Your Planet, Your Health

About Your Planet, Your Health

"Your Planet, Your Health" strives to summarise the science behind earth's climate and our existence on it – Our aims are to contextualise the history of discourses and ideas about the environment and to debunk misinformation – We share positive stories, and explore the knowledge and tools that we can use to be good earthlings. This podcast on planetary health is hosted by Ralph Levinson, MD Health Sciences Professor (emeritus) School of Medicine, UCLA, and Luc Lewitanski, a journalist covering technology, politics and power. Planetary health is about how the environment affects us and the people and the beauty in the world we love. Read more at https://www.planetaryhealthforbusypeople.com/

Publisher

Ralph Levinson & Luc Lewitanski

Category

education · science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Mar 2023

Latest episode

19 Aug 2025

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Aug 2025

   Unsung Climate Victories

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc take a respite from the US' current denialist frenzy and step back to celebrate recent global victories in the fight to preserve our environment. Since the climate does not follow national borders, we spotlight some news from around the world that gives us hope: the popular clamor for governments to tackle climate change, the newly favourable economics of renewable energy, alongside initiatives by cities, states and nations to foster a more livable planet. You can also watch this episode on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07a5_iLo83M Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 1:46 How the Republican party lost their minds on climate and might kill us all 3:53 Good news: Environmentalism is Popular! 6:54 Local initiatives in CA, FL 7:43 Cities are becoming greener and more walkable 10:45 Climate reparations: Vanuatu's win at the ICJ 12:12 Solar energy is much cheaper than a decade ago 16:18 Wind power provides jobs in "red" states 17:38 Worldwide adoption of renewables 19:50 2024's big picture gains for renewable power 21:08 Research & Development: harnessing innovation 22:26 Staying hopeful: Why Ralph doesn't like "optimism" Sources: • International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report “Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023”, September 2024. • Washington Post, “Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.” by Naema Ahmed and Chico Harlan, April 2025. • The New Yorker, “4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment” by Bill McKibbon, July 2025. • Atlas US National Poll by AtlasIntel, July 2025. • Princeton University ZERO Lab “Impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill On The US Energy Transition” by Jesse Jenkins, Jamil Farbes and Ben Haley, July 2025. • The New York Times, “How China Went From Clean Energy Copycat to Global Innovator” by Max Bearak and Mira Rojanasakul, August 2025. We also refer back to our prior episodes 4 (Gaslighting: Big Oil Knew (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muNF_1mC3FI&list=PLwI-SH3khGtbDQ76_3VXTO3AaLkZ-sqnA)) and 5 (Talking Climate With Conservatives (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhZ0P6QGvio&list=PLwI-SH3khGtbDQ76_3VXTO3AaLkZ-sqnA)).

2. 

   3 Jun 2024

   The Lawn Con: Manufactured Conformity

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc unpack how Americans got so obsessed with maintaining square green carpets on their front lawns. We dive into the history to trace back the origins and dissemination of this artificial aesthetic. We also look into solutions, ranging from bans on leaf blowers to cash schemes to encourage people to quit their lawn. We read a poem about the lunacy of leaf blowers, and highlight ways in which manicured suburban imported lawn grass is a synecdoche for colonialism. You can also watch this episode on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE Chapters: 00:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=0s) Introduction: Local bans on gas-powered lawn equipment 01:48 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=108s) Poem about leaf blowers by Touch Moonflower 03:59 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=239s) Commenting on the poem 06:51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=411s) How did lawns become so common in the USA? 07:56 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=476s) Versailles' green carpet and Italian Renaissance landscapes inspired the British lawn 18:59 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=1139s) How 18th Century aristocratic English turf grass took root on the new continent 21:53 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=1313s) Thorstein Veblen on why American elites found lawns so respectable 24:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=1450s) Founding fathers disseminate the pastoral ideal 27:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=1625s) Planning communities of continuous lawn: Andrew Downing and Frederick Law Olmsted 32:03 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=1923s) Frank J. Scott tells suburbanites that homogenous manicured grass is neighbourly 34:48 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=2088s) How the lawn got cemented into the American imaginary in the aftermath of World War II 37:16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=2236s) Post WWII suburban developments empowered Home Owners Associations (HOAs) 41:01 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=2461s) Quantifying the environmental impacts of modern US lawns 45:47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=2747s) Why imported turf grass is a synecdoche for colonialism 50:40 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=3040s) Carpets of grass are fuel that spreads wildfires 51:38 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=3098s) Gas powered leaf blowers are huge polluters 55:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=3300s) How loud are leaf blowers? 55:51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=3351s) Lawn care is a Sisyphean task of sterilisation 57:53 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=3473s) Norms around lawns are socially enforced 59:59 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=3599s) What solutions have helped people quit their lawn? 1:09:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=4190s) Conclusion and wrap up: the zeitgeist is shifting! 1:11:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l1JO3FbzE&t=4310s) Luc's cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell Sources: • Ann Leighton, American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century, 1986. • Michael Pollan, “Why Mow? The Case Against Lawns”, The New York Times Magazine, May 1989. • Georges Teyssot, The American Lawn: Surface of Everyday Life, 1999. • Monique Mosser, The saga of grass: From the heavenly carpet to fallow fields, 1999. • Cristina Milesi, “More Lawns than Irrigated Corn”, NASA Earth Observatory, November 2005. • Paul Robbins, Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are, 2007. • Ted Steinberg, American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn, 2007. • Elizabeth Kolbert, “Turf War”, The New Yorker, July 2008. • Joseph Manca, "British landscape gardening and Italian renaissance painting", Artibus et Historiae (297-322), 2015. • Jamie Banks and Robert McConnell, National Emissions from Lawn and Garden Equipment, Environmental Protection Agency, April 2015. • Christopher Ingraham, “Lawns are a soul-crushing timesuck and most of us would be better off without them”, The Washington Post, August 2015.

