Let’s Hope The Weather Holds

We desire GMO food, said no consumer ever!

In this interview Hans Eisenbeis, Director of Mission & Messaging at the Non-GMO Project talks about farms and farmers in the US, how the Non-GMO Project operates, disagreements in science about the health of GMO's, how systems transitions look, he talks about the unique position New Zealand is in as a Non-GMO nation, soil health, externalising costs from GMO's, he asks if we are short-cutting our way out of existential crisis, the innovation fallacy and more.
Have a look at their work on https://www.nongmoproject.org/

Takahe, merganser, dodgy museum practices and evolution of birds

Associate Professor Nic Rawlence, director of the Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory, talks to me about the extinct fish eating merganser duck and Takahe research, dodgy museum collecting practices of the 1800’s, how New Zealand has a much more cosmopolitan makeup of biodiversity than previously thought, how the data we have make us form weird relationships that seem implausible, population bottlenecks and more.

Slaughtering a bison with stone tools

In this episode Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Kent State University in Ohio, USA, Metin Eren tells me about how he, his department and the Meateater crew slaughtered a bison with clovis tools.
The trial was followed by a paper that describes their techniques, questions and results in depth.
Metin tells me about flint knapping, new ideas in archeology, clovis people, life 13,000 years ago, what we know, what we thought we knew, what we don't know...you'll get it once you listen to the podcast.
We agree that the clovis story is the story of all of us.
For images go to my Instagram account.

#39 The biggest fight for NZ hunting in 60 years - The Forest & Bird lawsuit

I speak to Roy Sloan, General Manager of the Fiorldand Wapiti Foundation about the lawsuit Forest & Bird has brought against the foundation and against the Department of Conservation, and about the consequences it might have for all hunters in New Zealand.
All deer species are introduced into New Zealand.
Hunters say they have to be sustainably managed, with lobby groups saying they have to be removed as much as possible, often via poison bait or by helicopters operators who shoot them, as they destroy native flaura.
FYI folks, we had connectivity issues and the sound is quite poor at times.

#38 Book on Chamois to reveal new DNA and historic evidence - Gwyn Thurlow

I speak to Gwyn Thurlow, Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel at the New Zealand Deer Stalkers, about new DNA evidence on the origin of New Zealand chamois, and new historic finds on the history and practicalities of their translocation after local and Austrian newspapers were digitized.
Gwyn is working on a book he hopes to publish in a year with the evidence and his years of Chamois hunting as topics.
We speak abou local herds, how they were caught in Austria, how they were shipped and almost perished on their trip, what they were fed and loads more. He gives me Chamois hunting tips.
 
 
 

#37 Frederic Leroy - The campaign against meat

Podcast live. The campaign against meat.
In this episode I speak to Prof. Dr. Frédéric Leroy about the campaign against meat.
Frederic is part of a research group in industrial microbiology and Food Biotechnology at the Department of Bioengineering Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels.
He talks about the the intricacies and politics of the EAT Lancet diet and its stakeholders, he tells me about one liners, hyperbole and simplification of the meat and livestock argument, climate and the vilification of meat, we talk about why he took to Twitter to tackle misinformation about meat, how studies about meat’s place in healthy diets have been inaccurate, why a UN environmental group says meat is our most pressing issue, we talk about fermented meat, issues with the Global Burden of Disease study, why the fight against CO2 has left the building, and the influencers in the campaign against meat.
Frederic on Twitter/X @fleroy1974

#36 Category 3 fly company - work your fingers to the bone

In this episode I talk to Sean Andrews, founder of the New Zealand based Category 3 Fly Company.
C3 supplies flies world wide.
He tells me about ice fishing for trout with flies and a hand line in Sweden, how he learned to fly fish on chalk streams in the UK as child on the same rivers Frank Sawyers was a river keeper, how difficult it is to find a tying partner, who the greatest fly tyers in the world are, why tying a hare and copper commercially is difficult, he speculates that the 101 is the perfect fly, recruiting people for fly tying who needs a leg up in life, paying royalties for new fly patterns, how you get space in a fly shop, the politics in the fly industry and the challenges the industry faces.
https://www.category3flycompany.com
For those interested to read on some of the UK father of fly fishing Sean mentions go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sawyer_(writer)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._E._M._Skues 

#35 Cactus Outdoor - Outdoor gear meant to last

I speak to Ben Kepes from Cactus Outdoor about making hard wearing outdoor gear locally, how climbing bums become business owners, 30 years of Cactus Outdoor, their ethos of gear that last vs. gear that has to be constantly replaced, a ethical business model that is not seasonal, his outdoor missions, other companies he admires, how to make profit when you make quality and not quantity, what is legacy and more.