in order to reconstruct models that are relevant in today’s societies. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:  https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/riane-eisler ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance  

The suffering of animals trapped within human systems of exploitation and oppression is hidden in plain sight. Jo-Anne McArthur, animal photojournalist and founder of We Animals Media, joins us. Highlights include: How, motivated by the power of photography to catalyze social change and to raise awareness about animal exploitation, Jo-Anne created a new genre of photojournalism, namely Animal Photo Journalism (APJ); APJ’s mission to capture, memorialize, and expose the experiences of animals who are caught within the complex human-dominated systems and whom we fail to see - animals within the industrial food systems, animals used for entertainment, such as in circuses, zoos, aquaria, theme parks, and rodeos, and animals used in research; Jo-Anne’s travels to over 60 countries that catalogue our complex relationship with animals, captured in her three books, We Animals, Captive, and Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene, and her feature role in the acclaimed Canadian documentary, The Ghosts in Our Machines; inspiring stories of animal advocacy and highlights of the work of women on the front lines, captured in the Unbound project by We Animals Media; how Jo-Anne manages the emotional impact of documenting animal suffering while staying committed to animal liberation; and finally, on behalf of our planet which is groaning under the pressure of human dominion, Jo-Anne’s reflection on her personal journey of choosing not to have children, emphasizing the importance of considering alternative and richer ways to express love and fulfillment. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:  https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/joanne-mcarthur ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance  

The dystopian visions of ecologically blind tech billionaires are shaping our future in alarming ways. Émile P. Torres, philosopher and historian, joins us. Highlights include: how transhumanism is built on the idea of creating God-like AI to reengineer humanity to achieve immortality, sustain capitalist growth, and colonize space; how the effective altruism’s utilitarian approach to philanthropy is not only blind to systemic change, social inequalities, and moral integrity, but it also perpetuates neoliberal ideology that further contributes to inequality and exploitation, e.g. Sam Bankman-Fried’s ‘Earn to Give’ fraud; the intersection of capitalism, longtermism, and the proliferation of global catastrophic risks in the age of AI, and the ethical implications of unchecked technological progress and environmental destruction; the stark differences between the indigenous long-term-thinking approach and the impoverished and hubristic longtermism philosophy put forward by William MacAskill and Nick Bostrom, which prioritizes the existence of trillions of future disembodied people living in computer simulations over the suffering of current day people and nonhumans; their dangerous rhetoric around ‘depopulation panic’ based on the underestimation of environmental destruction and anthropocentrism, and how some people like Malcolm and Simone Collins are repopulating humanity with their own seemingly superior genetic material.   See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/emile-torres ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance  

How many humans can the planet support without capsizing? Alan Weisman, journalist and author of Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, joins us. Highlights include:  How growth-biased cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems are collectively undermining our ability to live within planetary limits; How both the intended and unintended consequences of the Green Revolution helped push us beyond Earth’s carrying capacity, while devastating natural ecosytems;  The ethnic, religious, and political complexities and history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and how pronatalism and ecological overshoot factor into it; How Iran, Thailand, and Costa Rica developed some of the most successful family planning programs in the world; The role of the Catholic Church as a potent force of pronatalism around the world.  See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/alan-weisman   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance

Childfree adults make up a significant portion of the population, yet they remain largely invisible in policymaking and demographic surveys. Zachary Neal and Jennifer Watling Neal, psychologists and childfree researchers, join us. Highlights include:  A discussion of how childfree adults make up a significant portion of the population, yet they remain largely invisible in policymaking and demographic surveys; Zak and Jenna's attempt to create a consistent definition of “childfree” by including specific questions about people’s desire for children rather than their biological capability for having children; Among people without children, being voluntarily childfree is significantly more prevalent than being involuntarily childless, which challenges the often alarmist and pronatalist media and demographic narratives; The underrepresentation of the needs and desires of people without children in real estate planning, which privileges the needs of people with children, is also reflected in their lower levels of satisfaction with their neighborhoods; How the combination of market forces and alarmist ‘population crash’ arguments are increasingly influencing demographic research, making it less reliable; How the childfree community can leverage social network theory – by using bonding and bridging ties between childfree and parent individuals – to build stronger childfree social networks and shift societal norms towards greater acceptance of childfree choices. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/zachary-neal-jennifer-watling-neal   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance      

