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30 episodes
Welcome to The Propagandist
Aug 11, 2026 · 2 min
10 years ago, rural North Dakota became the hub of one of the largest Indigenous-led protests in decades, and one of the largest climate protests ever in U.S. history: Standing Rock. What started as a protest against a pipeline turned into a political flashpoint thanks to social media. The pipeline company's private security contractors exploited the moment, using propaganda to fan the flames of long-simmering divisions in the community and amplify the voices of groups that were pro-pipeline or…
A Tipping Point
Ep 6 · Jun 16, 2026 · 34 min
Treating climate solutions like an infinite money cheat might not be a great way to actually solve the problem, though it's sure to make plenty of "green" entrepreneurs rich. It makes sense that businessmen would stay focused on profits, but why do climate advocates keep supporting these ideas? This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for…
The Saudi Arabia of Biofuels
Ep 5 · Jun 9, 2026 · 40 min
With the sustainable aviation fuel industry set to explode, carbon capture has thrown the corn ethanol industry a lifeline...but what does another corn ethanol boom mean for everyone else? This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Into the Amazon
Ep 4 · Jun 2, 2026 · 35 min
Industrial agriculture has wrapped itself in a green cloak in Mato Grosso, promising jobs, money and endless opportunities, all in the name of "sustainability." But the good times are only happening for a select few. Local residents are dealing with extreme weather, lack of access to fresh food, and a pesticide overload that has increased the risk of birth defects and lowered lifespans. Meanwhile, Bruce and the guys have now ventured into new territory: the Amazon. This season is a collaboration…
The Brazilian Midwest
Ep 3 · May 26, 2026 · 27 min
Bruce's Brazilian business partners run the state of Mato Grosso and the town the company is headquartered in. So while he fights endless pushback to his pipeline project in Iowa, business in Brazil is booming. This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Ethanol Kingpin of Iowa
Ep 2 · May 19, 2026 · 32 min
Bruce's venture in Brazil isn't the first time he tried to go global. What an earlier attempt tells us about him, his business, and what's ahead for both Iowa and "the Brazilian Midwest." This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Carbon Gold Rush
Ep 1 · May 12, 2026 · 27 min
As his American company Summit Carbon Solutions struggles with backlash to a carbon capture pipeline linking corn ethanol plants across the Midwest, Bruce Rastetter is not slowing down. Instead, he’s celebrating some big wins for his Brazilian company, FS Fueling Sustainability, from new ethanol-friendly climate policy to government funding for their carbon capture project. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or…
Welcome to Carbon Cowboys
May 5, 2026 · 4 min
For decades we’ve heard that “the markets” will solve the climate crisis. On Drilled: Carbon Cowboys, we put that theory to the test, following Bruce Rastetter, a corn ethanol kingpin-turned-carbon entrepreneur from Iowa to Brazil, and asking the big questions: Are these “climate solutions” actually reducing emissions? Is CO2 increasing or decreasing as carbon becomes a commodity? Or is green colonialism just as extractive as the regular sort? Drilled: Carbon Cowboy…
Fossil-fueled Fascism
Apr 28, 2026 · 22 min
The U.S. invasions of Venezuela and Iran are more of the same imperialism in service of oil majors. As the climate crisis makes its presence more urgently felt, fossil fascism dictates a doubling-down on extraction and colonialism, and the vilification of those who oppose or stand in the way of that plan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On Petromasculinity and Protest
Apr 21, 2026 · 21 min
Repression of protest has ramped up in the U.S., but everything that's happening now began with the backlash to the Standing Rock protest back in 2016. In today's episode we look at the connections between fossil fascism, petromasculinity, and protest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Never Let a War Go to Waste
Apr 14, 2026 · 26 min
Lots of people are talking about the similarities between Iraq and Iran, but in this episode we place the two in the context of another war—World War I—and the historical arc of fossil fascism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Drilling Deep: Karen Hao on How Big AI Is Gambling with the Planet’s Chips
Mar 17, 2026 · 53 min
What is “artificial intelligence”? Is it a fancy technology? A management consulting buzzword? A PR effort to inflate corporate share prices? A political project designed to shape the world more to the liking of the billionaire class? A way to replace needy human workers with machines? Perhaps it’s all of that—and more. In her groundbreaking book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, award-winning journalist Karen Hao argues that AI—and t…
