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Roman Polanski’s classic 1974 film, “Chinatown,” which laid out a fictional account of California’s north-south water wars, turned out to be quite prescient. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome Katie Licari of Afro LA, who breaks down the ongoing tale of Los Angeles water and the impact this never-ending thirst has had on two very rural regions of California – Inyo and Mono Counties. We learn about the colonialist history of LA water rights and look at the monopolistic grip the LA Department of Water & Power holds over these counties.

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Just a few days after being inaugurated for a second time, Donald Trump expressed an interest in the United States taking over Greenland, saying “I think Greenland we’ll get because it has to do with freedom of the world.” This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Paul Bierman, a geoscientist and Professor at the University of Vermont, whose recent book about Greenland seems more relevant than ever. We discuss Greenland’s melting ice sheet, try to intuit the President’s melting brain and obsession with the region, and talk about how the current administration has put the American scientific community as a whole in peril.

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What does naming and re-naming streets, buildings, airports, and even bodies of water say about us as a people? Whether a name inspires, entertains, or haunts us, there’s power in assigning words to people, places, and things. We can see it unfolding right before our eyes with the current US administration renaming key landmarks. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Deirdre Mask, the author of “The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power.” We learn about the history of attributing names and numbers to roads and houses, look at how important seemingly obvious innovations like zip codes are, and discuss the socio-political impact of things named after confederate leaders.

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An implicit assumption within the structure of the American justice system is the notion that punishment is productive. Research shows, however, that locking people up does not address the underlying causes for most criminal behavior — in fact it actually exacerbates the likelihood of reoffending. With 95% of incarcerated people expected to reenter our communities, it seems pretty clear that our punitive practices are decidedly unproductive. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome back to the show Scott Hechinger, a civil rights lawyer, former public defender, and the current Executive Director of the nonprofit advocacy group, Zealous. We talk about the set of informational films that his organization has recently produced, discuss the fight that lies ahead for immigrants, and look at the measures that are being taken by the current federal administration to push for more capital punishment.

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Those of us who studied anthropology in the latter half of the 20th century most likely learned that the birthplace of humankind was East African countries such as Tanzania and Kenya. But for much of that same period, the apartheid regime in South Africa largely prohibited archaeological excavations, at least in part because it didn’t want to unearth any evidence that Blacks and Whites shared common ancestors. This week on Sea Change Radio, we take a look at some of the stunning archaeological discoveries that have emerged from South Africa over the past fifteen years. Our guest today is Dr. Keneiloe Molopyane, an archeologist who leads research in an area known as the Cradle of Humankind. In our wide-ranging discussion with Dr. Molopyane, we get a quick anthropology lesson, learn more about discoveries from the region, and explore the historical context of these prehistorical finds.Read the show transcript

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Disgust, disdain and disbelief are emotions many of us have felt since the November election – and with good reason. But how long can we stay disillusioned and disaffected before fighting back? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with author Dave Zirin, from The Nation and Edge of Sports, to have a cathartic chat about the future of this country and how to cope.Read the show transcript

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This week on Sea Change Radio, we take a break from worrying about the election and look beyond these shores. First, we speak to Ayoola Dominic, the CEO and Co-Founder of Koolboks – an innovative refrigeration solution for the large swaths of sub-Saharan Africa that don’t have reliable access to electricity. We get an in-depth look at the company’s technology, learn about the challenges they’re facing and discuss the relationship between Koolboks and the Clinton Global Initiative. Then, we revisit part of our 2023 conversation with author Tim Killeen who has chronicled efforts to curb deforestation in the Amazon.Read the show transcript

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Coral reefs are among the planet’s most beautiful treasures, hosting creatures strange and colorful. They’re more than just pretty, though. Coral reefs provide vital habitats for a vast array of marine organisms, they are an essential piece of ocean ecosystems, and they actually protect coastlines from erosion. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak to Curt Storlazzi from the US geological survey who outlines a recent study promoting the bolstering of coral reefs off of Puerto Rico and Florida. Storlazzi compares coral reefs to seawalls in terms of protecting us from rising sea levels, gives a snapshot of the study’s cost benefit analysis, and explains how the proposed reef bolstering program could help protect vulnerable coastal populations.Read the show transcript

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California kicked off 2025 with some of the most devastating wildfires in the state’s history. Thousands have already lost their homes, dozens have been killed, and as of today the largest of the Los Angeles area fires is only 14% contained. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak with meteorologist Anthony Edwards of the San Francisco Chronicle to learn more about what caused the fires, how climate change is making events like these more commonplace and inevitable than ever, and what we can all do to better prepare for them. Then, we take a few minutes to look at the burgeoning industry of amateur meteorology in the ski industry and the impact that the growth in untrained meteorological professionals is having on Edwards’s job, and on the field in general.Read the show transcript

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When you visit the World Wildlife Fund’s list of critically endangered species, the first animals named are large, beloved mammals like the African Forest Elephant and the Eastern Lowland Gorilla. While these majestic creatures tug at our heartstrings, there are also a lot of smaller, more unsung organisms that are in grave risk of extinction, like the lowly freshwater mussel. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to environmental writer, John Platt, the editor of The Revelator to talk about some of the less glamorous animals that have recently been declared extinct or are on the brink of extinction. First, we take a deep dive into the plight of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a regal swamp-dwelling bird whose demise may or may not have been premature. Then we discuss why Hawaii is referred to by some naturalists as the extinction capital of the world, and look at the ethical quandaries presented by the emerging field of resurrection biology, also known as de-extinction.