Today's guest is Laurie Winkless. She's a physicist, a science writer and she's the only person I know who's actually made writing about friction interesting. You could say she's a science friction writer...

She’s appeared everywhere from Forbes to Wired to BBC, and she has written two books. Oh and she won a scholarship to do some training at NASA. As you do.

I am very excited to talk about her transition from scientist to science communication and why she thinks that's so important.

In this episode she shares:

- Her background and how she got into physics

- What actually is a PhD and if she'll ever get one

- What science communication is, how she got into it and why we need more people in it

- Why she brings creativity into her job and why sexism prevented her from doing it earlier

- Her (brilliant) books and what you should know about them

- How she wrote her first book

- Her very interesting favourite friction fact.

- One science myth that she wishes would die

- What shark inspired swim suits are and why they help swimming

Key Quotes

“Most of the noise that we hear on the roads is not actually from the engines it’s from the interaction between the tyre and the tarmac.”

“So much of the universe is defined by the interaction between surfaces.”

“I think sometimes people are afraid to be a bit weird.”

More about Laurie

Find her via her website or on social media.

And don’t forget to head to our Instagram for a chance to win one of her signed books.

You can get involved with the podcast online too of course.

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatwhatsicall.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

I wanted to talk about politics and combating polarising opinions… but I didn’t want to get dark about it.

So, to help, I’ve called in my friend and optimism security blanket, Dave Richards. He’s one of those people who has realistic but optimistic insight into the world. He’s lived all over the world, has a deep cultural understanding, and just makes me feel better about the state of things.

So I thought I’d have him join me for a bit of a wide-ranging, mostly optimistic chat about the state of the world.

In this episode we talk about:

• The importance of maintaining optimism amid global and local challenges
• Why politics often seems theatrical, but politicians may genuinely care about making change
• The fact that environmental progress over decades shows improvement, even if it’s hard to see in the short term
• The significance of media literacy, critical thinking, and recognising manufactured divides and misinformation
• The potential of podcasts and open dialogue to foster understanding across political and ideological lines
• Why we should meet people where they are, find common ground, and avoid polarisation
• The myth of political and societal "us vs them" divides
• The importance of science-based policies and genuine conversations, even with those holding opposing views
• How media, algorithms, and social platforms influence polarisation and radicalisation

If you want to check out Dave’s incredible photography head along to his Instagram.

Giveaway! This week, I'm giving away copies of Talking Across the Divide, by Justin Lee. It’s a brilliant read on how to actually talk to people you disagree with - something we all probably need a bit more of. Join me over on Instagram to enter.

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

About half of the oxygen that you are breathing right now is made in the ocean. And last year, scientists found that some of it is made three kilometres down in total darkness by microbes that live on the seabed.

We had no idea about any of this before then, and now, next month, the United Nations International Seabed Authority is deciding whether they will let industrial rigs strip minerals out of the seabed. But is that a good idea when it turns out we know so little about it?

Surely there are smarter options, right? And what do we even need those minerals for anyway? Well, that’s what we’ll be discussing in this episode.

In this episode let's talk about:

• What Dark Oxygen is and why we should be worried
• What is found in the deep sea
• What deep sea mining actually is and why we do it
• The dangers of deep sea mining
• Why there is a need for the metals gained from deep sea mining
• Why everyone is panicking about it
• Who wants to deep sea mine and who doesn't
• Trump’s executive order that is allowing fast-tracking of deep sea mining applications
• Other countries’ responses to deep sea mining
• What you can do about it

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the last few episodes have been somewhat… bleak.

There’s been a lot to discuss around climate change, governments, and corruption, but I realised if we kept focusing only on that, it was going to get all-consuming.

So this week, I’m welcoming back Kate to help me share some good news stories instead!

In this episode, we cover:

• What are drop bears?
• Some fun community topics
• What happened at the UN Ocean Conference
• Reasons why Kate was put off getting solar and myths about solar
• How knowledge and access to information about the environment have changed
• Comparing emissions per person in China and India vs. Australia and Aotearoa
• Breaking down environmental stereotypes about other countries

When I talked about “marine saviour pirates,” I was thinking of Captain Paul Watson - he founded Sea Shepherd and now runs the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.

Giveaway! This week, I'm giving away copies of Rewilding the Sea by Charles Clover - a fascinating look at how rewilding our oceans can restore ecosystems, protect marine life, and even help tackle climate change. Join me over on Instagram to enter.

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

You reckon you’re immune to propaganda and disinformation, right? A critical thinker who sees through the rubbish.