10 Years After Berta Cáceres’s Murder, Why Is Honduras Still So Dangerous for Environmentalists?
Mar 3, 2026 · 59 min
This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the hired hit that took Berta Cáceres’s life and robbed both the Honduran and global environmental movements of a uniquely effective leader. Cáceres was targeted by a dam company, with an assist from the police, military, government officials and international banks because of her effective organizing on behalf of her people, the Lenca. Nina Lakhani literally wrote the book on Cáceres’s killing, and in this episode she w…
Just Because the U.S. Says It's Legal Doesn't Make It So: Companies Trading in Illegally Seized Venezuelan Oil Face Legal Risk
Feb 9, 2026 · 29 min
Fernanda Hopenhaym, member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights walks Drilled senior global climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani through the many legal pitfalls companies getting involved in the United States seizure of the Venezuelan oil industry might be facing. Check out the longer story on our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Climate Protest Backlash Led to Present-Day Repression
Feb 3, 2026 · 46 min
It's easy to feel like climate "doesn't matter" as the United States descends into fascism, as if climate and democracy are somehow separate issues. Researcher Oscar Berglund and Amy Westervelt connect the dots between the global backlash to climate protest and the broader repression we're seeing in supposedly democratic countries around the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A "Green Transition"? If Only It Were That Simple
Feb 2, 2026 · 57 min
In More and More and More, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz shows that the human history of energy is one of accumulation, not substitution. Here, he talks to reporter Adam Lowenstein about how the "energy transition" frame got so entrenched, why clean-energy innovation is not the same thing as decarbonization, how the fossil fuel industry helped launder pipe dreams of dysfunctional technologies into mainstream climate “solutions”, and much more (and more and more). See omnystudio.com/li…
Introducing Lawless Planet: "Surveillance and Sabotage on the Dakota Access Pipeline"
Jan 20, 2026 · 46 min
When activists Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya take drastic measures to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, they have no idea that a shadowy private security contractor called TigerSwan has them in its sights. Special thanks to: Alleen Brown and The Intercept (https://theintercept.com/2018/12/30/tigerswan-infiltrator-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock/) You Strike A Match by Julia Shipley (https://grist.org/protest/dakota-access-pipeline-activists-property-destruction/) De…
Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire
Jan 12, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent, and destructive as the climate heats up. Drilled reporter Royce Kurmelovs and Canadian author John Vallaint, author of Fire Weather, discuss the climate-fire nexus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Norwegian Paradox: Norway's Fossil Fuel Dilemma
Dec 29, 2025 · 25 min
In this bonus episode of The Black Thread, we examine a single legal case that distilles the Norwegian paradox perfectly: the planned electrification of the Melkøya gas processing plant. It's a key conflict site where Norway's net zero transformation clashes with its fossil fuel industry, Indigenous rights, youth climate activism, worker safety, and even criticism from the United Nation. Additional resources: Communicating Climate Change See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information…
How Climate Activists Successfully Fight Obstruction
Ep 14 · Dec 28, 2025 · 57 min
Despite growing repression worldwide, climate activists continue to stick it to obstructionists and drive change. In this season's finale, Jennie Stephens (University of Ireland Maynooth) and Sharon Yadin (University of Haifa) share the effective strategies that activists can use to push back against the forces that block climate action. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Litigation Works to Fight Climate Obstruction
Ep 13 · Dec 10, 2025 · 48 min
It's bleak out there and while climate obstruction can feel overwhelming, there are efforts being made to fight back against it. One of them is litigation and holding corporations legally accountable. Joana Setzer (London School of Economics) speaks to how climate litigation is being used to challenge companies, enforce climate commitments, and push for climate action globally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Drlling Deep: Uruguay's Renewable Energy System with Natasha Hakimi Zapata
Dec 2, 2025 · 55 min
More than a decade ago—when wind and solar power were far more expensive than they are today—Uruguay, long plagued by droughts and energy shortages, transitioned its entire economy such that 98% of its electricity now comes from renewable sources. They did it in just two years, and used the savings to slash the country's poverty rate from 40% into the single digits. Natasha Hakimi Zapata covers Uruguay's transformation in her book, Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from…
COP Out: What the Heck Happened at COP30?
