logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
29m 25s

The Greening of Pittsburgh

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
About this episode
When it comes to examples of cities that have successfully emerged from the industrial age into the information age, look no further than Pittsburgh. But can it be done with an eye toward climate solutions? In this editorial collaboration with Project Drawdown, storyteller Matt Scott follows engineer and artist Clara Kitongo, architect Erica Cochran Hameen, ... Show More
Up next
Jul 2023
Trapped in the icy waters of the Northwest Passage
For centuries, the Northwest Passage, the long-sought sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through northern Canada, was a holy grail of Arctic exploration. Even now, sailing through it isn’t guaranteed. Mark Synnott, a National Geographic Explorer, writer, and adv ... Show More
34m 16s
Jul 2023
Playback: Modern Lives, Ancient Caves
There’s a lost continent waiting to be explored, and it’s right below our feet. We’ll dig into the deep human relationship to the underground—and why we understand it from an instinctive point of view, but not so much from a physical one. (Hint: We’re afraid of the dark.) In an e ... Show More
28m 39s
Jun 2023
Playback: This Indigenous Practice Fights Fire with Fire
For decades, the U.S. government evangelized fire suppression, most famously through Smokey Bear’s wildfire prevention campaign. But as climate change continues to exacerbate wildfire seasons and a growing body of scientific research supports using fire to fight fire, Indigenous ... Show More
29m 8s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2021
Green Thinking: Landscapes
How have we shaped the landscapes around us, and how have landscapes shaped us? From flooding in Cumbria to community groups in Staffordshire, how can understanding the history of a landscape help planners, council policy, and current residents? Do we need to rethink the way we a ... Show More
26m 40s
Mar 2021
Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?
We're tackling a sibling debate: Do your individual actions matter when it comes to climate change? Or is it all about big, systemic change? In this episode, we break down both sides of the argument. We lay out the actions that have the biggest impact on your carbon footprint – a ... Show More
47m 17s
Jan 2021
Meet Your New Climate Czar
Gina McCarthy will serve as the first-ever National Climate Advisor, heading up the newly formed White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. So, who is she? We spent time with her before the nomination and talked about her relentless fight to link environmental policy with pub ... Show More
48m 50s
Feb 2021
Kelp Farming, for the Climate
Seaweed and giant kelp are sometimes called “the sequoias of the sea.” Yet at a time when so many people are talking about climate solutions and reforestation — there aren’t nearly enough people talking about how the ocean can be part of that. In part one of our two-part series, ... Show More
53m 32s
Nov 2021
Can Tech Save the Literal World? (with Jamie Margolin)
Baratunde connects with Gen-Z author and climate activist Jamie Margolin, to see how this next generation is using tech to save the planet. He was surprised more than once by this 19-year-old’s perspective. She is the founder of This Is Zero Hour, an intersectional movement of yo ... Show More
39m 44s
Aug 2020
The Green Wave
It started with students walking out of school to demand more action on climate change, built into an international movement – and then was propelled forward by a pandemic. Today on the show, the surprising story behind Europe’s climate plan, and what the rest of us can learn fro ... Show More
45m 6s
Oct 2021
Green Thinking: Transport
Children walking to school, or cycling is the aim of a project in Manchester which one of today's guests, Dr Sarah Mander, works on. She shares her ideas about how to change our patterns of transport use from the morning walk to work or school to worldwide shipping. Professor Tim ... Show More
25m 56s
Dec 2020
Breaking Buildings’ Addiction to Fossil Fuels
If we’re going to deal with climate change, we’ve got to talk about buildings. Thirty percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to our homes, offices and other buildings – how we heat and cool them, how we insulate them (or don’t) and the electricity we use. But ... Show More
56m 16s
Nov 2021
From Hurricane Katrina to COP26: How to be a stubborn optimist in the face of the climate crisis
Over the past two weeks, world leaders and delegates from nearly every country have gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26. This annual summit on climate change will attempt to update the 2015 Paris agreement with accelerated action, higher targets and more ambitious cuts to ca ... Show More
32m 35s
Nov 2021
Green Thinking: Law
Are states policing themselves properly? How is the law helping put the CITES agreement into practice to stem the international trade of wild animals and plants? Professor Elizabeth Kirk and Professor Tanya Wyatt discuss the pros and cons of international law as a tool and how it ... Show More
25m 54s