Climate Change Podcasts for Campus Sustainability Month
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Climate change is both simple and immensely complicated.
It’s simple in the sense that we know what’s causing it.
But it’s complicated in the sense that it causes endless consequences — from rising sea levels to more crop pests to vanishing species — and countries are scrambling to find ways to mitigate and adapt to it while still maintaining the status quo.
It takes time and effort to understand the impacts of climate change and how we can keep temperatures from rising beyond catastrophic levels.
But there are a lot of resources available to help us learn more. In recent years, activists, scientists, and journalists have started a variety of podcasts dedicated to helping us better understand the climate crisis and what we can do to change its trajectory.
Are podcasts your thing? Here are some excellent ones to up your learning for Campus Sustainability Month:
TILClimate
This succinct podcast is ideal for getting up to speed on a range of complex climate topics. Episodes are around 15 minutes long and explore topics such as carbon capture, clean technology, energy efficiency, and much more.
Emergence Magazine Podcast
The Emergence Magazine Podcast centers Indigenous perspectives. Episodes either feature an interview by editor-in-chief Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee or essays read by activists, authors, philosophers, and scientists. Recent essays include a piece on the forests that surround Mount Kenya, a meditation on the environmental wisdom of druidry, and a profoundly beautiful reflection on alternative economic models by the author and biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer.
For What It’s Earth
Emma Brisdion and Lloyd Hopkins have a friendly, easygoing rapport that makes tough, complex issues like wildfires, fast fashion, and flooding not just approachable but also enjoyable. The duo regularly brings on expert guests to discuss topics such as insects, sustainable cities, and electric cars. For What It’s Earth recently hit its 50-episode milestone with a fascinating episode about tea and coffee.
America Adapts
Climate adaptation — helping communities withstand climate change — often gets overshadowed by climate mitigation, which includes all the efforts made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But now governments worldwide increasingly realize that there’s no way to delay the consequences of climate change and adaptation needs funding. On America Adapts, host Doug Parsons interviews scientists, activists, policymakers, and journalists to learn more about how communities are adapting to climate change, along with many other topics including climate reparations.
How to Save a Planet
As one of the latest projects from podcast powerhouse Gimlet Media, How to Save a Planet, hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and journalist Alex Blumberg, probably has the biggest reach of all the shows on this list. But that doesn’t mean the podcast is resting on its laurels — on the contrary, it’s consistently informative and engaging, covering foundational issues like energy efficiency and the scope of the climate crisis, along with more obscure topics like soil regeneration and kelp farming. Above all, the hosts are trying to foster a sense of hope in their listeners to push against prevailing narratives of “doom and gloom.”
