Bill Ryerson
William Ryerson has had a lifelong commitment to the environment and reproductive rights. Not only has Bill committed his career to his passion, but he and his wife decided to be “child-free” in order to take action against overpopulation concerns. He created Population Media Center (PMC) with the goal of empowering people to live healthier and more prosperous lives, and stabilizing global population at a level at which people can live sustainably with the world’s renewable resources.
PMC provides valuable information and resources to communities in a culturally relevant and sensitive ways, working to remove misinformation, connect people to health resources and, overall, empower them to make the best decision possible given current medical advances.
Bill oversees all the business activity of PMC and travels around the world to stay on top of current and new program development. In addition to his role as founder and president of PMC, he also serves as chair and CEO of Population Institute, located in Washington D.C., which works in partnership with PMC. He has over 40 years of experience working in the reproductive health field, including two decades of experience with social and behavior change communications.
PMC has celebrated 20 years with many successes: programming 40+ radio and TV shows in over 50 countries and in more than 40 languages, which has reached over 500 million people.
He has also been involved in the design of research to measure the effects of such projects in a number of countries, one of which led to a series of publications regarding a serialized radio drama in Tanzania and its effects on HIV/AIDS avoidance and family planning use. In 2006, he was awarded the Nafis Sadik Prize for Courage from the Rotarian Action Group on Population and Development.
He received a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an M.Phil. in Biology from Yale University.
462: Bill Ryerson, part 3: The biggest impact you can make
Heartwarming is the best word to describe Bill’s experience that I can think of.
In today’s episode, Bill and I start by talking about the incomparably larger impact of having fewer kids, especially in a country that pollutes as heavily as the U.S.
Then we talked about Bill exploring his snowy yard with his grandson. The opportunity to do so was there for years, but he didn’t act. You’ll hear how he loved it.
What natural experience might be sitting waiting for you to discover and enjoy?
453: Bill Ryerson, part 2: How can we talk about population? What can we do?
What’s the Earth’s carrying capacity? If we’re above it and we choose to lower it, what happens to the economy?
I’ve wondered these questions. I know the mainstream view gets it wrong because humans have lived sustainably. Their models say it’s impossible, so they’re wrong. They must be missing something, at least.
Rapid population growth leads to poverty. It might be a party on the way up, but it’s unsustainable. We can celebrate lowering population. Other cultures have. We can too.
Bill starts by talking about how we can tell we’re over the Earth’s capacity, the dangers of relying on nonrenewable resources like oil. How do we achieve a soft landing if things collapse? Bill works on these things and speaks with experience and thoughtfulness, not just political bromides. We also cover birth control and immigration, topics relevant to the environment.
These topics are critical, but not covered. For me, it’s refreshing to talk reasonably about these things. The media doesn’t.
I also get him acting on his values. As you’ll hear, he hits on something in his back yard he’s neglected for decades. We switch from abstract facts, however important, to personal emotions.
437: Bill Ryerson, part 1: Population matters
No matter what you think we should do, everyone gets that there is some connection between population and sustainability. Everyone knows our population is increasing. We’re consuming more than ever.
How do we talk about this issue? I think most people shy away from it. I know I did, until recently feeling “what’s the point in talking about something we can’t do anything about?” I saw problems with overpopulation but the only cures I knew of seemed worse than the disease.
Today’s guest, Bill Ryerson, has been working on these issues with tremendous effects increasing prosperity, stability, freedom, and things everyone prefers—think the opposite of the One Child policy. He shares what he does, his sources of inspiration, why what he does works, and how it started for him with Mexican soap operas.
Actually, it started long before with action of the sort nearly everyone talks about today—laws, information, facts—but it didn’t work. The Mexican soap opera started what worked, and has around the globe for decades.
After you list, read the book Over. You only have to see a few images to get the value, and understanding that seeing can create.
I hope this episode helped loosen the grip of beliefs of mainstream culture. I wish I had heard things like it decades ago.