Episodes
This week, we’re speaking to data artist, TED Senior Fellow, and founder of Translating Nature, Dr. Julie Freeman, to delve into the hidden beauty in climate data. Numbers, charts, graphs – data gets a bad rep as being dense and hard to interpret. So what if we could use art to visualise data in more appealing formats? That’s exactly what Julie set out to do with her commission for Hiscox, ‘More Than Us’; a live data-driven digital artwork that uses Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life...
Published 07/18/24
Published 07/18/24
Small Indigenous communities make up only five percent of the world’s population, but they defend 80 percent of the biodiversity that remains on Earth, says Anjan Sundaram. Climate Curious spoke to war reporter turned climate reporter, Anjan Sundaram, about the realities of reporting on our planet’s bloody ecological frontlines, and how corporations and cartels will stop at nothing, even taking human life, to destroy our last natural ecosystems. Recorded live at TED 2024.
Published 07/12/24
Ever met a mathematician turned war reporter? Yep, neither us! Until we met Anjan Sundaram, a war reporter turned climate reporter, who joins Climate Curious at TED 2024 to share his work sharing the stories of indigenous communities defending our planet's last pristine ecosystem, particularly in Mexico. Anjan shares the dangers faced by environmental defenders, the cause of these conflicts (large-scale industrial projects, corruption, and cartels), and the urgent need for global awareness...
Published 07/11/24
You know what they say… if you want answers, follow the money! Understanding where all the money is going is key to finding the right climate solutions, says Eric Berlow, data ecologist, TED fellow, and CEO of Vibrant Data Labs. Tracking how 350 billion dollars of private philanthropy and investments to climate relevant organisations in the U.S. is being spent, Eric joins TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious to chat climate and cash; sharing insights on how to maximise the impact of climate funding.
Published 07/05/24
Why do we need to better understand the role of aerosols on our ecosystems? And what can it help us learn? To provide the answer is Kelly Wanser, a climate innovation expert and founder and executive director of SilverLining. Kelly joins Climate Curious to explain the cooling effects of particles on clouds. Recorded live at TED 2024.
Published 06/20/24
What the frick is fracking? Stand.Earth’s Canadian Oil and Gas Programs Director Sven Biggs joins Climate Curious to provide a concise explainer on what fracking is, and how it’s being used in Canada. Recorded live at TED 2024.
Published 06/13/24
Big Oil must read the writing on the wall. From denial to delusion, fossil fuels are finally taking their last gasp breath in the court of public opinion. Climate Curious catches up with Tzeporah Berman at TED 2024 to reflect on the progress of The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and what’s contributed towards Big Oil’s demise. We’ve reached a tipping point, and this time, it’s a good one!
Published 06/06/24
Malagasy political analyst and activist Ketakandriana Rafitoson joins Climate Curious to share how she’s empowering citizens in Madagascar to protect their rights in the face of systemic exploitation. In the absence of strong democratic traditions, her grassroots toolkit of citizen assemblies, legal aid and collective action is helping environmental defenders peacefully protect their rights to the land. Recorded at TED 2024.
Published 05/31/24
California’s wildfires have a dirty secret: they are (in part) being fought by the incarcerated. Royal Ramey, a wildland firefighter, is working to change that. Joining Climate Curious in conversation live at TED 2024, Royal shares how his nonprofit in California is helping the formerly incarcerated rethink job training and address the challenges they face re-entering the workforce.
Published 05/24/24
Did you know, the incarcerated are fighting California's wildfires? A practice which is also happening in 14 other States across the U.S. Royal Ramey, a wildland firefighter, is working to change that. Joining Climate Curious in conversation live at TED 2024, Royal shares how his nonprofit in California is helping the formerly incarcerated rethink job training and address the challenges they face re-entering the workforce.
Published 05/24/24
Whether or not you believe that the world is on track for imminent doom might depend on where you get your news, says Angus Hervey, founder of Fix The News on TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious. He delivers good news for humanity that the media cycle missed last year, from advances in clean energy technologies to declining rates of carbon emissions. Recorded live at TED 2024.
Published 05/16/24
What if the answer to climate action wasn’t guilt, shame and doom, what if it was joy and happiness? We’re joined by the psychology professor who invented feng shui for your fridge and coined the term behavioural sustainability, Dr. Jiaying Zhao, to tell us more. Recorded live at TED 2024.
