Understand

A pair of radical activists drives east, from the West Coast of the US to a quaint skiing town in Colorado. They’ve watched as local environmental groups tried - and failed - to prevent the expansion of a ski resort into pristine forest land. And they’ve had enough. Their plan? To burn the resort down.

This group will go on be named the number one domestic terror threat in the United States. And the green movement is split about whether their actions went too far.

Presenter: Justin Rowlatt

It’s the 1990s - and in a tiny office in Charing Cross, a group of big thinkers is publishing some radical ideas…and about to have a very public falling out.

This is the story of an influential green magazine and the man who created it: Teddy Goldsmith. He believed the cause was so grave it stood outside of left-right politics. Not everyone agreed.

Presenter: Justin Rowlatt

Archive:

Somewhere in the North Pacific, 1971. A ragbag crew of environmentalist hippies sets sail on a rickety fishing boat in a last ditch effort to stop a nuclear weapons test. Their tumultuous voyage would birth the modern green movement. The men on board wanted to save the world, but spent much of their time at each other’s throats.

Presenter: Justin Rowlatt

Archive:

We follow Extinction Rebellion on one of its first ever actions. Before the rebels shut down London, before they became a household name, they occupied an office building in Islington. Their target? Not a fossil fuel company or government, but Greenpeace - perhaps the world’s most high profile environmental campaign group.

Presenter: Justin Rowlatt

Archive:

The modern green movement has been shaped not only by protest, but by conflict within the ranks.

Shared ideas are forged through friction - battles over tactics, solutions, or who gets a voice.

Justin Rowlatt goes to the heart of these battles - to learn about these dramatic moments from the people who were there. Friends, or sometimes enemies, hashing out big ideas that help define what it means to be green.

Could the water industry be nationalised? Should the water industry be nationalised? And who will bear the ultimate costs for cleaning up our rivers?

Reported and presented by Kate Lamble

Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4

As Thames Water’s finances deteriorate, “vultures” circle.

Reported and presented by Kate Lamble

Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4

New legislation promises to slash the sewage released into rivers, but will it become law?

Reported and presented by Kate Lamble

Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4

The data scientist, the ex-detective and the politician trying to clean up our rivers.

Reported and presented by Kate Lamble

Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4

The view from inside the Environment Agency, the body which enforces environmental standards for water companies in England.

Reported and presented by Kate Lamble

Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4