Two Ear-Worthy Climate Podcasts: TIL Climate & A Matter Of Degrees

 It's encouraging that the number of climate change podcasts grows every day. That growth means that people take seriously the climate change problem. They want to understand and then somehow be part of the solution, not the problem. 

Forget about climate deniers for the moment. They live in their own bubble, where climate change is a hoax to force them to buy LED bulbs, suffer low-flow toilets, and stop eating red meat. I know. It makes no sense. They want more coal, and more coal ash, coal sludge, and air designed to smoggy as possible. This is where we are as a nation. 

Anyway, these misanthropes are not the target audience for the two climate podcasts we're discussing today --  TIL Climate podcast and A Matter Of Degrees.

 It's for the majority who believe in climate change and want to understand how it's happened, why it's so dangerous, and what we can do about it.
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 TIL Climate -- Breaking down the science, technologies, and policies behind climate change

To me, climate change is like recycling. There are many people who want to recycle, but numerous barriers and confusing messages. 

Leave it to the braniacs at M.I.T. to develop a podcast that can transform the complex into bite-sized pieces of comprehension.

TIL Climate positions itself perfectly: "Climate change is confusing. This award-winning MIT podcast breaks down the science, technologies, and policies behind climate change, its impact on us, and what we can do about it. Each quick episode gives you the what, why, and how on climate change -- from real scientists -- to help us make informed decisions for our future."

To make the podcast an authentic learning experience, TIL Climate has created for each podcast episode "a set of questions and activities that educators can use in high school and higher education classrooms. To access these, click the "Educator Guide" tab on the episode page, or browse all our Educator Guides here."

“There’s a lot of information out there about why climate change is happening, how it will affect human life, and the solutions that are on the table. But it’s hard to find sources that you trust,” says Laur Hesse Fisher, program director for ESI and host of the new series. “And even then, there are still a lot of jargon and technicalities that you have to wade through.

“We’re trying to solve that problem.”

In each 10-minute episode, Hesse Fisher speaks to an expert from the MIT community to break down a clear, focused question related to climate change. In the first batch of episodes, these questions have included: What do clouds have to do with climate change? Why are different parts of the world experiencing different climate impacts? How does carbon pricing work?

The podcast is part of a broader ESI project called MIT Climate, a community-building effort built around a common web portal where users can share climate change-related projects, news stories, and learning resources at MIT and beyond. MIT Climate is intended to draw individuals and groups working on climate issues at MIT closer together, and eventually become a platform for worldwide, science-based learning and engagement on climate change. You can see a prototype of the portal at climate.mit.edu.

“We named the podcast TIL Climate after the popular Reddit hashtag TIL, which stands for Today I Learned,” says Hesse Fisher. “We hope to signify that these episodes are accessible. Even if you have no prior knowledge of climate science or policy, after 10 minutes you know enough to start being a part of the conversation.”

 The podcast slices up the complexity of climate change into easy-to-understand bites of knowledge. For me to make that claim, you should trust it. After all, I can't even wink with both eyes, snap my fingers, or blow a bubble. 

TIL Climate just started its seventh season in March 2025. Their most recent episode should be compulsory listening for all climate deniers. It explains how previous climate upheavals throughout the Earth's history differ markedly from today.

The episode discusses physics and chemistry, which can trigger warning signals to most of us non-geniuses. Don't worry. In the capable, secure hands of the host, Laur Hesse Fisher, any topic, no matter how complex, can be understood.

Speaking of Fisher, she's an incredible host. It's like she was born for this. Did her parents say, "We want Laur to grow up to be an amazing podcast host?" 

As a host, Hesse Fisher guides the listeners through every episode, ensuring the information is presented in easily digestible mental bites and that the narrative is as clear as Sprite soda, just as bubbly. If you were expecting Hesse Fisher to sound like Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) on the TV show The Big Bang Theory, you will be sorely disappointed. Hesse Fisher has a voice that can calm the roughest waves, prepare you for daily meditation, and energize your mind.

I've listened to almost every episode to prepare for this review. In fact, I challenge Hesse Fisher to quiz me. Not that I'm smart (remember the whole can't blow a bubble or wink with both eyes' thing), it's simply that the TIL Climate podcast serves up climate change information like McDonald's serves fries. One taste and you're hooked.

