
Without
Hosted by international bestselling author and journalist Omar El Akkad, Without explores all of the things we can't imagine losing. In some cases, it’s something we’ve already lost – species, natural phenomena, places. In other cases, it’s things we should probably learn to live without, like fossil fuels or nuclear weapons. Every episode of WITHOUT is a thought experiment – what would the world look like if something we’ve become used to were no longer around?
HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Latest episodes

Mar 13, 2024 • 47min
Fossil Fuels, Part 1
Adam McKay discusses climate change, storytelling perspectives, and the journey from comedy to climate crisis. The podcast explores a world without fossil fuels, presenting two potential future scenarios for energy use. Reflecting on gratitude and teasing future content, the episode sets the stage for a thought-provoking series.

Dec 20, 2023 • 31min
Local Journalism
All over the United States, more and more communities are losing their most important source of information: local newspapers. At the same time, a small group of hedge funds and investors are swooping in to buy these businesses, strip them for parts and make a quick profit.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts.
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 13, 2023 • 33min
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes and the deadly diseases they carry are a public health crisis. Today, thanks to climate change, they're even starting to show up in parts of the world where they'd never existed previously.
Additional note on episode contents: The research organization Verily Life Sciences is manufacturing incompatible male mosquitoes and is providing them to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and its agents, including Lisa Crampton's team at the Kaua'i Forest Bird Recovery Project.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts.
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 6, 2023 • 40min
Social Security
Social security has provided relief for millions of elderly, bereaved, and disabled Americans, but just about everyone on all sides of the ideological spectrum agrees that if nothing is done, the whole system is going to collapse.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts.
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 29, 2023 • 28min
Glaciers
Thwaites is maybe the most famous glacier on earth. And to get a sense of why, you should also know its nickname: The Doomsday glacier. If Thwaites melts, a lot of water that was once solid will end up in the ocean...and the collapse has already begun.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts.
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 22, 2023 • 38min
Touch
It’s undeniable–touch is growing scarcer in our increasingly digital world. We learn about the physiological importance of touch and speak to the professional cuddlers who are putting touch for sale.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 15, 2023 • 35min
Drug Laws
According to the CDC, deaths from opioids more than doubled to 105,000 from January 2015 to January 2023. Some states are enacting stiffer penalties for drug dealers, while others are decriminalizing drugs, but neither of these approaches are working. What do we need to make it work?
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 8, 2023 • 37min
Batteries
Whatever going green is – be it using electric cars or installing solar panels – it doesn’t happen without big, expensive batteries. And that’s an issue, because it’s not exactly the most environmentally friendly way to save the world.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 1, 2023 • 38min
White Rhinos
Today, a whopping one million species are on the verge of extinction, with animals dying off at a rate not seen in the last 10 million years. We tell the story of a single subspecies, of which only two members remain, a number that makes it all but certain this animal will vanish within our lifetime.
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 25, 2023 • 36min
Death
Over the past few years, some of the richest people (mostly men) on the planet have funded all kinds of research labs and institutions whose core mission is to eradicate aging and stave off death. But how close are we really to living forever?
A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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