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When dark times threaten to become very dark indeed, there’s something deeply therapeutic about having a good laugh about it all. Seriously.
That’s why I find the tagline for the podcast Sustainababble, “Trying to be cheery in the face of impending ecological disaster”, very appealing indeed – particularly because it’s a really funny listen.
This article was first published in Resurgence & Ecologist magazine.
Pretty much every week since 2015 (apart from a much-lamented three-month break over the summer), podcasting duo Oliver Hayes and David Powell have exchanged bantz over topical themes like Extinction Rebellion, the UN’s “latest lolzfest” report on biodiversity, and fracking.
![front cover](https://theecologist.org/sites/default/files/inline-images/isimg_318_0.jpg)
Strictly personal
It can get a bit sweary, but, let’s face it, using a few swear words is pretty excusable when describing the state of our planet.
They both work for environmental charities – cue disclaimer that their podcast is strictly personal – and there are enough facts behind the chat to make each episode a rewarding and sometimes very surprising listen.
I hadn’t thought about the carbon footprint of musicians on tour, for instance – apparently U2 have the same carbon footprint in a year as a return flight to Mars. For more on that, I recommend listening to Ol and Dave’s excellent interview from October last year with electronic musician William Doyle.
'Intertwinkled'
To add to the comedy effect, each episode is “intertwinkled” – their word, not mine – with short clips from films and TV shows: a joke from Absolutely Fabulous features in the episode on fast fashion, and a clip from a spoof U2 song from Spitting Image (‘Nobody Knows What I’m on About’) appears in their interview with Doyle, for example.
I have to admit that sometimes I don’t actually know what these clips are on about – the barking dog can get a bit irritating at times – but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment.
Finding a funny way to talk about serious issues is, in my experience, quite rare, which makes Sustainababble all the more entertaining.
This Author
Marianne Brown is the editor of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine and a podcaster. This article was first published in Resurgence & Ecologist magazine.