I thought the same - until I realised I’m way more likely to believe something if it backs up what I already think.

That’s not a personal flaw. It’s how we’re all wired. But we need to get better at spotting it, because it’s fuelling polarisation and making it harder to have real conversations with people we disagree with.

And with AI making it even harder to tell what’s real, it’s only going to get trickier.

If we want to tackle big issues together, we’ve got to become more sceptical, more media literate, and better at asking:

Where’s the evidence? What’s the source? Is there consensus?

This episode is designed to help you do exactly that - understand and analyse the information out there.

In this episode I talk about:

• What confirmation bias actually is
• A proper breakdown of propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation
• How extremist disinformation groups take hold
• Real examples of how disinformation can (and does) cost lives
• How it delays action on the things that matter most
• What to look for when spotting disinformation
• The six main tactics companies and governments use to spread it
• And how we can start pushing back

Giveaway! This week, we're giving away copies of Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have by Deborah Francis White - a practical guide to having honest and respectful discussions on tough topics like politics, climate, and social issues. Join me over on Instagram to enter.

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Well, we are officially halfway through the election cycle. The coalition government has been in place for about 18 months now. David Seymour is our Deputy Prime Minister.

So, how are things going?

I did my first ever political roundup episode - I think it was episode three - and it ended up being one of our most popular ever.

Interestingly, you lot seem to care about what's going on out there, which is nice. So I thought we’d do a check-in, because it's been a year, right?

Just to set some guardrails: I'm very much talking about environmental and social issues. I'm not really diving into the economy (though it might get a mention), or the cost of living, or anything else like that. All big problems, all important topics - but I'm absolutely not educated enough to speak on them.

Much like the first time I did this, I'm going to try to be unbiased. I will probably fail, because I’m human, I’m violently sarcastic, and I’m obviously quite left-leaning.

Everything in here is factual. It’s been fact-checked. But as my mother would say: I might have a tone. Please forgive me.

In the episode let's talk about:

• Budget 2025 - the "no BS budget"
• What was cut in this budget?
• What were some budget additions that impact the environment?
• Some of the new legislation we should know about
• The Fast Track Approvals Act and what it means
• The shifting of the government's climate policy
• The agricultural legislation and how it impacts the environment
• Other changes including waste management, bottled water, and live animal exporting
• The impact of these changes on NZ's reputation and credibility
• The nonsense political narrative
• Some of the good things the government has done

The University of Canterbury submission's on Gene Technology Regulation:

https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/0e1aa118-5e68-4b43-b395-2a4487d90aa4/content

https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/fb5002ba-2e21-4a45-be4e-56d6259b4571/content

https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/05dd6485-82e0-4f54-844b-8860e8548b68/content

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Are you tired of arguing about climate change with your uncle, or your co-worker, or that weird person online?

Welcome to the club. Now, if you really want to keep banging your head on that wall, I'm not here to stop you, but I am here to try and give you some facts that might help - because even though you are almost certainly not going to convince those people, it is often worth trying to combat some of that misinformation.

You are probably not going to convince the guy who thinks that all scientists are evil and funded by, like, solar - but that's not really why we do it. Misinformation is fricking annoying, and it spreads four times faster than facts. But most importantly, it also stops us doing what we need to do to stop the planet heating up and boiling the oceans. Every fraction of a degree makes a difference.

So today, for this episode of Microgreens, I thought I would talk about some of the myths I see quite often in my comment section, parroted by climate change deniers - but also how you can talk about things like climate change a little bit more effectively.

Let's talk about:

• The term 'climate change denier'
• How the scientific process works and how to know who to trust
• How and why climate change became so politicised
• How fossil fuel companies hid the evidence of climate change
• The various myths and why they are false

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

We are officially out of time to prevent hitting 1.5 degrees. Yep - earlier last week, the World Meteorological Organisation said that we are going to hit 1.5 degrees of global heating by 2027, which is just two years away.

So I thought we’d have an episode about what that really means - because what actually changes at 1.5 degrees? And what happens if we go beyond that?

