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Non-Toxic: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Daniel Penny
From the manosphere to the atmosphere, Non-Toxic is devoted to understanding the intersections between the crisis of masculinity and the climate crisis. Join us for conversations with experts, journalists, and regular guys on topics ranging from how to blow up a pipeline to why incels are obsessed with the idea of alphas to why meatfluencers may not have your best interests at heart.Hosted by critic and journalist Daniel Waite Penny. nontoxicpodcast.substack.com
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- 1 weeks ago46 min
Richard Mosse shows the beauty and the ugliness of life in the Amazon
In light of today’s run-off election results in Brazil, I decided to go back into the archives and bring you a conversation with photographer and filmmaker Richard Mosse. It’s all about his film Broken Spectre, which documents the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and was filmed during the height of Brazilian far-right president Jair Bolsonaro’s reign.Using infrared film, ultraviolet cameras, and multispectral satellite imaging, Mosse makes visible the illegal mining, logging, and wholesale burning of the Amazon that was tacitly encouraged under Bolsonaro. This was dangerous work. Indigenous peoples and activists who have opposed the destruction in the Amazon are often murdered and displaced.While the progressive president who replaced Bolsonaro, Lula, hasn’t been perfect, he’s managed to slow that destruction and go after the people responsible. This election between Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro (a younger version of his disgraced dad) was going to determine whether the progress of the past few years would be rolled back. In essence, the fate of the Amazon has been hanging in the balance. And for now, at least, it’s a bit safer.In this conversation, Mosse and I talk about his years embedding with illegal gold miners and loggers in lawless frontier towns of the Amazon, the Yanomami communities defending their land, and why beauty might be the sharpest tool for communicating what is at stake for these people and our planet. It’s one of my favorite conversations I’ve gotten to have for this project. I hope you enjoy it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Oct 6, 202631 min
Young men think the world is fucked but they’ll somehow be fine
Are young men secretly optimistic about the American Dream while believing everything is falling apart? In this election special, I sit down with returning guest Charlie Sabgir from the Young Men Research Project to unpack a massive new survey of 1,000 young men (ages 18–29) and 500 young women — and the findings are all over the place.There’s nostalgia for a past that probably never existed, a hardening of traditional gender roles, a grift economy that’s absolutely eating young men alive, and a genuinely surprising streak of “I’ll be fine though” individual optimism. Plus: what the Cornell Seven case reveals about the staying power of Me Too (or lack thereof), and a brand-new survey of Gen Alpha boys (12–17) that is honestly pretty eye-opening. Wondering what all of this means for the coalition about to show up at the polls? Tune in to find out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Sep 22, 202613 min
Getting it Up on Cape Cod
Summer is officially over. Put away your linen and your bathing suits and unpack your sweaters. To salute the last glimmers of the season, I’m bringing you a special bonus episode featuring an essay by my friend, Abraham Storer. It’s called “Getting It Up” about a summertime tradition on the Outer Cape of a crew of young guys finding a big log on the beach and trying to plant it upright in the sand.…At least tonight, the boys seemed alright. Maybe their task was pointless, but there was strength, ingenuity, determination, brotherhood, and even a bit of heroism on display. Some foolishness, too. As the sky turned a dark, inky blue and people started arranging the shipping palettes and logs for a celebratory bonfire, Nobili shimmied up the pole. Nearly 50 feet from the ground, he was silhouetted against the night sky.“Get me a coconut,” someone yelled.“Throw him up a beer,” said another.”“Getting it Up” was originally published in issue 2 of Cape Cod Compass, with photographs by Cole Barash. It’s a new magazine dedicated to exploring art, science, design, ecology, and culture within coastal communities, founded and edited by another pal, Aaron A. Binaco.Cheers to the end of summer! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Sep 16, 202622 min
Bryan Johnson still wants to live forever
In May, I met the biohacker and wellness entrepreneur Bryan Johnson while I was in Las Vegas reporting a story about the Enhanced Games for Now Voyager. The article, called “Gear and Doping in Las Vegas,” is in issue four of the magazine, which comes out today.A former tech bro who sold his company, Braintree, to PayPal, Johnson has dedicated the last five years of his life to trying every therapy and intervention possible in an effort to reduce his biological age, sharing his findings on social media and rolling out a line of supplements through his new company, Blueprint. In this pursuit, Johnson has stimulated his vagus nerve through a device that shoots electrical impulses through his ear, live-streamed his psilocybin trips, measured the strength of his nightly erections, and even transfused the plasma of his teenage son into