Human expansionism — both through the growth in our consumption and population — is the leading driver of cascading ecological and social crises. Animal exploitation, in the form of accelerating rates of species extinction, diminishment of wildlife populations, and rapid growth of factory farms, tracks with the growth of the human footprint. However, there is widespread dismissal of the role of population in these crises among journalists, academics, environmental organizations, and policymakers. In this talk, Nandita will discuss the factors behind the silencing of this discourse, namely the growth-biased socio-economic systems, past population policies, pronatalism, and human supremacy. She will explain the harmful implications of population denial on the most vulnerable people, nonhumans, and ecosystems, how the powerful institutions of the st ...