Environment - Think

How to lie with maps

October 6, 2021 Culture, Education, Environment, Science and Technology, Think

New York Times editorial board member Greg Bensinger joins us to discuss the gaps between what maps represent and real-life knowledge.

What Deep Space Can Teach Us About Earth

September 23, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Michael Greshko of National Geographic joins us to talk about asteroids, comets, dwarf planets and other space objects that researchers are studying to better understand how life as we know it started. His article is headlined “Mysteries of the Solar System.”

Meet The Creatures Living Above And Below Us

September 17, 2021 Culture, Education, Environment, Science and Technology

Two pioneering female scientists speak with us: one who describes life in the tops of trees as an eighth continent, and an oceanographer who studies bioluminescent marine animals that light up the ocean floor.

The Magic Of Mushrooms

September 7, 2021 Environment, Health, Science and Technology

Aliya Whiteley joins us to talk about the world of fungi, from spores to mushrooms to their psychedelic properties and magical lore.

Hurricane Harvey 2017, flooding in Spring Texas, a couple miles north of Houston. Speed limit sign almost completely submerged.

Natural Disasters Shouldn’t Catch Us Off Guard

September 2, 2021 Culture, Current Events, Environment, Science and Technology

Samantha Montano is an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and she joins us to talk about the science of emergency management, and why we’re not doing enough to keep the public safe.

Photo of coral reef bioluminescent plant in the ocean.

She Found Light At The Bottom Of The Ocean

August 31, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Marine biologist Edith Widder is senior scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, and she joins us to discuss bioluminescence, which illuminates the ocean hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface.

A photo of Tortuguero National Park, a rainforest in Costa Rica.

There’s A Whole Other World Above Your Head

August 23, 2021 Culture, Environment, Science and Technology

Meg Lowman is a biologist, educator and executive director of the TREE Foundation. She joins us to talk about the diversity of creatures that call tree canopies home.

What If Sugar Had All The Sweetness Without The Calories?

August 17, 2021 Economics, Environment, Science and Technology

Journalist Nicola Twilley joins us to talk about the food science that focused not on sugar replacements but instead on actually making sugar better.

Did Texas Learn Anything From The Power Grid Failure?

August 12, 2021 Culture, Current Events, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology

Mose Buchele, a reporter and host at Austin public radio station KUT, joins us to discuss the worst blackout in the state’s history and how our drive to operate on a grid separate from the rest of the country contributed to the problem.

Photo of a colorful peacock in a greyish forest.

Nature’s Most Elusive Color Might Surprise You

July 9, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Kai Kupferschmidt, contributing correspondent for Science magazine, joins us to discuss why we so often overlook the rarity of the color blue and his trek around the globe to better understand it.

Landscape image of and oil and gas refinery area.

Texas Cities Can’t Keep Frackers Out

July 8, 2021 Environment, Health, Politics

Elizabeth Shogren, climate change reporter, joins us to discuss the tens of thousands of school-age children who are within half a mile of active wells and why city officials are pushing back against laws that prioritize drilling permits.

It’s Time To Rewrite Our Traffic Laws

June 23, 2021 Current Events, Environment

Planning consultant Angie Schmitt joins us to discuss the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, why everything from bike lanes to rainbow crosswalks is codified inside it, and why many argue it needs an update.