Climate Curious

Kimiko Hirata shares her vision of a carbon-free Japan, and how shifting from “no” to “yes” is the key to mobilising people and government towards positive change. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan had the opportunity to keep its commitments to renewable energy, says Goldman Environmental Prize winner and environmental activist Kimiko. Instead Japan closed its nuclear sites and...

Straight from the Big Brother House to the Climate Curious Live stage, recorded live at Ladbroke Hall, we caught up with Daze Aghaji on the evolution of activism, and how culture with both a “big C” and a “small c” is upstream of social cohesion, and crucial for driving change. Daze shares how rumination can limit our vision of a positive future, as well as recounting her experience on Big Brother...

When floods, storms, and droughts strike, who helps communities pick up the pieces? According to climate justice leader Harjeet Singh, the world still doesn’t have a fair answer. Currently, the countries least responsible for climate change are paying the highest price. When disaster strikes, typically countries must cover around 80% of the costs themselves. As one of the architects of the Loss an...

From an eco-spy to a human rights lawyer and even a sea captain; meet the capable guardians fighting green crime. Criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw joins Climate Curious co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha to reveal how the heroes behind environmental protection do it – and how you can too – through stories of advocacy, perseverance, and smarts. Tune in to explore criminological frame...

“Elephants are some of the last megafauna we have left. And without them we are kind of screwed,” says Dr. Julia Shaw on the latest ‘Climate Curious on Crime’. Tune in with Julia and co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha as they discuss the role of megafauna in engineering ecosystems, what charismatic megafauna bias is, and how international ivory poaching bans have helped elephant populations bounc...

Perceived benevolence, organised crime, undercover operations, the psychology of poaching: tune in to hear the story behind one of world’s most successful wildlife trafficking takedowns cases – The Shuidong Syndicate. Criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw joins Climate Curious co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha to explore why ivory kingpins Xie, Ou, and Wong perpetrated these wildlife crimes,...

“If you just give people legal ownership without psychological ownership, they'll trash it,” says Dr. Julia Shaw on the latest ‘Climate Curious on Crime’. Tune in with Julia and co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha as they discuss the psychology of ownership, resource guarding, and Indigenous rights. If you enjoyed this short, you can listen to the full episode 2/4 of ‘Climate Curious on Crime: Ep....

Rationalisation, conformity, impunity, ownership: tune in to hear the story of two remarkable environmental defenders Maria and Zé Cláudio – through the lens of criminal psychology. In conversation with Climate Curious co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha, join criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw to ask, why are land defenders getting killed in climate conflict zones such as The Amazon Rainfo...

When climate criminals are caught – what does justice look like? Criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw joins Climate Curious co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha to explore the psychology of impunity, weigh up punishment versus rehabilitation, and the effectiveness of high penalties. Listen to episode 1/4 of ‘Climate Curious on Crime: Ep.1 Dieselgate and the psychology of corporate green con me...

Epistemic malevolence, eco-anger, whistleblowing, greenwashing: tune in to hear the story of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal ‘Dieselgate’ like you’ve never heard it before – through the lens of criminal psychology. In conversation with Climate Curious co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha, join criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw to delve inside the minds of the executives and engineers perpetr...

What is the role of psychology in fighting environmental crime? Criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw joins Climate Curious co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha to explain what a green crime is, and why she spent three years writing a book on the topic. This conversation kicks off our new four-part mini-series ‘Climate Curious on Crime’ launching October 6th 2025, exclusively on the ‘Climate Curious...

Africa’s young workforce is already turning waste biomass and sunshine into jobs, food security and scalable carbon removal, says James Mwangi, the founder and CEO of Africa Climate Ventures on the latest Climate Curious. In conversation with host Ben Hurst,  James shares how biochar solutions are proving climate action can pay today and supercharge growth tomorrow. Recorded live at TED Count...

“The poorest people in the world contribute exactly nothing to climate change,” says Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo. For decades, she has worked to tackle the so-called “wicked problem” of poverty. In this conversation with Climate Curious co-host Ben Hurst, Esther connects the dots between poverty and climate change. Esther shares how she’s removing the capital “P” in poverty, instead...

