SCIENCE FOR PEOPLE WHO GIVE A SHIT
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Food & Water Episodes

Food systems and water. You need 'em both to survive, we got 'em.
Nov. 11, 2024

Bridging Misinformation Gaps with Local Journalism

What's the missing link in local journalism? That's today's big question, and my guest is Lyndsey Gilpin . Lyndsey is the Senior Manager of Community Engagement at Grist. Lyndsey was the founder and executive editor at South…
Oct. 28, 2024

Thinking In Systems To Save An Indivisible World

Is multisolving the future? Is it today? Should we do more? That's all today's big question and my guest is Dr. Elizabeth Sawin . Dr. Sawin is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute , which is convenient for …
Oct. 21, 2024

Poverty Is A Policy Choice

How do we make it easier for more Americans to reliably put food (in particular, hot food) on the table? That's today’s big question, and my guest is Salaam Bhatti . Salaam is the SNAP Director at the Food Research and Actio…
Oct. 7, 2024

Best of: Fresh Banana Leaves

There’s no word for “conservation” in many Indigenous languages. Some come close, but mean something more like “taking care of” or “looking after.” And that’s probably because the very idea of conservation, to “prevention th…
June 24, 2024

Houston, We Have An Overfishing Problem

How do we stop overfishing if we don't know who's doing the fishing? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jennifer Raynor . Jennifer is an Assistant Professor of natural resource economics at the University of Wiscon…
June 10, 2024

Bring A Folding Chair

How do we tackle huge systemic intersectional environmental justice issues at the local level? That's today's big question, and my guest is Jacqui Patterson . Jacqui is the Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Lega…
April 8, 2024

The Social Infrastructure of Water

What have we learned from millennia of water insecurity, of climate changes and disasters, of building along freshwater ways and the ocean, that we can apply today? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Amber Wuti…
Feb. 19, 2024

Saving Democracy From The Bottom Up

What are reverse coattails, and how might they slow climate change, prevent the next pandemic, and keep Nazis off of school boards? That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Amanda Litman . Amanda is one of my f…
Dec. 4, 2023

How To Make Ethical Decisions

Has there ever been a more important time, a more consequential time, to lead with ethics? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Susan Liautaud . Susan is the author of The Power of Ethics and of the Little Book o…
Oct. 16, 2023

Do You Know Where Your Water Comes From?

Every single one of us needs air, water, food, shelter, and energy. So why are the infrastructure that provides them, the systems we are most reliant on hidden in plain sight? How can we reconnect with them, appreciate them,…
Sept. 25, 2023

Turning The Tide On Microplastics

What are microplastics doing to us? And how do we stop putting them into our water, and our bloodstreams, and our food? That's today's big question, and my guest is Julia Yan . Julia is the co-founder and CEO at Baleena , a …
May 8, 2023

Fighting Food Waste With The iPhone of Trash Cans

How much food do you throw away every week? And do you have to? That's today's big question, and my guest is Matt Rogers . Matt is a former Apple iPod and iPhone engineer . The Co-Founder of Nest thermostats , Founder of inc…
April 3, 2023

Best of: What Really Happens When You Just Give People Money?

What if we just gave people money? That's today's big question and my guests are Caroline Teti and Michael Faye from GiveDirectly . This conversation from 2021, one of my all-time favorites is one of those conversations that…
Nov. 28, 2022

Why You Should Care About Soil Health

What’s one big change we can make that can make our food healthier, make farming more lucrative, draw down carbon in the atmosphere, and reduce climate emigration? That’s today’s big question, and my guest is Sasankh Munukut…
Nov. 14, 2022

Breaking Bread with the Korean Vegan

There’s nothing quite like breaking bread with family and friends, old or new. By mid-2020, we’d have all taken the opportunity to break bread with just about anyone. Why are recipes, and the stories behind them, some of the…