Climate change and the means to fight it is an incredibly complex topic, one that’s inspired an increasing array of podcasts. We’ve sampled many, stuck with a few, and recommend this list as a good initial set of podcasts worth checking out if you’re looking to dig deeper into the details of climate change.
How to Save a Planet
Polished and professional, “How to Save a Planet” brings climate topics to the mainstream. Host Alex Bloomberg of “Planet Money” fame sets the tone, conveying a sense of urgency without getting mired in auditory doomscrolling, even as the closing question of every interview is “how screwed are we?” Only drawback: New episodes are only available on Spotify.
- Podcast home: How to Save a Planet
- Good sample episode: The Evangelical Christians Taking on Climate Change (December 9, 2021)
My Climate Journey
Host Jascon Jacobs brings an entrepreneurial perspective and learner’s mind to the problem of climate change and spotlights the ventures working to address it via in-depth interviews of their leaders. Think “How I Built This,” but for climate. That entrepreneurial energy extends to a My Climate Journey online community where members connect to share ideas and opportunities.
- Podcast home: My Climate Journey
- Good sample episode: Episode 188: Alex Laskey, Co-Founder & Executive Chair of Rewiring America (December 20, 2021)
Outrage + Optimism
Outrage + Optimism draws the heavy hitters in climate leadership – such as Alok Sharma, President of COP26, Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace, and Carlos Alvarado, President of Costa Rica – to well-paced interviews led by an engaging trio of hosts (Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson). The podcast closes each episode with bit of music you didn’t know you needed at that moment, but it turns out you did.
- Podcast home: Outrage + Optimism
- Good sample episode: Getting Over the Line at COP26 with Alok Sharma (December 9, 2021)
Climate One
We sampled a lot of podcasts that are good barometers of the latest developments in the world of climate, but kept coming back to Climate One as one of the best. Host Greg Dalton guides each well-produced episode at a brisk pace, making sure the news and newsmakers keep center stage throughout. The result is a podcast that’s dense yet accessible, delivering information and insights that tend to stick in your head long after the episode is over.
- Podcast home: Climate One
- Good sample episode: This Year in Climate (December 17, 2021)
Drilled
Drilled – along with host / founder Amy Westervelt – is one of OGs of climate podcasting, Billed as “a true-crime podcast about climate change,” Drilled doggedly pursues its prime suspect, the fossil fuel industry, across podcast seasons with in-depth investigative reporting and compelling witness testimony.
- Podcast home: Drilled
- Good sample episode: The ABCs of Big Oil | Ep 1: First Day of School (September 24, 2021)
Standard Caveats Apply
No, that’s not the name of a podcast (though it sort of works, doesn’t it?). It’s just to acknowledge there are many great climate podcasts out there – including several we no doubt missed here – and new ones coming online all the time. Have one you’d recommend we include in our next list? Let us know!