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Critical Frequency

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Channel • 12 Shows

Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Weekly series
Documentary

Documentary

Updated weekly
History

History

Updated 01/10/2020
TV & Film

TV & Film

Updated 28/11/2018
History

History

Updated weekly
Music Interviews

Music Interviews

Updated weekly
Parenting

Parenting

Updated weekly

16/09/2025

S14, Ep1 | Welcome to the World of Obstruction

For at least a decade now, there’s been growing agreement around the fact that what’s stopping the world from addressing the climate crisis is not a lack of data or scientific certainty, or a lack of technological or policy measures available to address it. The problem is a lack of political will. And that didn't just happen; political will has been intentionally obstructed at every turn. As we gear up for the 30th UN climate summit, a new book pulls together everything we know about how this happened and what can be done about it. To prep for COP, Amy's reading the whole thing and talking to the researchers along the way. In today's episode, Amy's joined by Timmons Roberts (Brown University), Jennifer Jacquet (University of Miami), Carlos Milani (Rio de Janeiro State University), and Christian Downie (Australian National University) to through an overview of what we're dealing with and what we can expect in the year ahead. You can check out the book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/climate-obstruction-9780197787151?cc=us&lang=en& And download it for free from that same link after October 14th! You can also check out the Climate Social Science Network here: https://cssn.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16/09/2025

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1h 9m
07/10/2025

S14, Ep5 | How the Fossil Fuel Industry Sabotages Climate Action

Climate obstruction isn’t just something the fossil fuel industry does, but they’ve certainly spearheaded and masterminded a lot of efforts. In this ep, an academic (Kristoffer Ekberg, from the University of Lund in Sweden), a nonprofit researcher (the legendary Kert Davies, of the Center for Climate Integrity), and a journalist (Geoff Dembicki, global managing editor of DeSmog) walk us through what we know so far about those efforts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

07/10/2025

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51 min
14/10/2025

S14, Ep 6 | How the Coal, Utilities and Transportation Industries Obstruct Climate Policy

The coal, utilities, and transportation industries have all mounted efforts to stop governments from regulating emissions or transitioning to cleaner energy. In this episode we look at how those efforts took shape around the world, and what tactics they used to block progress. Jen Schneider, at Boise State University and Gregory Trencher, at Kyoto University, join us to walk through the peer-reviewed research on these efforts. You can now download a FREE copy of the book Climate Obstruction: A Global Survey here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14/10/2025

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43 min
30/09/2025

S14, Ep 3 | The Psychology of Misinformation: Why Does It Work So Well?

If you want to understand how misinformation works in general…and anyone who cares about democracy should right now…there’s no one better to talk to than researchers who have been studying climate misinformation for years. In today's episode, John Cook (University of Melbourne) and Dominik A. Stecuła (Colorado State University) join to walk us through everything the research is telling us so far. Reminder that you can get a copy of the book Climate Obstruction: A Global Survey here (and download a free digital version beginning October 14th!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30/09/2025

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1h 3m
SEASON 14 BONUS

What Should You Do With Climate Despair? A Conversation with Wen Stephenson

There’s no avoiding it: Things feel pretty bleak. To witness venture-capital-fueled AI domination, democracy’s steady drift toward authoritarianism, state-sanctioned genocide, and, of course, the collapse of one climate boundary after another, is to encounter a profound, at times overwhelming, sense of despair. But what if the path forward lies in accepting, rather than resisting, this despair? In his new book, Learning to Live in the Dark: Essays in a Time of Catastrophe, climate activist and journalist Wen Stephenson argues that the only way to confront the crises of our time is to meet this despair head-on—to see it for what it is, to feel it, and to accept what it means about where we are and where we must go. In this episode, Wen discusses how he's dealt with his own climate despair and how we can all "live into this era of climate and political and social catastrophe…while holding on to our humanity.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 14 Bonus

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1h 6m
21/10/2025

S14, Ep7 | How the Animal Ag Industry Obstructs Climate Policy

For decades, the meat and dairy industries managed to successfully avoid any attention for the planet-heating emissions they pump into the atmosphere; once governments started talking about regulating methane, though, they started working on efforts to avoid them. In today's episode, Silvia Secchi (University of Iowa) and Kathrin Lauber (University of Edinburgh) join us to walk through "agricultural exceptionalism" and the strategies the animal ag industry uses to keep regulation and climate policy at bay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21/10/2025

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1h 9m
25/11/2025

S14, Ep11 | How and Why Climate Adaptation Measures Get Blocked

Working against regulations on emissions might make a certain amount of sense for those with money to lose, but why would anyone fight against adapting to be able to survive climate disasters? In the negotiating rooms at COP30, adaptation was one of the biggest debate areas. In this episode, experts Laura Kuhl from Northeastern University and Stacy-Ann Robinson from Emory University explain why this area gets so contentious and how obstruction plays out around adaptation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25/11/2025

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46 min
10/12/2025

S14, Ep12 | How Litigation Works to Fight Obstruction

We’ve never lied to you on Drilled and we’re not going to start now. It’s bleak out there. But some efforts to fight back against obstruction are working and litigation is one of them. In this episode we talk to London School of Economics' Joana Setzer about how courts around the world are getting involved and what that means for companies that keep reminding us they’re global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10/12/2025

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48 min
10/11/2025

S14, Ep10 | The Corruption of COP

The UN processes created to deal with climate change have been infiltrated by obstructive forces since jump. In this episode, as COP 30 begins, Kari de Pryck from the University of Geneva and Eduardo Viola of the Institute of International Relations in Brasil join us to look at how COP and the IPCC get hijacked by those opposed to climate action, and what we can expect to see at this year’s COP in Brazil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10/11/2025

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55 min
SEASON 14 BONUS

The Black Thread, Ep 1 | Meet the Norwegians

In this first episode of The Black Thread, we meet the Norwegians and explore how social norms and cultural values shape their identity as a good, caring, and nature-loving people. We also learn what happens when those values come into conflict with the reality of Norway’s outsized impact on climate change, and discover how and why oil influences peoples’ response to this dilemma. For more information and references: https://communicatingclimatechange.com/the-black-thread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 14 Bonus

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42 min

A true-crime podcast about climate change. Reported and hosted by a team of investigative climate journalists, Drilled examines the various obstacles that have kept the world from adequately responding to climate change.

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SOCIAL SCIENCES
Law & Order meets the climate crisis as we dig into the stories behind the hundreds of climate cases around the globe.

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DOCUMENTARY
In Rigged, we’ll rummage through the bag of tricks used by PR to shape the world you live in. Over the last century, these tricks have rigged the media, the government… society, really...with sometimes ridiculous, and sometimes profoundly serious effects on our democracy. This is a podcast about that war for hearts and minds right here on US soil.

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HISTORY