In just over two weeks, Carbon Bros , a collaboration between Non-Toxic and Drilled , will be making its long-awaited debut on July 25. Here’s the gist: You’ve heard it from cable news pundits, Democratic strategists, and your favorite YouTuber: young men swung the last U.S. election for Trump. Understanding what’s driving “the manosphere” and how to reach the young men in its grips is on everyone’s mind right now, but we’re zooming in on a different corner of it: the intersection between male g...
Jul 10, 2025•4 min
Join me in the studio of artist and activist Jay Critchley, a Provincetown legend known for his provocative work at the intersection of masculinity, environmental degradation, and consumption. Each year in his annual RE-ROOTER Ceremony, the artist includes the public in an attempt to discard the objects and experiences that prohibit us making from a deeper connection with the earth and human life, and to “re-root” ourselves to the earth. He also pushes a flaming Christmas tree into the Cape Cod ...
May 31, 2025•29 min
In this episode, I'm joined by Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days , Palo Alto , and What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis , out April 15, 2025 and available for pre-order. His new book is a survey of left political-economic thought, broken down into what Malcolm sees as the three viable strategies for addressing the climate crisis. To end our economic addiction to fossil fuels, we can use the dark magic of marketcraft, build muscular public power, or we can go full communi...
Apr 03, 2025•49 min
Like a rhizomatic network, Non-Toxic is linking and building with investigative climate journalist Amy Westervelt. She and the Drilled podcast team will be helping out with a special mini-season of Non-Toxic x Drilled, launching summer 2025. For those of you who aren’t already devoted Drilled listeners, it’s one of the best climate podcasts out there. They’ve covered everything from the birth of climate denial to the criminalization of climate protest to Exxon’s corrupt efforts to secure deep se...
Mar 26, 2025•32 min
On this bonus episode, we're joined by environmental reporter and former Non-Toxic co-host, Andrew Lewis, to discuss the first weeks of the Trump administration's climate policy. We've also got some personal life updates like moving to Cape Cod, and trying to build a house without wrapping it in plastic. Listen in for insights on FEMA investigations, woke weather, future climate predictions, and our wobbily food system. Support the show via Patreon and follow us on Substack . And for more...
Feb 09, 2025•26 min
On this episode of Non-Toxic, we're going Hollywood, breaking down the PR wars and legal wrangling between the stars of the domestic violence drama, It Ends With Us . Justin Baldoni, the director and co-star of the film, is facing serious allegations of sexual harassment, inappropriate on-set behavior–and a coordinated PR campaign to destroy the reputation of the film's leading actress, Blake Lively. (Notably, he's also the host of the podcast Man Enough .) Now, he's filed countersuits of his ow...
Jan 06, 2025•40 min
For this end of year episode of Non-Toxic, we dive back into the vault to revisit a fascinating conversation with Alec Leach, a sustainability strategist and author of The World is on Fire but We're Still Buying Shoes . (He's also got a great substack. ) Alec shares his eye-opening journey from a high-flying fashion editor to an advocate for mindful consumption. We discuss the myths around sustainability, the psychological grip of fashion marketing, and practical steps to deprogram from excessi...
Dec 29, 2024•30 min
Things are heating up in this episode of Non-Toxic. I'm talking to Clare Boerigter, a fire research fellow, science writer, and former wildland firefighter who has been on the front lines of America's increasingly out of control wildfires. Clare shares stories from her three seasons fighting fires, the impact of climate change on wildfires, and the challenges faced by women in the firefighting community. We also explore the science of fire behavior, human encroachment on places likely to burn, a...
Dec 12, 2024•34 min
In this episode of Non-Toxic, I dive into the world of extreme muscularity with Dr Roberto Olivardia, a researcher and clinician who helped coin the term “muscle dysmorphia.” Dr Olivardia charts the rise of muscle dysmorphia among men and his own journey into studying eating disorders and OCD through the lens of masculinity. His book, The Adonis Complex , came out in 2000, and we look back at how body image issues among men have evolved from the 1970s to the present day. While social media and s...
Nov 28, 2024•41 min
In this election special, we're diving deep into the not so surprising rightward shift among young men. Our guest, Shauna Daly, co-founder of the Young Men Research Initiative and a seasoned Democratic campaign operative, provides insights into why many young men turned to Trump in 2024. We explore the widening gender gap, the unique media consumption habits of young men, and the broader implications for the Democratic Party. From the rise of podcasts like Joe Rogan's to the underlying issues me...
