Inside the Fight Against Climate Disinformation with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
Release Date: 08/15/2026
Inside the Fight Against Climate Disinformation with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
What if the biggest threat to our oceans isn't just plastic, but the lies designed to keep us confused about it? In this eye-opening episode of the Beautiful World podcast, Kathryn Nelson sits down with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania since 2012 and lifelong ocean advocate known as "the Surfing Senator," for a candid conversation recorded in his final weeks in the Australian Senate. Senator Peter explores his fight to pass Australia's Extended Producer Responsibility bill, the disinformation campaigns funded by fossil fuel interests to delay climate...
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Homesteading, Natural Building & the Anti-Trad Wife | Arielle Crawford of the Realness Preserve
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
What if the future isn't about inventing something new—but remembering what already worked? In this episode of Beautiful World, I sit down with Arielle Crawford of the Realness Preserve and Texas Cob Company to explore natural building, healthier homes, regenerative living, and the practical skills that create resilient communities. We discuss cob homes, lime plaster, mould-free construction, homesteading, purpose, partnership, and why traditional knowledge is becoming increasingly relevant in the modern world. We also dive into the "tradwife" conversation, exploring how women can reclaim...
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What's Really in our Food? | Glyphosate, Soil Health, & The Future of Food with Blair Beattie
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
What if feeling better starts with looking a little closer at the food we eat every day? In this eye-opening episode of the Beautiful World podcast, Kathryn Nelson sits down with Blair Beattie, Executive Director of Farmers Footprint Australia, for an enlightening conversation about food, health, farming, and our connection to the natural world. Together, they explore the impact of glyphosate (the world's most widely used pesticide) on our food systems, why so many people are struggling with chronic health issues, and how reconnecting with real food, healthy soil, and local communities may be...
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48: The Truth Behind Shark Culling with Andre Borrell
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
In the 1930s, Australia’s Government Shark Control Program planted baited drum lines and shark nets around its beaches to protect swimmers and surfers. But what if the true killer isn’t sharks but the very same program that claims to protect us? In this episode, I’m joined by Andre Borrell, director of Envoy: Shark Cull; a documentary that exposes the ugly truth behind Australia’s shark control program. Partnered with experts, it debunks the program’s effectiveness and highlights sharks’ undeserved reputation of being dangerous killers and their important...
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47: Our Soil Situation with Ryland Engelhart, producer of Netflix’s Kiss the Ground
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
When we begin our move into a more sustainable life, we can be so quickly reeled into the idea that consuming animal products and byproducts are bad; that we should be into much more plant-based food, but what if that isn’t the big picture? In this episode, I have Ryland Engelhart, producer of Netflix’s Kiss the Ground, which is a documentary that focuses on our soil health situation. He shares with us what we need to do to keep our soils diverse, and how we can contribute as soil advocates. Being earth-conscious is more than just consuming plant-based choices, it’s contributing and...
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46: Claiming Your Aboriginality and Paying Homage to Your Ancestry with Ella Noah Bancroft
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
As a mixed fair-skinned Bundjalung native born in Australia, Ella Noah Bancroft always felt like she was challenged about just how pure she was as an indigenous person. With growing up to words and notions like that, Ella knew she needed to pay homage to her lineage and respect to the stolen generation by continuing their culture and bringing it to the modern era. Ella is now the founder and pioneer of The Decolonisation Movement, and had dedicated her life to the rise of female energy as the way for us to reconnect and release ourselves from the bounds of personal, social, and ecological...
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45: Fighting Plastic and Light Pollution for our Turtles with Ranger Lauren Engledow
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
Plastic pollution is a problem that affects so many animals, habitats, and people. Turtles have come into the spotlight in recent years though, thanks to the rise in social media awareness for their protection and preservation; with a big factor to that being the viral video of the straw stuck up in a poor turtle's nose. This video hit the world hard, but we cannot stop at feeling bad for what is happening when we can make conscious efforts now to save more than just the turtles. Today I’m joined by Lauren Engledow, a turtle ranger dedicated to protecting what is left of the species and...