In this episode:

• Why scientists identified 1.5 degrees as a milestone
• What a 1.5 degree increase will actually cause
• Where we are today with global heating
• The damage to the oceans and natural world from global warming
• Why a 1.5 degree change is now baked in
• What terrifying things happen at 2 degrees
• The places that could become uninhabitable in the next few decades
• The huge impact on cities and the losses we can expect over the next 80 years
• The big impacts on crops, people, and health at 2 degrees
• The economic impact we can expect from climate change over the next few decades
• What happens at 2.7 degrees, which is expected by 2100
• Why I don’t think this will be our future
• The single most powerful thing you can do to prevent this dark future

Episode Sources:

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – Global Annual-to-Decadal Climate Update 2024

https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/global-temperatures-set-reach-new-records-next-five-years

NASA Earth Observatory – “Earth Is Storing More Heat” (summary of Cheng et al. 2023 Earth-energy-imbalance work)

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152431/earth-is-storing-more-heat

von Schuckmann, K. et al. 2023 – “Heat stored in the Earth system: where does the energy go?” Earth System Science Data

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023

Cheng, L. et al. 2023 – “Record-setting ocean heat content and Earth system imbalance in 2023.” Advances in Atmospheric Sciences

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-023-2385-2

Dessler, A. E. 2021 – “Water-vapour feedback.” Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-082420-064024

Copernicus Emergency Management Service – Rapid Mapping EMERG0325, Emilia-Romagna Floods (2023)

https://rapidmapping.emergency.copernicus.eu/EMSR632

Bureau of Meteorology (Australia) – State of the Climate 2022

https://www.csiro.au/state-of-the-climate

NIWA – Climate-change projections and extreme-rainfall trends for New Zealand (2024 update)

https://niwa.co.nz/climate/research-projects/climate-change/extreme-weather

NOAA Coral Reef Watch – Global Coral Bleaching Event Status Update, April 2024

https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov

Gatti, L. V. et al. 2021 – “Amazonia as a carbon source linked to deforestation and climate change.” Nature 595:388–393

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03629-6

Trathan, P. N. et al. 2023 – “Climate-driven population decline of emperor penguins.” Communications Earth & Environment 4:148

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00772-3

Met Office (UK) – “One billion people face deadly heat stress at 2 °C warming.” Press release, Oct 2021

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2021/cop26-heat-stress

IPCC – Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (2018), Chapter 3

https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

IPCC – Sixth Assessment Report Synthesis (2023)

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/synthesis-report/

University of New South Wales – West Antarctic ice-sheet collapse threshold study (2022)

https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-may-have-passed-point-no-return

Project Drawdown – “The Powerful Role of Household Actions in Solving Climate Change” (2023)

https://drawdown.org/insights/the-powerful-role-of-household-actions-in-solving-climate-change

FAO – “Climate change could push 183 million more people into hunger by 2050.” News release, Sept 2021

https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/climate-change-could-push-183-million-more-people-to-hunger/en

World Food Programme – “What if the world warms 3 °C? Hunger and the climate crisis.” 2022

Find the rest of the sources on our website and Substack!

There’s a worm that shoots out glowing green slime, a squid that can turn itself invisible, and a fish that literally walks on land. To celebrate World Oceans Day last week, today’s episode is all about the ocean’s weirdest and most wonderful creatures.

I'm joined once again by Melissa Márquez - an amazing marine biologist, shark scientist, and science communicator. She’s been on TV, given TEDx talks, written books - she’s just awesome. If you want to learn more about her, make sure you check out our main episode released earlier this week.

But this week, we dive into the weird and wonderful of the ocean.

In this episode we talk about:

• A fish that can walk on land (yes, really!)
• A squid that can turn invisible by bending light
• A worm that fires out green slime like something from a horror film
• Why jellyfish are older than dinosaurs
• How a pufferfish creates the most delicate art on the sea floor
• A sea slug that steals genes from algae and uses photosynthesis
• How ocean creatures are inspiring new technologies and materials
• Why these species might disappear before most people even hear about them

“Some squids don’t just hide, they actually turn invisible by bending light around their bodies.”

“This fish literally walks on land… it’s like evolution just gave up and said, ‘sure, go for it.’”

Episode Sources:

Blobfish deep-sea morphology: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/blobfish Humboldt squid size, colour flashes and behaviour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_squid Bigfin (Magnapinna) squid fact-sheet (NOAA): https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex2107/features/bigfin-squid/bigfin-squid.html

Goblin shark protrusible jaws: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/goblin-shark-facts

Gulper (pelican) eel with bioluminescent tail: https://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150608-the-scarfaced-eel-with-a-giant-mouth

Bobbit worm ambush and size: https://www.wired.com/2013/09/absurd-creature-of-the-week-bobbit-worm/

Giant isopod fasting ability: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/giant-isopods-curious-crustaceans-on-the-ocean-floor.html

Black seadevil (Johnson’s abyssal seadevil) deep-sea video: https://www.sci.news/biology/science-black-seadevil-anglerfish-02294.html

Sea pig cloacal breathing and pearlfish commensalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotoplanes_globosa

More About Melissa. Follow her on Instagram.