Nov 14, 2024•30 min
In this episode of Non-Toxic, we're talking with beauty critic Jessica DeFino about the evolving culture of male beauty standards. From the rise of the metrosexual to the booming trend for unisex products to the intricacies of hair plugs, we explore how the beauty industry is making money by shifting beauty norms to include men. Plus, get the inside scoop on Ryan Gosling's controversial fillers at the Oscars and why incels want make their jaws look more square. If you liked this episode, you can...
Oct 31, 2024•35 min
In this episode of Non-Toxic, we're traumatizing our egos in nature's vastness and exploring the roots of the term "toxic masculinity" in the mythopoetic men's movement. Through a conversation with Ian MacKenzie, host of The Mythic Masculine Podcast , we delve into the history, core concepts, and key figures of that largely forgotten (yet hugely influential) moment. We also examine how the mythopoets reacted to second-wave feminism, and how the current incarnation of Men's Work has been influenc...
Oct 17, 2024•39 min
In episode 1 of Season 3, I talk to one of the main figures responsible for the spread of the term “toxic masculinity,” Dr Terry Kupers, an academic, psychiatrist, expert witness, and former doctor for the LA chapter of the Black Panthers. (He’s led quite the life.) Terry’s research on the violent conditions he saw in US prisons helped spread the term “toxic masculinity” beyond its hippie origins (more on those origins later this season). While I was only able to include a few quotes from him in...
Oct 01, 2024•32 min
This week we have a special Earth Day bonus episode. The intrepid producer of our show, Andrew Lewis, is reporting from the Society for Environmental Journalists. Andrew gives us an update on Money Island, the community at the center of his first book, who refused to sell their land to a New Jersey flood program. He also shares so very interesting polling data for the 2024 election that came out during SEJ. Apparently there are hundreds of thousands of self-declared evironmentalists who have nev...
Apr 22, 2024•20 min
For this bonus episode of Non-toxic, we're catching up with our producer, Andrew, and taking calls from our loyal listeners while dispensing poorly thought out advice. From how to get your brother-in-law to stop watching Formula 1 to the climate impact of AI, we are covering a lot of ground this week, and hopefully, helping you live a little less toxically. To thank these callers, we're asking listeners to head over to our Patreon to vote on your favorite question. Whoever wins this poll will re...
Mar 29, 2024•29 min
In the Season 2 finale of Non-toxic we're talking with barrister Paul Powlesland about the universal right to enjoy natural places, despite what landowners may tell you. He's the legal counsel for the activist group Right to Roam, who are pushing for greater access to England and Wale's wild places and the end of restrictions on hikers and walkers (within reason). The more time people spend in nature, Paul argues, the more they care about it. Which is critical when it comes to building the polit...
Mar 07, 2024•38 min
Where does your crazy climate-denying uncle come up with those outlandish talking points that he trots out at Thanksgiving or Christmas? Things like: “Wind turbines cause autism!” Whatever he's saying probably isn't something he made up on his own. In all likelihood, he's been watching too much YouTube, the source of an alarming amount of climate disinformation. But it’s not just the volume of climate disinformation that’s changing on Youtube, it’s also the specific talking points that people us...
Feb 29, 2024•41 min
This week, we'll be talking with Mato Wayuhi, a musician, rapper, and composer from South Dakota, whose forthcoming major label debut is called Stankface Standing Soldier . You may have also heard his music in the film War Pony , and the hit television series on Hulu, Reservation Dogs. In this conversation, we talk about the tension between being a traditional versus contemporary Native artist, stereotypes about masculinity in Native culture, and rap as reporting. Though Mato’s been around the w...
Feb 22, 2024•29 min
This week we talk to photographer, filmmaker and artist Richard Mosse, who spent two years documenting the desctruction of one of the most ecologically sensitive areas of the world, the Amazon Rainforest. Using infrared film, GIS mapping technologies, and ultraviolet cameras, Mosse explores every scale of the rainforest, from miscroscopic organisms to hectares of cleared land. On the human level, the film follows both the indigenous people who are trying to hold on to their way of life and the l...
Feb 15, 2024•47 min
This week, we're joined from Berlin by author and sustainability expert, Alec Leach. As a former fashion editor, Alec has spent a large part of his career understanding how men in particular are convinced, persuaded and tricked into buying things they don't really need. While in the past, we might've thought of the young woman at the mall as the stereotypical overconsumer, Alec argues that there's a new paradigm at play, that the so-called hypebeast—the nerdy, internet-obsessed, sneaker-collecti...
