Hot Take
Relaunched on Earth Day 2022 by Crooked Media, Hot Take is a holistic, irreverent look at the climate crisis and all the ways in which the world is talking – and in some cases not talking – about it. The podcast is co-hosted by climate justice journalist Mary Annaïse Heglar and investigative podcaster Amy Westervelt. The duo study how climate discussions show up across the spectrum, from Netflix to newsletters, often looking at issues through the lenses of gender and race. Steering clear of dry academia, they ensure the listeners are kept engaged.
Grouse
When Ashley Ahearn ditched city life for a farmhouse and an unruly horse in the countryside of Washington state, little did she know she would end up hosting a podcast about the greater sage-grouse. On first listen, this might seem as niche as they come, but in fact it’s a wider look at the eternal conflict between humans and wildlife. We follow Ahearn as she strikes up delightful and unlikely friendships with conservative cattle ranchers, and interviews Native American elders, while acquiring an unexpected appreciation for the under-threat species.
Unearthed: Mysteries from an Unseen World
Kew Gardens’ series is a thrilling journey that looks at the plant world through a very different lens. Hosted by botanist and plant geek James Wong, this podcast teaches listeners about multimillion-pound smuggling operations, mysterious medicines and fantastic fungi, encouraging us to ponder whether ecocide is a crime. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the UK’s favourite garden, and Wong’s enthusiasm and easy rapport with scientists make it an engaging listen.
Blood River
The killers of Berta Cáceres, an indigenous environmental activist from Honduras, thought they were getting away with murder. More than 100 climate activists in the country had been killed in just five years, and few perpetrators had ever been brought to justice. Cáceres was shot dead in her home by armed intruders, after she had set out to stop the world’s largest dam builder from erecting a dam in the Gualcarque River, the lifeblood of the indigenous Lenca people. This true crime podcast is a gripping tale of the four-year quest to put Cáceres’s killers behind bars.
The Shark Farmer
Rob Sharkey is not your average grain farmer from Illinois. He is passionate about revealing what farming really looks like – the good, the bad and the ugly – against the backdrop of a rapidly and unpredictably changing climate. Pursuing stories that will resonate around the world, Sharkey is not afraid to court controversy, and keeps his topics firmly rooted in the current news cycle. A recent episode saw him interview a Ukrainian farmer about surviving in the midst of war; another featured farmers in South Africa whose neighbours were being murdered.
