Because this is not the Earth of Joe Biden’s childhood.

This week, we take a break from the inside-the-beltway negotiations, zoom out, and ask the important questions: Is the stable foundation of human civilization unraveling? Does anyone or anything have the power to hold the apocalypse at bay? Journalist David Wallace-Wells synthesizes climate science to deduce whether we are still living on planet Earth, and what it means for the future if we’re not. Then journalist Kate Aronoff takes us on a tour through inadequate solutions and false hopes for planetary salvation, before explaining why the U.S federal government, for better or worse, has the power to stop the apocalypse -- or to seal our fate.

Waleed reveals he is actually an animal rights activist before having an existential crisis about the absurdity of American politics. 

Our guests and their work:
The Uninhabitable Earth: LIFE AFTER WARMING
By DAVID WALLACE-WELLS

Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet--And How We Fight Back
by Kate Aronoff

Additional readings and references:
Carlos Maza’s video essay ‘Why you still don't understand the Green New Deal’
What Does ’12 Years to Act on Climate Change’ (Now 11 Years) Really Mean?
Q&A: How do climate models work?
Scientists have gotten predictions of global warming right since the 1970s
SPECIAL REPORT: GLOBAL WARMING OF 1.5 ºC: Summary for Policymakers
What would it take to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C?
The Paris Agreement set an unrealistic target for global warming. Now what?
Carbon unicorns and fossil futures. Whose emission reduction pathways is the IPCC performing?
UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2019
Carbon budgets: Where are we now?