What I enjoyed about the treatment of climate change in the podcast by experts on each episode is that these smart people offer information cleanly and without proselytizing. These experts often explain the tradeoffs and ambiguity inherent in climate change initiatives.

For example, in season four / episode four on electric cars, the expert, Assistant Professor of System Dynamics at the MIT Sloan School of Management David Keith acknowledges issues with using batteries, the messy EV manufacturing process, and the mining of lithium. Yet, at one point, he states, "An electric car that is drawing its recharge power from the dirtiest coal-powered plant is still getting the equivalent of about 60 miles per gallon (MPG) on that EV, still making it the most energy efficient and least polluting vehicle on the road."  

Keith then adds that an EV powered by a renewable power plant could get as much as 150 MPG.

In the episode on nuclear power, Jacopo Buongiorno, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explained the benefits of nuclear power, addressed potential safety concerns, and concluded that a power management system should incorporate a combination of renewable and nuclear power.

The show is not a climate change cheerleader. Instead, it is a climate change explainer and an investigative body for solutions.

Here's what I love about the TIL Climate podcast. Most climate change podcasts are forbidden ground for climate deniers, because people are always afraid that information that conflicts with their worldview could be legitimate, accurate, and viable.  

Yet, the TIL Climate podcast is different. Their arguments aren't moral, ethical, spiritual, or existential. No, they reveal climate science in comprehensible slices, and they allow you to make the sandwich that makes sense of this data. 

If you're confused by the conflicting and contradictory information circulating on social media about climate change, or you just want to learn more without the preaching, listen to the TIL Climate podcast. 

My favorite episode is "Do wind turbines kill birds?" because this is a constant refrain from Trump supporters who listen to Trump complain about wind power because the Scottish government built a wind farm next to his golf course there. 

Initially, Fisher poses the question about killing birds and answers it by stating that wind turbines are responsible for killing approximately 100,000 to 700,000 birds per year. Then, taking a breath, she says, "But don't stop the episode here because that's not the whole story."

"The whole story" includes a solution to reduce bird deaths by painting one fan blade black, which has resulted in a 70 percent reduction in bird deaths from wind turbines.

Fisher and Howland explain that birds are killed by the millions by high-rise buildings, as they smash into them. The biggest threat to birds? It's cats, who, by one estimate, kill over a billion cats each year.

In the episode preceding that one, MIT scientists debunk the misinformation spread by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who claimed in 2021 that wind turbines freeze up in cold weather. As MIT professor Michael Howland explained, wind turbines operate efficiently in places as far north as Norway and Alaska. They simply need to be winterized, which the Texas government failed to do.

The episodes on hydrogen energy are especially eye-opening because the understanding of how it works is low, comparing "green" hydrogen to hydrogen from natural gas.

What I enjoyed in the last season and still today, even more so, is the treatment of climate change in the podcast by experts on each episode.  These smart people offer information clearly and without proselytizing. These experts often explain the tradeoffs and ambiguity inherent in climate change initiatives. 

Some people will never be persuaded. Facts don't matter because climate denialism is woven into their worldview. For those who heard Texas Senator Ted Cruz earlier this year cast doubt on climate change because "It was cold in the winter," and thought that made sense, I suggest you purchase plenty of sunscreen and moisture-wicking clothing.

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 A Matter Of Degrees Podcast: Is Climate Change Dead in TrumpWorld?

 The co-hosts of this excellent podcast --  -- are not simply climate advocates, they're scientists.

So they're not tree huggers, but highly skilled women of science who can take on any climate denier who produces a snowball to prove the earth is not warming to dangerous levels.

In the U.S., only nine percent of people actively dismiss the reality of climate change, and that has more to do with identity and politics than science.

"We’re focused not just on how people think, but also on how they feel, "says the podcast co-hosts, Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson. "To take meaningful action on climate change, we need to reckon with our emotions – guilt, fear, anger, whatever they may be. We think it’s most important to work for policy and political progress. Let’s focus on collectively achieving structural change."

Season four ended in January, and in that season, the co-hosts tackle the current climate issues surrounding the election and its aftermath.

