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Sea Change — Nature
Sea Change

Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.

Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.

Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio. Sea Change is a part of the NPR Podcast Network and is distributed by PRX. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste.

Sea Change is made possible with major support provided by The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and The Water Collaborative. The Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Meraux Foundation.

Copyright: © 2023-2026

Latest Episodes:

All Gassed Up, Part 2: The German Connection Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

Until the Ukraine War, Russia was Europe’s biggest supplier of natural gas. After the invasion, political leaders wanted off Russian gas, and fast. So, they turned to the U.S. In part two, we follow American gas all the way to Germany — Europe’s biggest energy consumer, where the energy crisis hit hardest. US LNG provided a lifeline for Germany. But what happens when a country gets hooked?

“All Gassed Up” is a special 3-part series from Sea Change. This special series is part of the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative. For more information, go to pulitzercenter.org/connected-coastlines.

This episode was hosted, reported, and produced by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. It was edited by Morgan Springer, Rosemary Westwood, and Eve Abrams. Additional help was provided by Ryan Vasquez and Eva Tesfaye. The episode was fact-checked by Garrett Hazelwood. Our sound designer is Emily Jankowski. Our theme music is by Jon Batiste.

Special thanks to Andy Gheorghiu, Felix Heilmann, Julian Wettengel, Boris Richter, and all of the people who helped us with our reporting in Germany.

Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. To see more of our reporting on LNG, visit WWNO.org/podcast/sea-change. And to help others find our podcast, hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to rate and review!

All Gassed Up, Part 1: The Carbon Coast Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

Right now in the US, there is a GAS BOOM. A liquified natural gas boom — or LNG. The US produces the most LNG in the world. And the epicenter of this massive expansion? It’s here on the Gulf Coast.

For the last year, we’ve traversed Louisiana trying to uncover what this growing LNG industry means for the state. But, after talking with everyone – from shrimpers to energy insiders – we realized that the stakes were far bigger. If we really wanted to tell the whole story, we had to travel even farther. In this 3-part series, we follow the journey of American gas around the world to find out if LNG is the miracle fuel it’s claimed to be. If it really can prevent a climate apocalypse. Or is it a carbon bomb waiting to go off?

In part one, we start in Louisiana — ground zero. We see how the rise of these massive export terminals has transformed one community. Is this big bet on LNG worth it?

“All Gassed Up” is a special 3-part series from Sea Change. This special series is part of the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative. For more information, go to pulitzercenter.org/connected-coastlines.

For more information about the safety of LNG terminals, see the latest reporting from Floodlight, a nonprofit investigative climate news outlet.

To learn more about President Biden’s ongoing LNG pause, look no further. And about how LNG exports could drive up domestic energy prices.

To see more reporting on Venture Global LNG, find more here. The company is also in the middle of an ongoing fight with other oil and gas companies that are suing Venture Global.

This episode was hosted, reported, and produced by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. It was edited by Morgan Springer, Rosemary Westwood, and Eve Abrams. Additional help was provided by Ryan Vasquez and Eva Tesfaye. The episode was fact-checked by Garrett Hazelwood. Our sound designer is Emily Jankowski. Our theme music is by Jon Batiste.

Special thanks to everyone who made this episode possible, including For a Better Bayou, Fishermen Interested in Saving Our Heritage (FISH), and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. To see more of our reporting on LNG, visit WWNO.org/podcast/sea-change. And to help others find our podcast, hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to rate and review!

Introducing Season 2 Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

Sea Change is back with a brand new season. And this time, the stakes are even higher. We launch new investigations, travel around the world, and look at how a sea change is underway to solve some of our biggest problems.

Come with us to investigate and celebrate life on our changing coasts. Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.

Sea Change is hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker.

Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio, WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio, and PRX. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Our theme music is by Jon Batiste.

Available March 19, wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenting: The Anti-Dread Climate Podcast Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

Sea Change is taking a short break before Season 2 launches in March, and we plan to start the season off with a bang.

Last fall, we traveled all over the world to report a series about a massive expansion of fossil fuels on the Gulf Coast and what it could mean for the planet. We are very excited to share it with you soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to bring you some great podcasts that we love.

On to a New Year’s resolution we are actually keeping! Spend more time on what gives us hope in this rapidly changing climate. So in keeping with our resolution, today we are bringing you an episode from KCRW’s The Anti-Dread Climate Podcast. In this episode, they ask a big climate question: does what we do even matter? Why bother taking any individual actions to help the planet if industry and other nations pollute so much that they cancel you out? Caleigh and Candice discuss how your daily choices to affect climate change can have an impact – but maybe not the way you think.

A World of Hope Dec 22, 2023

Show notes

Sometimes, it can be hard to find the bright spots amid feelings of uncertainty about the future of our planet. But they're there. Today on Sea Change, we're focusing entirely on solutions. Stories about the good.

We hear about a landscape architect in China who's pushing his city to become spongier as part of the global push for cities to rip up their concrete. And whether recognizing a river or forest's legal right to exist could help save our world.We also hear from two experts about how you can start taking small steps in your own life to help tackle climate change as soon as tomorrow. Because what we do matters.

The report “Making cities 'spongy' could help fight flooding — by steering the water underground” by John Ruwitch was originally broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition on October 3, 2023, and is used with the permission of NPR.

For more climate solutions, find KCRW’s “The Anti-Dread Climate Podcast” here: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-anti-dread-climate-podcast

This episode was hosted by Halle Parker and Carlyle Calhoun. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Editing help was provided by Rosemary Westwood. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

The American Whale Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

There are only around 51 Rice’s whales left in the world. And they’re the only whale that stays in one country’s territory: they live exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico…in US waters. A uniquely American whale. This also means the responsibility to protect these whales lies with the United States, but are we protecting them?

That’s a question NPR Investigations reporter, Chiara Eisner had. With so few Rice’s whales left on the planet, she wanted to know what–if anything–is being done to prevent their extinction. Today on Sea Change, we hear the story of this shy, baleen whale who was only discovered as a new species a couple of years ago. And is already swimming in controversy.

This episode was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun, and edited by Meg Martin and Halle Parker. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production.

Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

You can reach the Sea Change team at seachange@wwno.org.

Pardon the Intrusion Nov 22, 2023

Show notes

Today, we are exploring a growing threat to our freshwater supplies in coastal regions all over the country. With climate change, we are experiencing sea-level rise and more frequent droughts, both of which make it easier for saltwater to creep into places we don’t want it.

First, we go to Plaquemines Parish, an area that’s been dealing with the effects of saltwater intrusion on their drinking water for months. An extreme drought across the Midwest has meant a less-than-mighty Mississippi. Which, has allowed seawater to come up the River—otherwise known as our drinking water supply down here. And then we travel to the coast of North Carolina, where we see another impact of saltwater intruding where we don’t want it. And we find out: what happens to agriculture when the saltwater comes in? Both of these places offer a glimpse into what could become a saltier future for much of our coastal communities.

Reported by Halle Parker and David Boraks. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti. Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

This story was produced through a collaboration between WFAE public radio in Charlotte and Climate Central, a non-advocacy science and news group. Reporters John Upton and Kelly Van Baalen contributed.

Designing With Nature Nov 10, 2023

Show notes

As we experience worsening impacts from climate change, we’re wondering: How can we rethink engineering? Instead of trying to control nature, can we design with nature?

There are more than a thousand miles of levees and floodgates lining each side of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Thousands of dams also hold back water and sediment throughout the Mississippi basin. But the thing is, you can’t totally harness a river such as the Mississippi. And, research has shown that our efforts to tame the river have actually made our risk of flooding worse when you add climate change to the mix.

Today on Sea Change, we talk to MacArthur award-winning landscape architect, Kate Orff, and renowned environmental scientist, Don Boesch, about how they envision a future where instead of concrete, we turn to nature to protect us.

Produced by Carlyle Calhoun who co-hosts the show with Halle Parker. Our managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Editing help from Meg Martin. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti. Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

Presenting: KQED’s Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

Today on Sea Change, we are bringing you an episode from our friends at KQED. The story you’re about to hear is from the third season of their podcast called Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America.

Climate change is intensifying wet periods across California, untaming waterways humans corralled with dirt and concrete. In this episode, “Searching for Home on Higher Ground,” reporter Ezra David Romero takes us to Pajaro, California, where he asks a question that many of us here on the Gulf Coast have also had to ask: when the water comes for your home, how do you adapt? Is abandoning life in the floodplain the only option? Ezra follows the Escutia family as they manage their retreat from the Pajaro levee after a devastating breach and their search for an affordable home on higher ground.

Listen to Sold Out wherever you listen to podcasts.

To find out more about the podcast, visit: https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout

This episode was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Ezra David Romero reported and produced this episode. Our theme music is by Jon Batiste. Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

Flood By Flood Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

As natural disasters worsen and extreme weather grows more frequent, it’s led to more people being displaced across the planet. Sometimes, we call those people climate migrants. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in the last year alone, around 3 million Americans were displaced by natural disasters. But for some climate migrants, displacement isn’t always so immediate or apparent, but it is often tangled up in bureaucracy and a broken system.

Today on Sea Change, we explore what it means to recover after disaster. First, we travel to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where we look at how long it truly takes to be made whole — if that ever happens. Three years after a deadly hurricane struck the city, people are still rebuilding their lives. Then, we go to Texas to hear from residents pushed to the margins six years after Hurricane Harvey, suffering through what has become chronic flooding.

Reported by Stephan Bisaha and Erin Douglas. Hosted by Stephan Bisaha and Halle Parker. Edited and produced by Carlyle Calhoun and Greta Díaz González Vazquez. Our sound designer is Maddie Zampanti. Sea Change is a production of WWNO and WRKF. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

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