Sea Change Radio

This week on Sea Change Radio, we take a closer look at the alternative meat industry with Matt Simon, a Senior Writer at Grist. We look back at some of the initial stumbles from companies such as Impossible Foods, what they’re doing now to make their products more appealing to consumers, examine the prospects of some of the fresher faces in the business of lab-grown meat like Mission Barns and discuss the sustainability benefits of this burgeoning segment of the food industry.

Oil is not the stated justification for the recent US-Israel joint attack on Iran. The ensuing war is, however, expected to cause major disruptions to the global oil and gas supply. Which brings us to our topic this week on Sea Change Radio: energy transitions. Today we are talking about pivots undertaken by some of the world’s largest economies – we are joined by Chris Nelder, an energy expert and the host of The Energy Transition Show podcast. We discuss the problems facing Japan and its growing energy needs 15 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, examine China’s impressive moves away from fossil fuel dependency, and talk about Germany’s nimble reinvention of its energy grid after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Have you already made the leap into solar or is it still on your to-do list? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with the Executive Director of Vote Solar, Sachu Constantine, to learn more about all things energy-related under the sun. We discuss the harm inflicted upon the solar industry by the current administration, look at some encouraging developments in both residential and commercial solar, and examine what we can do to keep lowering costs and get away from fossil fuels.

Nowadays human health is affected by a whole new array of variables: from the impacts of climate change to the vast amount of both accurate and inaccurate health information propagated by the internet and public officials. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Dr. Neha Pathak, a practicing medical doctor and medical journalist who serves as WebMD’s Chief Physician Editor. We look at some of the health impacts of a warming planet, discuss the ever-expanding role that the internet plays in modern medicine, and talk about WebMD’s new Embody platform.

This week on Sea Change Radio, we take a dip into the archives to learn about two companies trying to get seafood to the market in unusual new ways. First, we speak with Daniel Russek, the founder and CEO of Atarraya, as he describes his company’s Shrimpbox technology: an innovative approach to shrimp farming. Then, we hear from Shannon Consentino-Roush, the former Chief Strategy Officer at Finless Foods, a California-based startup that is hoping to bring cell-cultured seafood alternatives to your dinner plate.

Congestion pricing refers to fees levied on drivers in particularly dense areas or at rush hour, the aim being to keep cars off the road and prevent traffic jams. Of course, strategies like these are most effective when there’s a corresponding plan to reinvest profits into public transit systems, bike lanes, and other equitable means of transport. As you can imagine, congestion pricing is not universally popular and often leads to vigorous debate. Singapore was the first city to introduce a congestion pricing model — since then cities from Milan and Stockholm to London and Rome have implemented similar systems. This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio, Charles Komanoff, is a congestion pricing advocate who writes about New York City’s recent foray into the practice as a “successful work in progress.” We talk about the evolution of congestion pricing in New York, examine its effects one year into implementation, and discuss whether this type of model could be rolled out in other U.S. cities.

If you listened to last week’s Sea Change Radio, then you’ve already learned a little something about congressional hopeful Saikat Chakrabarti. Otherwise, you may not have ever heard of the guy. He’s running to fill Nancy Pelosi’s soon-to-be vacated congressional seat here in San Francisco. In this second half of our discussion, listeners will hear about several ways that Chakrabarti and Pelosi differ (beyond their respective levels of name recognition). We look at several of Chakrabarti’s exciting ideas, including ways tech could actually help remedy inequality (rather than widening income and wealth gaps), elements of the Green New Deal that could help curb profligate energy use by data centers, and the notion of banning stock trading among members of Congress.

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.

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.

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.