The Risk Takers
Can the insurance industry save the planet? With the nod from insurance companies a must for everything from coal mines to new homes, is the industry ready and willing to wield its power? When huge sw...
22 Aug 202552min
After the Bomb
80 years since the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Tom Heap and Helen Czerski ask how our relationship with nuclear power has evolved.At 8.15 on the morning of the 6th of August 1945 a...
4 Juli 202553min
A Whale's Life
A ban on commercial hunting for whales came into force 40 years ago. Tom Heap and Helen Czerski look back on the whaling industry with one of the last of Shetland's whalers and ask if our largest mamm...
27 Juni 202553min
Metals and Minerals
The transition to an economy based on renewable energy and electric cars needs huge quantities of materials like copper and rare earth metals. Sourcing them can be a problem. Mining damages the surr...
20 Juni 202553min
Powering Our Robot Overlords
Datacentres are big business, and vast numbers of them are being built around the world. In the UK, Amazon has announced plans to invest £8bn over the next five years building new datacentres, £3bn ha...
13 Juni 202552min
Is Net Zero a toxic brand?
In 2019 the UK made a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since then the political consensus has broken down and analysts doubt that current government policy has any chance of rea...
6 Juni 202553min
Are insects the answer?
Insects are the quiet engineers of the environment - pollinating our plants, balancing our ecosystems and clearing up our waste. Some insects can digest plastic, and they play a vital role in crop pro...
30 Maj 202553min
Set in Concrete
From ancient Rome onwards our civilisation has been built on concrete. It's incredibly useful but emits huge quantities of carbon dioxide in its production. What are the alternatives? Tom Heap and Hel...
11 Apr 202553min
