Tilted Axis, Stable Lies

07/12/2025 11 min

Listen "Tilted Axis, Stable Lies"

Episode Synopsis

We’re a veteran podcast, two surprise listener questions per episode, zero prep—cold takes, hot chaos.Ryszard, from Bydgoszcz, Poland offers up the first question - ”How did life evolve from nonliving matter?”Stuart feels after eons of cosmic boredom, water shows up, algae crash the party, oxygen gatecrashes, and then life takes a billion-year nap before evolution finally stumbles in. He squints at the universe and asks, “What nudged that first awkward step?”William shrugs, points to Earth’s comfy orbit, a clingy Moon that keeps our tilt polite, and Jupiter—the hulking bouncer—scooping up space junk. Together they made a cozy stage for chemistry to improvise, even if the opening line remains a mystery.Dmitry, from Novosibirsk, Russia has set todays second listener question - “The poor in the UK seem to hate poor immigrants, yet it's the rich taking the money the world over. Divide and concur, yes? Interestingly, many people who don’t like migrants heading to the UK are supporters of your royal family, who many say are immigrants, don’t work, and have a suspect pedophile amongst them!l”William jokes that the tabloids seem less like news outlets and more like fear factories run by mystery billionaires with a fondness for stirring the pot. Stuart suggests that many struggling Brits oddly resent struggling immigrants—because that’s the script they’ve been handed—while the real resource-hoarders are sipping champagne in mansions. With a smirk, Stuart notes the irony that some of the loudest anti-immigrant voices wave flags for the royals, who, if you trace the family tree, are basically the original foreign imports. William adds that the word “immigrant” is a blunt instrument, lumping everyone from his EU-born wife to refugees into one box, while “expat” magically makes Brits abroad sound like glamorous adventurers—even when they’re just in Spain refusing to learn “hola.” He points out that the loudest anti-immigrant towns often have no immigrants at all, yet still bought into Farage’s “breaking point” drama. Stuart suggests imagining Dmitry’s outsider lens, while William advises popping the bubble and sampling news beyond the usual echo chamber.What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by sending an email to ⁠[email protected] like to give you an ad free experience. We also like our audience to be relatively small and engaged, we’re not after numbers.This podcast's overall themes are nature, philosophy, climate, the human condition, sustainability, and social justice. Help us to spread the impact of the podcast by sharing this link with 5 friends podfollow.com/ThePeoplesCountrysideEnvironmentalDebatePodcast , support our work through Patreon patreon.com/thepeoplescountryside⁠. Find out all about the podcast via this one simple link: linktr.ee/thepeoplescountrysideSign the Petition - Improve The Oxfordshire Countryside Accessibility For All Disabilities And Abilities: change.org/ImproveTheOxfordshireCountrysideAccessibilityForAllDisabilitiesAndAbilities