Episodes

  • Tim DeChristopher’s Lonely Battle for the Planet

    Tim DeChristopher’s Lonely Battle for the Planet
    May 4 2026
    When you hear the term “civil disobedience,” most people think about mass demonstrations. But sometimes, the most effective protest involves a single individual willing to disrupt the system. In 2008, Tim DeChristopher aka “Bidder 70” bought $1.8 million worth of oil and gas leases in Utah that he never intended to pay for. Tim was sentenced to two years in federal prison and became an accidental martyr in the climate change movement. Nearly 20 years later, we ask him: Did it make a difference? Featured in this episode: Tim DeChristopher Sources: Gravitas Documentaries’s Bidder 70 Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “America’s Most Creative Climate Criminal” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/meet-americas-most-creative-climate-criminal-196050/ Bibi van der Zee’s Inside Climate News article “Utah Climate Activist Found Guilty of Making False Bids on Energy Leases” https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04032011/tim-dechristopher-utah-oil-gas-auction-trial-activist/ Brandon Loomis’ The Salt Lake Tribune article “DeChristopher goes on trial, but does he have a defense?” https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=51289931&itype=CMSID See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    44 mins
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  • How Trump’s EPA Chief Is Dismantling Climate Regulation

    How Trump’s EPA Chief Is Dismantling Climate Regulation
    Apr 27 2026
    With the arrival of the second Trump administration, many employees at the Environmental Protection Agency have felt like they’re under attack – from their own boss. Under its new chief Lee Zeldin, the EPA has slashed budgets, programs, and staff, all in the name of what Zeldin calls rooting out “waste, fraud, and abuse” and “driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion.” On this episode, we talk to EPA insiders about how the cuts have impacted their lives and careers, and the programs they care so passionately about. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    38 mins
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  • The Mining Disaster That Brought Down the 'Dark Lord of Coal'

    The Mining Disaster That Brought Down the 'Dark Lord of Coal'
    Apr 20 2026
    Don Blankenship grew up poor in the heart of West Virginia coal country, but rose to become a union-busting CEO with a track record prioritizing profits over safety. For decades, he operated with seeming impunity, even as his company, Massey Energy, spilled toxic coal slurry into local waterways, and its miners died in preventable accidents. Then, in 2010, a disaster too big to ignore finally brought Blankenship down. But what does his long career reveal about an industry that the Trump administration is trying to revitalize? Sources: Peter A. Galuszka's book Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal Sludge documentary Mine War on Blackberry Creek documentary CBS’s 60 Minutes report “From inmate to candidate: Who is Don Blankenship?” Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “Don Blankenship: The Dark Lord of Coal” https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/don-blankenship-the-dark-lord-of-coal-country-184288/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    42 mins
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  • Church Rock: America's Forgotten Nuclear Disaster

    Church Rock: America's Forgotten Nuclear Disaster
    Apr 13 2026
    In July 1979, just months after a nuclear accident at Three Mile Island gripped the nation, the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history quietly unfolded on a Navajo reservation in Church Rock, New Mexico — and almost no one noticed. A dam at a uranium mine tailings pond burst, causing 94 million gallons of toxic waste to flood a nearby river, poisoning the water, livestock, and people. Through the eyes of an activist who worked at the mine, we reveal how decades of corporate cover-ups and government indifference turned the ‘yellow dirt’ on America's largest Native reservation into something dangerous. Featured in this episode: Larry King Sources: Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed by Judy Pasternak The River that Harms documentary Marley Shebala’s Navajo Times article “Poison in the earth” https://navajotimes.com/news/2009/0709/072309uranium.php See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    37 mins
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  • Who's to Blame for L.A.'s ‘Zombie Fire’?