Modern life is filled with confusing and often terrifying problems, leaving many of us struggling with how to make morally decent choices. Travis N. Rieder, bioethicist and moral philosopher and author of Catastrophe Ethics, joins us. Highlights include: Why modern life can be both morally exhausting and puzzling and individual action can often seem insignificant within the context of the massive and complex systems that surround our daily lives; How we can overcome this sense of 'moral dumbfounding' to better align our actions with our values; Why the decision to have a biological child is an example of 'monumental ethics' that requires a great amount of moral deliberation; Why an overly narrow focus on utilitarian ethics can be dangerous and the modern 'effective altruism' movement reflects these dangers.  See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/travis-rieder-2   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance  

Pronatalism shapes how we think about parenthood and reproduction, often in ways we don’t even notice. Laura Carroll, an expert on pronatalism, the childfree choice, and author of The Baby Matrix, joins us. Highlights include: Highlighted stories of women from Laura's latest book, A Special Sisterhood: 100 Fascinating Women From History Who Never had Children; A discussion of the various pronatalist assumptions that people have to navigate while deciding whether or not to have children, and the effects of those decisions on people and planet; Laura offers alternative perspectives that elevate reproductive autonomy — such that parenthood and non-parenthood are equally acceptable options, and reproductive responsibility — a consideration of the wellbeing of potential child and the planet. How to respond to pronatalist pressures from family and friends in as loving a way as possible, while staying grounded in our own knowledge and truth. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/laura-carroll-2   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance  

Techno-industrial extractivism is driving environmental destruction, and the media is complicit in upholding the growth model that sustains it. Christopher Ketcham, author of This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption Are Ruining the American West, joins us. Highlights include: How techno-industrial extractivism plagues modern societies and the media is complicity in failing to challenge the growth model on which it is based; How environmental destruction in the U.S. West has been aided and abetted by corrupt federal land management agencies that have been captured by the livestock, forestry, and mining interests they're supposed to be regulating; The U.S. Department of Interior has failed to enforce the Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service engages in ongoing and shocking mass slaughter of animals that threaten the livestock industry; How 'green growth' ideology is fueling the lithium mining on sacred indigenous lands and aligns leading environmental groups with 'green' industry interests; Chris’ vision of ecological restoration which calls for freeing the trampled, denuded ecosystems from the effects of grazing, enforcing the laws already in place to defend biodiversity, allowing the native species of the West to recover under a fully implemented Endangered Species Act, and establishing vast stretches of public land where there will be no development at all, not even for recreation. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/christopher-ketcham   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance  

Patriarchy has shaped societies across the globe, but how did it take root? Angela Saini, science journalist and author of The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule, joins us. Highlights include: How gendered roles, pronatalism, and militarism – key features of patriarchies – are very recent phenomena within the long span of human history, emerging with the rise of early states and empires and their pressures on women to have many children for the state for the sake of greater economic and military power;  The diversity of human arrangements, including the prevalence of egalitarian and matrilineal societies around the world – past and present – reveal that male-supremacy is neither natural nor immutable. As long as nation states remain committed to valuing productivity and growth – primarily by maintaining control over women’s reproduction and over nature – achieving gender equality and ecological justice will remain illusory goals, even in the most progressive nations. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/angela-saini   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance    

When and why did population become a dirty word? Diana Coole, political theorist and feminist scholar, joins us. Highlights include: Why population shaming is the main barrier to open conversations about overpopulation - an major contributor to mounting social and ecological catastrophes, including climate change, biodiversity destruction, resource scarcity, and conflict; How population shaming pushed overpopulation from a central environmental issue in the 1970s to a near-taboo topic today; How fears of neo-colonialism in the Global South made population issues politically untouchable; How associations with past eugenics programs silenced overpopulation discourse in the Global North; Why neoliberalism and the fixation on economic growth continue to promote population growth policies; What the 1974, 1984, and 1994 World Population and Development conferences reveal about shifting religious, cultural, and political attitudes toward population. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/diana-coole   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance