Best Dr Leah Stokes Dr Katharine Wilkinson Podcasts (2024)

1
Live Episode: A Climate Book Talk with Rebecca Solnit 59:03

12M ago59:03

59:03

Welcome back for a bonus episode of A Matter of Degrees! We were lucky enough to sit down with Rebecca Solnit — author, historian, and climate activist — to talk about her newest climate anthology, Not Too Late. Leah and Nikayla Jefferson both wrote essays for the book and joined Rebecca onstage for this live episode. Not Too Late gets at the tough…

1
The Tongass: A Way Forward For The Forest 51:19

1+ y ago51:19

51:19

In our season three finale, we’re transporting listeners to the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world and a vital carbon sink: the Tongass. Katharine and Leah investigate the impact of decades of industrial logging in Southeast Alaska and political debates pitting ecology against economy. We learn from the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian p…

1
The Journey of Justice40 48:21

1+ y ago48:21

48:21

In his early days in office, President Biden took executive action to deliver environmental justice. Are those policies delivering justice in practice? This episode, we talk to EJ activists and federal policymakers about Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40% of the overall benefits of climate investments toward disadvantaged communities. …

1
The ‘Darth Vader’ of Electric Utilities 59:15

1+ y ago59:15

59:15

Electric utilities are falling short on climate action. To explain why, we’re bringing back our season one finale. This episode features former utilities regulator Kris Mayes, who recently won a nail-biting election to become the second woman and first openly LGBTQ attorney general of Arizona. Go, Kris! Since season one, Leah has been busy investig…

1
The Case of the Killer Heat 50:25

1+ y ago50:25

50:25

In this episode, we explore the growing impact of heat on people and the planet. We talk to scientists and “climate detectives” trying to hold the perpetrators of this unprecedented global temperature increase accountable. Leah and Katharine speak with Neza Xiuhtecutli, executive director of the Farmworker Association of Florida; Kate Marvel, clima…

1
New Year’s Reflections, Resolutions, and Inspiration from Sherri Mitchell 55:31

1+ y ago55:31

55:31

At the start of 2023, we’re reflecting on past progress and setting climate intentions, both small and large, for the year ahead. And we want to hear from you! Has A Matter of Degrees shifted your perspective or moved you to action? Do you have climate goals for 2023? Share your story with us. To inspire and ground us for the new year, we share a p…

1
Petrochemicals and Plastics: A Fossil Fuel Lifeline? 44:24

1+ y ago44:24

44:24

The fossil fuel industry is banking its future on petrochemicals — the toxic precursor to plastics. In this episode, Katharine and Leah speak with activists who are fighting back against petrochemicals in “sacrifice zones” across America, from the Ohio River Valley to the Gulf Coast. Learn where petrochemicals come from, how they harm people, place…

1
Bold vs. BS in Corporate Climate Pledges 37:37

1+ y ago37:37

37:37

In this episode, we investigate corporate climate commitments and how to make them stronger. We get to the root of zero-emissions pledges and greenwashing — specifically in the oil and gas industry. Dr. Paasha Mahdavi, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, joins us to report this story. Paasha talk…

1
Crypto Has a Climate Problem 47:12

1+ y ago47:12

47:12

This episode delves into the murky world of cryptocurrency and its impact on our planet. Join Katharine and Leah as they discover how digital currencies are breathing new life into previously shuttered coal plants across the United States. This episode features Alex de Vries, data scientist and founder of Digiconimist, an online platform that track…

1
How To Cope with All the Climate Feels 59:56

1+ y ago59:56

59:56

This episode is all about feelings. You’ve heard the phrase “climate grief,” right? But how do we deal with what it does to our hearts, minds, and bodies? And how might it impact the climate action we take? This episode features Dr. Britt Wray, a Stanford-based author and researcher on climate and mental health; somatic coach and climate grief work…

1
Live Episode: Vice President Kamala Harris on Climate Leadership, Justice, and Solutions 47:11

1+ y ago47:11

47:11

"We must understand that we are in a very specific moment in time, and this window is going to shut on us. But it doesn’t have to shut on us, if we act.” — Vice President Kamala Harris on A Matter of Degrees Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, we had the honor of joining Vice President Harris live in San Francisco for a conversation about climate …

1
“What Can I Do?” Part 3 — The Political 46:30

2y ago46:30

46:30

The third and final installment of our miniseries considers the question “What can I do?” from a political perspective. Our expert guests share stories of nailbiter elections for local office and the victorious legislative campaign to ban gas in new buildings in New York City. We lay out a four-step guide to getting pro-climate candidates elected, …

1
“What Can I Do?” Part 2 — The Professional 49:39

2y ago49:39

49:39

In this episode, we continue to unpack the question “What can I do?” The second installment of our miniseries zeroes in on our professional lives — ways to approach climate action within the workplace. We learn that almost any job can be a climate job. And, if need be, we can pursue “career divestment.” This episode features Amanda Suter Gallardo, …

1
“What Can I Do?” Part 1 — The Personal 55:13

2y ago55:13

55:13

As climate people, we hear this question again and again: “What can I do?” Many of us are trying to figure out how to help address the climate crisis. So, we’re taking on that critical question in a three-part miniseries. The first episode is all about The Personal — key ways we can act on climate in our own lives and create meaningful, durable cha…

1
Welcome to Season 3 of A Matter of Degrees 2:36

2y ago2:36

2:36

Welcome back, climate-curious friends — it’s time for Season 3 of A Matter of Degrees. This season we’ll tackle some critical topics and big questions, starting with one we’re all asking when it comes to the climate crisis: “What can I do?” Season 3 kicks off (September 15!) with a three-part miniseries to answer that question. We’ll talk with some…

1
This is a Big (Climate) Deal: What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act? 1:03:04

2y ago1:03:04

1:03:04

Welcome back to A Matter of Degrees! While we’ve been hard at work producing season three of the show, the climate movement has been going through a lot of twists and turns. Most recently, after announcing he would not support climate investments in a budget reconciliation deal, Senator Joe Manchin abruptly made a historic climate deal with Senate …

1
How Gender Equality Can Save The Planet 52:23

3y ago52:23

52:23

This episode is a collaboration between A Matter Of Degrees and the Gimlet podcast How To Save A Planet. Take a look at many of the spaces where climate-related decisions are being made — from government to business to media — and you'll notice a numbers problem. Despite being roughly half the people on the planet, women rarely have equal represent…

1
Paid in Blood 35:07

3y ago35:07

35:07

In the jungles of the Brazilian Amazon, groups of farmers and their families get by on what they can grow with the land beneath their feet. They're known in Brazil as “landless workers,” a social movement with the goal of increasing land access and ownership for the country’s rural poor. These landless workers -- sometimes called land guardians or …

1
The ‘Win-Win-Win’ Strategy To Retire Coal 41:32

3y ago41:32

41:32

This episode is a collaboration between A Matter Of Degrees and the Gimlet podcast How To Save A Planet. Coal-fired power plants are closing at record rates. But many are still scheduled to remain operational for the foreseeable future -- despite losing lots of money every year. How do we shut these uneconomic coal plants down faster? One answer: c…

1
The ‘Bond Vigilante’ Exposing Fossil Fuel Risk 42:37

3y ago42:37

42:37

Since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed in 2015, banks and large investors have dumped $3.8 trillion into fossil fuels. It's a staggering number. This is why writer and activist Bill McKibben calls money the "oxygen" that fuels the fire of global warming. While the wildfires burning around the world are getting worse each year, it’s like the w…

1
The Devious Plan to Keep Us Hooked on Gas 57:10

3y ago57:10

57:10

Advocates are turning their attention to a new front in the climate war: the fossil-gas hookups in our homes that fuel burners, boilers, and other household appliances. If we want to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we need to electrify the hundreds of millions of machines inside our homes and buildings as fast as possible. But the gas industr…

1
A Farming Solution for a Hotter, Less Stable World 42:29

3y ago42:29

42:29

When Hurricanes Maria and Irma hit Puerto Rico in 2017, they destroyed the island’s fragile food system. Farms of all sizes were battered, with around 80 percent of the island's crop value wiped out. But a group of Puerto Rican farmers practicing an old way of farming, called agroecology, saw their operations bounce back much faster than convention…

1
Green Jobs...For All? 43:14

3y ago43:14

43:14

President Biden’s American Jobs Plan promises big investments in the clean-energy economy, including clean energy workforce and education programs. Economic progress and clean climate action are inextricably linked. But how can we make sure that those dollars go to communities of color who have already been most impacted by climate change and consi…

1
Healing the Soil, Healing Ourselves 37:19

3y ago37:19

37:19

Abuse of soil, the atmosphere, and communities of color have gone hand in hand. Through reclaiming ancestral connection to the soil, Black farmers are healing the entangled harms of colonization, capitalism, and White supremacy and moving agricultural climate solutions forward in the process. In this episode, we feature an audio essay that wrestles…

1
‘Let’s Go Get Us A Clean Electricity Standard’ 57:46

3y ago57:46

57:46

Baked into the American Jobs Plan is an ambitious proposal to set a federally-mandated Clean Electricity Standard of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. It would put the US on track to get emissions under control and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. That is, if it gets through Congress. In this episode, Co-host Leah Stokes speaks with a…

1
The ‘Prestige Problem’ Making Fossil Fuels Powerful 49:21

3y ago49:21

49:21

Fossil fuel companies are tapping into America’s “best and brightest” at top banks, public relations and advertising firms, law firms, and strategy consulting firms. These organizations supply critical services to keep the fossil fuel industry humming: creative work, strategy, legal representation, financing. They’re services that oil and gas compa…