Nov 25, 2025 · 57 min
We're bringing you episode 5 of Dana R. Fisher's COP Out podcast, from the Center for Environment, Equity and Community at American University, featuring our own Amy Westervelt and legendary climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe talking about what happened at this year's COP, whether the process is fixable, and how to get the benefits of global convening without all the headaches. Check out the rest of Dana's series here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How and Why Climate Adaptation Measures Get Blocked
Ep 12 · Nov 25, 2025 · 46 min
Working against regulations on emissions might protect the economic interests of those with money to lose, but why would anyone fight against adapting to survive climate disaster? In the negotiating rooms at COP 30, adaptation was one of the biggest debate areas. Laura Kuhl (Northeastern University) and Stacy-Ann Robinson (Emory University) explain why adaptation policies face scrutiny and opposition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Carbon Bros Mailbag: Navigating Traditional Male Spaces and the Benefits of Solidarity
Nov 24, 2025 · 42 min
Daniel Penny and Amy Westervelt return for the Carbon Bros mailbag episode, answering listener questions from around the world about masculinity, traditional male spaces, vocational therapy, solidarity, and the role of gender in engaging in climate action. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Drilling Deep: Jessica Green on Why We Need More Confrontation at COP
Nov 17, 2025 · 48 min
After four decades of the United Nations climate conference COP, progress on global climate action remains slow. So what isn't working? How is it possible that so much fanfare, so many words, and so much work—much of it genuine and good-faith—has amounted to such little progress? University of Toronto political science professor Jessica F. Green has some ideas. In Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them, the longtime observer of global cl…
The Corruption of COP: Inside Climate Obstruction at the UN
Ep 11 · Nov 10, 2025 · 55 min
The United Nations' climate processes were created to drive global climate action, but from the beginning they've faced organized efforts to delay progress. As COP 30 begins, Kari de Pryck (University of Geneva) and Eduardo Viola (Institute of International Relations, Brazil) join Amy to analyze how COP and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change get hijacked by those opposed to climate action, what it means for global climate policy, and what to expect at this year's COP in Brazil. …
Norway Beyond Oil: Climate, Policy, Society
Nov 5, 2025 · 43 min
We look ahead to Norway's future, exploring how the country might begin to loosen oil's grip on its politics and identity. Hear how different voices envision aligning the country's actions with its values, its reputation, and the realities of climate change. Additional resources: Communicating Climate Change See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Climate Obstruction Works at the Local Level
Ep 10 · Nov 4, 2025 · 34 min
Local governments are a double-edged sword when it comes to climate policy, with the power to either do far more or far less than national governments. They can be an agent of change or an agent of obstruction. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University) and Joshua A. Basseches (Tulane University) walk us through how subnational governments, like states and municipalities, work and how they engage in climate obstruction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Climate Obstruction in the Global South
Ep 9 · Oct 29, 2025 · 54 min
The United States is a global leader of climate obstruction, but it's not the only guilty country. M. Omar Faruque (Queen’s University, Canada) and Ruth E. McKie (De Montfort University) look at how and why climate obstruction occurs in the Global South, exploring the political, economic, and institutional factors that lead the countries most vulnerable to climate change, and least responsible for emissions, to participate in climate obstruction. See omnystudio.com/listener for priv…
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