    Who's to Blame for L.A.'s ‘Zombie Fire’?
    Apr 6 2026
    On New Year’s Eve 2024, an Uber driver named Jonathan Rinderknecht allegedly started a fire in the Pacific Palisades. The fire was quickly contained, but it lingered on underground as a “zombie fire.” Days later, fueled by Santa Ana Winds, it exploded into the Palisades Fire, the most destructive conflagration in Los Angeles history. A second fire, ignited just hours later, destroyed much of neighboring Altadena. In the aftermath, angry residents wanted accountability – but who is to blame for a fire when the earth is now a tinderbox? Featured in this episode: Brad Weisshaupt, LA County Fire Department Traci Park, LA City Council India Bradley Nic Arnzen, Altadena Town Council Daniel Swain, University of California Sources: The Los Angeles Times KTLA 5 News See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    49 mins
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  • Disaster Capitalism Makes Landfall in Puerto Rico

    Disaster Capitalism Makes Landfall in Puerto Rico
    Mar 30 2026
    In 2017, Hurricane Maria, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, battered the island of Puerto Rico. In the aftermath, big banks, crypto bros and other ‘disaster capitalists’ swooped in to take advantage of the crisis. No one realized the full scope of death and destruction until a scrappy team of journalists started to investigate. They exposed a corrupt system that continues to threaten Puerto Rico’s power grid, its people and the environment. Featured in this episode: Carla Minet Sources: The investigative journalism of Carla Minet and her team at the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo https://periodismoinvestigativo.com/ Naomi Klein’s book The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists and her Intercept article “There’s Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster” https://theintercept.com/2018/09/21/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-disaster-capitalism/ Yalixa Rivera and Jonathan Levin’s Bloomberg article “Can Crypto, Cannabis, and Nicolas Cage Boost Puerto Rico’s Economy?” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-10/can-crypto-cannabis-and-nicolas-cage-boost-puerto-rico-s-economy David Yaffe-Bellany and Laura N. Pérez Sánchez’s New York Times article “The Unraveling of a Crypto Dream” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/technology/brock-pierce-crypto-puerto-rico.html Fernando Tormos-Aponte’s In These Times “How an Investigative Journalism Center Helped Oust Puerto Rican Gov. Rosselló” https://inthesetimes.com/article/investigative-journalism-rossello-puerto-rico-protests See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    41 mins
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  • The People vs. Big Oil, Part 2: Chevron Strikes Back

    The People vs. Big Oil, Part 2: Chevron Strikes Back
    Mar 16 2026
    In 2011, the people of Ecuador shocked the world by winning a multibillion judgment against Chevron for failing to clean up its oil operations in the Amazon. But back in the U.S., Chevron responded by suing their most prominent legal adversary, Steven Donziger. And as the oil giant challenged the Ecuadorian verdict, Donziger found himself trapped in his own Kafkaesque legal nightmare, one that threatened to overshadow the plight of the people he was trying to help. Featured in this episode: Steven Donziger Pablo Fajardo Sources: William Langewiesche’s Vanity Fair profile “Jungle Law” https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2007/5/jungle-law Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “Reversal of Fortune” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/09/reversal-of-fortune-patrick-radden-keefe Joe Berlinger’s documentary “Crude” Paul M. Barrett’s book Law of the Jungle See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    39 mins
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  • The People vs. Big Oil, Part 1: 'Amazon Chernobyl'

    The People vs. Big Oil, Part 1: 'Amazon Chernobyl'
    Mar 9 2026
    After Texaco (now Chevron) discovered oil in Ecuador, they left behind an ecological and public health disaster so severe that experts have dubbed it the "Amazon Chernobyl.” The local population then sued the company sparking an epic courtroom drama spanning multiple decades and costing billions of dollars. Leading that fight are two outspoken attorneys: an American outsider not afraid to make enemies, and an Ecuadorian lawyer who risked his life to stand up for his people. Featured in this episode: Pablo Fajardo Steven Donziger Sources: William Langewiesche’s Vanity Fair profile “Jungle Law” https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2007/5/jungle-law Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “Reversal of Fortune” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/09/reversal-of-fortune-patrick-radden-keefe Joe Berlinger’s documentary “Crude” Paul M. Barrett’s book Law of the Jungle See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    47 mins
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