Climate Curious

Not all that glitters is gold. Especially when it’s tinged with the poison of toxic mercury. On this week’s Curious Climate, co-host Maryam Pasha speaks to the rainforest toxicologist exposing mercury contamination in artisanal gold mining in the Amazon, live at TED 2025. The founding mercury research director at the Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA) and TED Fellow Claudia Vega pa...

New ways of growing baby corals are bringing life back to fading coral reefs, says Executive Director of Impact at the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Theresa Fyffe on the Climate Curious podcast recorded live at TED 2025. From teaming up with First Nations communities, to inviting tourists to play reef gardener by planting baby corals raised in coral micro-nurseries; Theresa shares how growing hea...

Wild rivers in Europe are vanishing fast—but not on Besjana Guri and Olsi Nika’s watch. In this episode of Climate Curious, the Albanian conservation activists share how over a ten year period they overcame big business, government pressure, and plenty of red tape to protect the Vjosa River in The Balkans—one of the last truly wild rivers in Europe. Their win earned them the 2025 Goldman Environme...

Medical professionals are powerful voices in the climate conversation, says doctor turned climate advocate Dr. Bruce Bekkar on Climate Curious. From noticing the effects of pollution on his patients to taking his first steps into climate action, Bruce shares why protecting our environment is also about protecting our health. Recorded live at TED 2025.  Created by TEDxLondon Executive produced...

Feeling wobbly about your place in the climate movement? You’re not alone. Writer, activist, and All We Can Save co-founder Katharine Wilkinson joins Climate Curious to share how even the tiniest action—whether in your job, your community, or your conversations—can ground you and spark bigger change. As she tells us at TED 2025, sometimes you just need to “squeak a toe in” to find your next step....

Crop failure, drought and extreme weather is pushing families to look for income outside of their normal routes, shares Dr. Mark Ofua, a wildlife veterinarian and the founder of the Pangolin Nigeria Trust. Tune in to understand the unsettling drivers behind climate, wildlife conservation and economics–and how this is impacting the rare and magical Pangolins. Created by TEDxLondon Executive produce...

With 25% of marine biodiversity found on coral reefs, it’s vital they are kept healthy! On Climate Curious today we hear from marine biologist, data scientist, and TEDxLondon speaker, Ben Williams, on how he’s utilising AI models to scan through years of underwater audio. His work focuses on measuring the health of coral reefs in an effort to help keep them ship-shape, as well as keeping an ear ou...

From microplastic contamination in our food supply, to endless plastic ending up in landfill our dependence on oil-based materials poses a major challenge. Climate Curious speaks to a bacteria trainer who has developed a very promising solution to this problem. 2025 TED Fellow Patricia Ayma Maldonado trains powerful bacteria to synthesise completely natural and biodegradable plastics, offering a r...

Happy Earth Day! This year, we’re celebrating climate progress. We spoke to our Climate Curious experts about what keeps them going during challenging times. Tune in to receive six chunks of wisdom on how to keep positive when progress might feel hopeless. Recorded live at TED 2025 in Vancouver. Featuring: Vijay Karia Kelsey Leonard Jacquelyn Francis Tasso Azevedo Theresa Fyffe Bruce Bekkar Create...

 Environmentalism isn't a one dimensional thing, says environmental justice technologist and author Joycelyn Longdon on the Climate Curious podcast. In conversation with co-host Ben Hurst, Joycelyn shares the thinking behind her new book, ‘Natural Connection’, and breaks down how anyone can step into their inner environmentalist by tapping into rage, imagination, innovation, theory, healing, and c...

Sea otters are helping to capture carbon, says Alister Scott, the co-director of the Global Rewilding Alliance, on Climate Curious. By reintroducing sea otters back to their habitat in San Francisco, scientists have seen a growth in sea grass, which is a massive carbon sink. Tune in to learn more about this otterly wonderful natural climate solution – rewilding! Created by TEDxLondon Executiv...

From conveniently hiding key climate science to flat out running misinformation campaigns, Climate Curious takes a look at the far right’s influence on climate. We’re joined by journalist and ‘Alt Reich’ author Dr. Nafeez Ahmed to connect the dots between techno-authoritarian power players, right wing politics, and attempts to stall climate action. Nafeez’s take? We shouldn't give up on climate pr...

