Living Planet

Living Planet

Looking to reconnect with nature? Want to make better decisions for the health of the planet? Every Friday, Living Planet brings you the stories, facts and debates on the key environmental issues of our time.

Episodes

Bill McKibben: One big thing is going right

December 5, 2025 • 31 mins
For 40 years, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben has chronicled the worsening climate crisis and politicians' failure to stop it. But now, for the first time, he says he can actually see a path forward. In the third and final part of our special miniseries, The Switch, we ask him what that path looks like – and what still threatens to derail it.
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Blackout: What's really breaking energy grids

November 28, 2025 • 27 mins
We're generating more solar and wind power than ever before, but somewhere between where it's made and where it's needed, the energy system can't keep up. From Spain's blackout to bottlenecks across Europe, the way we move electricity is in desperate need of some updates. In Part 2 of The Switch, we reveal the power grid cracks halting climate progress.
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Deserted: Why solar power fails where it should shine

November 21, 2025 • 26 mins
Some of the places hardest hit by climate change are also home to one of the future's most powerful gifts: superabundant sunshine. If solar is now cheaper than ever, what’s stopping the clean energy revolution from taking off where the sun shines the brightest? In Part 1 of our special miniseries, The Switch, we head to Morocco in search of the promise, and the politics, of desert power.
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The Switch — a miniseries

November 14, 2025 • 1 min
Solar power is the cheapest energy source in history – and wind isn’t far behind. So why isn't the clean energy transition moving faster? In a new three-part miniseries, we’re digging into why the switch is so damn hard. From solar mega-farms in Morocco to European bottlenecks to climate writer Bill McKibben’s office, we're asking what the holdup is – and where to from here. Starting November 21.
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Breaking gold's toxic bond with mercury pollution

November 7, 2025 • 35 mins
When mercury pollution makes headlines, it's often linked to fish and human health. But there's another big source of mercury pollution that's affecting millions of people across the world - artisanal and small-scale gold mining. This episode looks at efforts in South America to reduce mercury use in mining - and what that means for people's health and the future of the Amazon.
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The resale illusion: Why second-hand isn't always better

October 31, 2025 • 23 mins
Your thrifted shirt might not be as green as you think. From Ghana's "dead white man's clothes" to the rise of resale, we uncover fashion's hidden impact - and a way forward that could change it all.
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Introducing: Boy Wasted

October 24, 2025 • 23 mins
This week on Living Planet, we're sharing Boy Wasted - a gripping three-part environmental true crime series by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor and co-produced by Adnan Khan. It begins with a shocking find: a boy's body hidden in a bale of recycled plastic in Turkey, leading to a dangerous, cross-border investigation into a global recycling scandal.
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Can a cancer hotspot be saved from our addiction to plastic?

October 17, 2025 • 29 mins
The harm of plastics on human health is well known, but what about their impact on the people living near the plants that produce them? In this episode, we hear from the women on the frontlines of the fight against petrochemical companies in one of the US’s most toxic strips of land known as “Cancer Alley.”
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What are students really learning about climate change?

October 10, 2025 • 35 mins
In classrooms across the US, fossil fuel interests and political pressure are shaping the science - and leaving key facts out. Meet two teachers fighting to keep climate education honest, local, and alive.
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The truly amazing world of fungi (Rebroadcast)

October 3, 2025 • 27 mins
Think fungi are just mushrooms and mold? Think again. Over 90% of fungal species are still unknown, and scientists are discovering new ones all the time. This World Fungus Day, dive into the hidden, fascinating world of fungi with us.
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Norway's big green lie

September 26, 2025 • 29 mins
Hydropower, heat pumps and EVs made Norway a climate darling. Oil and gas exports made it rich. When one Norwegian started to question his role in this story, he came up against the paradox shaping this country's future – and the world’s energy transition.
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Message in a bottle: Saving Louisiana’s sinking coastline

September 19, 2025 • 30 mins
Louisiana loses a football field’s worth of land every 100 minutes to coastal erosion. Franziska Trautmann, co-founder of Glass of Full, tells the story of how she and her boyfriend stumbled upon a genius solution to save the region's natural barrier against hurricanes – by tapping into New Orleans’ party culture.
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Storms, science, and threats: The struggles of a local weatherman

September 12, 2025 • 31 mins
What happens when science collides with conspiracy? When a weather forecast sparks hate mail and even death threats? In this episode, we follow the journey of a meteorologist who risked his career - and peace of mind - to bring climate truth to the airwaves, and explore how misinformation is fueling hostility against those on the frontlines of communication.
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What’s really holding back train travel?

September 5, 2025 • 23 mins
Long-distance trips make up just a fraction of our journeys - yet they drive most of our travel emissions. Trains can cut that footprint by up to 75%, but planes still dominate. What will it take to shift how we move across countries and continents?
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The forgotten children of hurricane Katrina

August 26, 2025 • 31 mins
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, leaving behind a deadly path of destruction. It was the costliest disaster in US history. As E'jaaz Mason can attest, many kids like himself didn't talk about their experiences for years after the storm. It wasn't until working on the award-winning documentary "Katrina Babies" that he heard those stories — and began reflecting back on his own.
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Greener Living Ep 5 – Spilling the beans on tea vs. coffee

August 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Tea and coffee. Millennia-old drinks that fuel our mornings and shape our cultures. But behind every steaming cup lies a journey across continents, a web of farms and workers, and a pretty hefty environmental tab. Which one leaves the bigger footprint, and how can we shrink it? We trace their histories, their impact, and some things we can do to brew a better future.
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Greener Living Ep 4 – The real cost of smelling clean

August 15, 2025 • 32 mins
We love the smell of fresh laundry – but at what cost? In Episode Four of our Greener Living series, we unpack how our quest for "clean" has been shaped by marketing, not necessity – and how it’s filling our air, water, and bodies with microplastics and nasty chemicals. The good news? A few simple changes can lighten the load.
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Greener Living Ep 3 – Pets: A mirror on our mess

August 8, 2025 • 31 mins
Who's a good boy? We love our pets (how could we not?) – and they love us back. But the way we care for our furry companions says a lot about how we consume, what we value, and the systems we're part of. In Episode Three, we reveal the environmental pawprint of having pets and what it can teach us about ourselves. Not to worry though – we're still allowed to have nice things, including pets.
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Greener Living Ep 2 – What to look for in your sunscreen

August 1, 2025 • 28 mins
Decipher the back of your sunscreen bottle with the help of an ecotoxicologist in Episode Two of our Greener Living series. Craig Downs helps us understand, and if we're honest, pronounce, the chemicals that have become the norm for protecting ourselves from skin cancer. But what exactly are they doing to the marine life at our favorite beaches?
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Greener Living Ep 1 – Should we all ditch our cars for EVs?

July 25, 2025 • 30 mins
Summer is here, vacation is calling, and Living Planet is out of the office. But not to worry, we’ve lined up five great episodes of our favorite tips for living a greener life. Take a spin with us in Episode One as we weigh the pros and cons of driving an EV versus hanging on to an older car. The experts we spoke with had some surprising answers.
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