his own body.Though he has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Johnson continues to promote the idea that with the right health protocol, a person could theoretically live forever. This is what he means when he urges his followers, “Don't die.”Johnson was not officially part of the Enhanced team, but he was there to act as co-host during the broadcast, offering takes on living under a regimen of finely tuned health protocols. The day before the event kicked off, I met up with Johnson (and his entourage) in the back of a conference room for a quick chat. We managed to cover a lot of ground, from why using steroids is not naughty, to the promise of AI to extend life indefinitely, to why he doesn’t worry about our political leaders becoming immortal dictators. Plus, his partner, Kate, announces the start of her own journey into living forever, which is kind of romantic, I guess. Non-Toxic takes a lot of work on my end, and any amount that you can contribute to keep this show going would be greatly appreciated. Subscribe today! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Aug 3, 202637 min
Abdul El-Sayed on how progressives can win back men and Democrats can take back the Senate
Today I’m bringing you a conversation I had with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is one of the two Democratic candidates facing off in a primary tomorrow to represent Michigan in the US Senate.I talked to Dr. El-Sayed about a year ago for Carbon Bros., the miniseries I did with Amy Westervelt and Drilled. In this conversation, we get into why Democrats lost young men in 2024, and whether it’s possible to win them back. El-Sayed's argument is basically that corporations are engineering addiction—through things like sports betting, porn, social media—and that Democrats have failed to offer a compelling alternative vision of masculinity.El-Sayed wants Democrats to be authentic, bold, and willing to actually throw out the interests that are sucking dry the party, and that means getting rid of the super PACs corrupting our politics. At the same time, I think he’s shown a way to be authentic and even vulnerable while running a campaign that has become one of the most contested this cycle. Long before Hasan Piker was stumping for El-Sayed or Fox News was freaking out about him, I was talking with him about getting everybody healthcare and getting dirty money out of politics.I’d like to think, we’re early to these things here at Non-Toxic, but we tend to be right. Give it a listen. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Jul 31, 202637 min
Why the government has failed to keep us safe from EDCs. (Hint: a lot of corporate money is at stake.)
Throughout “Just Keep Swimming,” we’ve been connecting the dots between the chemicals hiding in everyday life and what they're doing to male fertility, and it’s not looking good. To catch you up:* Phthalates are everywhere — your cologne, your aftershave, even milk — silently interfering with the hormonal signals your body uses to produce healthy sperm.* Flame retardants migrate out of your furniture and into household dust — which sounds whatever until you realize how much dust you’re actually ingesting and inhaling on the daily, and how persistent these compounds are once they’re in your body.* And don’t forget the classics, like pesticides. The fertility impacts of these chemicals on farmworkers are well-documented. The question of what lower-level, long-term exposure does to the general population is still being studied, but the early data isn’t reassuring.All this is to say that your sperm is taking hits from every angle (chemically speaking). Plus as a population, we’re all more stressed and less active than ever. Not a good environment for your boys!This week, I wanted to zoom out to understand why endocrine-disrupting chemicals are in our products in the first place and why the regulatory system has failed to keep us safe from them. Especially as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are actively rolling back the few laws and regulations we do have to keep us safe from toxic chemicals.So I called Lindsay Dahl. She’s spent twenty years as an environmental health advocate and lobbyist, and she’s helped pass over thirty state and federal laws restricting toxic chemicals. Now she’s the chief impact officer at Ritual. Lindsay also wrote Cleaning House, and she runs a newsletter I absolutely recommend for anyone interested in this topic called The Environmental Health Brief. Lindsay is the person who knows why the system is broken, who broke it, and why men should be a hell of a lot angrier about it than they are.If you’re just finding “Just Keep Swimming”, in episode one, we heard from Felix Van Der Heijden, the steroid-injecting Dutch looksmaxxser who decided to let his fertility drop for the sake of his gains. Then we went deep with the researchers at Silent Spring Institute on what endocrine-disrupting chemicals actually are and what they do to sperm, and why a lot of that damage happens before you’re even born. If you haven’t listened yet, go back and start there. And last time, we went into your closet with Ben Mead of OEKOTEX, and we broke down the azo dyes and the heavy metals hiding in your clothes, and how they make their way into your body through your skin.Non-Toxic is a reader-supported publication. This podcast might just save your life. Consider throwing me a few dollars. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Jul 23, 202626 min
How do we know our clothes are safe?
