Moving away from hydrocarbons isn't all lush forests and clean rivers. Mining for rare earth elements can be a dirty business. Terence Kooyker of Valent Asset Management and Taylor Kuykendall of S&P Global Market Intelligence explain how getting clean in the long term may require us to getting dirty right now.

Bowery Farming CEO Irving Fain, Five Acre Farms CEO Dan Horan, and S&P Global Market Intelligence reporter Alex Bitter join the Essential Podcast to talk about food supply chains and the challenges of getting food to market during a pandemic.

Sudeep Kesh and Robert Schulz of S&P Global Ratings explain the complexities of corporate credit markets. Lower for longer interest rates, the search for yield, a false binary of investment grade versus speculative grade, and a global pandemic have all conspired to lead to a challenging environment for corporate credit.

How did a small town in Oklahoma and a group of inexperienced oil traders nearly sink the U.S. oil market and drive the price of oil to a point where it was cheaper than free? Dave Ernsberger and Richard Swann of S&P Global Platts join the Essential Podcast to explain what went wrong on April 20th and how a new benchmark for U.S. crude can integrate effectively with the global market.

Fiona Boal, Global Head of Commodities & Real Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, discusses the performance of gold through the crisis — looking specifically at gold supply, gold demand, and how "the currency of last resort" has appealed to investors over the past six months.

As knowledge-workers around the world have converted to work-from-home models, the costs and challenges of large cities are being re-evaluated. What factors are driving de-urbanization, and what are the countervailing forces that may keep people in cities? James Pomeroy, Global Economist at HSBC, shares perspectives on the potential winners and losers in a time of de-urbanization. 

Mona Naqvi, Head of ESG Product Strategy, North America at S&P Dow Jones Indices, discusses the issue of intersectionality for investment strategy, the difference between engagement and divestment, and the challenge of social measurement.

A widespread recession in Europe has triggered familiar flash points in the European Union. Just as it looks like the eurozone project may be on the verge of collapse, an agreement struck between France and Germany seems to offer a way forward, a proposed 750 billion Euro recovery fund to help member states weather the downturn. What are the implications of this unprecedented action for the future of the EU? Sylvain Broyer, Chief EMEA Economist at S&P Global Ratings, joins The Essential Podcast to discuss.

Priscilla Luk, Managing Director, Head of Global Research & Design, Asia Pacific at S&P Dow Jones Indices, discusses the early signs of an economic recovery in China, the changing relationship between China and emerging markets, and the challenges for deleveraging the Chinese economy during the recovery.