Episodes
Published 04/22/24
Hot Take co-hosts Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt are back with a new show blending climate news updates and cultural commentary, plus a monthly Hot Take-style conversation. In our first episode: what else? A conversation about the intersection between the war on Gaza and the climate crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Published 04/22/24
Lots of news lately on stories we've been following, so in today's episode: an update! The landmark Carbon Majors report has been updated with some surprising new data, and the European Court of Human Rights has sent down an historic ruling that will shape how EU legislators look at energy and climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Published 04/16/24
When Celine Semaan began calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, she was surprised at the backlash she and her team at Slow Factory got, including multiple funders pulling their support. Today, Semaan is more determined than ever to push for climate justice and collective liberation. Pre-order A Woman Is a School: https://shop.slowfactory.earth/products/a-woman-is-a-school Check out course(s) on Open Edu: https://slowfactory.earth/open-edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
Published 04/02/24
Rhiana Gunn-Wright was one of the architects of the Green New Deal, and today works as the climate policy director for the Roosevelt Institute. In this episode we get into the nuances of the IRA, how to handle climate being a "culture war" issue, what's going on with anti-renewables, and what the climate movement loses when it turns its back on justice issues and particularly when it turns its back on the Black community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Published 03/05/24
Mary Annaïse Heglar's first book is out today, and it's a children's book about climate change. It's the first of *three* climate books Mary has coming out in the near future (the other two are a novel, called Troubled Waters, and an essay collection of Black writers on climate). She has been busy writing up a storm since we wrapped up Hot Take (and we've roped her into editing stories for Drilled, too). In this episode we talk about her books, what's happening in climate media in general,...
Published 02/27/24
Bloomberg climate reporter Akshat Rathi joins us to discuss his new book Climate Capitalism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Published 12/05/23
Some mining companies claim that we can't "electrify everything" without deep-sea mining—a claim that has been debunked by various scientists. Environmentalists, car companies, and governments are pushing back, citing not only the obvious potential damage to marine ecosystems but also the climate impact of releasing carbon from the ocean floor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Published 10/03/23
In the Season 3 premiere of Inherited, host Shaylyn Martos introduces us to storyteller Camara Aaron, who shares a personal story of family loss, structural resilience, and survival in an era of climate change.  Camara, now 25, was only a child when she visited her grandmother’s unique house on the island of Dominica, in the West Indies. But when Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean in 2017, her grandmother died in the storm, leaving Camara to sift through her own hazy memories and...
Published 07/20/23
For our last episode of Hot Take, Amy and Mary revisit their favorite jokes, and dig into the listener mailbag to answer questions from Hot Cakes around the globe. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 12/30/22
This week, Amy and Mary discuss zombie ice viruses, the Keystone pipeline spill in Kansas, a global biodiversity crisis, the degrowth movement, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 12/16/22
This week, Amy and Mary chat with Rebecca Nagle - an Indigenous journalist, host of This Land, and long-time friend of the show. They discuss Brackeen v. Haaland (a legal case threatening Indian Law), why Indigenous issues are so under covered, Landback, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 12/09/22
Just in time for the holiday season, Amy and Mary chat with Aja Barber - a writer, stylist and consultant who works at the intersections of fashion and sustainability. They dive into the problems with fast fashion, and its worst offender and Aja's sworn enemy Shein. They discuss Aja’s recent book - Consumed, talk about more ethical options for gift giving, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 12/02/22
Amy and Mary break down this year's COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, and explore the history of U.N. climate conferences beginning with the first summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. They also discuss the unseemly presence of fossil fuel companies at the meeting, loss and damages, climate debt, and more Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 11/18/22
This week on Hot Take, Amy and Mary break down the midterms, examine the shadowy billionaires funding Republican candidates, and give an honest review of Elon’s performance as Twitter's CEO. Spoiler: He’s failing, but it might be on purpose. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 11/11/22
This week on Hot Take, Amy and Mary speak with Rhiana Gunn-Wright - Director of Climate Policy at the Roosevelt Institute and one of the architects of the Green New Deal. With the midterms right around the corner, they discuss shifting narratives around climate, the IRA, and much more. Later on, Amy and Mary make sense of the phenomena of flying soup that’s taking the art world by storm, and break down a horrific take from a New York Times opinion writer.
Published 11/04/22
This week on Hot Take, Amy and Mary pick apart the climate implications and nuances in key midterm races (Fetterman, Booker, Barnes, Beto), plus the upcoming Brazilian presidential election. They look ahead to COP and the conversation around loss and damages (read: reparations), and the Nigeria floods. Oh, and Amy gets crafty for Halloween! Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake
Published 10/28/22
This week on Hot Take, Mary is joined by Sara Sneath, investigative reporter and alligator doula and Drew Costley, climate & environment reporter at The Associated Press. They discuss how to approach communities in the throes of a climate disaster, the tension between chronic and acute crises, trauma-informed reporting, and the disabled community. And, gators!
Published 10/21/22
This week on Hot Take, Amy & Mary discuss the new wave of Southern Black Democrats running on climate centric platforms and break down the important climate cases before the Supreme Court. They also bring updates on this year’s hurricane season and more.
Published 10/14/22
This week on Hot Take, Amy & Mary talk to Olúfemi Táíwò, author and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown, about tokenism, reparations, how the powerful have appropriated identity politics and turned it into a tool of division, and more. Taiwo is the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations and a real-life philosopher.
Published 10/07/22
This week on Hot Take, Amy & Mary give updates on Hurricane Ian, Manchin's failed permitting bill, discontent in Europe, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and sign up for our newsletter at hottakepod.com
Published 09/30/22
Today on Hot Take, Mary and Amy are joined by Kate Marvel, climate scientist at NASA, who answers listener questions about acid rain, geoengineering, astrology, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and sign up for our newsletter at hottakepod.com
Published 09/23/22
We hear all the time that acting on climate can upset the delicate balance of the economy, worsen inflation, kills jobs. So on and so forth. But is it true? Today on Hot Take, Mary and Amy are joined by Akshat Rathi, Senior Climate Reporter at Bloomberg, to break down the barriers and dispels the myths between the world of finance and the world we live on. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and sign up for our newsletter at hottakepod.com
Published 09/16/22
For this week’s Hot Take Labor Day special, Mary and Amy look into the connections between labor unions and the climate movement, the mega droughts in China and California, and the ongoing water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and signup for our newsletter at hottakepod.com
Published 09/09/22
This week on Hot Take, Mary and Amy talk to Abrahm Lustgarten about how colonialism, both in the past and the present, put the weight of the climate crisis on the shoulders of the people who did the least to create it. As a lens, they use Abrahm's Propublica investigation of Barbados' (and other Caribbean nations) attempt to navigate the intersection of climate change and debt. This conversation was taped on the anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Ida, during devastating floods in Pakistan...
Published 09/02/22