1
Biden's Climate Plan Could Reshape America (Live w/ Julian NoiseCat) 43:15

3y ago43:15

43:15

We're back with another live edition of the show! So much is happening in the Biden era. We didn't want to wait until our second season to unpack all the activity. This week, we feature a conversation with Julian Brave NoiseCat that we recorded at the Crosscut Festival. Julian is a writer, activist, and policy expert with a deep understanding of Wa…

1
The State of Global Climate Talks (Live w/ Mary Robinson) 30:57

3y ago30:57

30:57

As we work on season 2, we're sharing a live episode of the show that we just recorded at the Bloomberg Green Summit. The conversation is all about where things stand in the lead-up to global climate talks in the fall. We were fortunate to get Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, to talk about this topic with us. Mary served as the Presi…

1
The ‘Darth Vader’ of Electric Utilities 51:55

3+ y ago51:55

51:55

In 2013, a series of attack ads blitzed television sets across Arizona. They warned of a dire threat to senior citizens. Who was the villain? Solar energy. These ads came from front groups funded by Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest utility. It was part of a years-long fight against rooftop solar that turned ugly. “I mean, for Star Wars f…

1
Presenting: How to Save a Planet 48:28

3+ y ago48:28

48:28

We're pleased to introduce an episode of "How to Save a Planet," produced by our friends at Gimlet and Spotify. The show is co-hosted by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg. "How to Save a Planet" has a lot of similarities to our own, so we think our listeners will like the stories they tell. In this week's episode: a story about the Black Li…

1
The Stages of Black Climate Grief 39:11

3+ y ago39:11

39:11

This week, we have a special episode featuring activist and researcher Nikayla Jefferson. Most of us are in the first stage of climate grief: denial. But what does it feel like to enter the stage of grief? And how is that grief different for black people? Even if you’ve seen the impacts of climate change up close, even if you’ve felt the tropical w…

1
Changing Woman: One Navajo’s Fight for a Just Transition 45:29

3+ y ago45:29

45:29

This week, we have a special episode about the long and winding energy transition in an often overlooked place: the Navajo Nation—the largest Indian reservation in the United States. Journalist and climate policy expert Julian Brave NoiseCat is our guide. Ten percent of Navajos lack access to electricity. Some spend up to $700 per month on fuels to…

1
Cleaning Up the Carbon Mess 43:12

3+ y ago43:12

43:12

We’ve made a carbon mess. How do we clean it up? Imagine the atmosphere as an overflowing bathtub. The water keeps gushing from the tap. Clearly, we need to turn it off. We have to bring emissions of heat-trapping gases down to zero, stat. But even after we do that, we still have a mess on our hands. So, we need to open the drain, let some water ou…

1
After Trump: The Silver Linings Playbook 51:42

3+ y ago51:42

51:42

It’s official. Joe Biden will be the next president. And he ran on a platform that put climate at the top of the agenda. There’s still a lot of tension. What will happen to the balance of power in Congress? Can we make progress on climate, even with Democrats losing down-ballot races? Even with so much uncertainty, there's actually a lot of good ne…

1
The Big Fossil Fuel Bailout 45:12

3+ y ago45:12

45:12

In July, the FBI charged Larry Householder, Ohio’s Republican Speaker of the House, with a conspiracy to pass a $1.5 billion bailout in return for $61 million in dark money. The racketeering was allegedly orchestrated by Householder and the utility FirstEnergy to kill Ohio’s renewable energy law and prop up aging coal and nuclear power plants. What…

1
An Electric Number: 2035 56:08

3+ y ago56:08

56:08

When talking about climate change, we often get deep into the weeds quickly and throw a lot of numbers around. And these numbers can feel really disconnected from our lives: Two degrees, 415 parts per million, 36 billion tons of carbon dioxide. In this episode, we've got one number we really want to focus on: 2035. It’s a date that carries a lot of…

1
A Breakthrough Moment? 54:20

3+ y ago54:20

54:20

Climate change is no longer a far-off scenario. It’s happening now. It’s getting more intense every year. And young people are seeing a scary future play out right in front of them. In recent years, the youth climate movement has gained unprecedented strength. Borrowing from the civil rights movement and early environmental activists, young leaders…

1
Give Up Your Climate Guilt 44:37

3+ y ago44:37

44:37

The biggest climate stories blame “all of us,” or cast solutions as “impossible.” These narratives leave people feeling hopeless and confused about what we actually can do. In our first episode: individual actions versus structural change. What’s the right way to think about the role they each have in addressing the climate crisis? We’ll explore th…

1
Introducing 'A Matter of Degrees' 3:27

4y ago3:27

3:27

People don’t often hear the real story about climate change: it’s happening now; fossil fuel companies with money on the line have lied about it; and it doesn’t have to be this way. This show is for the people who know climate change is a problem, but are still trying to figure out how we tackle it.By Dr. Leah Stokes, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson

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Dr Leah Stokes Dr Katharine Wilkinson Podcasts

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