Podcast · Tech & Science

Drilled

by Pushkin Industries · English · Tech & Science

Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disin

Start from episode 1WhatsApp

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 40 min
Latest: 9 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026 · 37 min

How Tech Billionaires Broke Democracy | The Spill

Tech billionaires have increasing influence over all aspects of our lives, and it's not by accident. Amy Westervelt and Gil Durán both recently published books examining the ideas and individuals driving the phenomenon. They discuss what it has to do with the climate crisis and the deterioration of democracy. Reading list from today’s show: 1. Gil Durán's new book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy 2. Amy Westervelt's new book, Brought to You By: How Corporations Warped the Truth, Conned the Public, and Broke Democracy 3. Lithub interview…

Play episodeWhatsApp Download

Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S17 · E4 · 2 Oct 2026 · 47 min
Garifuna land defenders vs. Survivor (as in the TV show) | The Spill
Amy Westervelt, Nina Lakhani and Alleen Brown chat about Standing Rock 10 years later, Global Witness's latest report on assassinations of land defenders, and why Palestinians in Gaza are land defenders, too. Meanwhile, Afro-Indigenous Garífuna leaders in Honduras have set up an occupation in front of the country's Supreme Court, in defense of their land rights. Nina interviews Karen Spring, coordinator of the the Honduras Solidarity Network, about what this has to do with Trump and the TV show Survivor. Reading list from today’s show: 1. The Propagandist, Drilled's narrative…
S17 · E3 · 25 Sep 2026 · 40 min
Carbon Credit Markets Have a Human Rights Problem | The Spill
Drilled global climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani interviews Elisa Morgera, the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change about Morgera’s latest report on the fundamental shortcomings of credit markets. Posed as a solution to the climate crisis, carbon credit markets have for years failed to deliver, while violating the human rights of the people most impacted by the climate crisis. Meanwhile, states have developed carbon tunnel-vision, fixating on schemes to reduce carbon emissions, while avoiding the root cause of the issue: fossil fuels. Lakhani and Morgera discuss all that and…
S17 · 22 Sep 2026 · 40 min
The Invitation from OCCUPY!: An Unfinished Uprising
Today we're sharing an episode of OCCUPY!: An Unfinished Uprising. The story of Occupy Wall Street — how it exploded, how it collapsed, and why its lessons may matter more now than ever before — from the voices of activists who camped out in New York City for two months. If you like what you hear, find OCCUPY!: An Unfinished Uprising wherever you listen to podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S17 · E2 · 18 Sep 2026 · 42 min
The Climate Movement Fights Back | The Spill
In this week's episode Alleen Brown speaks with Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of The Sunrise Movement about being infiltrated by the feds, why fighting authoritarianism is a climate fight, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S17 · E1 · 11 Sep 2026 · 48 min
Welcome to "The Spill," Our New Weekly Newscast
Amy Westervelt, Nina Lakhani and Alleen Brown on the world on fire, how the media is covering the climate crisis, what's happening with the industry as a whole, and how it all relates to rising authoritarianism. The Spill is our new weekly show to bring you news, rants, and interviews in between narrative seasons. Reading list from today's show: Amy's book: geni.us/broughttoyouby The Guardian on fossil fuel companies' war profiteering: https://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2026/aug/04/revealed-major-oil-firms-make-93bn-profits-amid-war-and-climate-crisis Nina's past reporting…
S16 · E3 · 8 Sep 2026 · 40 min
Episode 3: The Story of a Decade-Long Investigation
Alleen could only put together a story like this because she's stayed on the beat for a decade, building relationships and hunting for documents. At the 10-year anniversary of the Standing Rock movement, she gives us a look at why it's important for democracy for journalists to go deeper than breaking news. Speaking of which...Buy Amy's book! https://geni.us/broughttoyouby For a look at the primary documents underpinning this series, head to https://drilled.media/. This mini-series was reported in partnership with High Country News, and a print feature accompanying it is available on their…
S16 · E2 · 1 Sep 2026 · 44 min
Episode 2: The Real Outside Agitators of Iowa
The pipeline has been built, the protest camps disbanded, but the fight isn't over. As pipeline opponents set up a new camp in Iowa, the Tiger Swan propagandists follow them, this time with the help of an undercover infiltrator. A WhatsApp chat reveals the private spies' machinations. For a look at the primary documents underpinning this episode, head to https://drilled.media/. This mini-series was reported in partnership with High Country News, and a print feature accompanying it is available on their website: https://www.hcn.org/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S16 · E1 · 25 Aug 2026 · 38 min
Episode 1: North Dakota’s Facebook Mercenaries
As protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline began to grow in North Dakota, a new seemingly grassroots Facebook page emerged. In this episode we meet the hired gun behind it, Robert Rice, who was working for the pipeline company's private security company, Tiger Swan. For a look at the primary documents underpinning this episode, head to the Drilled site. This mini-series was reported in partnership with High Country News , and a print feature accompanying it is available on their website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S16 · 11 Aug 2026 · 2 min
Welcome to The Propagandist
10 years ago, rural North Dakota became the hub of one of the largest Indigenous-led protests in decades, and one of the largest climate protests ever in U.S. history: Standing Rock. What started as a protest against a pipeline turned into a political flashpoint thanks to social media. The pipeline company's private security contractors exploited the moment, using propaganda to fan the flames of long-simmering divisions in the community and amplify the voices of groups that were pro-pipeline or anti-protestor. A decade later, the community is still divided and the tactics used at Standing…
S15 · E6 · 16 Jun 2026 · 34 min
A Tipping Point
