Climate change is quickly becoming the defining issue of the 2020 presidential election. How the next American president confronts that threat will define where we live, what we eat, and how nations will survive. Despite the urgency, there hasn’t been a true forum for presidential candidates of both parties to thoughtfully discuss their plans to halt current climate. That changes Thursday night.⁠ The Weather Channel has teamed up with Climate Desk, a partnership of 18 media organizations working together on covering climate change (started by Mother Jones), to deliver an hour of climate conversations with nine candidates—five Democrats and three Republicans. It's called “2020: Race to Save the Planet,” and the special airs with limited commercial interruption Thursday, November 7 at 8 p.m. ET.⁠ 

On today's episode of the podcast, you'll get an exclusive preview from ⁠hurricane expert Dr. Rick Knabb from the Weather Channel, alongside Mother Jones's climate reporter Rebccea Leber, and you'll hear from candidates who visited communities on the frontlines of the current climate crisis: in the floodplains of Charleston, South Carolina; in South Bend, Indiana, and Dubuque, Iowa; as well as in Paradise, California, which was devastated by the Camp Fire almost exactly a year ago.  

We asked the top frontrunners to participate, and six Democrats and three Republicans said yes. We met with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) The Weather Channel interviewed Republican presidential hopefuls, too, including ex-Massachusetts governor William Weld, former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh, and former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford.