Engineering ourselves for the climate crisis
Environmental engineer Leonard Ortolano reflects on his professional trajectory and how environmentalism has guided water resource planning, gives us a brief history of US environmental assessment...
View ArticleThe (slow) rise of sustainable energy
Sally Benson talks about the goals and recent accomplishments of Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), the need to partner with industry, the hopeful signs of alternative energy...
View ArticleThe Anthropocene frontier!
Environmental historian Jon Christensen discusses the mythos of the American frontier and some of his unique approaches to history. Christensen also gazes to the future and makes an interesting case...
View ArticleWe can’t save everything: The road to triage
Biologist Terry Root talks about her approach to bio-diversity loss, earth science communication, and the far-reaching impacts of humankind in our most heartfelt interview to date. Download Episode...
View ArticleThe terms of life: Looking at the Anthropocene through history
Environmental historian Richard White addresses the (mis)perceptions of the natural world, the ambiguities surrounding the Anthropocene boundary, and his approach to environmental history. Download...
View ArticleMassive changes under the Arctic ice
Polar oceanographer Kevin Arrigo discusses the often regarded-as-alien environment of the polar regions, the future of environmental awareness of the oceans, and a breaking discovery that may change...
View ArticleYogurt & the apocalypse: The narratives of environmentalism
Literary critic Ursula Heise discusses the construction of environmental & earth science narratives, the origins and perhaps misuse of apocalyptic environmental stories, and some of the ways she...
View ArticleThe law of climate change
Climate scientist-turned-legal scholar Michael Wara discusses the nuts and bolts of greenhouse gas reduction programs and questions the value of the long-standing search for a one-size-fits-all, silver...
View ArticleConservation in the Anthropocene
History is accelerating. As we move farther into the Anthropocene, we must ask ourselves what we want for the planet today and what will we preserve for the next generation. But how do we know where...
View ArticleThe pragmatic conservationist
The chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy Peter Kareiva challenges historical landscapes as the goal of conservation, discusses how to develop econometrics in the Anthropocene, and how he uses...
View ArticleEmerging infectious disease in the Anthropocene
Biological anthropologist James Holland Jones explains how diseases typically spread from animal to human populations and how that might change as our planet continues to warm. He also discusses how...
View ArticleThe elephant in the warming room: food & climate
Food security expert David Lobell takes us around the world to give us a taste of the global food production system. He discusses the wide range of problems our changing climate will have on...
View ArticleWhiskey is for drinkin’& water is for fightin’ over
Expert in natural resources law and policy Buzz Thompson starts with a story of how his grandfather was tricked into selling his farm to the city of Los Angeles so they could get access to water on his...
View ArticleAre you afraid of climate change?
Co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute Michael Shellenberger discusses the cultural relevance of the Anthropocene and why it’s a term that so many people have adopted. He also addresses the complex...
View ArticleEarth’s Tipping Points & Abrupt Climate Change
Climate researcher and host of PBS’s Earth: The Operators’ Manual Richard Alley discusses abrupt climate variations in Earth’s history and what he defines as climate tipping points – leading to a...
View ArticleWrapping our heads around geoengineering
Drift into the stratosphere as environmental engineer Granger Morgan explains how to use aerosols to control climate change and why he calls this a bit of a Faustian bargain. He also discusses what...
View ArticleBalance of evidence revisited
Climate scientist and MacArthur genius Ben Santer takes us back in time to 1995 to a key turning point in the history of climate change science. He reflects on the second IPCC report and the moment he...
View ArticleGen Anthro 2012 Reflections: Producers’ Edition
It’s the end of 2012, and producers Mike Osborne, Leslie Chang, and Miles Traer get together to chat about the past year of Generation Anthropocene. We rehash some of our favorite interviews, off-mic...
View ArticleA cosmic twin study
Astrobiologist David Grinspoon takes the anthropocene off-planet to our nearest cosmic neighbor Venus and discusses what we learn about climate change here on Earth from Venus’ catastrophic green-house...
View ArticleWhat Would Jesus Do (about climate change)?
Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe discusses her Christianity in the context of her academic career… and her marriage to a one time climate skeptic. She also reflects on whether or not the...
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