Today

Silvia Danielak, "Peace Infrastructures: How UN Peace Operations Build Roads, Bridges, and Solar Farms in the Pursuit of Sustainability" (MIT Press, 2026)

Roads, bridges, a renewable power plant, and an electricity grid: UN peacekeepers might be unusual infrastructure builders, but they’re certainly not unambitious. Since the beginning of the UN’s peacekeeping activities after the end of World War II, the Blue Helmets have cemented ... Show More

34m 16s

May 10

Peter S. Soppelsa, "Paris After Haussmann: Living with Infrastructure in the City of Light, 1870–1914" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2026)

Modern Paris is often hailed as a capital of urban infrastructure. Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s rebuilding of Paris in 1853–1870, branded “Haussmannization,” helped define urban modernity for cities worldwide. But even as infrastructures expanded and modernized, some Parisian ... Show More

51m 34s

May 7

Lucy Stewart, "The Japanese Garden: Ella Christie and Cowden" (Birlinn, 2026)

As detailed in The Japanese Garden: Ella Christie and Cowden (Birlinn, 2026) by Lucy Stewart, at the turn of the twentieth century, Scottish adventurer Ella Christie returned home from a trip to Japan inspired to build her own Japanese garden. As might be expected from a woman wh ... Show More

53 m

May 2021

The Climate Crystal Ball feat. Zeke Hausfather

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

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

In this very special episode, I am joined live in Berlin by the "Godfather of Climate Science," Dr. James Hansen. 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

19m 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 2025

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

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