3. 

   14 Apr 2024

   How Diplomacy Closed The Ozone Hole

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc spotlight an environmental success story: the Montreal Protocol's role in healing the ozone layer. We draw comparisons to the pitfalls of the IPCC's COP process and try to derive a diplomatic blueprint for climate policy. We look into the science of how ozone and chlorine works in the stratosphere, the history of the activist scientists (Sherwood Roland and Mario Molina) who first sounded the alarm about CFC's destruction of the ozone layer, and the work of technocrats in devising their replacement. We also examine the geopolitical dynamics that were foundational to this planetary victory. You can also watch this episode on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlz8O0_fkh4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlz8O0_fkh4) Sources: • We sample clips from the 2019 PBS documentary Ozone Hole: How We Saved the Planet, written and directed by Jamie Lochhead — notably interviews with Mario Molina, Joan Roland (widow of Sherwood), Lee Thomas (administrator at the EPA), Crispin Tickell (adviser to Margaret Thatcher) and Bob Watson (NASA). https://www.pbs.org/show/ozone-hole-how-we-saved-planet/ • We also sample clips from this 2021 interview with Susan Solomon (the atmospheric chemist who demonstrated CFC’s impact on ozone) and Stephen Andersen (leader of the Montreal Protocol and co-chair of its Technology and Economic Assessment Panel), by the Future of Life Institute, in which they share their roles in the closing of zone hole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hwh-uDo-6A • We cite elements from the 1998 book Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding the Planet, by Richard Elliot Benedick. • We cite the 2002 book Ozone Connections: Expert Networks in Global Environmental Governance, by Penelope Canan and Nancy Reichman. • We cite the 2019 book The Ozone Layer: From Discovery to Recovery, by Guy P. Brasseur. • We cite the 2021 Nature article The Montreal Protocol protects the terrestrial carbon sink, by Paul J. Young, Anna B. Harper, Chris Huntingford, Nigel D. Paul, Olaf Morgenstern, Paul A. Newman, Luke D. Oman, Sasha Madronich & Rolando R. Garcia. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03737-3 • We refer to insights from the 2021 book Cut Super Climate Pollutants Now!: The Ozone Treaty’s Urgent Lessons for Speeding Up Climate Action, by Alan Miller, Durwood Zaelke and Stephen Andersen. • We also cite from the 2023 book 35th Anniversary of Protecting the Ozone Layer, by Marco Gonzalez and Stephen Andersen. Read more at: https://ozone.unep.org/ozone-timeline and https://csl.noaa.gov/assessments/ozone/2022/downloads/twentyquestions.pdf Chapters: 0:00:00 Introduction: COP 28 Wrap-up 0:02:49 Science of the Ozone Layer 0:04:30 History of CFCs: Thomas Midgely’s invention and subsequent uses (1930s) 0:08:21 Sherwood Roland and Mario Molina’s Research shows CFCs' dangers for ozone (1970s) 0:17:42 Consumer Boycott of CFCs: All in The Family 0:24:05 Consumer Boycott of CFCs: children’s Entertainment led Mc Donald’s to change its packaging from foam to cardboard 0:29:51 Sherwood Roland coins the term “ozone hole” 0:32:04 Ozone concentrations in the Antarctic were so low that the scientists thought it was a measurement error 0:33:53 Susan Solomon’s model explains how CFCs caused the ozone hole (1980s) 0:38:18 Scientists fly an airplane into the ozone hole 0:39:31 Global Diplomacy: First Framework, the Vienna Convention (1985): a modest start 0:40:45 Global Diplomacy: The Montreal Protocol’s "start and strengthen" amendment process 0:46:51 Geopolitics of the Montreal Protocol - comparing nations' relation to CFC production in the 1980s 0:59:51 Global Diplomacy: Stephen Anderson on the effectiveness of involving engineers to work on replacements (industry released their patents) 1:04:34 Stephen Anderson presents technological innovations that came as the fruit of his Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) and why it worked 1:17:31 Ronald Reagan's Administration contained factions that disagreed on whether to act on ozone 1:22:50 Margaret Thatcher's surprisingly collaborative response 1:25:21 2016 Kigali Amendment bans HFCs - the Montreal Protocol takes on greenhouse gases 1:32:11 World avoided scenarios: How effective has this process been? What do we estimate would have happened otherwise? 1:37:33 Comparing what worked with ozone to the climate change movement: distinctions between Montreal Protocol and COP and lessons to learn 1:47:01 Closing Phytoplankton Song