Sources and sinks aren’t bathroom fixtures, they’re our most powerful tools to turn up or dial down climate change, says Project Drawdown’s Executive Director, Jon Foley, on the Climate Curious podcast.   The real solution starts with cutting the pollution at source, not trying to suck it up after the fact. As Jon puts it, “now is better than new”. Tune in to learn about  his six main ar...

Based on a true story: last Friday saw the cinema release of the post-apocalyptic musical ‘The End'. Climate Curious co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst sat down with the academy award nominated and BAFTA winning director Joshua Oppenheimer to find out what inspired his bleak take on the surviving family of a energy exec after a world ending climate event. Tickets: www.mubi.com/theend Created by T...

Uru Uru team are using giant reeds called ‘totora’ to revive polluted lakes in Bolivia. Environmental activist Gustavo Blanco joins Climate Curious to dive into how restoring his local lakes protects so much more than just nature. It protects people and livelihoods.  Learn more about the Uru Uru team: https://theirisproject.org/winner/the-uru-uru-team Apply to the Iris Prize. Closes April 15t...

Climate leadership comes from each and everyone of us, not just the United Nations, says Project Drawdown’s Executive Director Jon Foley on the Climate Curious. In conversation with Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst, tune in to learn how we invigorate a new sort of bottom-up climate leadership, which climate solutions are the best and should be accelerated, why Jon thinks climate doomists are worse than...

Climate justice supports disability justice, says Tiffany Yu on Climate Curious. LA resident, disability advocate, and author of "The Anti-Ableist Manifesto", Tiffany shares her on-the-ground experience of the LA fires from an often forgotten perspective: the disabled community. Created by TEDxLondon Executive produced by Josie Colter Produced by Ben Beheshty Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst C...

The world’s first climate ad aired at the Super Bowl earlier this year. What was it? How did it crash the world’s biggest stage for advertisers? And how well did it resonate? Here to explain how a simple but beautiful story about the power of a mother’s love managed to pull people’s heartstrings (and their purses!) is climate marketing professor John Marshall from the advertising firm for planet E...

“Hip hop makes the Earth look cool,” says eco-rapper, comedian, and creator who performs as Planet Earth and makes songs and videos about ecological topics, Hila The Earth, on Climate Curious. In conversation with host Ben Hurst, Hila shares her musical journey from zero waste advocate to comedic musical performer whose biggest inspiration is the big beautiful blue planet that we inhabit. Tune in...

Polluters rely on the social license created by advertising. From airlines on billboards, to SUVs on social media ads, polluters and their promoters work hard to make sure their image is tip-top! To reveal this pollution promotion ‘special relationship’, Climate Curious spoke to activist and artist Francesca Willow from the ‘Badvertising’ campaign’s first-of-its-kind action challenging the world’s...

Fossil fuel CEOs are pulling from slavery’s playbook. Whilst witnessing the CEO of Shell on stage advocating for continued investment in oil, today’s guest couldn’t help but be reminded of similar arguments from 200 years ago regarding the existence of slavery. On why looking back can help us ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself, here’s social philosopher Roman Krznaric on Climate Curious.&nb...

“We need to look in the rear view mirror of history and see what we can learn from the past to help us make decisions today.” Social philosopher and author, Roman Krznaric, spells out the importance of using history as a way to find climate solutions that exist in the past, not just the future. Recorded live in Oxford, Roman connects the dots between the role of radical movements across history an...

Is the technology for our power grid outdated? With 20 years experience in material science, co-founder of TS Conductor, Jason Huang thinks so. We hear how modern technology can double or even triple the capacity of power grids, which is crucial to modernise the grid and accelerate the green energy transition. Created by TEDxLondon Executive produced by Josie Colter Produced by Ben Beheshty Hosted...

Can satellites save the rainforest? (Spoiler: yes!) Satellite data can help keep rainforests healthy, says Associate Professor Dr. Jesús Aguirre Gutiérrez from the University of Oxford, on Climate Curious. Using satellite imagery to track biodiversity patterns and thus how resilient trees and animals are to a hotter and drier climate, Jesús shares some juicy insights on rainforest realities in the...

The rainforest has some unexpected guardians—satellites! Associate professor Dr. Jesús Aguirre Gutiérrez from the University of Oxford joins Climate Curious to reveal how satellite data is revealing hidden biodiversity patterns in rainforests, informing more effective conservation efforts, and offering fresh insights into the health of the planet’s lushest landscapes––the tropics.  Created by...