You’ve likely heard the horror stories about lead-contaminated fast fashion, airline uniforms triggering severe allergic reactions or sweaters bursting into flames. Maybe you’re worried about the chemicals lurking in your own closet or have stared at a tag while shopping, wondering what’s actually safe and reliable versus what’s just marketing BS.In this special episode of Non-Toxic’s summer miniseries, “Just Keep Swimming,” we’re diving into the world of textiles—specifically, the hidden chemicals in our clothes and how they make their way into our bodies. We’ll be talking azo dyes, PFAS coatings, heavy metals, and all of the other things that may be good for manufacturers but are definitely bad for us.I’m joined by Ben Mead of Hohenstein Americas and OEKO-TEX, who breaks down how this stuff can absorb through the skin and potentially impact health and fertility. Ben demystifies what “non-toxic” actually means when it comes to fabrics, challenges the myth that natural fibers are always safe, and explains exactly how OEKO-TEX tests and certifies the complicated supply chain behind a simple T-shirt. If you’ve ever spotted a “STANDARD 100” tag in the wild and wondered what it actually guarantees, this episode is for you.This is the first sponsored interview I’ve ever done for Non-Toxic, and I’m only sharing it because I truly believe in the work OEKO-TEX does—it really is the gold standard for textile testing.Also! If you’re freaked out and wondering what is actually safe to buy, I’m putting together an extensive, vetted list of products I vouch for—exclusive to paid subscribers. Later this summer, I’ll be dropping that guide alongside new episodes of “Just Keep Swimming.”Non-Toxic is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a paid subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Jul 17, 202626 min
These chemicals may be killing your fertility
Thinking of having children? Wondering whether your sperm has been compromised by years of eating lunchables and drinking from a battered Nalgene?A growing body of evidence suggests sperm counts may have dropped by nearly half since the 1970s. Commentators have blamed obesity, nutrition, even feminism. But the more I dug into the research, the more one culprit kept coming up: the endocrine disrupting chemicals hiding in plain sight in our food packaging, furniture, products with fragrances, and even children’s toys. This isn’t some MAHA conspiracy, it’s well documented, and there’s even a Netflix doc about it, though they kind of muddy the waters by talking too much about microplastics (more on those in a future episode).In this episode of Just Keep Swimming, I sat down with Dr Julia Brody and Ruthann Rudel of Silent Spring Institute — two of the leading environmental health researchers — to understand what EDCs actually do to the male reproductive system, why the damage done in the womb and in childhood can be permanent, and what any of us can actually do about it.One thing that stopped me cold. Most people assume that if a product is on the shelf, it’s been tested for safety. It hasn’t. That assumption may be costing you your shot at having a kid. This one closes with practical steps you can take today — no off-grid homesteading required. And for more practical tips, don’t forget to check out Silent Spring’s Detox Me app.Non-Toxic is supported by people like you. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nontoxicpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
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About Non-Toxic
From the manosphere to the atmosphere, Non-Toxic is devoted to understanding the intersections between the crisis of masculinity and the climate crisis. Join us for conversations with experts, journalists, and regular guys on topics ranging from how to blow up a pipeline to why incels are obsessed with the idea of alphas to why meatfluencers may not have your best interests at heart.Hosted by critic and journalist Daniel Waite Penny. nontoxicpodcast.substack.com
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