Published 05/10/24
Welcome to planet pop: NATURE is now a fully-fledged recording artist! Sounds Right has launched a creative music initiative featuring ocean waves, wind, rainstorms and birdsong, to raise money for nature-based solutions, in partnership with pop stars such as Ellie Goulding, Brian Eno and London Grammar. Climate Curious speaks to global programme director Gabriel Smales to learn more about these banging eco beats.
Published 05/03/24
How is climate covered on network news? Climate Curious speaks to the world’s Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir, to understand why representing diverse climate stories across mainstream media is important. Tune in to hear his unusual journey into climate action (it started with letter writing), and why he believes climate stories need to be part of our everyday existence.
Published 04/26/24
We need Indigenous, ancestral wisdom in all climate decision making, says filmmaker and founder of “If Not Us Then Who”, Paul Redman. Diversifying climate storytelling and creators has been Paul’s mission since growing up in Apartheid South Africa and this start in investigative documentary filmmaking in his 20s. Since then, he’s collaborated on building a movement for more resources for Indigenous Peoples in film. In conversation with Climate Curious at Climate Week NYC at the Our Village...
Published 04/26/24
Happy Earth Day! This year, we’re celebrating joy. We speak to our Climate Curious experts about moments of joy that keep them going. Recorded live at TED 2024 in Vancouver, on the shared, unceded, ancestral territories of the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) nations.
Published 04/18/24
Climate Curious alumni Tanya Beri returns to share the latest updates about her work to improve air quality on the London Underground; CAIR London. Starting the journey four years ago whilst at University, Tanya has now launched the app, and expanded it to include sound pollution data, too!
Published 04/12/24
Insurance. Yes, it’s geeky, it’s niche. But it’s the secret lever we never knew we needed. The insurance world holds the keys to halt new fossil fuel projects in their tracks. That’s because if you can’t insure the work, it can’t go ahead. TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious speaks to two campaigners from Insure our Future, Isabelle L'Héritier and Hilda Flavia Nakabuye on the wins from their recent week of global action across 31 countries and five continents.
Published 03/22/24
“The beauty of birding is even if you don't see anything, it's just about getting outside with your mates and having a good time,” says Nadeem Perera, birdwatcher and co-founder of global birdwatching community, Flock Together, on TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious. Nadeem shares why black and brown representation in nature is old news, and instead, why creativity, self-expression and leadership is the new goal.
Published 03/15/24
Understand the drivers behind why climate change is increasing the incidence of child marriage with the CEO of Girls Not Brides, Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell, on the latest Climate Curious. Climate change is increasing the incidence of child marriages, shares this week’s quickie expert Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell the CEO of Girls Not Brides. Tune in to discover how globally, every year, 12 million girls are married below the age of 18. That’s one girl every three seconds. And why crop failure, drought...
Published 03/08/24
What does malaria have to do with climate change? In short, a hotter planet means more bugs. And more extreme weather events means more flood water, which mosquitos adore. But thanks to incredible efforts, lots of solutions are in action to help right the historic injustice of malaria, which sits right at the intersection of climate and health. United to Beat Malaria's and United Foundation's executive director Margaret McDonnell joins Climate Curious to share the progress.
Published 03/01/24
Photos can convey a message in an instant. But how do you photograph something which day-to-day is invisible to see: air pollution? A new stunning collection of photography on air pollution is compelling action on climate change. From the bustling streets of Indonesia to the industrial heartlands of Poland, these photos capture the stark effects of dirty air on the communities hit hardest, as well as spotlighting solutions already making a difference to people. Climate Curious speaks to...
Published 02/23/24
We’re all living through climate change. So who says we can’t laugh through it, too? Humour is one of the healthiest ways to process the collective tragedy of the pollution of our planet, says the comedian-in-residence at Generation180 and co-creator of the Climate Comedy Cohort, Esteban Gast, on Climate Curious. In conversation with Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha, Esteban shares some climate jokes live from the comedy stage, plus how he’s building a climate comedy movement to get more climate...
Published 02/16/24
Short answer: no. Long answer: maybe? Humour is one of the healthiest ways to process the collective tragedy of the pollution of our planet, says the comedian-in-residence at Generation180 and co-creator of the Climate Comedy Cohort, Esteban Gast, on Climate Curious. In conversation with Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha, Esteban shares how he’s building a climate comedy movement to get more humour into storytelling about what’s going on with our polluted planet.
Published 02/16/24