The Lancet Planetary Health in conversation with

What if antibiotic resistance isn't just about how many pills we prescribe — but also about how much we've warmed the planet? In this episode of The Lancet Planetary Health in conversation with, host Matteo Simonetti speaks with Alastair Brown, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Planetary Health, about a longitudinal ecological and modelling study by Zhen Shao Zhou et al — "Association of Climate Change With the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistant Genes in Salmonella." Drawing on more than 488,000 Salmonella genomes from 139 countries spanning 1940 to 2023, the study uses Tobit and generalised additive models to show that rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns correlate with increased abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes. Projections under IPCC SSP scenarios out to 2100 confirm: the more warming we allow, the worse the resistance picture gets. Subscribe to this podcast to stay up to date with the latest episodes. Click here to read the full articles: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(26)00018-5/fulltext The Lancet Planetary Health in conversation with...  is part of the Lancet Group podcast offering.  Editorial team: Editor-in-Chief Alastair Brown, deputy editor John Carlson, and senior editor Haoyu Wang Podcast editing: Matteo Simonetti Visit https://www.thelancet.com/multimedia to learn more about our multimedia offering.  Find the best science for better lives at thelancet.com Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancet https://youtube.com/thelancettv

What if the most important skill a planetary health researcher could develop isn't statistical literacy — it's imagination? In this episode of The Lancet Planetary Health In Conversation, host Matteo Simonetti sits down with Alastair Brown, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Planetary Health, to discuss a viewpoint published in the journal: "Health Punk: Speculative Methods for the Future of Planetary Health." The paper documents a course in which students were challenged to write science fiction as a way to break out of siloed disciplinary thinking. Many found it genuinely difficult. Alastair argues that this difficulty is the point — that resistance to imagining radically different futures is not a neutral stance, but a political one. He draws a straight line between constrained thinking and the gap between what the evidence demands and what institutions are willing to attempt. The conversation also touches on AI, energy systems, the Wade-Dahl-Till valve, and why the punk in "health punk" matters as much as the health. Click here to read the full viepoint article:  https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(26)00009-4/fulltext And if you are curious about it and saw the original patent drawings, click here to read about the Wade-Dahl-till valve: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(64)92294-9 The Lancet Planetary Health in conversation with...  is part of the Lancet Group podcast offering.  Editorial team: Editor-in-Chief Alastair Brown, deputy editor John Carlson, and senior editor Haoyu Wang Podcast editing: Matteo Simonetti Visit https://www.thelancet.com/multimedia to learn more about our multimedia offering.  Find the best science for better lives at thelancet.com Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancet https://youtube.com/thelancettv

Plastic is everywhere — in our packaging, our clothing, our oceans, and increasingly, our bodies. But how much is it actually costing us in terms of human health? In this episode, host Matteo Simonetti sits down with Alistair Brown, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Planetary Health, to unpack a landmark study quantifying the global health burden of plastic across its entire lifecycle. The paper, by Megan Dini and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, estimates that the plastic lifecycle was responsible for 83 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2016 alone — and with plastic production expected to double by 2050, the trajectory is deeply concerning. Alistair and Matteo explore what a "lifecycle assessment" actually captures, why focusing on plastic waste alone misses the bigger picture, and what the research reveals about the most effective policy levers available. The findings are striking: plastic production itself accounts for 82% of the health impact, a result with direct implications for the ongoing global plastics treaty negotiations. Click here to read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(25)00284-0/fulltext A note from the editor: The Kenya plastic ban we refer to in the podcast is a ban on single-use plastic bags, not on plastic as a whole. The Lancet Planetary Health in conversation with...  is part of the Lancet Group podcast offering.  Editorial team: Editor-in-Chief Alastair Brown, deputy editor John Carlson, and senior editor Haoyu Wang Podcast editing: Matteo Simonetti Visit https://www.thelancet.com/multimedia to learn more about our multimedia offering.  Find the best science for better lives at thelancet.com Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancet https://youtube.com/thelancettv

Imogen Tennison and Matt Eckelman join Gavin Cleaver to talk about the NHS carbon footprint, and how health services are cutting down on their emissions. Read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30271-0/fulltext Continue this conversation on social! Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancet https://youtube.com/thelancettv The Lancet Planetary Health in conversation with...  is part of the Lancet Group podcast offering.  Editorial team: Editor-in-Chief Alastair Brown, deputy editor John Carlson, and senior editor Haoyu Wang Podcast editing: Matteo Simonetti Visit https://www.thelancet.com/multimedia to learn more about our multimedia offering.  Find the best science for better lives at thelancet.com Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancet https://youtube.com/thelancettv