Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast
Totally Cooked is a straight-talking, science-backed podcast about weather, climate change, and what it all means for life on Earth — especially here in Australia. Hosted by Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a leading expert in extreme weather, and Iain Strachan, a former journalist turned science communicator, the show dives deep into the causes and consequences of our changing climate. With clarity, curiosity and a touch of dark humour, Sarah and Iain unpack the science behind climate change, high-impact weather, and the urgent need for action. From greenhouse gases and El Niño to ice cores, heatwaves, and hail storms, Totally Cooked connects the dots between complex climate science and the everyday weather we all experience. Along the way, you’ll hear from world-class researchers, policymakers, and frontline communities grappling with the climate crisis. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed, confused, or just curious about what’s really going on, this podcast will leave you better informed, more confident, and ready to face the future. No jargon. No sugar-coating. Just the facts — and a little hope.
Episodes
In this episode of Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast, hosts Iain Strachan and Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick are joined by Associate Professor Sarah Hamylton (University of Wollongong) to explore the fascinating world of maps, oceans, and climate science. From the evolution of cartography to cutting-edge spatial analysis, the conversation uncovers how maps shape our understanding of the planet, and what we migh...
What is the state of climate change politics in Australia, and is the country doing enough to respond to the climate crisis? In this episode of Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast, hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan speak with independent MP Zali Steggall about how Australia’s climate debate has changed since her landmark election victory over former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2019.
Zali d...
Professor Peter Stott has spent decades proving that human activity is rapidly warming our climate, and confronting those determined to deny it.
In this episode of Totally Cooked, Peter joins hosts Iain Strachan and Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick to recount some extraordinary moments in the fight for climate science. He takes us inside a meeting in Moscow that was hijacked by advisers to Vladimir Putin and turned into a show trial, expl...
What is the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and why does it have such a powerful influence on weather and climate in Australia and around the world?
In this episode of Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast, hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan unpack ENSO, the natural climate cycle behind El Niño and La Niña.
Joined by climate scientists Mandy Freund from the University of Melbourne and Shayne McGregor ...
Drill into the frozen depths of Earth’s climate history in this episode of Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast. Your hosts Iain Strachan and Prof Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick are joined by Dr Tessa Vance (University of Tasmania, Australian Antarctic Program) to explore paleoclimatology, and find out how Antarctic ice cores unlock thousands of years of rainfall, drought, and climate variability across Australia and ...
Most climate change misconceptions don't come from bad faith — they come from genuinely confusing science, mixed messaging, and questions no one ever answered clearly. In this first mailbag special of Totally Cooked, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan open up the inbox to tackle the questions that come up most.
Is the weather forecast usually wrong? If the models carry uncertainty, how can we trust long-term climate ...
Join hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan as they welcome Professor Sara Davies; professor of international relations at Griffith University and deputy director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW). In this episode, the two Sara(h)s explore one of climate science's most confronting intersections: what happens to women's safety when extreme weather strikes.
From f...
Join hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan as they welcome historical climatologist Dr Linden Ashcroft and PhD candidate Ruchit Kulkarni, both from the University of Melbourne. This ep the panel dig through diaries, ship logs and colonial era weather stations in search of Australia's climate before the instrumental record began. What counts as a reliable weather observation from 1830? Why does a reference period matter ...
In this episode of Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast, hosts Iain Strachan and Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick sit down with one of the world’s most recognisable climate communicators: Professor Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading. Ed is the climate scientist behind the now-iconic Climate Stripes, a deceptively simple graphic made of blue and red bars that tells the story of global warming at a glance...
Cities are where so many of us really experience climate change. They’re where heatwaves keep us awake at night, where flash floods turn streets into rivers, and where concrete, glass and asphalt can reshape the weather around us. As more than half of humanity now lives in urban areas, the story of climate change is increasingly a story about cities - how they amplify extremes, how they trap heat, and how smart planning might...
In this episode, Sarah and Iain are joined by Dr Joyce Kimutai, climate attribution scientist at Imperial College London and member of World Weather Attribution (WWA), to unpack one of the most consequential fields in climate science.
Joyce explains the world of attribution - quantifying how much human-induced climate change has altered the likelihood or intensity of specific extreme weather events. From the relatively straightforw...
Join hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan as they welcome Associate Professor Andrew King and PhD candidate Aditya Sengupta for a deep dive into the science, politics, and post-zero implications of net zero emissions. What does net zero actually mean, when did the concept enter our vocabulary, and why is reaching it so urgent? From the cumulative effect of atmospheric carbon to the role of natural sinks like fores...
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In this Totally Cooked episode, Sarah and Iain talk with Professor Lesley Hughes, exploring the concept of biodiversity—what it means, why it matters, and how it connects all life on Earth, from genes to ecosystems. They cover how climate change is accelerating biodiversity loss, particularly in Australia, and the real-world consequences this has for ecosystems, communities, and the economy.
Lesley shares insights fro...
In this Totally Cooked movie special, hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan are joined by returning guest Dr Tim Raupach of UNSW Sydney to revisit the 1996 tornado blockbuster.
Twister features Helen Hunt driving into a mesocyclone, Philip Seymour Hoffman blasting music from a convoy of beat-up trucks, and Cary Elwes as the most devastatingly handsome villain in meteorological cinema history. Scene by scene, they separ...
Join hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan of the Totally Cooked team for part 2, as they explore Australia’s path to net zero emissions with Monash University expert Roger Dargaville. The discussion goes deeper into the technologies and hard choices shaping Australia's energy future. Unpacking why nuclear power doesn't stack up economically or technically for Australia's high-renewables grid, how pumped hydro act...
Join hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan of the Totally Cooked team as they explore Australia’s path to net zero emissions with Monash University expert Roger Dargaville. The discussion breaks down what “net zero” really means, revealing how current targets rely heavily on carbon accounting and natural sinks rather than deep cuts to fossil fuel use. While progress in renewable electricity—espec...
Join hosts Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan as the Totally Cooked team for their very first live recording, as they take you up, up, and away into the stratosphere. To explore this mysterious and wonderful place far above the Earth's surface, the hosts are joined by guest experts Professor Julie Arblaster (Monash University) and Dr. Martin Jucker (University of New South Wales).
In this episode, the LIVE panel explores ...
Sarah and Iain are back for Totally Cooked Season 2!
This season our cooked hosts will be taking you behind the scenes of forecasting deadly bushfire weather. They will be asking the big questions like how is climate change impacting the world’s rich biodiversity? What is net zero and when are we going to reach it? And how is machine learning powering new climate and weather science?
For the answers to those q...
In this very special episode of Totally Cooked, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan sit down with one of Australia's most beloved science communicators: Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. With his signature mix of curiosity, clarity and charisma, Dr Karl has spent decades explaining the universe, one radio segment, podcast, and bestselling book at a time. He joins hosts Iain Strachan and Prof Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick for a conversation...
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