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In November, former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, announced that she’s retiring from Congress after serving nearly forty years. Now, San Francisco voters and the rest of the country, are wondering: who can fill her four-inch pumps? This week on Sea Change Radio, the first half of an in-depth, sit-down conversation with Saikat Chakrabarti, who’s running for the 11th Congressional District of the US House of Representatives. We look at Chakrabarti’s unusual career path into politics – from software engineer to co-founder of the progressive political incubator Justice Democrats, to serving as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff and co-authoring the Green New Deal – Chakrabarti may be one of the most qualified individuals to ever run for a freshman seat in the House. We learn about his environmental policy ideas, how he balances local and national concerns in a congressional campaign, and the success he’s had in inspiring a younger generation as volunteers, staffers, and voters.

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The environmental and counterculture movements of the 60s have been inextricably linked since day one. The hippies decried war on materialism while promoting love, kindness and care for the planet. And one of through-lines of this movement was music. This week on Sea Change Radio, we take some time to remember the life of the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, who recently died at the age of 78. For many of us, across several generations, the Grateful Dead has been more than a band – it’s a movement that’s all about expanding your community and your mind. We dig into the archives to hear from Weir’s longtime bandmate, Bill Kreutzmann, and listen to excerpts of two interviews we did with Bobby’s late songwriting partner, John Perry Barlow.

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The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that each year a staggering 20 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes – that’s the equivalent of about 2,000 garbage trucks dumped into the globe’s waterways every day. This week on Sea Change Radio we are speaking with Judith Enck, former EPA administrator and current professor at Bennington College. We discuss her recent book, “The Problem with Plastics: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.” We examine some of the alarming stats associated with what seems to be a never-ending rise in plastics production and consumption, talk about how relatively little plastic is actually recycled, and delve into some policies and practices that can help stem the plastic tide.

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In recent years Americans have suddenly begun paying attention to what Korea has to offer culturally: from K-Pop to television dramas, to mouth-watering Korean barbeque. But how many people know about Korea’s climate innovations and policy? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Hansae Song who works with the South Korean-based nonprofit, Solutions For Our Climate. We get a summary of Korea’s involvement in fighting climate change, look at the country’s energy grid, and discuss South Korea’s recent decision to stop subsidies for biomass fuel. Then, we dig into the archives to learn a little bit more about biomass, also known as wood pellets, from Mongabay contributor Justin Catanoso.

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Carbon offsets are often touted as a solution to humanity’s bad habit of emitting an awful lot of CO2. But how many of us actually know what things like carbon offsets and carbon dioxide removal are all about? This week on Sea Change Radio, we revisit our 2023 discussion with David Ho, a professor in the oceanography department at the University of Hawaii and a co-founder of the nonprofit, [C]Worthy. We discuss his piece in the science journal Nature explaining the shortcomings of carbon offsets, learn more about the mission of [C]Worthy, and take a look at how some corporations greenwash the admirable goal of producing net zero goods. Then, we hear an excerpt of a conversation we had earlier this year with Andrew Kaminsky, a journalist for Triple Pundit as we look at the environmental impacts of extracting various minerals and discuss how mining companies are changing the way they operate.

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If you haven’t yet personally witnessed the very odd feeling of driving up to a four-way stop sign only to realize that the vehicle across the street from you has no driver behind the wheel, chances are you will soon enough. Like it or not, autonomous vehicles are coming, and this week on Sea Change Radio we are speaking with Samuel Abuelsamid, an expert on self-driving technology. We take a look back at the evolution of autonomous vehicles, examine the purported “full self-driving mode” offered by Tesla, and discuss some of the sustainability issues surrounding this technology.

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Amid all the darkness sweeping our nation over the past year, there remain vital signs of life from progressives. But will they be able to adequately fight, organize, and inspire to retake power? This week on Sea Change Radio, a political discussion with John Stoehr of The Editorial Board as we focus on the Democratic Party. We talk about messaging, the end of the government shutdown and look at some of the rising stars on the left side of the aisle.

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This week on Sea Change Radio, we’ll get the latest on the electric vehicle consumer market from automotive expert, Jim Motavalli. We’ll look at some new models worth checking out if you’re considering buying an EV, examine the impact of the Trump tariffs on the industry, and look at how foreign auto makers from Germany to China are improving their electric vehicles.

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The telecom titan Verizon just recently laid off around 15,000 employees, and it was just a blip on an otherwise slow news day. The DIY craft giant Michael’s regularly hires 15,000 seasonal workers for the holidays, and it doesn’t generally even brush up against a headline. We provide these numbers to help our listeners scale the 14,000 people working in West Virginia’s coal industry, and the massive influence the question of their employment has on the American political and environmental landscape. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Babette Hogan and Julie Eisenberg, whose new film, Running For The Mountains, takes a close look at the West Virginia coal mining industry. We discuss the environmental waste caused by coal in the state, dive into West Virginia’s politics, and hear what they learned over their 15 year film-making process.

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According to a recent Forbes report, 65 million American households have pet dogs. Plenty of those people buy toys for their dogs, which is a nice thing to do, except that it leads to an enormous amount of waste – an estimated 634 million dog toys end up in US landfills each year. That’s approximately 40,500 tons of dog toy garbage. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Spencer Williams, the founder and CEO of West Paw, a small dog toy company out of Bozeman, Montana that is doing its best to reduce the carbon pawprint. We look at the company’s products, find out how their commitment to recycling distinguishes them from the rest of the sector, and delve into some carbon-neutral ideas for keeping your pet entertained without toys.