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PODCAST

Look Near First

Look Near First aims to help reconcile our wishes for exploration, adventure, and enjoying our lives on this world, with the need to reduce the impacts of climate change. I speak with guests from many backgrounds to explore how cutting our emissions from travel may not feel like a sacrifice at all. By looking closer to home, to local landscapes, culture and community, could looking near first be a key to greater connection and happiness?

science earth sciences

All Episodes

00:32:40

Kim Grant: The Power of Mindful Photography

Look Near First ·

2026/09/21

Photography gave me a way to express myself and see the world more clearly. Through the lens, I found peace, joy, and a connection to something far greater than myself. In a world full of challenges, what if photography could help us see the light?Kim Grant is a mindful photography guide based on the Moray Coast, Scotland. In this episode she shares her journey, how photography has changed her life, and how she now helps others to find the same joy, connection and appreciation for the beauty that

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00:57:19

The Beauty in Low-Energy Living, with Mike Berners-Lee

Look Near First ·

2026/07/20

Despite technology enabling us to become more efficient at almost everything we do, our demand for energy, year on year, continues to rise. What on earth is going on? And what is all this energy really doing for us? Is it making our lives better?In this conversation with Mike Berners-Lee, the hugely respected climate campaigner and author of How Bad Are Bananas, There is no Planet B and A Climate of Truth, we talk about how reevaluating how we are using energy, and making a conscious effort to cut

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01:14:51

Dave Powell: Our Brains on Flying in a Climate Crisis

Look Near First ·

2026/07/03

On the face of it, something doesn't seem to make sense. Most of us are worried about climate change, and most of us also believe that flying is a major contributor to climate change. Yet around half of the UK population flies at least once a year, some much more than that, with demand continuing to grow.What is going on there? If there appears to be something irrational - a disconnect between what we understand and the choices we are making, why might that be? Is there something about the way

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00:43:49

Living Flight Free, with Anna Hughes

Look Near First ·

2026/06/16

Anna Hughes is an influential campaigner and activist. In 2018, she founded Flight Free UK which attracted widespread attention and acclaim, and has been successful in persuading people to think about their travel choices, to try a year without flying, and, literally, find out where that gets them. In this conversation, she talks to me from the cabin of her narrowboat about the inspiration behind Flight Free, what life is like as campaigner when some people think you're out to spoil their

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01:08:08

When I appeared on Your Brain on Climate, with Dave...

Look Near First ·

2026/05/18

This is an episode from Dave's podcast, Your Brain on Climate, which features me! Dave wanted to talk to me about how climate change led me to a place where I felt I had no option but to leave my job as an airline pilot. We also talk a little bit about how our brains often don't make the most rational decisions when faced with challenges that they didn't evolve for, such as, for example, flying aeroplanes, and dealing with climate change. Fortunately, Dave has agreed to be a guest on

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00:12:51

Bonus Episode - when I heard myself on Your Brain On...

Look Near First ·

2026/05/15

Wow. Hearing yourself on a podcast is a big moment, or at least it was for me, especially when, in that podcast, you dive deep into the issues that have turned your life upside-down. This is a brief reflection on the conversation I had with Dave, and how it has helped me to see what needs to happen next.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pilot-who-quit-for-the-climate-with-joel-walker/id1577093580?i=1000767951095

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01:04:06

How can you have a great local adventure? With...

Look Near First ·

2026/03/16

Alastair Humphreys has written books about his epic, worldwide adventures, which included cycling around the world, walking across India and rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. But more recently, he has turned his attention much, much closer to home and, not being someone to do things by halves, he has taken 'local' to an extreme.In this episode, we explore some of the reasons behind the switch, and more importantly, how those local adventures compare to the global-scale ones. What has he discovered

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00:35:36

The Magic of Stopping to Draw Pt 2: Silvie Hibdon and...

Look Near First ·

2026/03/13

Inspired by John Ruskin's example (see part 1 in the previous episode), I was keen to get out on a nature walk with my sketch pad. But at this time, I met Silvie Hibdon, a co-fellow in Cohort 8 of the Climatebase course, has set up the non-profit organisation 'Arts Humanitas', and is leading the organisation of the San Francisco biennale in art, nature and ecology. She is knowledgable and passionate about how art can connect us to the natural world, and foster a desire to protect it.This

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00:43:12

The Magic in Stopping to Draw Pt 1: Howard Hull and...

Look Near First ·

2026/03/13

John Ruskin is a fascinating figure from the 19th century. He wished for a fairer society, and advocated strongly for social reform. He was also concerned by what he recognised as harmful effects of the industrial revolution - not only seeing how the emissions might harm the environment, but how the ever-increasing pace of life could inhibit us from really seeing and appreciating the wonder and beauty in nature and art.In this episode, I talk with Howard Hull, the director and curator of Brantwood,

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00:47:13

Learning to Love Where We Live with Olivia Stamp

Look Near First ·

2026/02/17

Olivia Stamp is a writer and project builder committed to unleashing our collective intelligence and imagination to create a future we actually want to live in. A couple of years ago she left her comfortable life in London to embark on a more adventurous life - adventures of the kind that arise from breaking away from societal expectations and trappings, and finding communities and ways of living which treat our planet more as home to cherish than as a commodity to consume. Part of this is her

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