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44: Indigenous Solutions to Modern Period Problems with Michele Wilson
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
Periods, something so natural for our bodies as females are oftentimes considered taboo to talk about. In this episode, we have Michele Wilson, co-founder of a sustainable and carbon-offset brand of period-proof underwear named Awwa. She's here with us to talk about her Maori roots and how she’s taken inspiration from their innovation and made it widely available to the world. Periods don’t have to and shouldn’t contribute to pollution and plastic waste, especially not when it's an integral part of ourselves. Instead of using throw-aways and plastic inside you, please make the switch and...
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43: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 5 of 5
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
To conclude my five-part series with the amazing Helena Norberg Hodge, we discuss reclaiming our power of choice by making the switch to using local products and reducing our emissions. We bring to light the faults of industries, proposing a new way to tackle our overall impact on the planet. For the youth listening in-- Helena has a special message for you, addressing the quality of life corporations have placed on you and how we want to support you all through your journeys. In This Episode, We Discuss: An epidemic of anxiety and depression amongst the youth Join the local food...
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42: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 4 of 5
Beautiful World with Kathryn Nelson
Corporations and businesses ferry across the world goods just for one part of their value chains-- much like being shipped from England, processed in China, then packaged in Thailand. We must ask; do we really need to move food and goods around so much? In this episode, Helena and I go in-depth about the importance of making sustainable choices to uplift our local farmers' markets and support the community economy. In This Episode, We Discuss: The flow of goods in this globalised world The problems in importing and exporting goods Building the local economy with farmers markets ...
info_outlineWhat if the biggest threat to our oceans isn't just plastic, but the lies designed to keep us confused about it?
In this eye-opening episode of the Beautiful World podcast, Kathryn Nelson sits down with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania since 2012 and lifelong ocean advocate known as "the Surfing Senator," for a candid conversation recorded in his final weeks in the Australian Senate.
Senator Peter explores his fight to pass Australia's Extended Producer Responsibility bill, the disinformation campaigns funded by fossil fuel interests to delay climate action, and why the Woodside Browse gas project could accelerate coral reef collapse. He unpacked the difference between misinformation and disinformation, how bot armies manufacture fake grassroots movements, and why carbon offsets and carbon capture are being used to greenwash new fossil fuel projects.
If you've ever wondered why it feels harder than ever to know what's true online, or what it actually takes to stop a fossil fuel project before it starts, this episode is for you.
In this episode we get into:
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Senator Peter Whish-Wilson's 14 years fighting for ocean protection in the Australian Senate
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The Extended Producer Responsibility bill and why it keeps stalling
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How container deposit schemes changed Australia's relationship with plastic
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The difference between misinformation and disinformation
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How fossil fuel companies fund the "denial machine" through PR firms and think tanks
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Bot armies, astroturfing groups, and fake grassroots movements
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The 12 "discourses of delay" used to slow climate action
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Why the Woodside Browse gas project threatens the Great Barrier Reef
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Carbon offsets, carbon capture, and the greenwashing behind "net zero"
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How to vote and organize around one clear standard: no new fossil fuel projects
If you care about ocean conservation, plastic pollution, climate policy, environmental activism, sustainability, marine life, or how to spot disinformation online, this episode is for you.
Connect with Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
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Facebook | www.facebook.com/senatorsurfer
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LinkedIn| https://au.linkedin.com/in/Peter -whish-wilson-28032829
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ABOUT BEAUTIFUL WORLD
Beautiful World explores practical solutions for a healthier planet and healthier people. Hosted by environmental advocate Kathryn Nelson, each episode features scientists, innovators, farmers, entrepreneurs and changemakers working to restore our ecosystems while improving human wellbeing.
From regenerative agriculture and clean energy to healthy homes, biodiversity and community resilience, these conversations focus on what is actually working—and how we can all be part of creating a more beautiful world.