Drilled

Latest Episodes:

Climate Obstruction in the Global South Oct 29, 2025

Show notes

The United States is a global leader of climate obstruction, but it's not the only guilty country. M. Omar Faruque (Queen’s University, Canada) and Ruth E. McKie (De Montfort University) look at how and why climate obstruction occurs in the Global South, exploring the political, economic, and institutional factors that lead the countries most vulnerable to climate change, and least responsible for emissions, to participate in climate obstruction.

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Challenging the Narratives Oct 27, 2025

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Do the facts behind the narratives being told by Norway's fossil fuel industry, and government, add up? We hear experts critique some of the stories that keep Norwegian oil and gas pumping, while industry representatives explain the logic behind the rhetoric.
Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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Drilling Deep: Karen House on Saudi Arabia Under Mohammed bin Salman Oct 25, 2025

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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House, author of The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia, joins Adam Lowenstein to discuss how the crown prince has reshaped Saudi Arabia. They explore if MBS's gamble on economic and social freedoms alongside ciivil and political repression is politically, or environmentally, sustainable and examine how Saudi Arabia's oil and petrochemical industries serve its geopolitical interests. Karen and Adam also discuss the kingdom’s promises about transitioning away from fossil fuels and why it might be a bit less green than climate advocates would hope.

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Abdul El-Sayed on Climate Complexities and Benevolent Masculinity Oct 24, 2025

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In this extended conversation, climate policy expert Abdul El-Sayed explores the complexities of the climate crisis and the role of masculinity in shaping how men engage, or fail to engage, with climate solutions.

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Petroganda: How the Oil Industry Is Shaping Norway's Politics and Culture Oct 22, 2025

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A growing number of experts and commentators suggest "petroganda"—the pervasive phenomenon of oil industry manipulation—is at work in Norway, influencing the country's politics, culture, and support for the oli industry. We discuss how "petroganda" guides the information that the public receives, or doesn’t receive, about the relationship between oil and climate change and learn how the story of oil in Norway is told.
Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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How the Animal Agriculture Industry Blocks Methane Regulation Oct 21, 2025

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For decades, the meat and dairy industries avoided scrutiny for the planet-heating emissions they pump into the atmosphere. As governments began considering methane regulation, the animal agriculture sector starting working on efforts to resist such regulations. Siliva Secchi (University of Iowa) and Kathrin Lauber (University of Edinburgh) expound the concept of "agricultural exceptionalism" and the strategies the agriculture industry uses to keep climate policy at bay.

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How the Coal, Utilities, and Transportation Industries Block Climate Policy Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/web-version-Roberts-et-al-Climate-Obstruction-A-Global-Assessment.pdf

Introducing The Black Thread: The Norwegians Oct 13, 2025

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Over the next few weeks, we're sharing a new mini-series, The Black Thread, about Norway's complicated relationship with its identity as both a progressive leader and oil state.
Social norms and cultural values shape Norwegian's identity as a good, caring, nature-loving people. What happens when those values come into conflict with the reality of Norway's outsized influence on climate change?

Additional resources:
Communicating Climate Change

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Facing Climate Despair: How to Cope with Wen Stephenson Oct 12, 2025

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The climate crisis can feel overwhelming—to witness venture-capital-fueled AI domination, democracy’s steady drift toward authoritarianism, state-sanctioned genocide, and the collapse of one climate boundary after another is to encounter a profound 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. He shares how he's faced his own climate despairs and offers insights for living in an era of climate, political, and social crisis while holding onto humanity.

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How the Fossil Fuel Industry Sabotages Climate Action Oct 07, 2025

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The fossil fuel industry has undoubtedly played a central role in obstructing climate action through lobbying, impacting political influence, and spreading disinformation. Academic Kristoffer Ekberg (Lund University), nonprofit researcher Kert Davis (Center for Climate Integrity), and DeSmog global managing editor Geoff Dembicki walk us through how fossil fuel industry strategies have undermined climate policy, delayed regulation, and furthered climate denial.

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