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

June 8th was World Oceans Day, and if you listen to this podcast, you know this is a day I am very much here for - because I am obsessed with the ocean… for good reason.

But rather than going on about it myself, for this episode I thought we could celebrate World Oceans Day with the help of another ocean obsessive: Melissa Cristina Márquez.

Melissa is a marine science education expert based in Australia, and is known as "the most enthusiastic shark scientist" people ever meet. Her work has been featured in Science, NPR, Vogue, Allure, InStyle, GQ, Seeker, Popular Science, and showcased on Disney+, BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Acciona, and Good Morning America.

As well as being a scientist and educator, Melissa is also an author of children’s books including the Wild Survival series (Scholastic) and Mother of Sharks (Madre de los Tiburones), with her latest, Sea of Constellations (Océano de Constelaciones).

In this episode, she shares:

• Her background and how she got to be on the Discovery Channel
• Why we need diversity in science
• The integration of Indigenous science into Western science - and how it works
• How to tackle constant misinformation
• Her favourite thing about sharks
• How to stay hopeful during a bleak time in the ocean world
• The importance of ocean education and being a steward of nature
• The importance of interacting with nature from a young age

Key Quotes

“If we're going to coexist with nature again - how we used to - we need to be a part of nature again, instead of apart from it.”

“Science, in order to be effective and actually benefit people, needs to serve the people it's trying to benefit.”

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Imagine a fungus slipping into your bloodstream, hijacking every single neuron and freezing you alive while it knits its own flesh with yours.

If you were an ant or a spider, that could be you — but thankfully, Ophiocordyceps doesn’t (yet) affect humans.

In this Microgreens episode, we’re peering into the terrifying and slightly creepy world of fungi.

In our main episode, we covered why fungi are important. Today, we’re getting into their dark side...

In this episode I share:

• What the bleeding tooth fungus is and what it does
• The real-life zombie fungus and why it won’t affect humans any time soon
• How glow-in-the-dark mushrooms work
• What the dead man’s fingers fungus is
• The potential health benefits of lion’s mane mushrooms
• What slime mould is and why it can move

Episode quote:

“In fact, we are closer related to fungi than they are to plants.”

Episode sources:

Hydnellum peckii overview and atromentin info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydnellum_peckii

Zombie-ant fungus life-cycle (National Geographic): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/cordyceps-zombie-fungus-takes-over-ants

50-million-year fossil zombie fungus: https://www.sci.news/paleontology/allocordyceps-baltica-09786.html

Fungal bioluminescence pathway transferred to tobacco (open-access paper): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7681015/

Dead man’s fingers ecology note: https://purduelandscapereport.org/article/dead-mans-fingers/Lion’s mane

(Hericium) neuro-protective review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5987239/

Slime-mould maze-solving experiment (Nature 2000): https://www.nature.com/articles/35035159

Without this one thing, every single thing you know and love would disappear. Soil would fail, forests would starve, antibiotics would, well, vanish, and your morning coffee, bread, beer, and even chocolate would be gone.

The thing I’m talking about is everywhere. It’s probably in your lunch. It’s almost certainly in your lungs. It’s in your sourdough starter, your compost heap.

Got a clue yet?

Most people don’t actually know what these things are.

I’m talking about fungi. Fungi are not plants, not animals, not bacteria — they’re something else entirely. And they’re really, really old.

They’re older than dinosaurs, older than sharks — they might even be older than plants, depending on how you define a plant.

Today, I’m diving into something I’m actually violently allergic to: fungus. I’m covering everything from what fungi actually are (because it turns out most of us have no idea) to why they might be the most important thing on Earth… ish.

In this episode I share:

• What prokaryotes and eukaryotes are
• What fungi actually are
• The different types of fungi
• How fungi moved from ocean to land and began a symbiotic relationship with plants
• How fungi can decompose almost anything — including radiation
• Zombie fungus (and whether we should worry)
• How fungi reproduce
• Why they’re incredibly useful
• Some of the annoying and dangerous things they do
• How we might use fungi to help fix the planet.

Key quotes:

"Fungi are more closely related to us than to plants."

"Turns out plants talk way more than you think they do."

