
David Attenborough at 100
From Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast by Persephonica and Global Optimism
May 7, 2026 · 40 min · Season 12 · Episode 48
About this episode
The episode celebrates David Attenborough's 100th birthday by reflecting on his impact and discussing the current state of the natural world.
Monarch butterflies crossing a continent. Peregrine falcons above Manhattan. A giant lemur most of the world had never heard of, until one man pointed a camera at it. For seventy years, Sir David Attenborough has been asking us to look - really look - at the world we share with three and a half billion years' worth of other life. This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson mark the 100th birthday of the world’s longest-serving television presenter. To celebrate, they're reaching into the archives to share the very first episode of the podcast - a conversation recorded in person with their friend Sir David himself, at the Attenborough Centre in Cambridge in 2019. They also take stock of seven years of Outrage + Optimism, and on a world that’s changed since that first episode dropped. What's moved faster than anyone expected, what's gone sideways, and what still keeps us at night? Then Sir David. On why young people's outrage is entirely justified. On what the natural world actually needs from us. On the rare moments in history when nations chose agreement over conflict. And on why understanding might be the thing that saves us. Learn More: 🎂…
People in this episode
Hosts: Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Paul Dickinson
Guest: David Attenborough
Topics covered
- David Attenborough
- environment
- climate change
- wildlife
- media
- youth activism
Keywords
- David Attenborough
- climate podcast
- wildlife conservation
- youth outrage
- natural world
- media influence
- environmental change
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC, International Whaling Commission
Places: Cambridge
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