94: Reporting on Population – Sense and Nonsense
Population growth is making headlines for the wrong reason or with a biased perspective. It's too easy to draw erroneous conclusions about dropping fertility rates around the world. A surge of news stories from NPR compels us to offer both praise and criticism. Population growth appears to be coming to an end, and that's getting all the oxygen, not the fact that we have an overpopulation crisis. In fact, the word "overpopulation" is not heard even once in the 16 stories we analyzed. Because the subject is brushed under the rug, reported infrequently or inaccurately, widespread misunderstandings among the public and policymakers persist. So, we decided 16 stories about "smaller families," "low birth rates," "depopulation," and "population decline" in 4 months from National Public Radio offered a good opportunity for us to do some analysis and offer suggestions. Our hope is that reporting might improve if journalists listen to this episode. We specifically mention NPR's Scott Simon, Brian Mann, Sarah McCammon, and Michel Martin. We also mention Wellesley College economist Phillip Levine, and offer some praise for The Rewilding Institute's John Davis. And we hear briefly from the U.N.'s Vladimira Kantorova in one of the stories. The work of these journalists also appeared in the NPR series: John Ruwitch, Jasmine Ling, Kristin Wright, Marisa Peñaloza, Hanna Merzbach, Christina Cala, Dalia Mortada, Michelle Jokisch Polo, Clara Hulet, Anthony Kuhn, Ayman Oghanna, and Code Switch podcast hosts Gene Demby and B.A. Parker. NOTE: The image representing this episode was AI generated. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Population Shift: How Smaller Families are Changing the World (NPR series): https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-94348/population-shift Seven of Nine Planetary Boundaries Now Breached: https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2025-09-24-seven-of-nine-planetary-boundaries-now-breached.html Fair Start Movement: https://fairstartmovement.org/model/ World Population Day: Rights of Children Eclipse What Parents "Want" – by Dave Gardner: https://medium.com/ending-overshoot/world-population-day-rights-of-children-eclipse-what-parents-want-e737d7b60d1b World Scientists Warnings: https://scientistswarning.org/warnings/ The Racial History of the 'Overpopulation Time Bomb' and 'Pronatalism' MovementsHeard on Morning Edition, reported by Gene Demby and Michel Martinhttps://www.npr.org/2025/10/28/nx-s1-5551128/the-racial-history-of-the-overpopulation-time-bomb-and-pronatalism-movements How Elon Musk and JD Vance Plan to 'Save Civilization' With More Babies – episode of Code Switch podcast, with Christina Cala, Dalia Mortada, Gene Demby and B.A. Parkerhttps://www.npr.org/2025/10/29/nx-s1-5588605/how-elon-musk-and-jd-vance-plan-to-save-civilization-with-more-babies Busting Only-Child Myths – episode of Overshoot podcast: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/lauren-sandler The Only Child: Debunking the Myths – Time magazine story by Lauren Sandler: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2002530,00.html One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and The Joy of Being One – book by Lauren Sandlerhttps://www.laurenosandler.com/the-book Insist That Public Policy Respects the Rights of Children and Women – by Dave Gardnerhttps://fairstartmovement.org/insist-that-public-policy-respects-the-rights-of-children-and-women/ Economic Wisdom from the Natural World: The Serviceberry - episode 92 of the GrowthBusters podcast: https://www.growthbusters.org/serviceberry/ Book Club Choice:Abundant Earth Offers a Positive Vision for the Future – review of Abundant Earth, by Eileen Crist: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201904/abundant-earth-offers-positive-vision-the-future In Memory of Jane Goodall, Outspoken on Overpopulation – by Dave Gardnerhttps://davetheplanet.substack.com/p/in-memory-of-jane-goodall-outspoken Dave the Planet - Dave's Substack Column: https://davetheplanet.substack.com/ Give Us Feedback: Record a voice message for us to play on the podcast: 719-402-1400 Send an email to podcast at growthbusters.org The GrowthBusters theme song was written and produced by Jake Fader and sung by Carlos Jones. https://www.fadermusicandsound.com/ https://carlosjones.com/ On the GrowthBusters podcast, we come to terms with the limits to growth, explore the joy of sustainable living, and provide a recovery program from our society's growth addiction (economic/consumption and population). This podcast is part of the GrowthBusters project to raise awareness of overshoot and end our culture's obsession with, and pursuit of, growth. Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared "could be the most important film ever made." Co-host, and self-described "energy nerd," Stephanie Gardner has degrees in Environmental Studies and Environmental Law & Policy. Join the GrowthBusters online community https://growthbusters.groups.io/ GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth – free on YouTube https://youtu.be/_w0LiBsVFBo Join the conversation on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GrowthBustersPodcast/ Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/growthbusting/ Follow us on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/growthbusters.bsky.social Make a donation to support this non-profit project. https://www.growthbusters.org/donate/ Archive of GrowthBusters podcast episodes http://www.growthbusters.org/podcast/ Subscribe to GrowthBusters email updates https://lp.constantcontact.com/su/umptf6w/signup Explore the issues at http://www.growthbusters.org View the GrowthBusters channel on YouTube
