Introduction to Climate Extinction Politics: Season 3 of UCL Press Play
Posted on 25th February, 2026
Have you heard about UCL Press Play: our podcast and documentary series featuring groundbreaking voices and cutting-edge ideas? Join leading academics as they uncover fresh insights on diverse topics such as queer histories, neurodiversity and climate justice.
The climate crisis affects every part of society, but those least responsible for climate change often suffer its worst impacts. This disparity is the focus of Climate Extinction Politics – The Greatest Good; the latest season of our podcast and documentary series UCL Press Play. Read on to hear more about the academics who join Professor Philip Schofield, Director of the Bentham Project, to discuss their work in the second series.
Episode 1: The Ends of Coal, featuring Dr Andrew Seaton
Dr Andrew Seaton is a historian of politics, social history, medicine and environment, who has been recently shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, and won the American Historical Association’s Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best book on British history. He is currently writing a book on the history of coal, and draws exclusive insights from that research in his episode.
Episode 2: Climate Politics, featuring Dr Fergus Green
Dr Fergus Green is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy at UCL. In this episode, he draws on his research exploring the drivers of and responses to climate change, and examines the fossil fuel industry’s influence on policy and public perception.
Episode 3: No Natural Disasters, featuring Professor Ilan Kelman
Professor Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health at UCL, and a Professor II at the University of Agder. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, integrating climate change into both. In this episode, he argues that disasters result from human choices, not natural events alone, and suggests what can be done to prevent future crises.
Episode 4: Biodiversity Loss, featuring Professor Jon Bridle
Professor Jon Bridle is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at UCL, and Director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research (CBER) within the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE). In this episode, he discusses the biodiversity crisis driven by human overconsumption, habitat destruction, and climate change, and outlines steps for conscious consumption and community action.
Episode 5: Ecosystems and Disease, featuring Dr Rory Gibb
Dr Rory Gibb is Wolfson UCL Excellence Fellow in UCL’s Genetics, Evolution & Environment Department. He is an ecologist and epidemiologist whose research explores how changes in climate, ecological and social systems combine to drive infectious disease in people and animals. In this episode, he discusses how climate change and social inequality are fuelling increases in mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever and West Nile virus.
Episode 6: Why We Should Love Wasps, featuring Professor Seirian Sumner
Professor Seirian Sumner is Professor of Behavioural Ecology in UCL’s Genetics, Evolution & Environment Department. A behavioural ecologist, she is especially interested in social wasps, and is working hard to raise the profile of these ecologically important insects, among both scientific and lay communities. In this episode, she makes the case for embracing wasps as allies in biodiversity and science.
Episode 7: Universities and Climate Change, featuring Professor Tristan McCowan
Professor Tristan McCowan is Professor of International Education at the Institute of Education. His work focuses on higher education in the international context, including issues of access, curriculum, alternative models and sustainability. In this episode, he argues that from resisting climate denial to modelling sustainable communities, universities have both the responsibility and the potential to help shape a just climate future.
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