In the popular imagination, preppers are busy hoarding tinned food in their bunkers while they wait for the end of the world. But is this what most prepping looks like? And is climate change as bad as all that?

The bin fire of the last few years has ramped the eco-anxiety up to an 11. But as we go about our lives, studying, feeding our families, paying off our debts and waiting for the next season of The Great British Bake Off, have we all put our heads a little too far into the sand? Sure, we’re all worried, but we can’t be thinking about it all the time, much less heading to the hills to shoot our dinner and drag it back to our underground bunkers. Besides, it won't come to that... will it?

Is there anything we can learn from the prepping mindset as the reality of climate change comes barrelling toward us?

This episode features:

• John Scarinci – President, Australian Preppers Survival League
• Kezia Barker – Senior Lecturer in Geography, Liverpool John Moores University
• Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering

Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Earth is cracking under the weight of our expectations, with growth held up as the economic north star. Meanwhile, wildlife populations are collapsing, the ocean is acidifying, and carbon emissions are still increasing. Despite everything we know about what’s wrong and what to do about it, we cling to our current way of life.

Civilizations have collapsed before. Could it be happening again? And if it is, what can we be doing to prepare for it?

This episode features:

• Richard Kingsford – Professor of Ecology and Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW Science
• Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering
• Mark Diesendorf – Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, UNSW Sydney
• Jem Bendell – Emeritus Professor of Sustainability Leadership, University of Cumbria

Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we struggle to reduce carbon emissions, environmental markets are creating a world where money really does grow on trees. But does putting a price on nature, and forcing the economy to value the things it’s always taken for granted, really work? And can it help us prepare for climate change?

This episode features:

• Miri (Margaret) Raven – Senior Scientia Lecture, UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture
• Megan Evans – Senior Lecturer, UNSW Canberra
• William Glamore – Professor of Environmental Engineering , UNSW Engineering
• Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering

Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We. Love. Heat. Bring on the summer! Right? But as each month sees another heat record broken, should we start thinking about heat differently?

What’s happening on a local and global level to prepare us for extreme weather events – and for a much sweatier future?

This episode features:

• Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick – Professor of Climate Science, ANU
• Lan Ding – Associate Professor of Built Environment, UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture
• William Craft – Sustainable Design Researcher, UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture
• Shayne Gary – Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, UNSW Business School
• Giovanni Cunico – PhD Candidate, UNSW Business School
• Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering
• Tim Howlett – Team Leader Growth Planning Projects, Dubbo Regional Council

Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to climate change, answers can be difficult to nail down. Will the world reach net zero in time? What does a climate change future even look like? Will the changes come in my lifetime – or is it my kids or grandkids who will suffer? With every uncertainty, you can feel your head sink a little deeper into the sand...

What is it about our lives, and the way we do, or don’t, think about climate change, that makes it so difficult to change our behaviors? And what’s being done to help motivate people in high-risk areas to prepare?

This episode features:

• Ray Langenfelds – Atmospheric Scientist, CSIRO
• Tommy Wiedmann – Professor of Sustainability, UNSW Engineering
• Ben Newell – Professor of Psychology, UNSW Science
• Candice Boyd – Associate Producer of Geography and Registered Clinical Psychologist, University of Melbourne
• Jeremy Moss – Professor of Philosophy, UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture
• Brian Cook – Associate Professor of Geography, University of Melbourne

Preppers is created by the UNSW Centre for Ideas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get ready to confront the uncomfortable truths about climate change with investigative humorist and climate action enthusiast Dan Ilic in Preppers, a podcast by the UNSW Centre for Ideas that dives deep into the realities we often avoid.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.