With his life-sized animal puppets stampeding their way across the globe representing nature’s struggle in the face of the climate crisis, Climate Curious’ co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst caught up with playwright, producer, and director, David Lan on how public art and street theatre is a powerful tool to engage mass audiences on climate action. David also shares stories from 18 year tenure a...

Kenya has become a global leader in geothermal energy over the past 13 years, with 42% of all energy used by the country produced in geothermal plants, says geothermal scientist Dr. Anna Mwangi on Climate Curious. In conversation with co-host Ben Hurst, Anna shares why the geology of the Great Rift Valley makes geothermal a great energy solution for Kenyans.   Recorded live at TED Countdown i...

What are the tactics and propaganda playbook of Big Oil, and what role can artists and popular culture take in reclaiming the narrative? From the flaws of the Paris Agreement to why the net zero narrative is a political football, tune in to hear insights from investigative journalists, climate advocates and lawyers as they pinpoint solutions at this Climate Curious Live, recorded at EarthPercent x...

Female small-holder farmers in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are adapting to climate change using both new and old farming techniques. From intercropping to help balance nitrogen in the soil, to nurturing a composting side hustle for increased agricultural income, women are gaining the knowledge and skills needed to become more resilient to the advances of climate change impacts being felt in th...

“The youth climate movement was effective at raising attention to levels that it had never been at before,” says Mexican-Chilean climate activist and member of the indigenous Mexican Otomi-Toltec nation, Xiye Bastida, on the Climate Curious podcast. Growing up in Mexico and experiencing a climate disaster for the first time at age 13, Xiye was determined to raise awareness of climate change; but w...

Women are key to climate action in Kenya, says Maasai climate advocate, Miss Climate Kenya, and the world's first Miss Climate, Dorcas Naishorua. Sharing how climate change drives poverty and therefore reinforces child marriage and FGM, Dorcas shares lessons from people already deeply affected by climate change, and ultimately, why empowering women empowers entire communites. Recorded live at TED...

Gamers are getting playful in the name of climate action, and it’s working! Featuring a digital wardrobe entrepreneur, a creative coder, an urban greening technologist, and a climate meme shitposter, Climate Curious asks – how are games encouraging people to play their way into being an environmentalist? Recorded live at Sexy Climate Change and Nowaday’s on Earth’s event, ‘Game On: Playing fo...

What drives someone to swap a job at Goldman Sachs for a one-way ticket to the Congo? Journalist and mathematician Anjan Sundaram joins Climate Curious to share his journey from elite institutions to some of the most dangerous places on Earth, reporting on climate conflicts and the lives – and deaths – of the world’s bravest environmental defenders. In conversation with Climate Curious’...

Sci-fi film-making can be sustainable, says film professor and filmmaker Dr. Itandehui Jansen on the Climate Curious podcast. From filming in natural light, walking to set, and not creating set-builds, Itandehui shares the low-carbon filmmaking approaches that helped her to create the experimental sci-fi film ‘ Itu Ninu ’ – a story of two climate migrants in 2084 connecting through letter-wri...

“There may well be measures that we can take on a temporary basis to cool the Arctic and to prolong Arctic sea ice”, says Brad Ack, the CEO of Ocean Visions. He joins Climate Curious to discuss how the ocean can play a central role in re-stabalising the climate. From its role in providing zero carbon food and energy and cleaning up carbon pollution, to the critical research scientists are undertak...

Who gets labelled a criminal in the fight for climate justice – and why? In this episode of Climate Curious , filmmakers Becky Burchell and Sophie Austin discuss the making of their latest documentary, Climate Criminals? , a documentary that retells the stories of frontline climate activists, in their own words. From Just Stop Oil’s Stonehenge protest to the far-reaching consequences of the UK’s 2...

What if the answers you’re searching for are already within you? Icelandic author and filmmaker Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir joins Climate Curious to explore InnSæi – the Icelandic concept of intuition, self-awareness, and inner connection. Hrund shares her path to rediscovering presence and alignment with intuition through mindfulness and journaling, before leading a short guided meditation to hel...