4. 

   12 Feb 2024

   Talking Climate with Conservatives

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc chat with Michael Jefferies, Regional Conservative Outreach Coordinator for the Citizens' Climate Lobby. Together, we get out of our filter bubbles and find some common ground. We discuss Michael's faith-based journey on climate issues, bipartisan proposals on issues ranging from a carbon tax ("Carbon Fees and Dividends") and import tariffs, along with strategies to communicate about the environment to conservatives. We also listen to excerpts from former Senator Bob Inglis talking about his experience as a pro-climate Republican. We hear a political advertisement recorded by Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi together on a couch back in 2008. We read excerpts of: • Dorothy Sayers' "Why Work?" speech from 1942 and • Pope Francis' "Laudato si'" encyclical from 2015. If you'd like to connect with the Citizens' Climate Lobby, you can find them at: https://cclusa.org/join

5. 

   14 Nov 2023

   Gaslighting

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc spotlight what the oil companies knew about CO2’s impact on the climate, and how they lied to you to sustain their fossilized business model – even if it risks drilling us into oblivion… This argument will soon be heard in court as part of a series of lawsuits against Big Oil. We start by looking into the history of scholarship on this issue, dating back to the 19th Century. We highlight the record of what the oil companies such as Exxon and the American Petroleum Institute were saying behind closed doors – and contrast this with their contemporaneous public statements. Sources: • If you would like to read California's lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and the American Petroleum Institute for deceiving the public for decades, you can access it here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FINAL-9-15-COMPLAINT.pdf (https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FINAL-9-15-COMPLAINT.pdf) • We quote from the 2010 book Merchants of Doubt; How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Climate by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. • We also sample a couple clips from the 2014 documentary derived from it, also titled Merchants Of Doubt, directed by Robert Kenner and co-written by Kim Roberts. • We cite reporting from this 2017 article from the Center for Public Integrity: “The United States of Petroleum” by Jie Jenny Zou, accessible at https://apps.publicintegrity.org/united-states-of-petroleum/ (https://apps.publicintegrity.org/united-states-of-petroleum/) • You can read Edward Teller’s “Energy Patterns of the Future” 1959 Presentation at the Energy and Man conference organised by the American Petroleum Institute in full here: https://www.planetaryhealthforbusypeople.com/whats-now-and-whats-new/edward-teller (https://www.planetaryhealthforbusypeople.com/whats-now-and-whats-new/edward-teller) • We sample a couple clips from the 1981 British TV documentary by Thames Television called “Warming Warning” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMjnvfkeJJ0&list=PL7WD0g9dS3jlkXemuiPdoj4RF416JTpn6&index=3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMjnvfkeJJ0&list=PL7WD0g9dS3jlkXemuiPdoj4RF416JTpn6&index=3) • We read from Exxon's 1982 internal primer on the CO2 "Greenhouse Effect", which was made accessible thanks to reporting by Inside Climate News in 2015, and is accessible here: https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1982-Exxon-Primer-on-CO2-Greenhouse-Effect.pdf (https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1982-Exxon-Primer-on-CO2-Greenhouse-Effect.pdf) • We also read from the oil companies' advertorials, as highlighted in a 2017 research article: "Assessing ExxonMoblil’s climate change communications (1977-2014)" by Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa815f (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa815f) • We refer to elements from the 2021 book The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet by Michael E Mann. • We also cite the 2023 Science article "Assessing ExxonMobil’s global warming projections" by Geoffrey Supran, Stefan Rahmstorf, and Naomi Oreskes: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063 (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063) • We excerpted a clip from Naomi Klein's June 2023 appearance on the podcast "The Audit", hosted by Dave Anthony and Josh Olson on David Sirota's Lever Network, which you can listen to in full here: https://www.levernews.com/the-audit-the-climate-change-misinformation-machine (https://www.levernews.com/the-audit-the-climate-change-misinformation-machine) (This episode is also available as a video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/muNF_1mC3FI (https://youtu.be/muNF_1mC3FI) )

