Wind And Solar Were Europe’s Top Energy Sources In 2022
The European Union reached a major renewable energy milestone in 2022. For the first time, wind and solar generated more energy in the European Union than any other power source. Ira talks with science writer Roxanne Khamsi about Europe’s energy future and other top science stories of the week, includin ... Show More
Yesterday
Managing The Risks Of Spaceflight, 40 Years After Challenger
Forty years ago this week, the space shuttle Challenger exploded in flight, 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. All seven crew members were killed. In the months that followed, the tragedy was traced to a failed O-ring in one of the shuttle’s rocket boosters. Now, with ... Show More
18m 21s
Jan 26
How A Mutation Made This Year’s Flu Season So Bad
A rogue strain of flu, subclade K, has sickened more than 19 million people in the US so far this season. And the flu shot hasn’t offered that much protection. What’s going on with this superflustorm?Joining Host Flora Lichtman with some answers is Jennifer Duchon, a pediatric in ... Show More
12m 27s
May 2022
Who Killed Nuclear Energy?
Emmet Penney, creator of Nuclear Barbarians, Grid Brief, and the ex.haust podcast, walks us through the rise, fall and future prospects of nuclear power in the United States. Emmet dives deep on the historical, regulatory, political, and environmentalist forces behind nuclear ene ... Show More
1h 15m
Nov 2021
Michael Shellenberger: A Heretic Among Heretics
<p>In this episode, I am joined by returning guest Michael Shellenberger. We briefly discuss his new book San Fransicko, which, like his best-seller Apocalypse Never, takes a heterodox stance on an issue that progressives feel they champion -- in this case, the drug and homelessn ... Show More
1h 3m
Mar 2023
Ontario’s Nuclear Advantage
Gary Rose, VP of New Nuclear Growth at Ontario Power Generation, builds our understand of the CANDU refurbishment program, whose successes have laid the foundation for deployment of the West’s 1st grid scale SMR, the GE Hitachi BWRX-300.
Gary and I explore the thesis that Ontar ... Show More
1h 13m
Aug 2025
Simon Goes Nuclear with nuclear energy influencer Isabelle Boemeke
<p>“Nuclear” might make you wince—but the real problem isn’t the energy, it’s the branding. Safe, low-carbon, and scalable, nuclear could be a climate hero—if only we told the story right.</p><p>Isabelle Boemeke is on a mission to change how we think about nuclear energy. A Brazi ... Show More
1h 6m
Aug 2023
Satsuki Takahashi, "Fukushima Futures: Survival Stories in a Repeatedly Ruined Seascape" (U Washington Press, 2023)
Both before and after the 2011 "Triple Disaster" of earthquake, tidal wave, and consequent meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, anthropologist Satsuki Takahashi visited nearby communities, collecting accounts of life and livelihoods along the industrialized seas ... Show More
53m 1s
Aug 2023
Satsuki Takahashi, "Fukushima Futures: Survival Stories in a Repeatedly Ruined Seascape" (U Washington Press, 2023)
Both before and after the 2011 "Triple Disaster" of earthquake, tidal wave, and consequent meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, anthropologist Satsuki Takahashi visited nearby communities, collecting accounts of life and livelihoods along the industrialized seas ... Show More
53m 1s
Aug 2024
The not-so-secret life of plants
From the perspective of Western science, plants have long been considered unaware, passive life forms; essentially, rocks that happen to grow. But there’s something in the air in the world of plant science. New research suggests that plants are aware of the world around them to a ... Show More
35m 49s