Ken Cook Is Having Another Episode

Unraveling decades of environmental progress, the Trump administration is systematically dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s dismantling critical statutes that have protected public health and the environment for years.

In today’s episode, Ken is joined by his old boss and mentor, former EPA Administrator Bill Reilly, who served in various roles under four U.S. presidents — Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bil...

Ken is continuing his cook's tour of the who’s-who at public interest organizations. He’s joined by DJ Gerken, the president and executive director of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

SELC is the largest environmental nonprofit organization in the southeastern United States. It fights daily to protect our right to clean water, clean air, and a liveable climate. Ken and DJ discuss the latest coming from Trump’s Environmenta...

Ken’s having another episode, one that quite a lot of people are having lately, all about the federal job layoffs. This is a little bit tricky, as Ken and EWG have at times been critical of the very agencies that are in the Trump administration’s crosshairs.

To help Ken unpack this, he’s joined by his friend and environmental hero, Peter Galvin. Peter is one of the founders and the director of programs for the Center for Biolog...

The meat industry has been consolidating rapidly for decades, concentrating its power in a way that creates problems not only for the environment but also for farming communities in the U.S. and around the world.

In today’s episode, Ken is joined by Chloe Sorvino, a journalist at Forbes and author of the new book “Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat.” Chloe unravels a tangled web of...

Ken Cook is having another episode, and this one is all about two R’s: Red Dye 3 and RFK Jr.

Ken is joined by his fellow public interest leader Dr. Peter Lurie, the  president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI. He has a storied career in public health, including a stint as the Food and Drug Administration’s associate commissioner for public health strategy and analysis during the O...

Our skin is our largest organ, and applying some personal care products may let harmful chemicals sink into the body. That’s why Ken feels so strongly about the importance of non-toxic beauty alternatives.

In today’s episode, he’s joined by Hillary Peterson, the founder of True Botanicals, a skincare company offering products without problematic ingredients. Hillary is a cancer survivor who was motivated to start her company after l...

Chemicals in our food, water, and air are risk factors contributing to the rise of Parkinson’s disease. It’s  the fastest-growing brain disease in the world, creating urgency to address not just treatment for Parkinson’s but also its causes.

Today’s guest is Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist who co-authored the book, “Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action.” He explains why Parkinson’s is a man-made disease and how el...

At EWG we believe everyone should have access to safe products, clean drinking water, healthy food, and clean air. We believe in that so much that we’ve spent decades fighting for you.

Ken sits down with his colleagues Scott Faber and Jocelyn Lyle to discuss EWG’s impact in 2024 and what’s to come in 2025. From a potential Red dye-3 ban to pesticides in produce to PFAS in your drinking water, EWG has made incredible progress.

We know which healthy choices we need to make to improve our diet and health but it can seem so daunting in the moment. In today’s episode Ken is joined by pharmacist turned wellness content creator, Mona Vand to tackle exactly that. Sometimes it doesn’t feel convenient to eat healthy or find healthy options when you need something quick but Mona helps reframe how to approach food prep and what to look for.

If you travel as fre...

No matter your politics, you want the food you and your family eat every day to be safe. So why do so many of the products on the grocery store shelves have worrisome  food chemical additives that have been banned in other countries, including many linked to cancer and behavioral problems in children.

To help unravel this, Ken is joined by EWG’s Vice President of Government Affairs Melanie Benesh to do a deep dive into the worl...

Babies are our most vulnerable population when it comes to chemical exposure. And yet, many baby products contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Entrepreneur, environmentalist, and trailblazer Shazi Visram wants to protect the next generation. Shazi’s mission isn’t just business, it’s personal, and the subject of neurological health is particularly close to her heart. 

Shazi is the creator of the groundbreaking baby food c...

Do you need an election recovery tool kit? Well, you’ve come to the right place. In today’s episode, Ken is joined by activist, educator, author, and podcast host, Jenna Arnold. Her book, Raising Our Hands, dives deep into conversations with white women about their identity, role in the country, and how to become more engaged citizens to make the changes we desperately need.

As a Women’s March Organizer, Jenna is constantly ask...

Everyone wants cleaner, cheaper energy. Well, almost everyone. Powerful utility companies like PG&E, Sempra, and Southern California Edison aren’t going down without a fight, and they fight dirty.

In today’s episode, Ken is joined by Bernadette Del Chiaro, the Executive Director of the California Solar & Storage Association, who was instrumental in passing the Million Solar Roofs Initiative into law with then-governor Arnold Sc...

In today’s episode, Ken is deep-diving into the intersection of environmentalism and animal welfare.

First, Ken speaks with veterinarian Crystal Heath who has been bravely raising the alarm of how her profession enables and endorses animal abuse from veterinarian school to factory farms.

In the second part of today’s episode, Ken is joined by longtime friend and founder of Animal Wellness Action, president of the Center for...

 Hi, it's Ken Cook from EWG. I'm here in Washington and we're here to get ready to fight.  It already feels like Trump's Washington. That feeling reminds us of what we went through during his first term where we saw a massive assault on environmental protection. We haven't always been happy with everything that happened over the last four years with the Biden administration.

And we have called that out. We will always do that. <...

If you’ve followed the world of pesticides for as long as Ken has, it can be hard to be shocked. But journalist Carey Gillam (The New Lede) has dug up a story that has rattled even Ken.

In her newest piece “Defend or be damned’ - How a US company uses government funds to suppress pesticide opposition around the world” (The New Lede, The Guardian, Le Monde) Carey exposes a government-funded (pssst, that means funded by your taxe...

Endocrine disruptors are chemical compounds that interfere with our hormones. For years, it was seen as a fringe theory. Today, it’s embraced by The Endocrine Society and Endocrinologists worldwide. A new study by our guest today shows that chemical exposure to young brains impacts their hormones, which can result in early-onset puberty.

In his latest episode, Ken is joined by Dr. Natalie Shaw, a pediatric endocrinologist and ...

People come to environmental work in many different ways. Our first guest today, Kari Rhinehart, came to environmentalism after experiencing a parent’s worst nightmare, the loss of a child, due to a rare brain tumor. When other children in her community of Franklin, IN started getting sick, parents in the community began asking questions and putting data on a map. What they found shocked them. Contaminated drinking water.

Our se...