Sources:

Billion-year-old fungal fossils (Nature 2019): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1217-0

Armillaria “humongous fungus” 9 km² individual: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-largest-organism-is-fungus/

Prototaxites 8 m Silurian-Devonian giant: https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-giant-fossils-may-be-world-s-oldest-known-terrestrial-fungi

90 % of plants with mycorrhizae (Nature Scitable): https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/an-ecological-and-evolutionary-perspective-on-mycorrhizal-24286790/

Mycorrhizal carbon sink 3–7 Gt CO₂ yr⁻¹ (Science 2022): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abf3457

Penicillin discovery background (Nobel Prize): https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/fleming/facts/

Statins from Penicillium citrinum (review): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5958453/

Cyclosporine discovery story: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7568434/

Psilocybin phase-II depression trial (JAMA Psychiatry 2021): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2787297

Plastic-eating fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora (2011 study): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22269855/

CDC overview of Candida auris drug resistance: https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/

Chytrid fungus amphibian decline paper (Science 2006): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1125069

Mycoremediation and mycofiltration review (Biodegradation 2018): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10532-018-0914-8

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

Leaded petrol has made us measurably dumber.

Scientists suspect that leaded petrol has also made us more aggressive and of course it kills people as well. And the same guy who put lead in fuel also created a miracle refrigerant that tore a hole in the one thing that protected our planet from runaway radiation from the sun.

This is the first of our Microgreens episodes where I spend a short amount of time answering your questions, or talking about something that may not get a whole, full episode.

For the first episode I wanted to talk about the guy who really f*ed the planet twice.

In this episode I share:

• The story of Thomas Midgley Jr.
• The issues with cars in the 1920s and how Thomas fixed it
• How lead got added to petrol
• The repercussions of lead in petrol started rapidly
• Was Thomas Midgley really to blame?
• Thomas's second F up – the problem of leaking fridges
• Understanding the science around lead and why it's so harmful to humans
• Why Freon was Thomas's solution to the killer fridge problem
• The science behind Freon and how it destroyed the ozone layer
• The Montreal Protocol and the healing of the ozone layer

Key quotes:

"Epidemiologists have since pinned a global loss of IQ points to this very factor"

"Higher lead levels also correlate with spikes in violent crime"

"A UN campaign only just got the last countries out of leaded fuel in 2021"

"Back in the 1920s fridges killed people"

"The only reason our planet is habitable at all is because the ozone layer prevents about 90% of that radiation from reaching the earth’s surface"

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Most of the cabs on the streets of New York back in 1899 were electric, so why did they disappear? And why has it been so hard to bring them back?

In this episode, I am diving into the history of electric vehicles to reveal why a cleaner, quieter, and generally better technology got stamped out almost as quickly as it arrived.

This is part of our series, “Inventions That Changed the World”, and I think you’ll find it very eye-opening.

In this episode, I share:

• The early history of the electric car
• Why electric vehicles vanished for almost a century
• The 3 players that were quietly steering the EV off the road
• How EVs made an attempted return in 1990
• What stopped the EVs in the 1990s
• How the emergence of Tesla influenced the latest EV surge
• Some of the myths around EVs that influence people's hatred of them
• What’s being done to stop the atrocious slave labour in EV production

Key Quotes

“EVs are better, end of story.”

“In Aotearoa, 12% of our cars are electric.”

“Most of the cabs on the streets of New York back in 1899 were electric.”

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Fast beauty may look pretty on the surface, but there is a massive catch; the real cost of keeping up with these ever-changing trends, to people and planet.

I'm having a chat about the not-so-pretty side of fast beauty – from the piles of plastic packaging to the pressure on our planet. I've got some stats that might just make you rethink that next 'must-have' beauty buy. But don't worry I do get it, and there are ways to buy beauty products you love, without so much impact. It's about finding that sweet spot between staying trendy and being a true kaitiaki.

In this episode I talk about:

• What fast beauty is and how it took over the industry
• How social media fuels trend cycles and overconsumption
• The environmental impact of beauty packaging and waste
• Why “natural” doesn’t always mean sustainable
• The hidden water and resource footprint behind beauty products
• What fast beauty means for ethics, labour, and ingredient sourcing
• The difference between cruelty-free and vegan (and why it matters)
• Why we buy more than we use - and what that really costs
• What to look for in truly sustainable beauty brands
• How to shift your routine without giving up what you love
• The one thing you can focus on to make your beauty routine more ethical
• Why your spending power matters more than you think

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

You've probably heard of vitamin B3. It's a molecule that's in your cells right now, quietly helping keep you alive. It goes by other names such as nicotinamide. You've also heard of niacinamide, particularly if you're a skincare girly on social media.