Episode one of season four was about Project 2025, which has been all over the news lately. But what exactly is this conservative playbook for the Federal government? And what does it mean for climate policy? 

This episode dives into the Heritage Foundation's plan for the next conservative presidential administration. The co-hosts lay out what Project 2025 would mean for the climate movement and how it threatens to unwind all the progress we’ve made. This 900+ page document covers a lot of ground and, as they found out, the devil is in the details. In the episode, the co-hosts walk through the policies that define Project 2025’s vision for a Federal government that’s fundamentally anti-government, anti-science, and anti-equity and justice. We also take a hard look at just exactly how we got here: who wrote Project 2025, who benefits from it, and what we can learn from it.

The co-hosts set up a scenario reminiscent of Orwell's 1984, when, at the book's opening, the protagonist Winston Smith says, "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

In the second episode, the co-hosts craft a climate success story.

"On this episode of A Matter of Degrees, we tell the story of how a powerful grassroots movement, ambitious lawmakers, and Governor Tim Walz turned Minnesota into a climate leader. Then, we talk about using the Minnesota blueprint to make change everywhere else."

States also play a huge role in our path to healing the planet. Beyond just cutting pollution within their borders, states implement our big federal climate laws, test new innovative policy ideas, and build momentum for nationwide progress. And the center of gravity for state-level climate action isn’t California, Washington, or Massachusetts. It’s Minnesota. Over the past few years, Minnesota has done more on climate than perhaps any other state, anchored by a nation-leading clean electricity standard that requires 100% carbon-free power by 2040. 

To tell Minnesota’s success story, the co-hosts spoke to Aimee Witteman, the Vice President of Investment and Network at Rewiring America, Chris Conry, the Managing Director of 100 Percent MN, and Rep. Jamie Long, the Majority Leader of the Minnesota State House of Representatives. 

Who are the co-hosts of A Matter Of Degrees?
 
Dr. Leah Stokes is a specialist in energy and climate policy, and the author of the award-winning book Short Circuiting Policy, which examines the role of utilities in undermining regulation and promoting climate denial. Trained at M.I.T., Columbia, and the University of Toronto, Leah has published in top scholarly journals and popular media outlets. Named a 2020 Grist 50 Fixer, she regularly provides advice to policymakers at the federal and state levels and has given testimony on clean energy and electrification to the U.S. Congress, as well as states and cities.

At the University of California, Santa Barbara, Leah is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics. She’s also a senior policy consultant at the advocacy groups Evergreen Action and Rewiring America.

Dr. Katharine Wilkinson is an author, strategist, teacher, and one of 15 “women who will save the world,” according to Time magazine. She is co-founder and executive director of The All We Can Save Project, which works to grow climate leadership, and creator of All We Can Save Circles and Climate Wayfinding. Her books on climate include the bestselling anthology All We Can Save, The Drawdown Review, the New York Times bestseller Drawdown, and Between God & Green.

Stokes and Wilkinson have just started their third season of A Matter Of Degrees. Check out some of their previous episodes such as season two, episode eight The ‘Win-Win-Win’ Strategy To Retire Coal, and season two episode four 'Green Jobs...For All?'

In a previous interview, Dr. Stokes and Dr. Wilkinson told me, "These are both future and present concerns. The climate crisis is here, and we can prevent it from getting a lot worse. The goal is to recognize where pieces of a clean, livable future exist in the present, and fight as hard as we can to let them flourish and grow. This is the work of our lifetimes."

Dr. Stokes and Dr. Wilkinson are not wonky science types who speak in code like they're giving a lecture. Instead, these two academics speak from the heart and target their message toward the "climate curious." Their goal is not to convince those nine percent of climate deniers.

As podcast co-hosts they're tremendously skilled with a balance and rhythm to their voices and a knack for interviewing guests. Further, their podcast runtime is reasonable, the show itself is carefully produced, the sound clean and crisp, and the tone informative and supportive instead of deprecating and dismissive.

I believe it's a positive sign that climate change podcasts have proliferated in the last few years. That means people are taking climate change seriously and want more information.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said that, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson dream of a future when we can be environmentally responsible and responsive and make the only world we have habitable and hospitable for generations in the future.

Check out A Matter Of Degrees. Listen before it gets too hot!