Feb 09, 2024•31 min
In this episode of Non-Toxic, we talk to Nathaniel Rich, author of Losing Earth: A Recent History . It’s a bracing conversation about the little known story of the 1980s, when scientists, politicians, and policy-makers were all in agreement that something had to be done to lower carbon emissions—and how at the crucial moment—they failed to act. There are some surprising insights about what went wrong, how to talk about climate change, as well as what we’ve learned about moral urgency since those...
Feb 01, 2024•44 min
In this episode of Non-toxic, we're talking with activist Amanda Sukenick and philosopher Matti Häyry about the state of antinatalist thinking, exploring the arguments about risk and the potential for suffering that have come to animate a certain corner of the "doomer" climate conversation. This is the second in a two part series on climate babies. Last week, we talked to Sian Norris about far-right efforts to roll back women's bodily autonomy in order to increase populations of white Americans ...
Jan 25, 2024•41 min
What do abortion restrictions have to do with climate change? According to believers of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, it's all connected. Journalist and author Sian Norris joins Non-toxic to talk about her new book, Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global . We talk about everything from the fascistic obsession with the laws of nature to Vladimir Putin's pro-natalist vision for Russia to why far-right tradwives love to post photos of their homest...
Jan 18, 2024•43 min
This week on Non-toxic we're talking about the state of advertising in the age of the climate crisis with Lucy von Sturmer, greenwashing guru and founder of Creatives for Climate. Lucy charts her journey from fossil fuel hack to climate activist and breaks down how ads continue to tap into the sexual insecurities and desires of men and women to sell them on the idea of sustainability—or undermine it. From electric pickup trucks that won't quit until their payload is delivered to Kim Kardashian's...
Jan 15, 2024•31 min
Researchers are starting to discover surprising links between loneliness and biophobia. Why are people avoiding social interactions and staying inside so much? Why does an indoor life make the natural world seem so scary and gross? And how do these two trends affect men in particular, who are already more lonely than women? We talk to journalist Hannah Seo to find out. Support Non-toxic today. Links: Recent findings on "the vicious cycle of biophobia" How spending time in green spaces is link...
Jan 04, 2024•37 min
When it comes to sustainability, something is popping in the state of Denmark. In this bonus episode, recorded in the offices of Ganni during Copenhagen Fashion Week, we talk with former Ganni CEO Nicolaj Reffstrup and (di)vision Creative Director Simon Wick about how Denmark has positioned itself as a global sustainability leader, what it takes to run a sustainable fashion company, and whether sustainability in the fashion industry is even possible. Further reading: My article for The New York ...
Aug 24, 2023•48 min
It’s the season finale of Non-toxic, and we’re thinking about endings. In this case, what happens to our bodies when we die. We’re asking why do we cremate people or pump them full of formaldehyde and then trap them in a casket six feet under? Bob Hendrikx, inventor and founder of Loop, thinks there’s a better way to return to the place from whence we came: Mycelium coffins that can compost a human body in a matter of weeks. As Bob likes to say, we’re all going to die one day. Do you want your b...
Aug 03, 2023•31 min
There’s a better way to landscape your garden. That's the message Jordan "JP Charisma" Parker is preaching on YouTube and TikTok, where he's teaching his tens of thousands of followers the lost art of native plant gardening. In our conversation with JP, we learn why native species are better than imports for your local environment (and your water bill) and how they can help fragile species, like butterflies and bees, to keep doing their thing. JP also reflects on his interesting — and sometimes ...
Jul 27, 2023•24 min
Did you know that illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest criminal enterprise in the world? Though it touches every corner of the globe–there is no international agency devoted to stopping it–so ex-intelligence operative Andrea Crosta stepped in. As head of Earth League International, Andrea has spent the past ten years investigating and exposing the people who get rich wiping out rare species and despoiling our planet. And he’s got a lot of stories to tell. In this episode, Non-toxic...
Jul 20, 2023•45 min
Fire up the grill, fellas… This week, Andrew talks to journalist and author Joe Fassler, who went undercover for The Guardian to investigate an invite-only “beefluencer” training program created by America’s biggest beef lobby. What he uncovered was a complex public messaging machine funneling beef industry climate denialism through university-affiliated research groups and into the Facebook feeds of your unsuspecting friends and neighbors. How do you like your psy-ops: rare, medium, or well don...
Jul 13, 2023•41 min