Sometimes it's just called vitamin B3, or occasionally you will see NAD plus booster.

It's all largely the same thing. Kind of.

I wanted to have a chat about this particular ingredient because it's one of the many pieces of magic in Incrediballs, my new drinks start-up, which launches next week, so I know a lot about this ingredient.

But I also want to talk about it because it's kind of a symptom of the massive wellness industry, which is actually about three times larger than pharma.

 So is it just hype, is it actually useful or does it just give you really expensive wee... ?

In this episode I share:

• The many names of nicotinamide and what it actually is
• The science around how our body uses nicotinamide
• Why most adverts about nicotinamide are rubbish
• The trials around nicotinamide and cognitive abilities
• The 3 pathways that NAD+ effects in regards to aging
• What can we actually say about NAD+
• Is Nicotinamide effective in helping in skin wellness?
• Why Nicotinamide can give you more energy, but not in the way most people claim
• Can it boost your metabolism
• What is a safe dose of nicotinamide?
• The amount of NAD+ Incrediballs

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Kia ora kaitiaki and welcome to the final episode in my nuclear energy mini-series. Over the last three episodes, I’ve taken you through the science, the messy history, and the chaos of radioactive disasters - but today? Today I’m answering the question I’ve been dancing around since the start:

Do we actually need nuclear energy to hit our climate goals - or can we just stick with solar, wind, and good old hydropower?

As always, the answer isn’t as straightforward as we’d like (and yes, I find that annoying too). But after wading through data, opinions, politics, and a few mild threats on LinkedIn, I’ve come to a conclusion that might help you cut through.

In this episode, I talk through:

• Why nuclear is low-carbon… but still not a silver bullet

• What it really costs to build a reactor (spoiler: a lot)

• The massive difference between what’s possible in theory and what actually works in reality

• Why New Zealand should probably never go nuclear (hello, earthquakes)

• How much land and water different energy sources really use

• And the biggest roadblock to progress: not physics, not finances… but people

We also take a little trip around the world - from France’s nuclear grid to Australia’s rooftop solar obsession, from China’s reactor production line to why tiny island nations are betting big on batteries.

So - is nuclear the hero, the villain, or just a very expensive middle child?
Tune in and find out. I promise I’ll actually give you an answer at the end. Kind of.

Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

It’s part 3 of our mini-series on nuclear power, and we’re talking about what’s going on in the reactor world and what the future of nuclear looks like.

That might seem dull, but we’ll be discussing questions we need to know like: will we all have mini reactors to run our houses? Or nuclear batteries to power our phones?

In this episode, I share:

• How different countries are currently using nuclear power

Part 2 of the Nuclear Mini-Series

This is part two of my mini-series on nuclear power and whether it could be the clean energy solution we’ve all been waiting for.

As I said before (and it bears repeating): fossil fuels kill about 8 million people every single year — more than the populations of Aotearoa and most of the Pacific Islands combined.

Despite that, nuclear power remains the energy source we fear the most. But should we?

In the last episode, we explored the science of nuclear — what it is, how it works, and why it’s not nearly as scary as it sounds. In this episode, we dive into its history — a sometimes horrifying, sometimes absurd, and often misunderstood timeline that shaped our collective anxiety around nuclear energy.

In this episode, I cover:

Fossil fuels kill about 8 million people every single year, which is more than the populations of Aotearoa and most of the remaining Pacific Islands put together.
Nuclear power, though - it’s the one that evokes all of that terror and fear, and, well, fair enough because radiation sickness is terrifying. But I am fascinated by nuclear energy ever since I found out that Chernobyl happened on my birthday, albeit the year before I was born, but still - fascinating.
The big fact is that nuclear is a far safer way to create energy than fossil fuels.
So it begs the question: if nuclear energy’s fatality rate is orders of magnitude lower than coal’s, why are we still burning coal like it's 1890?
To get into this, I’m doing a 4-part series on nuclear power, and to start with, I’ll be discussing what it actually is.

In this episode I share:

• What is an atom, what's it made of and how can they be changed
• How atoms can become reactive
• What nuclear reactions are and the creation of isotopes
• The two types of radiation
• What the 4 main types of ionising radiation are
• Neutrons and their role in radiation and nuclear reactors
• The fear and danger that comes with radiation

Key Quotes

“Ionising radiation can knock electrons out of DNA molecules and that is what ultimately can lead to cancer.”

“Ultimately radiation is if the neutron to proton ratio in an atom isn’t balanced, it calms itself by emitting energy.”

Find our full podcast via the website here:https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/