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Are you tired of the same climate and energy stories? A warmer world is here. We’re living with it. Now what? Will countries ever stop burning fossil fuels? Should we use less energy? Can we adapt to a warmer world? What will it cost? Sometimes, we need to start by reexamining things we thought we knew.

Award-Winning Axios Journalist and Institute Journalism Fellow Amy Harder and Institute Director Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about the challenge from people on the frontlines as well as cutting-edge solutions — like changing the earth’s atmosphere, making batteries out of sodium and using artificial intelligence to predict the weather. Listen to learn about energy, climate, and the shocking ideas that will change your perspective.

Shocked Podcast Season 1
Podcast episode·Oct 30, 2025

Bonus Episode: A Climate Conversation Across the Aisle with Lisa Murkowski and Heidi Heitkamp

LISTEN  What does pragmatic climate policy look like in today’s Senate? In this special episode, our Michael Greenstone sits down with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and former Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota) for a frank...
Podcast episode·Oct 27, 2025

Episode 8: Water Rising

Sea level rise doesn’t look like a single global flood—it looks like repeated, localized disasters: flooded streets, collapsing home values, and hard choices about where to live. This episode explores how coastal communities, housing markets,...
ETI Podcast episode·Oct 20, 2025

Episode 7: Battle of the Batteries

To compete with China’s dominance in battery technology, the U.S. needs more than just ambition—it needs new chemistry. This episode traces the rise and fall of an American sodium battery startup and the quiet race...
Podcast episode·Oct 13, 2025

Episode 6: Farmer’s A.I.manac

Accurate weather forecasts save lives—but not everyone gets them. In this episode, Amy Harder looks at how AI is transforming weather prediction in places where the stakes are highest and the resources are few. Can...
EPIC Podcast episode·Oct 6, 2025

Episode 5: Markets for Pollution

 Editor’s Note: We recently launched the Emissions Market Accelerator (EMA), a groundbreaking initiative that helps governments in the Global South design and deploy market solutions to reduce pollution and foster economic growth. Researchers affiliated with...
Podcast episode·Sep 29, 2025

Episode 4: Moneyball for the environment

For years, the EPA tried to inspect as many polluters as possible—but with limited staff, only a small fraction of sites could be checked each year. This episode looks at how a new, AI-driven approach...
Podcast episode·Sep 22, 2025

Episode 3: Vultures

 In the 1990s, millions of vultures quietly vanished from India—and the consequences were deadly. This is the story of how a cheap painkiller set off a chain reaction involving rabid dogs, polluted water, and...
Podcast episode·Sep 15, 2025

Episode 2: Geoengineering

When disaster strikes and funding fails, some experts and leaders are considering a Plan B: deliberately cooling the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space. This episode traces the science, the politics, and the ethics...
Podcast episode·Sep 8, 2025

Episode 1: Bad Energy

Air conditioning isn’t the luxury some consider it to be—it’s essential to life in a warming world. The real problem is the fossil fuels that power it. This episode of Shocked explores what it means to use...
Podcast episode·Aug 29, 2025

Trailer: For people tired of the same climate story

Are you tired of the same climate and energy stories? A warmer world is here. We’re living with it. Now what? Will countries ever stop burning fossil fuels? Should we use less energy? Can we...