Bad Idea #2 "Everything is getting worse!" with Hannah Ritchie

🔍 Episode Summary:

In this energising and data-packed conversation, Mark Lynas sits down with Hannah Ritchie, lead researcher at Our World in Data and author of Not the End of the World, to confront one of the most pervasive bad ideas out there: that everything is getting worse.

Hannah argues that, while environmental challenges are real and urgent, the story of human progress is just as important — and overwhelmingly positive. From reductions in child mortality and extreme poverty to progress on clean energy and air pollution, Hannah lays out the evidence that things are getting better, and explains why excessive doomerism and moralising can get in the way of real climate action.

They tackle controversial topics like degrowth, depopulation, meat consumption, nuclear and renewables, and more — all with the goal of defending optimism grounded in facts.

🧠 Topics Discussed:

• 📊 Why most people are wrong about the state of the world

• 👶 Huge progress in child and maternal mortality

• 🌍 The truth about extreme poverty and hunger

• 🌳 Have we passed peak deforestation?

• 🌬️ Air pollution: the global success story no one talks about

• 📰 Media-driven negativity bias and noble cause corruption

• 🐄 How reducing beef and lamb consumption could halve farmland use

• ⚡ Why energy is solvable — but food is the real moonshot

• 🧫 Lab-grown meat, innovation, and pragmatic environmentalism

• 💥 Why degrowth and depopulation arguments fall flat

• 💡 Rebranding eco-modernism and the power of “urgent optimism”
  

👩‍🔬 Guest Bio: Hannah Ritchie is Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher at Our World in Data and author of the best-selling book Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. Her work focuses on using data to understand and solve the world’s biggest problems — from climate change to poverty and health. Hannah is also the co-host of the podcast Solving for Climate, where she interviews innovators working on climate solutions.

📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:

• Not the End of the World – Hannah Ritchie

• Our World in Data

• Factfulness – Hans Rosling

• Solving for Climate podcast

• The Magic Washing Machine – Hans Rosling (YouTube)

• Enlightenment Now – Steven Pinker

💬 Quote Highlights:

“The world can be terrible, getting better, and still need to improve — all at the same time.” — Hannah Ritchie

“Climate change is a catastrophic risk, but not an existential one. And that distinction matters.” — Hannah Ritchie

“We don't just need anger — we need a vision for a better future to work toward.” — Hannah Ritchie

“We can’t solve problems by moralising people into submission. We need good, scalable alternatives.” — Mark Lynas

🌐 About WePlanet:WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement defending the science-based solutions we need to save the world — from clean energy and sustainable food to prosperity for all. Learn more at weplanet.org.

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