Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Welcome to the Green Gown Award winning Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton!
This podcast explores the greatest and most wicked problem that is sustainability, whilst looking at how we are collectively addressing this critical global challenge.
Sustainability needs to be addressed by understanding how the economy, society, culture, politics and environment intersect, and this is the focus that informs each episode of the Meliora podcast.
In each episode, host Professor Simon Kemp and guest hosts are joined by a variety of guests, including academics, students, staff, researchers, alumni, community groups and business leaders.
The aim of the podcast is to shine a light on the vast range of topics surrounding sustainability and to allow listeners to learn about the critical challenges we face, as well as how they can be part of the solution. We also ensure our fantastic students have the opportunity to share their brilliant work with the world.
Podcast host: Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute, University of Southampton
Podcast editors: Jack Dinham, Ellie Howell, Mya Harvey, Lily Killner, Sophie Green, Libby Kale, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton
Podcast communications: Tyler Domone-Hollands, Hannah Parish, Alexander Ayerst, Maya Stevens, University of Southampton
Please do get in touch to discuss this podcast and any of the issues we raise by emailing sri@soton.ac.uk
Follow us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
The Hunger Games: SDGs VS Ozempic
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In this student takeover episode of the Meliora podcast, we explore the sustainability issues surrounding the rising trend in weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, to assess the extent to which they align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Framed through SDG 3 (Good health and wellbeing), SDG 5 (Gender equality), and SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production), we discuss the disparities between medical benefit, social pressure, and environmental cost. From the growing use of single-use injection pens and emerging concerns about drugs entering water systems, to gendered expectations around body image.
With research in this area still developing, we ask: are these drugs a breakthrough for solving the obesity crisis, or a new sustainability challenge we’re not prepared for?
Episode Host – Maya Whyte
Episode Guests – Bethany Mackay, Coumba Sarr, Marie Campion
Episode Editor – Ellie Howell
This episode is part of the Student Takeover Season on the Meliora Podcast and is a group project from the University of Southampton UOSM2043 Global Sustainability Challenges module.