6. 

   29 Aug 2023

   Rainforest Restitution

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc venture into the thorny discussions of what to do about the rainforest’s impact on the globe. In the aftermath of Lula's conference in Belem, Brazil, in August 2023, we spotlight some good news: great strides are being made against deforestation, and South American leaders are keen to protect the Amazonian rainforest. We also unpack criticisms and highlight pragmatic perspectives from Colombia and Ecuador, such as debt for nature swaps. Sources: • We sample a quote from climate scientist Stephen Schneider from this 1981 British TV documentary by Thames Television called “Warming Warning”. You can see the clip in context at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zHAbYOXjzk/ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zHAbYOXjzk/) • A chart comparing Amazon deforestation between 2022 and 2023: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/E100/production/_131000675_amazon_deforestation_aug_update-nc.png.webp (https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/E100/production/_131000675_amazon_deforestation_aug_update-nc.png.webp) • You can read the Belem declaration – which the Amazon rainforest countries signed at the end of the August 2023 conference – here (in Spanish): https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/canais_atendimento/imprensa/notas-a-imprensa/declaracao-presidencial-por-ocasiao-da-cupula-da-amazonia-2013-iv-reuniao-de-presidentes-dos-estados-partes-no-tratado-de-cooperacao-amazonica/ (https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/canais_atendimento/imprensa/notas-a-imprensa/declaracao-presidencial-por-ocasiao-da-cupula-da-amazonia-2013-iv-reuniao-de-presidentes-dos-estados-partes-no-tratado-de-cooperacao-amazonica/) • Lula’s Speech closing the Belem conference (translated in English): https://www.gov.br/planalto/en/follow-the-government/speeches/speech-by-president-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva-at-the-amazon-summit-with-guest-countries-in-belem-brazil/ (https://www.gov.br/planalto/en/follow-the-government/speeches/speech-by-president-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva-at-the-amazon-summit-with-guest-countries-in-belem-brazil/) • Articles in the journal Nature criticising Lula’s ecological record (especially on drilling): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02511-x/ (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02511-x/) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02187-3/ (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02187-3/) • You can see Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s address at the Belem conference (in Spanish): Read: https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/newsroom/news/prosperidad-descarbonizada-otro-tipo-sociedad-poder-economia-propone-presidente/ (https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/newsroom/news/prosperidad-descarbonizada-otro-tipo-sociedad-poder-economia-propone-presidente/) Or watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehsae42q_Mk/ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehsae42q_Mk/) • More information on Ecuador’s referendum on oil drilling in Yasuni: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ecuador-says-it-will-honor-referendum-yasuni-oil-project-2023-08-24/ (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ecuador-says-it-will-honor-referendum-yasuni-oil-project-2023-08-24/)

7. 

   19 Apr 2023

   Save the Earth? (ft. George Carlin)

   In this episode, Ralph and Luc listen to a stand-up routine by comedian George Carlin about environmentalists. We engage with Carlin’s pontifications and his ingenious framing by providing context from a scientific perspective. We also gesture at disarming some of his cynicism while steering clear of fully explaining away what made his take comedic in the first place. This episode contains 4 brief excerpts from George Carlin's "Jammin' in New York" special. Erratum: we said microplastics were found in the blood of 99% of people tested – in fact, plastic was found in the blood of 17 of 22 subjects tested (77%). • original article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258) • and a write-up in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-for-first-time (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-for-first-time).

8. 

   16 Mar 2023

   Greenwashing

   On this inaugural episode, Ralph and Luc briefly describe the practice of greenwashing, with examples ranging from: BP's popularisation of the carbon footprint, to the labels on water bottles, to Volkswagen evading emissions tests, and the practice of carbon offsets…

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings