#2418 - Chris Williamson
Joe Rogan and Chris Williamson discuss how smartphones, social media and emerging AR technologies shape attention, mental health and groupthink, and contrast that with the value of time, presence and physical experience. They debate climate change activism, pollution, perverse incentives around green funding and why some protest tactics may backfire, then broaden into existential risks like AI, engineered pandemics and nuclear war alongside concerns about censorship and the UK online safety regime. The conversation also covers trans athletes and fairness in women's sports, high‑stakes boxing matchmaking, hypnosis and memory reliability, and what it means to pursue greatness while trying to remain happy and authentic in an AI‑mediated world.
Rice is Nice
The hosts explore rice as a global staple food, covering what rice actually is, its major species and varieties, and how it is grown in different environments. They discuss environmental impacts such as methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddies, arsenic contamination and health considerations, and global patterns of rice production and consumption. The episode also highlights notable rice dishes and desserts from around the world and concludes with listener mail reflecting on the show itself.
4 hard truths about capitalism and climate | Steve Howard
Sustainability investor Steve Howard outlines four hard truths about capitalism and climate change, arguing that businesses, financial markets, and policies must be rewired to enable large-scale decarbonization. He explains how companies are structurally resistant to change, how short-term profit focus and unpriced environmental externalities distort markets, and why long, loud, legal climate policies are essential to drive investment into cleaner technologies. Drawing on examples from Temasek, IKEA, Singapore, and emerging climate-tech firms, he shows how better (cleaner, cheaper, higher-performing) solutions can scale quickly and calls on policymakers, asset owners, businesses, and individuals to actively redirect capital toward climate solutions.
Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal
Radiolab introduces a special episode from the series "Our Common Nature" in which host Ana Gonzalez and cellist Yo-Yo Ma explore West Virginia's coal country to understand how coal, music, race, and nature shape people's lives. Through stories from miners like Chris Saunders and his mother Zora, poet-activist Crystal Good, musician Kathy Matea, and others, the episode examines the pride, danger, and environmental harm tied to coal, as well as the resilience and community that persist in Appalachia. The journey weaves together mine history, the Upper Big Branch disaster, iconic songs, rafting on the New River, and intimate moments of grief and connection.
TED Talks Daily Book Club: Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet | Kate Marvel
Host Elise Hu interviews climate scientist Kate Marvel about her book "Human Nature, Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet," which explores climate change through nine emotions rather than just data or policy. Marvel discusses why scientists should acknowledge their feelings, how climate communication needs storytelling as well as charts, and how humans still have agency to shape a wide range of possible futures. They cover topics including grief for changing places, the limits of individual action, practical climate solutions, technological interventions, and how hope can be understood as something we do rather than something we simply have.
What To Do With All This Nuclear Waste?
Josh and Chuck discuss what nuclear waste actually is, how it is produced in nuclear reactors, and the different forms it takes. They explain current storage methods like spent fuel pools and dry casks, national and international strategies for long-term disposal including Finland's deep geological repository, and the stalled Yucca Mountain project in the U.S. They also explore emerging ideas such as recycling spent fuel, transmutation, vitrification into glass or ceramics, and touch on policy, security risks, and connections to artificial intelligence-driven demand for nuclear energy.
How Russia's shadow fleet is sailing around oil sanctions
The episode investigates Russia's "shadow fleet" of aging oil tankers that has emerged to evade Western sanctions and the G7 oil price cap imposed after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. A Danish maritime pilot, Bjarne Cesar Skinnerup, describes guiding increasingly numerous, poorly maintained tankers carrying Russian oil through the Danish Straits, while maritime intelligence specialist Michelle V.C. Bachman explains how the fleet is structured using opaque ownership, fake insurance, and permissive or fraudulent flags. The hosts explore how this underground shipping network reshapes global oil flows, sustains Russian revenues, raises geopolitical tensions, and creates severe environmental and financial risks for coastal nations, while leaving individuals like Bjarne in a moral bind.
The new era of AI-powered protein design | César Ramírez-Sarmiento
Host Elise Hu introduces TED Fellow and protein engineer César Ramírez-Sarmiento, whose lab in Santiago, Chile uses artificial intelligence to design novel proteins for environmental and therapeutic applications. In his talk and follow-up conversation with TED Fellows Program Director Lily James-Olds, César explains what proteins are, how AI has radically improved protein design success rates, and how enzymes could help address challenges like plastic pollution, mining impacts, and climate change. They also discuss the dual-use risks of AI in biodesign, emerging global regulation and leadership (including Chile and other countries), and how César's artistic background shapes his creative approach to science and public communication.
Most Replayed Moment: Are Your Household And Beauty Products Secretly Toxic? Dr Yvonne Burkart
The conversation focuses on how everyday household, beauty, and personal care products can expose people to carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and how small, practical changes can significantly reduce that exposure. Dr Yvonne Burkart explains links between environmental chemicals and rising cancer incidence, especially breast cancer, and describes research showing that removing certain ingredients from products lowered breast cancer gene expression in just 28 days. She offers detailed guidance on identifying problematic ingredients like "fragrance" and phthalates in deodorants, candles, and incense, highlights children's particular vulnerability via contaminated household dust, and proposes safer alternatives such as essential-oil-based products and low-emission beeswax candles.
The hidden cost of buying gold | Claudia Vega
Rainforest toxicologist and TED Fellow Claudia Vega explains how artisanal gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon releases large amounts of mercury, causing severe environmental damage and public health risks locally and globally. She describes the mining process, mercury's toxic effects, and the massive deforestation in Madre de Dios, as well as her work establishing the first mercury lab in the Peruvian Amazon to generate local data for communities, policymakers, and international agreements. In conversation with TED Fellows Program Director Lily James Olds, she discusses working with indigenous communities, changing mining practices, the limits of "green" gold, the need for consumer awareness and traceability, and her fears about fake news and hope in small but real changes.
How we took on an oil giant - and won | Melinda Janki
Climate justice litigator Melinda Janke explains how she uses existing environmental and liability laws in Guyana to challenge ExxonMobil's massive offshore oil projects. She details several landmark legal victories that restricted permit durations, forced inclusion of global "scope three" emissions in impact assessments, and imposed unlimited liability backed by a parent company guarantee. The talk emphasizes that law is a powerful tool ordinary people can use to hold fossil fuel companies accountable and that the oil industry is more vulnerable than it appears.