Eastern Kentucky is a region that can’t leave mining behind.
It has long been coal country, but mining jobs have dried up as the world weans itself off coal.
As old mines close, new miners are moving in, working the digital terrain for a prize you cannot see: cryptocurrency.
Our correspondent Avi Asher-Schapiro takes us to Appalachia where cheap land, tax ... Show More
Nov 2022
Green and going greener: a story from Akureyri, Iceland
About a decade ago, the Icelandic city of Akureyri asked itself a question: Can we become carbon neutral? Catch and repurpose literally all of our pollution? They decided to try. Burned by the 2008 financial crisis that crushed Iceland's economy, the nation learned a lesson that ... Show More
26m 30s
Apr 2023
Deep Waters: Sanctions and the new 'dark' fleet
Shipping has long been one of the most opaque of global industries. Now many operations in the oil sector, which accounts for nearly a third of all seaborne trade, have become still more secretive, following the West's imposition of sanctions on Russian oil. A new "dark fleet" of ... Show More
27m 49s
Sep 2023
Stopping geoengineering, by accident
Solar geoengineering is a hot (er, cool?) topic these days. One method involves injecting a form of sulfur into the atmosphere to reflect solar radiation and help reduce global temperatures. But it could also cause unpredictable changes to ozone, rainfall, and ecosystems. So when ... Show More
47m 25s
Jul 2023
Babbage: The debate over deep-sea mining
As the effects of climate change are increasingly being felt around the world, the need to transition away from fossil fuels is becoming more urgent. An electrified world requires more batteries, which in turn means the demand for metals, such as nickel, is rising. Mining those m ... Show More
42m 55s
Aug 2022
Pakistan’s deadly floods threaten economic recovery
With a third of the country under water and more than 1,000 people dead, the government of Pakistan seeks international help to battle the devastating damage caused by monsoon rains. Asif Sherazi, Islamic Relief's director for that country, tells us how the situation looks like i ... Show More
27m 49s