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Boiling Point

LA Times Studios

Join Boiling Point in its second season as independent investigative reporter Miranda Green walks listeners through the climate challenges and solutions facing our natural world. Produced by LA Times Studios, the weekly series will feature interviews with Los Angeles Times reporters, state officials, business leaders and scientific experts discussing the latest news and trends impacting Californians and the country.

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24 episodes
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Avg 34 min
English

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#52
Yesterday · 25 min
Bonus Episode: Are Trump’s Offshore Wind Settlements a “Sham”? AG Rob Bonta Thinks So.
California on Friday filed its 88th lawsuit against the Trump administration– this time suing them for an “illegal” settlement it entered into to stop an offshore lease sale in Morro Bay. In this bonus episode, host Miranda Green speaks with Attorney General Rob Bonta about the decision to sue Trump, why he believes Trump’s deals are politically motivated and illegal, and what to expect for the remaining offshore wind leases in California. They dig into California’s propensity to file lawsuits
#51
Thursday · 51 min
Can Offshore Wind Survive the Trump Administration?
California once bet big on offshore wind to help power its clean-energy future, but the Trump administration is now paying developers billions to walk away from their projects. As California’s remaining offshore-wind leases hang in the balance, the state is fighting back in court. Host Miranda Green speaks with Los Angeles Times reporter Hayley Smith and U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman about the politics, legal battles and economic stakes behind the administration’s push to replace clean-energy i
#50
August 20 · 47 min
A Super El Niño Is Coming. Are We Ready?
From an unnamed weather event to an SNL punchline, our awareness of El Niño has grown rapidly over the past several decades. And now, as climate change raises the stakes and a potentially historic El Niño approaches, how prepared are we for what comes next? Host Miranda Green talks with Los Angeles Times reporter Rong-Gong Lin II about how California communities are preparing, and climate scientist Daniel Swain about what this El Niño could mean—and what happens when the systems designed to warn
#49
August 13 · 34 min
Why Whales Are Getting Hit by Rising Ocean Temps
This year, sea mammals and birds have been washing up along the western coastline in alarming numbers. Gray whales, which migrate from Baja California up to Canada are suffering from malnutrition, leading to more than 100 strandings so far this year. Experts are blaming warming waters due to climate change which impacts the mammals’ food supply. Host Miranda Green sets sail with staff from Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific to get a better sense of what’s going on with this marine populati
#48
August 6 · 36 min
Two New Plastics Laws are Bringing a Whole Lot of Baggage
California implemented two landmark plastics laws this year that aimed to answer an existential question: who is responsible for plastics waste? Both bills are intended to put more responsibility on plastics manufacturers so that fewer products end up in landfills. But the rollout of the bills has been anything but easy– in fact, no one is happy. Host Miranda Green speaks with LA Times reporter Susanne Rust about the troubled history of the two laws, and with entrepreneur Will Lorenzi ab
#47
July 30 · 34 min
California’s Offshore Drilling Nightmare
When a pipeline off Gaviota Coast cracked in 2015 and spewed 123,000 gallons of oil into the ocean, local officials shut it down for 11 years. But this past spring, A federal emergency declaration helped Sable Offshore Corp. get a fast-track to pump again and it has led to a flurry of lawsuits. Host Miranda Green speaks with LA Times reporter Grace Toohey, economist Severin Borenstein, and surfing legend Shaun Tomson about how this seemingly local fight has become a national litmus test over
July 23 · 2 min
Presenting: Season 2 of Boiling Point
Join “Boiling Point” in its second season as independent investigative journalist Miranda Green walks listeners through the climate challenges and solutions facing our natural world. Produced by LA Times Studios, the weekly series will feature interviews with Los Angeles Times reporters, state officials, business leaders and scientific experts discussing the latest news and trends impacting Californians and the country.
#46
Dec 11, 2025 · 45 min
Smoglandia Pt 6: FUTURE ELECTRIC, FUTURE TROUBLE
Decades ago, some unhappy Angeleno wondered why cars couldn’t just run on nice, clean … water? Not for want of trying – cleaner power has created lots of engine experiments, most dramatically Caltech versus MIT in the great electric car race of 1968, a story you’ll hear from the winner. Not all is fresh air and plug-ins: smog has been especially devastating on communities of color, and the Trump administration may pull the plug on that have let California clear its own air.
#45
Dec 4, 2025 · 38 min
Smoglandia Pt 5: SMOG CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK
Whaddya know – the federal government sees the wisdom of working with California and its “queen of green” for cleaner air – up to a point. The Golden State gets its own “secret recipe” gas, but new partners mean new frictions over the smog check program familiar to every behind-the-wheel Californian.
#44
Nov 20, 2025 · 35 min
