logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
39m 15s

Donald R. Prothero, "The Story of Earth'...

Marshall Poe
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Feb 2
Allison Caine, "Restless Ecologies: Climate Change and Socioecological Futures in the Peruvian Highlands" (U Arizona Press, 2025)
In the high Andean grasslands 4,500 meters above sea level, Quechua alpaca herders live on the edges of glaciers that have retreated more rapidly in the past fifty years than at any point in the previous six millennia. Women are the primary herders, and their specialized knowledg ... Show More
49m 37s
Feb 2
Jason Roberts, "We Stay the Same: Subsistence, Logging, and Enduring Hopes for Development in Papua New Guinea" (U Arizona Press, 2024)
An ethnography of indigenous lives amidst subsistence labor, large-scale logging, and unrealized schemes, We Stay the Same: Subsistence, Logging, and Enduring Hopes for Development in Papua New Guinea (U Arizona Press, 2024) traces how hopes for development in New Hanover, Papua ... Show More
1h 3m
Feb 1
Stevan Harrell, "An Ecological History of Modern China" (U Washington Press, 2023)
Is environmental degradation an inevitable result of economic development? Can ecosystems be restored once government officials and the public are committed to doing so? These questions are at the heart of Stevan Harrell's An Ecological History of Modern China (University of Wash ... Show More
57m 43s
Recommended Episodes
May 2021
The Climate Crystal Ball feat. Zeke Hausfather
<p>Humanity has emitted over 1 trillion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, raising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 from 280 to 417ppm. Every year, we add another 50 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, meaning that in 20 years we will double our tot ... Show More
1h 2m
Mar 2025
The Life Scientific - Peter Stott
In the summer of 2003, Europe experienced its most intense heatwave on record - one that saw more than 70,000 people lose their lives. Experiencing the effects whilst on holiday in Tuscany, climate scientist Peter Stott was struck by the idea that just maybe, he could use a model ... Show More
26m 29s
Sep 2023
Zdenka Sokolickova, "The Paradox of Svalbard: Climate Change and Globalisation in the Arctic" (Pluto Press, 2023)
The town of Longyearbyen in the high Arctic is the world's northernmost settlement. Here, climate change is happening fast. It is clearly seen and sensed by the locals; with higher temperatures, more rain and permafrost thaw. At the same time, the town is shifting from state-cont ... Show More
49m 23s
Oct 2023
Trenton W. Holliday, "Cro-Magnon: The Story of the Last Ice Age People of Europe" (Columbia UP, 2023)
During the Last Ice Age, Europe was a cold, dry place teeming with mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer, bison, cave bears, cave hyenas, and cave lions. It was also the home of people physically indistinguishable from humans today, commonly known as the Cro-Magnons. Our knowle ... Show More
42m 33s
Aug 2023
Gideon Henderson on climate ‘clocks’ and dating ice ages
We’re used to hearing the stories of scientists who study the world as it is now but what about the study of the past - what can this tell us about our future?Gideon Henderson’s research focuses on trying to understand climate change by looking at what was happening on our planet ... Show More
28m 26s
May 2025
Meet A Pioneer Of Modern Weather Prediction
<p>Climate scientist Jagadish Shukla grew up in a small village in rural India, where people starved if the monsoon season didn’t bring rain. To help his village, he set out to become a scientist and discover a way to predict the seasons—an unthinkable idea at the time, in the 19 ... Show More
18m 51s
Dec 2021
The James Hansen Interview
<p>In this very special episode, I am joined live in Berlin by the "Godfather of Climate Science," Dr. James Hansen.</p> <p>Dr. James Hansen is the former director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and is now the Director of the "Climate Science, Awareness and Solu ... Show More
1h 46m
Apr 2020
Skimm Special: COVID-19 and Climate Change
Across the world, economies have essentially been on pause due to COVID-19. The unintended consequence? A significant decrease in air pollution and carbon emissions. We talked to climate experts about how the pandemic is highlighting the human impact on the planet. And what that ... Show More
18m 38s
May 2025
Could Freezing Arctic Sea Ice Combat Climate Change?
The year-round sea ice in the Arctic is melting and has shrunk by nearly 40 percent over the past four decades. Geoengineering companies such as Real Ice are betting big on refreezing it. That may sound ridiculous, impractical or risky—but proponents say we have to try. The U.K. ... Show More
25m 29s
Nov 12
Will We Artificially Cool the Planet? The Science and Politics of Geoengineering with Ted Parson
Global heating continues, despite the increased use of renewable energy sources and international policies attempting otherwise. Even as emissions reduction efforts continue, our world faces more extreme weather, sea level rise, and human health impacts, all of which are projecte ... Show More
1h 21m