OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance

What is a sustainable human population? Chris Tucker, author of A Planet of 3 Billion, joins us. We're asking the Earth to support 80 million more humans every year, and we add to the challenge by deleting some of the needed resources from the planet each year. Meanwhile, too few us ask the question, "What is a sustainable human population?" Christopher Tucker did ask the question, went to work on it, and wrote a book about it: A Planet of 3 Billion: Mapping Humanity's Long History of Ecological Destruction and Finding Our Way to a Resilient Future. He came up with an "optimistic" answer of 3 billion. This episode features the first half of an insightful conversation we recently had with Tucker. Our discussion includes why he avoids using the term "overpopulation" (and why we DO use it), how and why the taboo on discussion of this topic came about, and the beautiful way we can bend the curve of human population numbers. How does achieving a global average fertility rate of 1.5 by 2030 sound? Is that really so crazy? Tucker points out this is just accelerating a norm shift that's already underway. Christopher Tucker is chairman of the American Geographical Society, and strategic advisor to the US national security community. He holds a BA, MA, and PhD from Columbia University. Chris serves on a number of boards including the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation and the Open Geospatial Consortium. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/christopher-tucker1 ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today's interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity's excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings. Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance. *Episodes from 2016-2021 were hosted by former executive director Dave Gardner and later with co-host Erika Arias, and then with co-host Nandita Bajaj. Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance

Are nations with low birth rates going to collapse due to a temporary bulge in the ranks of the elderly? Jane O'Sullivan, lead author of Silver Tsunami or Silver Lining? Why we should not fear an ageing population, joins us. Depopulation alarmists in numerous countries are pushing for baby bonuses or high immigration quotas in order to avoid getting into recovery from growth addiction. It's all for the sake of maintaining perpetually increasing numbers of taxpayers, consumers and workers. This approach to demography is unsustainable and dangerous. Jane explains why the fears propagated by alarmists are vastly exaggerated or ill-founded. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcasts/jane-osullivan ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today's interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity's excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings. Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance. *Episodes from 2016-2021 were hosted by former executive director Dave Gardner and later with co-host Erika Arias, and then with co-host Nandita Bajaj. Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance

A recent report on Deutsche Welle's Eco India environmental news magazine recently asked, "Are There Too Many of Us on Our Planet?" The report mysteriously arrived at the conclusion that, "It's not the population element that's going to be the problem." Reporter Aditi Rajagopal advised our attention should be redirected to, "the more hidden and dangerous concerns of waste and overconsumption." We applaud Rajagopal for covering this topic, but we're compelled to go through her report and correct an array of instances of faulty logic. At the top of our list with our guest Nandita Bajaj: the mistaken notion that there is a contest between overpopulation and overconsumption for biggest worry. We invite her to join us on a future episode if she'd like to discuss this with us. We need journalists to be up to speed on the human overpopulation issue. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/nandita-bajaj1 ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today's interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity's excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings. Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance. *Episodes from 2016-2021 were hosted by former executive director Dave Gardner and later with co-host Erika Arias, and then with co-host Nandita Bajaj. Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance