The Sweaty Penguin

Latest Episodes:

Tip of the Iceberg E7: What's the deal with these gas prices?!?! Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

Gasoline prices have hit record highs over the last month, and understandably, people are not happy about it. But some of the theories floating around social media that it’s because of gas taxes, greedy oil CEOs, or climate policy are actually not all that relevant to today’s high prices. Ethan breaks down why these three explanations make no sense, what has actually caused the price swing, and some short-term and long-term solution ideas in this week’s “Tip of the Iceberg.”

The Sweaty Penguin is presented by Peril and Promise: a public media initiative from The WNET Group in New York, reporting on the issues and solutions around climate change. You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin. Get your environmental questions featured on “Tip of the Iceberg” by contacting us on Patreon, email, or social media. Questions from patrons move to the front of the line!

CREDITS

Writers: Ethan Brown, Shannon Damiano, Maddy Schmidt

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Sabrina Rollings

Music: Brett Sawka

The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the host and guests. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Peril and Promise or The WNET Group.

77. Lab-Grown Meat Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Unlike plant-based proteins like Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers, lab-grown meat is actually meat. Scientists take stem cells from a cow, chicken, or any other animal, culture them in a lab, and create anything from steak to seafood to leather to egg whites. The process hasn’t been perfected yet, and Americans can’t buy lab-grown meat in the supermarket, but startups and investors have flooded this market with the hope that lab-grown meat could become a safer, more ethical, and more sustainable competitor to conventional meat. That said, lab-grown meat still faces many hurdles to get there, from cost to public perception to a part of the production process that still leads to the slaughter of animals. Today, we explore how lab-grown meat is made, what the barriers are, and how the industry could overcome them. With special guest Dr. David Block: Ernest Gallo Endowed Chair of Viticulture and Enology and Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of California, Davis.

This story has been supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems. Learn more at solutionsjournalism.org.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Olivia Amitay, Maddy Schmidt, Ethan Brown

Fact Checker: Hallie Cordingley

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Robert Branning

Music: Brett Sawka

The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the host and guests. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Peril and Promise or The WNET Group.

Tip of the Iceberg E6: The key takeaway from last week’s IPCC report Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released part two of the 6th Assessment Report, leading to several doom-and-gloom headlines and soundbites saying variations of “we need to act now or it’ll be too late.” But haven’t we been hearing that for decades? When is this supposed time that’s “too late?” Turns out, it’s a lot more nuanced than that, and this IPCC report actually helps clarify this “too late” concept through its in-depth analysis of climate adaptation research. Ethan breaks down what this major report is actually about and some key information we can glean from it in this week’s “Tip of the Iceberg.”

CREDITS

Writers: Ethan Brown, Maddy Schmidt

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Sabrina Rollings

Music: Brett Sawka

76. Ice Sheets Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

According to measurements from NASA’s GRACE satellites going back to 2002, the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets are losing 427 billion metric tons of ice per year, equivalent to eight Olympic swimming pools per second. That melting—driven by climate change—is the number two driver of global sea level rise, it harms nearby corals and shellfish, and more. Today, we explore how we know the ice sheets are melting, what the consequences are, and where we go from here. With special guest Dr. Robin Bell: Professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics at Columbia University.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Dain Kim, Ethan Brown

Fact Checker: Hallie Cordingley

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Sabrina Rollings

Music: Brett Sawka

75. Mosquitoes Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

Between malaria and a long list of other diseases, mosquitoes are responsible for a million global deaths per year, making mosquitoes the most deadly animal in the world. And due to climate change, among other factors, mosquito populations are on the rise. Today, we explore what threats mosquitoes present, why their populations are increasing, and what we might be able to do about it. With special guest Dr. Amanda Tokash-Peters: Assistant Professor of Biology at Centenary University.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Haley Cronin, Ethan Brown

Fact Checker: Hallie Cordingley

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Frank Hernandez

Music: Brett Sawka

74. Carbon Accounting Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

Companies, cities, and countries are making new climate plans and setting carbon neutral targets left and right. But how does anyone know if they’ve succeeded? That’s where carbon accounting becomes important, and today, the practice is facing some growing pains, not the least of which being that it is completely voluntary. Today, we explore why carbon accounting is important, what challenges it faces, and how the practice can improve. With special guest Dr. Delphine Gibassier: Professor of Finance at Audencia Business School in France.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Isabel Plower, Ethan Brown

Fact Checker: Hallie Cordingley

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Robert Branning

Music: Brett Sawka

73. Palm Oil Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

Palm oil is used in close to 50% of packaged products at the supermarket, and according to the 2021 IPCC report, land use change for needs such as conversion from forest to oil farm is the second greatest contributor to human-induced climate change, behind fossil fuel use. The deforestation caused by palm oil causes not just climate change, but habitat loss for endangered species, land conflicts with Indigenous communities, and more. But while there’s some activists pushing palm oil bans/boycotts and other activists pushing sustainable palm oil, both solution proposals face some major challenges. Today, we discuss what palm oil is, why it’s responsible for so much destruction, and where we go from here. With special guest Dr. Janice Ser Huay Lee: Assistant Professor at the Asian School of Environment at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Hallie Cordingley, Ethan Brown

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Sabrina Rollings

Music: Brett Sawka

Tip of the Iceberg E5: Oil companies are flailing Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

Two lawsuits against a group of major oil companies have made news in the last couple weeks, both initiated by local governments alleging that these companies misrepresented and buried evidence for the climate damage that their products would cause. The oil companies have responded by essentially trying to move the lawsuits to other courtrooms. Environmentalists are frustrated by this tactic, but honestly, doesn’t it seem like oil companies are grasping at straws here? Ethan breaks down why these lawsuits might actually be shaping up well for environmentalists and gives a hot take on what might be a smarter strategy for oil companies who want to stay profitable in this week’s “Tip of the Iceberg.”

CREDITS

Writers: Ethan Brown, Shannon Damiano, Maddy Schmidt

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Robert Branning, Maddy Schmidt

Music: Brett Sawka

72. Solar Geoengineering Jan 28, 2022

Show notes

More than 60 experts, including several past guests on The Sweaty Penguin, made headlines last week for signing a letter that encourages the international community to adopt a non-use agreement for solar geoengineering—a set of technologies that aim to reflect or block out a fraction of the sunlight hitting the Earth in order to artificially cool the climate. But given the urgency of climate change, why do these experts want to take a potential solution off the table? Today, we explore what solar geoengineering could accomplish at its best, what some of solar geoengineering’s (arguably insurmountable) challenges would be, and what comes next for this technology. With special guest Dr. Elizabeth Chalecki: Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Dain Kim, Ethan Brown, Shannon Damiano, Maddy Schmidt

Fact Checker: Hallie Cordingley

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Maddy Schmidt

Music: Brett Sawka

71. Aerosols Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

The word “aerosol” might make us think of hairspray and Fabreeze cans, but under the scientific definition, aerosols are a wide range of solid and liquid particles ranging from sea salt to dust to black carbon that end up in the atmosphere. These aerosols actually have a net cooling effect on the climate, but considering their health impacts and their propensity to worsen droughts and rainstorms, excess aerosols are far from desirable. Today, we explore the problems aerosols create, how they are emitted both naturally and anthropogenically, and where we go from here. With special guest Dr. Faye McNeill: Professor of Chemical Engineering and Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.

Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin.

CREDITS

Writers: Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Ethan Brown, Maddy Schmidt

Fact Checker: Hallie Cordingley

Editor: Frank Hernandez

Producers: Olivia Amitay, Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Frank Hernandez, Dain Kim, Caroline Koehl

Ad Voiceover: Frank Hernandez

Music: Brett Sawka