374: Mining with Microbes: Biomimicry in Copper Extraction—w/ Liz Dennett, PhD, CEO & Founder of Endolith
What if microbes could help us mine responsibly? What if astrobiology—the study of life beyond Earth—held clues for how to fix the way we extract resources on Earth?Today’s guest is Liz Dennett, CEO and founder of Endolith, a biotech startup using microbes to boost copper recovery from mining waste. With a PhD in astrobiology, experience at NASA, and a career spanning oil, gas, and data science, Dennett is one of the most fascinating polymaths in climate tech.This episode dives into how microbes mine metals, why copper is civilization’s next constraint, and what it means to clean up an industry everyone loves to hate. Ross and Liz also explore the moral contradictions of “ethical extraction,” the realities of startup life, and how humor—and humility—might be the best renewable resources of all.This Episode's SponsorsAbsolute Climate: the only standard that’s developed independent of registriesPhilip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliersListen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute ClimateListen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLPBecome a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.comUse this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing serviceSign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral codeResourcesBecome a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate ChangeSubscribe to the Reversing Climate Change SubstackEndolith's websiteEarth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future by Dr. David Grinspoon47: David Grinspoon, AstrobiologistGeology Cage Match: The Sapiezoic vs. the AnthropoceneBill NyeEukaryogenesisAbiogenesisEntropyCobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth KaraThe War BelowLithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives by Ernest ScheyderDeus ex machina“If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music ... Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We are the Dead—Why I Love Armistice Day
World War I profoundly changed the world. Nation-states replaced empires. Russia went communist. Fascism arrived. The West's claim to being the most civilized peoples on Earth was supremely undermined. And out of so much suffering, we received a holiday prioritizing grief and mercy.This bonus episode is me speed-running World War I and sharing some reflections on Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, or however you might call it.If you carry any of this grief with you personally, I hope you are able to forgive yourself and others. The choices of this world are not always easy, and we make mistakes.This Episode's SponsorsAbsolute Climate: the only standard that’s developed independent of registriesPhilip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliersListen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute ClimateListen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLPResources"In Flanders Fields" by John McCraeThere are a lot of references in this show. Normally I'd link, but for now, maybe just look some of them up if you feel so inclined.
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373: Crucial Questions We Must Answer about Adapting to Climate Change—w/ Dr. Susannah Fisher, author of Sink or Swim
Adaptation begins at home. But it doesn't end there. What do you plan on doing with your family as climate change gets worse? Are you already making plans whether to stay or go? How should states respond as people flee disaster? Who should get access to fish stocks as they migrate to new regions? Once one starts asking these questions, they really don't stop...Today's guest is Susannah Fisher, author of the new book, Sink or Swim: How the World Needs to Adapt to a Changing Climate. It's a wonderful catalogue of questions that asks and frames so many crucial discussions around people, nature, and politics.Much of the first half of the show is about how it feels to start thinking about adaptation and resilience rather than more optimistic mitigation work, and why adaptation can bring its own solace. We might not need to panic just yet... and I enjoyed getting some emotional centering from Susannah's deep experience in A&R research and policy work.This Episode's SponsorsAbsolute Climate: the only standard that’s developed independent of registriesPhilip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliersListen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute ClimateListen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLPBecome a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.comUse this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing serviceSign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral codeResourcesBecome a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate ChangeSubscribe to the Reversing Climate Change SubstackSusannah Fisher's Sink or Swim: How the World Needs to Adapt to a Changing ClimateLichen VenturesChristina FigueresOutrage + Optimism podcastAdverse selection, which is the economics term for the problems of insurance and public schooling that I reference"332: If Climate Change Can Impact Behavior, How Much Agency Do We Actually Have?—w/ Clayton Aldern, author of The Weight of Nature"Thames River BarrierThere are various services where you can enter your address and view statistical flood and fire risk. Unfortunately since I last used it the one I used to use has been taken down...""372: Climate Change on the Battlefield: New Missions, New Kit, New Theaters—w/ Erin Sikorsky, Director of The Center for Climate and Security""S2E50: Under a White Sky: Elizabeth Kolbert's new book on humanity's ecological & climate interventions"Earthshot PrizeYellow Jackets in France protestsKatrina: Come Hell and High Water by Spike Lee
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372: Climate Change on the Battlefield: New Missions, New Kit, New Theaters—w/ Erin Sikorsky, Director of The Center for Climate and Security
