The Climate Pod

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , we welcome back Rep. Sean Casten to the show to discuss what global solutions we need to accelerate the adoption of clean energy and what needs to be accomplished at COP26 to help make it happen. We also talk about the obstacles facing the world's clean energy transition - from fossil fuel subsidies and misinformat...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , we look at how to mobilize public and private finance for climate action with investor and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer. As COP26's Finance day unfolds, we discuss w hat governments need to do to increase private finance in climate solutions, how much needs to be invested, and how to center equity and j...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , we look at the big picture of the climate crisis with The Economist's Oliver Morton to talk about their latest Special Report " Stabilising the climate ." We go in-depth on the state of the crisis, greenhouse gas emissions, and what it will take to hit the goals set out in the Paris Agreement almost 6 years ago as...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , we kickoff our two week special coverage of COP26 in Glasgow with Time Magazine's Justin Worland, s enior correspondent  covering climate change, about what to expect from this year's critical United Nation's conference on climate change. Justin explains the biggest issues on the table at this year's negotiations,...

We're mixing it up for this episode to celebrate our favorite spooky holiday with an exceptional guest that gives us the very real climate-related inspiration behind Mary Shelley's classic  Frankenstein.  Dr. Michael Wysession, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, talks about his 2018 essay " Frankenstein Meets Climate Change: Monsters of Our Own Making...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , Dr. Jane Goodall , the legendary primatologist and anthropologist, joins the show to discuss why she wanted to serve as a COP26 Advocate, how everyone can get involved to fight climate change and the destruction of the natural world, and what she's learned over the course of her life and work that gives her hope fo...

How did our ancestors handle catastrophic changes to their climate? Brian Fagan has been researching that very question for decades. As one of the world's leading archaeological writers and recognized authorities on world prehistory, he has put together several great works on ancient climate change including the New York Times  bestseller  The Great Warming . Now, he's co-authored a new book Clima...

This week, Saul Griffith joins the show to talk about his new book Electrify: An Optimists Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future . Saul is the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Rewiring America , a non-profit dedicated to widespread electrification and decarbonization. We discuss how replacing or adding just a handful of products in our homes and our businesses can help transform and decarbonize ou...

This week, we look into the future of decarbonizing transportation with two great writers featured in National Geographic's October cover story on the issue. First, Craig Welch talks about his piece "The Future of Driving is here - and it's Electric"  that examines the car industry and how quickly the electric vehicle market is developing all around the world. Second, Sam Howe Verhovek joined the...

This week, we take a deep dive into how climate change is exacerbating extreme droughts and accelerating wildfires with bioclimatologist Park Williams.  Dr. Williams is an associate professor at UCLA's Department of Geography . His particular expertise in the causes and consequences of drought guides us through a wide-ranging conversation on the transformative changes we are seeing in the American...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , Runa Khan , founder and Executive Director of Friendship International, joins the show to talk about the work her organization has done to help people displaced by the climate crisis, and why more needs to be done by the richest countries in the world at COP26 and beyond to help developing nations mitigate emission...

This week, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe joins the show to talk about her new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World . Her book is an incredibly helpful guide for anyone that wants to feel more comfortable talking about climate change, and talking about climate change is one of the most important things we can do. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist...

This week, Ben Franta joins the show to talk about his latest paper, " Weaponizing Economics: Big oil, economic consultants, and climate policy delay ". He explains how fossil fuel companies knew for decades that their product was warming the planet and instead of investing in new energy options, leveraged economic experts to help slow necessary action to combat the climate crisis. We also discuss...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , we talk to Elizabeth Wathuti , the Global South Co-Chair of the COP26 Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council, about advocating for the Global South as one of the world's foremost young leaders in the climate movement. She explains how COP26 can better represent the needs and solutions of all people around the wor...

Hurricane Ida was a Category 4 hurricane, first causing massive damage to Louisiana as it made landfall and later flooding New York City and other areas across the eastern half of the United States. At the same time, the Caldor Fire and Dixie Fire are burning across South Lake Tahoe and the Sierras. Why are we experiencing more extreme weather disasters? CBS News Meteorologist and Climate Speciali...

This week, we talk to Dr. Richard Thaler about the new edition of his book, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness , and what we can learn from behavioral economics that better helps us understand solutions to the climate crisis. Dr. Thaler is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to the field of behavioral economics. He i...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By  Octopus Energy , we talk to the World Health Organization's Director of Public Health and Environment Dr. Maria Neira about the 7 million premature deaths caused by air pollution every year and what international leaders can do to adequately address the issue at COP26. Dr. Neira has been working for the WHO since 1993, except for t...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By Octopus Energy , we talk to the Hon James Shaw , New Zealand's Minister for Climate Change, Associate Minister for the Environment (Biodiversity), MP, and Co-Leader of the Green Party. We discuss what he learned from New Zealand's pandemic response and how that should inform global discussions on climate change. We also dig into why...

Dr. Sylvia Earle is the perfect guest for a deep dive into a very important conversation: ocean exploration and conservation. As a National Geographic Explorer At Large, Dr. Earle is an internationally renowned oceanographer and author of the forthcoming book National Geographic Ocean: A Global Odyssey , Dubbed TIME Magazine's first 'Hero of the Planet,' Dr. Earle serves as President & Chairman of...

On this installment of our series, The Road To COP26 Presented By Octopus Energy , we talk about the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) release of part of a major report on the current state of the climate crisis, AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis . Hundreds of climate scientists were tasked with providing a physical science basis for policymakers to unders...

Extreme weather events have devastated communities across the globe in 2021. Wildfires, floods, and heatwaves have been made worse by human-caused climate change, just as climate scientists have warned us about for decades. This week, we talk to Dr. Andrew Dessler , one of those climate scientists who has been heeding those warnings and communicating the science and policy needed to address the cl...

Washington Governor Jay Inslee made a big splash on the national stage centering his 2020 Democratic Presidential campaign on the climate crisis. Now, after his home state of Washington and much of the Pacific Northwest was devastated by a heatwave that was the deadliest weather-related disaster that area has ever experienced, he is continuing his decades-long advocacy for faster, more ambitious c...

David Wallace-Wells is no stranger to contemplating the most disruptive and devastating outcomes of the climate crisis. His pivotal 2019 book, The Uninhabitable Earth , and 2017 article of the same name detailed some of the worst disasters that awaited humanity if action on climate was further delayed. Still, in 2021, even he's surprised by what he's seeing unfold. Record floods, out of control wi...

This is Part 2 of our two-part series covering the 1970s oil crises in America. You can listen to Part 1 with Jay Hakes here . Professor Meg Jacobs joins the show to discuss her fantastic book Panic At The Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s . We discuss the rise of young Conservatives in the 70s and how the decade empowered them to influence policy for...

This is Part 1 of our two-part series covering the 1970s oil crises in America. The conversations in this series help us understand how the oil crises in the 1970s reshaped American politics and our ability to combat the climate crisis for the next 50 years. Jay Hakes joins the show to discuss his book Energy Crises: Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Hard Choices in the 1970s . Jay was the Administrator of...