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How We Survive

How We Survive

By: Marketplace
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“How We Survive” is an award-winning podcast from Marketplace about the messy business of climate solutions. From the glitz and glam of Miami to the punishing Arizona desert, to a sinking island that our national security depends on, every season, we take listeners on an adventure. We explore the innovative, surprising, and occasionally disturbing ways that people are navigating solutions to a changing climate.

Previous seasons explored the underbelly of the lithium extraction economy with Tech expert Molly Wood; investigated the red-hot Miami real estate market that’s increasingly vulnerable to storms and sea level rise with journalist Amy Scott; and examined the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases — the U..S military — with Marketplace host and former Navy pilot Kai Ryssdal.

In addition to long-form deep dive seasons, “How We Survive” has a spin-off series called “Burning Questions” that empowers listeners with information they can implement in their lives. We answer questions about climate-safe places to live, the best and worst foods to eat for the environment, maintaining hope when all you want to do is doom-scroll, and tips to climate-proof your house.Copyright 2026 Minnesota Public Radio Economics Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Introducing “How We Survive”

    Introducing “How We Survive”
    Sep 21 2021

    The climate crisis is here. The Western U.S. is burning, much of the Northeast is underwater after a hurricane and towns in Europe are swept away by massive floods. Time is slipping away to stop the worst effects of a warming planet, and the world is looking for solutions.


    On “How We Survive,” Molly Wood explores the technology that could provide some of those solutions, the business of acclimatizing to an increasingly inhospitable planet, and the way people have to change if we’re going to make it in an altered world.


    Decarbonization requires a lot of batteries, and many batteries require lithium. The need for lithium is driving a modern gold rush for the metal that could save the world, but relies on an old, dirty technology: mining. This season, we’ll dive deep into the economics, the tech and the human stories behind the rush for “white gold.” And unlike the gold rush of the 1800s, this time, our survival might depend on it.


    It all starts Oct. 6. Listen to the trailer now and be sure to follow the show so you don’t miss an episode.
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    4 mins
  • White Gold

    White Gold
    Oct 6 2021

    To get off fossil fuels, you need a lot of batteries. To get a lot of batteries, you need to mine a lot of lithium. Welcome to Thacker Pass, Nevada, where a proposed lithium mine has sparked protests from farmers, ranchers and the native Paiute–Shoshone tribe.


    Some tribal members reject the idea that they should sacrifice their ancestral home for the climate fight, while others say that their history is being distorted and co-opted by protestors. And farmers and ranchers in the area who have never had to sacrifice their way of life really don’t want to.


    We traveled to Thacker Pass to report on a fractured community thrust to the front line of the fight to save us all.
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    36 mins
  • The Necessary Evil

    The Necessary Evil
    Oct 13 2021

    Mining is a complicated business. It’s destructive, it’s dangerous. But in order to get the lithium we need to power the energy transition, mining could be a necessary evil.


    In this episode, we go from protests in South America to a gold mine in Nevada, where we take a ride on what looks like a massive Tonka truck, all in the hopes of finding out if there’s a better way to do things while getting the metal we need to survive.


    After talking to mining experts, environmental justice advocates and a very vocal CEO, we get some answers.
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    32 mins
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