Living Planet

Looking to reconnect with nature? Want to make better decisions for the health of the planet? Every Friday, Living Planet brings you the stories, facts and debates on the key environmental issues of our time.

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31 episodes
weekly
Avg 28 min
English

Episodes 31

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Yesterday · 25 min
Introducing Points North: The pigeons' last passage
Passenger pigeons once blotted out North America’s skies. Within decades, they were gone. How did the continent’s most abundant bird vanish so fast and what can we learn from this? An episode swap from Points North.
October 30 · 29 min
Who put a hex on the weather?
Once, storms sparked witch hunts. Today, conspiracy theorists blame secret government plots for extreme weather. Why do we search for hidden enemies when disaster strikes, and how can we break the spell?
October 23 · 29 min
Part two: Can we buy our way out of sea level rise?
To many on Germany’s Hallig Islands, the thought of relocating is scarier than facing dangerous flood events. A closer look at why the German government is investing big money into preserving their unique way of life.
October 16 · 29 min
Part one: The islands keeping Germany safe
As the world races to adapt to sea level rise, in Germany, nature itself is part of the solution. A visit to its islands, the vital coastal defenders protecting the mainland from the very threats they face themselves.
October 9 · 24 min
The night the air turned deadly
Dave McGann had never experienced a serious asthma attack. Then a storm rolled in and he couldn't breathe - neither could thousands of others. What was in the air that night?
October 2 · 25 min
Powering China, reshaping Tibet
As a teen, Lobsang Yangtso left her home in Tibet. It took two decades to return, and what she found shocked her. China's clean energy revolution is bringing major gains, but also difficult trade-offs.
September 25 · 25 min
Why aren’t more women cycling?
Cycling changed Aisling's life for the better. So why did she begin to wonder whether it was worth it? Her story reveals the hidden barriers keeping many women off two wheels, and why overcoming them benefits everyone.
September 18 · 34 min
The fire starters
Anasuya Basil lives in a virtual tinder box in California. After surviving blazes big and small, she winced at the smell of smoke. Then everything changed. Now she sets fires on purpose.
September 11 · 26 min
The imperfect activist
Katie Hodgetts wanted to do everything right for the planet. She stopped flying, changed how she lived, and threw herself into climate activism. But when doing more became too much, she learned an important lesson.
September 4 · 27 min
Searching for higher ground in Australia
In 2022, a catastrophic flood tore through Australia's Northern Rivers region. By the time it receded, life for one couple had changed forever. Surviving the flood was one thing, figuring out what came next was another.
August 28 · 23 min
Saving Syria’s war-ravaged bees
Syria’s bee population was once considered the largest in the Middle East, but then came the civil war in 2011, plunging the country into years of violent conflict. Only a fraction of its bee colonies survived. A traveling beekeeper recounts his own personal fight to bring back the bees, and with them, the farming sector.
July 31 · 30 min
Summer reads – How we made the wilderness w/Cal Flyn
What if the places we think of as empty and unmarred are anything but? What if wilderness is as much an idea as a place? A conversation with Cal Flyn, who, in her new book, travels to some of the world's most remote, awe-inspiring places to trace the changing meaning of wilderness, and to explore how one of conservation's most cherished ideals has come at a human cost.
July 31 · 30 min
Summer reads – On the magic of the Himalayas w/Anuradha Roy
If you want to escape to the profound stillness of the Himalayan foothills, a good place to start is by reading Indian writer Anuradha Roy’s latest book, Called by the Hills. A conversation about living with wild animals on her doorstep and her roof, cultivating a deep connection to nature and how the Himalayas are changing.
July 31 · 29 min
Summer reads – Learning from dinosaurs w/Evan Jevnikar
If you've ever wondered whether humanity can adapt to a changing climate, the fossil record offers surprising reasons for hope. Paleontologist Evan Jevnikar, author of Surviving Climate and Chaos explores how dinosaurs endured millions of years of environmental upheaval, and what their story can teach us about shaping our own future.
July 31 · 33 min
Summer reads – Thinking in deep time w/Marcia Bjornerud
Standing atop a 1.7-billion-year-old rock in Wisconsin, geologist Marcia Bjornerud points out the many challenges our planet has weathered, and that its long memory might hold the key to facing climate change today. A conversation about the power of awe, resilience, and "timefulness," this summer read will help put things in perspective.
July 24 · 33 min
When data centers move in | Part 2
Where does the cloud actually live? We go behind the high-security fences of a German data center to find out. Inside lies the physical infrastructure that powers our expanding digital universe. And a growing debate about energy, climate and the kind of future we're building.
July 17 · 22 min
When data centers move in | Part 1
The internet's invisible backbone is becoming impossible to ignore. As data centers multiply, so do questions about the land, power and communities they depend on – and who decides where they go. In part one, we visit a quiet town in Europe's biggest data center hub to explore how the race to build our digital future is playing out on the ground.
July 10 · 37 min
The next flood doesn’t have to be a disaster
Five years after catastrophic floods tore through Germany's Ahr Valley, Living Planet host Neil King reflects on the devastation he witnessed firsthand, while reporter Jonas Mayer returns to see what's changed. Can communities really build back better - or is the next disaster only a matter of time?
July 3 · 1 min
The cloud comes to town (coming soon)
The cloud is supposed to be invisible. Limitless. Until it isn't. Coming soon, Living Planet goes in search of the hidden infrastructure being built to power our digital futures.
June 26 · 34 min
California's largest lake is turning to dust
Dust storms around the world are getting worse and for people like Michelle, living with chronic asthma near a drying lake in California, the results are life-threatening. Elsewhere, seeds of change are being planted in the form of native vegetation. Can eco science help fill a dust bowl like the Coachella Valley with hope for fresh air?

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