Is climate change a fringe and woke distraction in military planning that inhibits lethality? Or is it invaluable strategic context for this century's power projection? What kinds of missions will soldiers be asked to perform in a world that is getting hotter and more complex?Today's guest is Erin Sikorsky, Director of The Center for Climate and Security and author of the new book, Climate Change on the Battlefield: International Military Responses to the Climate Crisis.Though this show is not merely about warfighting and lethality. It's about what it means to have an apolitical military (if that term isn't too contestable). It's also about the military increasingly adapting its own facilities to climate change, and being tasked with many more disaster response missions than it has been previously. What does it mean to have an armed force that is spending more time fighting forest fires than preparing for amphibious assaults? Is this even the correct service to be addressing disasters?I'd like to do many more episodes on this topic in the future. It's one that I find endlessly fascinating.This Episode's SponsorsAbsolute Climate: the only standard that’s developed independent of registriesPhilip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliersListen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute ClimateListen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLPBecome a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.comUse this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing serviceSign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral codeResourcesBecome a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate ChangeSubscribe to the Reversing Climate Change SubstackErin Sikorsky's bio at The Center for Climate and SecurityErin's book, Climate Change on the Battlefield: International Military Responses to the Climate CrisisIan W. Toll's Pacific War Trilogy deals with interwar Japan, especially Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942. Listen also to the episode of the podcast I did with him here, "S3E34: The Environmental Impact of WW2 in the Pacific Theatre—w/ Ian W. Toll, author of The Pacific War Trilogy".Dan Carlin's Hardcore History episode "Supernova in the East 1" deals with this extensively too.Lucius Quinctius CincinnatusI started reading Pete Hegseth's The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, and would like to keep reading more criticism of the conflict between military preparedness and climate change.Listen in to the episode I did with Jeff Goodell where we discuss how the military thinks about climate change, "S3E51: The Heat Will Kill You First—w/ Jeff Goodell, author and contributing editor of Rolling Stone"Also, read his book The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized WorldGreat Green FleetGreat White FleetDiscounting/time preferenceCobra problemArctic Council“Where some states have an army, the Prussian Army has a state.”― Voltaire
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371: Can Carbon Removal Grow with Sports? Why Athletic Media Goes Up and to the Right—w/ Aidan Preston of Milkywire
Much of legacy media is dying. You know what isn't? Live sports. Where the outcome is uncertain, people want to watch.That means bringing together large numbers of fans and athletes. And what does that all add up to? Emissions. And emissions that could potentially be detached from profitability, leading to budgets large enough to support meaningful carbon removal.But will sports leagues move in this direction? Or is it better that it stay at the level of individual teams jockeying for brand value from climate action?Today's guest is Dr. Aidan Preston, Senior Impact Manager of Milkywire and former Advisor to the United States Department of Energy.Aidan is a sports fanatic and the author of Milkywire's latest report, "The Climate Cost of Growth in Sport: An Opportunity for Sports to Win on Climate".We discuss the evolving media landscape around sports, the creation and surprising rise of new sports, the omnipresence of sports betting, and how all of this might play out for carbon removal and climate action.This Episode's SponsorsAbsolute Climate: the only standard that’s developed independent of registriesPhilip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliersListen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute ClimateListen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLPBecome a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.comUse this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing serviceSign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral codeResourcesBecome a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate ChangeSubscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack"The Climate Cost of Growth in Sport: An Opportunity for Sports to Win on Climate", a Milkywire report by Dr. Aidan Preston350: Robert Höglund Presents: The Many Perils of Being Catalytic in a Carbon Accounting WorldFIFA"Mohammad Ali — Amazing Speed"; watch this video for the out-of-this-world dodges aloneAmerica's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders; you can see the F1 and golf series on Netflix too30 for 30KayfabeAidan recommended this Michael Lewis podcast on sports bettingAidan sent me the link to this study on how talking to strangers brings satisfactionAcquired episode about Indian Premier League Crickethttps://www.derekthompson.org/p/why-everything-became-televisionCUR8Taylor Swift and the Chiefs/NFLJason Isbell on being the subject of the documentary, Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed: "Yet Isbell admits there were times during the filming process when he needed a moment to himself. “I would leave the room, or unplug my microphone and get away from the camera. Sometimes it was too much,” he says. “But once the footage was all there and edited together, I didn’t use any sort of veto power or take anything out.”"The Gulf of Aden (sorry, Aidan; I couldn't help it...)
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