LA smog isn’t as visible as it used to be, but what’s out of sight can’t be out of mind. Air pollution is a major component of greenhouse emissions, as well as contributing to environmental injustice.  In episode two of “In Our Backyard,” host Warren Olney hears how fighting both global warming and environmental injustice go hand in hand.

Sherman Indian High School was once part of systematic genocide against Native Americans. Now, it’s a place of healing. This is a special bonus episode to In Our Backyard: Warren Olney looks at the changing climate in Southern California

Southern California has a unique relationship with climate change. So what’s happening now? How did we get here? And what can we do? This first episode of the limited series "In Our Backyard." 

In Our Backyard is a six-part series that explores how Southern California is changing in the face of global warming, and how we can respond.

KCRW’s Warren Olney talks with Ben Ehrenreich about his recent New Republic article titled “We’re Hurtling Toward Global Suicide.” Ehrenreich is a freelance journalist and author of “Desert Notebooks: A Roadmap for the End of Time.”      

Warren Olney talks about the blackout during the Texas deep freeze with meteorologist John Morales and USC energy expert Kelly Sanders. Andrew Bacevich of the Quincy Institute has a warning about President Biden’s boast that “America is back.”    

Warren Olney talks about the globalization of America’s right-wing extremists with ProPublica’s Sebastian Rotella and American University professor Carolyn Gallaher. Later on, Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, tells him that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will help Joe Biden combine his agendas for climate and economics.

Warren Olney talks about the U.S. Capitol insurrection with presidential historian Tim Naftali and David French, an evangelical Christian and columnist for the Dispatch and Time magazine.

KCRW’s Warren Olney talks with Harvard law professor Jody Freeman and Princeton international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer about Biden’s climate plans and what it means to reach “net zero” by 2050. Then Brown University politics professor Corey Brettschneider warns that phony claims of election fraud are dangerous to democracy.

Win or lose, Joe Biden has a personal story of tragedy and ultimate survival. KCRW’s Warren Olney talks with Evan Osnos, author of “Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now.” He also hears from John Dean, former White House Counsel under President Nixon and co-author of  “Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers.”