Your Brain On Climate

Predicting the weather is really hard, not least because of all those butterflies in the Amazon flapping their wings about. So an even-vaguely-right forecast is a scientific marvel and a masterclass in risk communication. And how people do and don't take it in is a similarly fascinating dive into human brains and how they deal (or don't) with uncertainty.  But these days you can't talk about our changing weather without talking about our changing climate - even if (too) many people still don't see the link. And what happens when innocent weather forecasters wade by mistake into the culture war? In this episode of Your Brain on Climate, I'm joined by the brilliant socio-meteorologist (it's a thing), Helen Roberts, from the UK Met Office - the Weather People. Helen explains all about how the modern miracle of meteorology is done - and everything she's learned about how to bring climate reality into the weather forecast, even if some don't want to hear it.  Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. Please consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. Owl noises = references: 17:35: Lewis Fry Richardson, the 'father of weather forecaster'. 20:41: that video of the wandering dog explaining climate vs weather. 36:06: Helen thought it was 65% of people see the link between weather and climate - the link I found said 76%. Right ballpark. 41:13: Availability Bias: I'm sure we've talked about it before but I don't (ha ha) have to hand. So here's Decision Lab on it. 43.18: Climate Outreach's Climate Visuals resource.  45.08: I'm talking about my episode all about heat and violence - one of my faves. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack. YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/. 

A new campaign, the National Emergency Briefing, thinks (rightly) there's a climate emergency going on. They want Keir Starmer to go on TV and tell the nation, like Boris did with Covid. But would that work? Do people think about climate change the same as other types of 'emergency'? In this Micro episode I chat to climate comms guru Adam Corner about the similarities - and differences - between climate emergencies and the Covid emergency. After a snippet of my 2021 chat him, I dial him up again for his latest views on the back of the NEB. You can listen to the full interview here or in the back catalogue. You can watch all 3 hours of the National Emergency Briefing here (and yes, that is a link to GB News... credit where it's due.)Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate. YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.  

There's a vast online universe where men hang out and hate on women. This is the 'Manosphere', a place home to hucksters, spivs, scam artists and some of the worst humans alive. But it's also a honeytrap for millions of lost boys simply looking for a story about the world that makes sense. You start out looking for fitness tips or how to get a girlfriend. You end up believing climate change is made up and Donald Trump is a hero.  How does this online radicalisation happen? What does it tell us about politics and power in the 21st century, and how we form ideas about the world? And can anything be done to keep young men out of it? Joining me on this episode is the journalist James Bloodworth. His book, Lost Boys, explores his torrid discoveries in the Manosphere.   See also this brilliant Guardian deep dive into the Manosphere.Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. Please consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. Owl noises = references: 14:10. More about The Game by Neil Strauss. 29:55. 1/4 young men that have heard of Andrew Tate have a positive view of him. 46:04. My chat with Kris de Meyer from January 2025. 51:00. Richard Reeves's book, Of Boys and Men. 55:01. Yougov poll from October 2025: Gen X are the problem. 1:07:47. Josh Sargent's piece in the Guardian. 1:09:35. episode about Tiktok's algorithm in Cal Newport's 'Deep Questions' podcast. 1:09:45. Just some of what the BBC's disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring has been up to. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack. YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/. 

It's Halloween, when everyone is allowed to be strange for a day. A good time to ask: like the best ghost stories, why does climate change sometimes feel so uncanny? And what happens when the world we take for granted starts to feel ... haunted? In this Micro episode, a snippet of my 2021 chat with psychogeographer and author, Philippa Holloway. You can listen to the full interview here or in the back catalogue. Please do consider chipping in a couple of quid over at http://www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. And a written review would be ace. Please thank you please. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. The show is over on Instagram at @yourbrainonclimate. YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at www.designbymondial.com.  

Well... is it? Nearly half of young people say the future of the planet brings them mental distress. Not just young people either. More and more people of all ages are feeling something that feels like the thing we call climate anxiety. And for good reason: things not very brill, planet-wise.  But is climate anxiety something distinct from other worries? Is it just the latest snowflakey expression of more generally held worries about the future? Is it a mental health problem, or a social problem, both or neither?  And - whatever the hell it is - is it something we can really do anything about, short of actually stopping climate change? Joining me on this episode is academic, telly psychologist and prolific author Professor Geoff Beattie. Geoff's latest book, Understanding Climate Anxiety, is about - well - what it says.  We explore: is climate anxiety real? If so, how big a problem is it and for whom? And how can we help others (or ourselves)? Let me know your thoughts on the show - [email protected]. Please rate, review and subscribe, and share the show on socials. Please consider chucking this humble indie podcaster a few quid at www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate. Owl noises = references: 13.16. Aaron Beck there, the father of CBT. 15.22. My piece for NEF about climate anxiety back in 2020, when I was in the midst of a proper wobble about things. 19.28. Values / Action Gap. I did a podcast all about that. 22.45. That survey of 10,000 young people in different countries, as covered in BBC. 35.40. Study: young people's climate anxiety may be more complicated. 44.09. James Pennebaker was one of the (academic) originators of the idea of 'disclosure' in psychology: that talking about stuff makes you feel better. The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell. You can follow the show on instagram @yourbrainonclimate, and I occasionally put up a Substack. YBOC theme music and iterations thereof, by me.  Show logo by Arthur Stovell at https://mondial-studio.com/.