Smoglandia Pt 4: SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT, BESTIES?
Well, it took long enough. We finally realized that smog didn’t stop at some city limits line … that burning the family trash in the backyard incinerator wasn’t a good idea … and California started putting muscle into getting the air clean. Governor Ronald Reagan made the Caltech “father of smog” the head of the new state air resources board, TV stations began reporting smog alerts along with weather forecasts, and one stubborn LA county supervisor started his ten-year letter-writing crusade sco
#43
Nov 13, 2025 · 34 min
Smoglandia Pt 3: COUGH COUGH
Living with smog was like living with an obnoxious neighbor. Angelenos tried protesting at city hall. They kept their coughing kids inside. A couple of actors manufactured joke cans of “genuine smog” and sold them to tourists. A few came up with earnest but crackpot solutions, like drilling a smog tunnel in the mountains. But serious pollution cost us serious money. Hollywood shoots had to shut down or move farther out of town to avoid it. And Southern California’s billion-dollar agriculture ind
#42
Nov 6, 2025 · 33 min
Smoglandia Pt 2: SCIENCE TO THE RESCUE
By the late 1940's, Los Angeles had experienced several extreme smog days -- or "gas attacks" as they were called back then. Everyone had their eyes on wartime factories that had sprung up and were shooting black plumes into the air, but someone had a feeling that the cause might be something else. Arie Haagen-Smit, a Dutch professor at Caltech who would later be deemed the "father of air pollution," was technically supposed to be studying the taste and smell of pineapples when he first began to
#41
Oct 30, 2025 · 24 min
Smoglandia Pt 1: L.A. SMOG – VERY OLD-SCHOOL
Don’t blame us – blame our geography! Modern LA earned its first smoggy nickname 450 years ago, as the “bay of smokes.” At the La Brea tar pits, we take a short walk through a long history with curator Regan Dunn, who explains how and why the first Angelenos, 130 centuries ago, would have set fires that filled the broad bowl of LA and foretold the curse of smog. Fast forward thousands of years to the early 1940s, and the renowned artist Helen Pashgian, who grew up in Altadena back when the ligh
Oct 23, 2025 · 2 min
Boiling Point Presents: Smoglandia
For decades, the city’s air was so thick and gross with smog that it hid the mountains from view, shut down Hollywood film shoots and sent children home from school with burning lungs and stinging eyes. What was in the air and where was it coming from? No one knew for sure. L.A. Times Studios presents a special season of Boiling Point: Smoglandia. Hosted by longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison, Smoglandia is a narrative audio series tracing the rise, impact and eventual retreat of
#40
Oct 16, 2025 · 39 min
ICYMI: “Breaking Down Plastic”
Los Angeles Times journalist Susanne Rust shares her eye-opening experience documenting her daily interactions with plastic. Despite being an expert on the topic, she was stunned by the sheer volume of plastic in her life, from single-use items to everyday essentials. Susanne and Sammy also discuss the current state of plastic regulation in California, including a much-criticized decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
#39
Oct 9, 2025 · 24 min
ICYMI: “Baseball, Brought to you by Oil and Gas”
Bill McKibben is an acclaimed environmental activist and journalist, and the co-founder of 350.org. As spring training gets underway, Sammy and Bill discuss fossil fuel advertising at Dodger Stadium, and how oil and gas industry “sportswashing” is taking advantage of America’s national pastime.
#38
Oct 2, 2025 · 46 min
L.A. Is Finally Ditching Coal
Sammy Roth talks with Jason Rondou, an assistant general manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, about the city’s shift from coal to clean energy. Believe it or not, L.A. still operates a giant coal-fired power plant, more than 500 miles away in rural Utah. In November, DWP is finally closing it — and replacing it with a combination of gas and green hydrogen.
#37
Sep 25, 2025 · 41 min
Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks Explained
Sammy Roth talks with Los Angeles Times environment reporter Hayley Smith about the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks, the misinformation driving them, and what they mean for the future of climate action.Project 2025 Tracker: https://www.project2025.observer/en Read Sammy’s latest column: https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-09-18/california-legislative-session-climate-issues
#36
Sep 18, 2025 · 42 min
Electric Bills Are Too High. Here's What California Is Doing About It
Sammy Roth talks with Matt Freedman, staff attorney at the Utility Reform Network, about what California lawmakers are doing to rein in soaring electricity costs, and why it’s crucial for the state’s climate goals. Read Sammy’s latest column: https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-09-18/california-legislative-session-climate-issues
#35
Sep 11, 2025 · 29 min
Putting the Chutzpah Into Climate Action
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn started Dayenu to provide a much-needed space for the Jewish community to discuss and address climate change. Now, amid the Trump administration’s hostility to environmental regulations and climate solutions, Dayenu is bringing a new kind of urgency to the work ahead. Sammy sits down with Rabbi Rosenn to discuss the state of faith-based climate action and why we need groups like Dayenu now more than ever.

Showing 1–20 of 24 episodes