Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent, and destructive as the climate heats up. Drilled reporter Royce Kurmelovs and Canadian author John Vallaint, author of Fire Weather, discuss the climate-fire nexus.

 

Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent, and destructive as the climate heats up. Drilled reporter <a href="https://www.roycekurmelovs.com/">Royce Kurmelovs </a>and Canadian author <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/58679/john-vaillant/">John Vallaint,</a> author of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554938/fire-weather-by-john-vaillant/">Fire Weather</a>, discuss the climate-fire nexus.
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Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.

In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula&rsquo;s dream of turning Brazil into &ldquo;the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.&rdquo; It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

A true-crime podcast about climate change, hosted and reported by award-winning investigative journalist Amy Westervelt.

Drilled

Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/bc7389b2-00ac-49d8-92fc-b3ec00ead3f9/transcript

Scene on Radio is a two-time Peabody-nominated podcast that dares to ask big, hard questions about who we are—really—and how we got this way. Their new season, The News, asks: what’s really wrong with the news? Some have called the news media the oxygen of a functioning democracy. But if that’s true, America’s lungs are in rough shape. Most Americans say they don’t trust the media. The business model for local journalism has all but collapsed. And we all know about the barrage of misinformation that flows from our splintered mediascape. You can’t separate the state of our news media from the other profound crises that America keeps on failing to solve. John Biewen explores the roots of this crises. Here's episode 1. Find The News, from Scene on Radio, wherever you get podcasts.

Scene on Radio is a two-time Peabody-nominated podcast that dares to ask big, hard questions about who we are&mdash;really&mdash;and how we got this way. Their new season, The News, asks: what&rsquo;s really wrong with the news?&nbsp;Some have called the news media the oxygen of a functioning democracy. But if that&rsquo;s true, America&rsquo;s lungs are in rough shape. Most Americans say they don&rsquo;t trust the media. The business model for local journalism has all but collapsed. And we all know about the barrage of misinformation that flows from our splintered mediascape. You can&rsquo;t separate the state of our news media from the other profound crises that America keeps on failing to solve. John Biewen explores the roots of this crises. Here's episode 1. Find The News, from <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scene-on-radio/id1036276968">Scene on Radio</a>, wherever you get podcasts.

The News | Scene on Radio

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0479b2aa-7363-49e3-a9fa-b47f01591387/transcript

Hosted and reported by Indigenous author Rebecca Nagle (with production by Critical Frequency!) and featuring leading Native historians, First America shares the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment was 250 years in the making. 

We’ve all been told the American Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But that's not what the Declaration of Independence says. According to our founders, in their own words, what they were most upset about was Native Americans. How did we all miss that? Rebecca sits down with historian Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) to talk about how hunger for Indigenous land drove the Revolution.

Find more episodes of First America wherever you get podcasts. Get episodes early and ad-free with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up on the First America show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

Hosted and reported by Indigenous author Rebecca Nagle (with production by Critical Frequency!) and featuring leading Native historians, First America shares the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment was 250 years in the making.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve all been told the American Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But that's not what the Declaration of Independence says. According to our founders, in their own words, what they were most upset about was Native Americans. How did we all miss that? Rebecca sits down with historian Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) to talk about how hunger for Indigenous land drove the Revolution.
<a href="http://lnk.to/FAPushkin" data-airgap-id="11">Find more episodes of First America wherever you get podcasts</a>. Get episodes early and ad-free with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up on the First America show page on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-america/id1464954218">Apple Podcasts</a> or at <a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/join-pushkin">pushkin.fm/plus</a>.

First America from Critical Frequency 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/145a7cbf-43a4-4913-8e93-b467015eed70/transcript

Treating climate solutions like an infinite money cheat might not be a great way to actually solve the problem, though it's sure to make plenty of "green" entrepreneurs rich. It makes sense that businessmen would stay focused on profits, but why do climate advocates keep supporting these ideas?

This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/

Treating climate solutions like an infinite money cheat might not be a great way to actually solve the problem, though it's sure to make plenty of "green" entrepreneurs rich. It makes sense that businessmen would stay focused on profits, but why do climate advocates keep supporting these ideas?
This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: <a href="https://www.intercept.com.br/">https://www.intercept.com.br/</a>

A Tipping Point

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/78913c98-9421-4ea8-bb73-b46a016c8f67/transcript

Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire

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