Treating climate solutions like an infinite money cheat might not be a great way to actually solve the problem, though it's sure to make plenty of "green" entrepreneurs rich. It makes sense that businessmen would stay focused on profits, but why do climate advocates keep supporting these ideas? This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S15 · E5 · 9 Jun 2026 · 40 min
The Saudi Arabia of Biofuels
With the sustainable aviation fuel industry set to explode, carbon capture has thrown the corn ethanol industry a lifeline...but what does another corn ethanol boom mean for everyone else? This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S15 · E4 · 2 Jun 2026 · 35 min
Into the Amazon
Industrial agriculture has wrapped itself in a green cloak in Mato Grosso, promising jobs, money and endless opportunities, all in the name of "sustainability." But the good times are only happening for a select few. Local residents are dealing with extreme weather, lack of access to fresh food, and a pesticide overload that has increased the risk of birth defects and lowered lifespans. Meanwhile, Bruce and the guys have now ventured into new territory: the Amazon. This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and…
S15 · E3 · 26 May 2026 · 27 min
The Brazilian Midwest
Bruce's Brazilian business partners run the state of Mato Grosso and the town the company is headquartered in. So while he fights endless pushback to his pipeline project in Iowa, business in Brazil is booming. This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S15 · E2 · 19 May 2026 · 32 min
The Ethanol Kingpin of Iowa
Bruce's venture in Brazil isn't the first time he tried to go global. What an earlier attempt tells us about him, his business, and what's ahead for both Iowa and "the Brazilian Midwest." This season is a collaboration with the Intercept Brasil. You can get the show in Portuguese on their feed as well, and companion stories at: https://www.intercept.com.br/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S15 · E1 · 12 May 2026 · 27 min
The Carbon Gold Rush
As his American company Summit Carbon Solutions struggles with backlash to a carbon capture pipeline linking corn ethanol plants across the Midwest, Bruce Rastetter is not slowing down. Instead, he’s celebrating some big wins for his Brazilian company, FS Fueling Sustainability, from new ethanol-friendly climate policy to government funding for their carbon capture project. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus . Additional resources: The link between corn ethanol and deforestation…
S15 · 5 May 2026 · 4 min
Welcome to Carbon Cowboys
For decades we’ve heard that “the markets” will solve the climate crisis. On Drilled: Carbon Cowboys, we put that theory to the test, following Bruce Rastetter, a corn ethanol kingpin-turned-carbon entrepreneur from Iowa to Brazil, and asking the big questions: Are these “climate solutions” actually reducing emissions? Is CO2 increasing or decreasing as carbon becomes a commodity? Or is green colonialism just as extractive as the regular sort? Drilled: Carbon Cowboys begins on May 12th. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on…
S14 · 28 Apr 2026 · 22 min
Fossil-fueled Fascism
The U.S. invasions of Venezuela and Iran are more of the same imperialism in service of oil majors. As the climate crisis makes its presence more urgently felt, fossil fascism dictates a doubling-down on extraction and colonialism, and the vilification of those who oppose or stand in the way of that plan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 21 Apr 2026 · 21 min
On Petromasculinity and Protest
Repression of protest has ramped up in the U.S., but everything that's happening now began with the backlash to the Standing Rock protest back in 2016. In today's episode we look at the connections between fossil fascism, petromasculinity, and protest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 14 Apr 2026 · 26 min
Never Let a War Go to Waste
Lots of people are talking about the similarities between Iraq and Iran, but in this episode we place the two in the context of another war—World War I—and the historical arc of fossil fascism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 17 Mar 2026 · 53 min
Drilling Deep: Karen Hao on How Big AI Is Gambling with the Planet’s Chips
What is “artificial intelligence”? Is it a fancy technology? A management consulting buzzword? A PR effort to inflate corporate share prices? A political project designed to shape the world more to the liking of the billionaire class? A way to replace needy human workers with machines? Perhaps it’s all of that—and more. In her groundbreaking book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI , award-winning journalist Karen Hao argues that AI—and the profit-driven infrastructure that surrounds it—is a colonial project. What OpenAI boss…
S14 · 3 Mar 2026 · 59 min
10 Years After Berta Cáceres’s Murder, Why Is Honduras Still So Dangerous for Environmentalists?
This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the hired hit that took Berta Cáceres’s life and robbed both the Honduran and global environmental movements of a uniquely effective leader. Cáceres was targeted by a dam company, with an assist from the police, military, government officials and international banks because of her effective organizing on behalf of her people, the Lenca. Nina Lakhani literally wrote the book on Cáceres’s killing, and in this episode she walks us through what happened then, what’s happening now, the role the U.S. played in all of…
S14 · 9 Feb 2026 · 29 min
Just Because the U.S. Says It's Legal Doesn't Make It So: Companies Trading in Illegally Seized Venezuelan Oil Face Legal Risk
Fernanda Hopenhaym, member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights walks Drilled senior global climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani through the many legal pitfalls companies getting involved in the United States seizure of the Venezuelan oil industry might be facing. Check out the longer story on our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 3 Feb 2026 · 46 min
How Climate Protest Backlash Led to Present-Day Repression
It's easy to feel like climate "doesn't matter" as the United States descends into fascism, as if climate and democracy are somehow separate issues. Researcher Oscar Berglund and Amy Westervelt connect the dots between the global backlash to climate protest and the broader repression we're seeing in supposedly democratic countries around the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 2 Feb 2026 · 57 min
A "Green Transition"? If Only It Were That Simple
In More and More and More , Jean-Baptiste Fressoz shows that the human history of energy is one of accumulation, not substitution. Here, he talks to reporter Adam Lowenstein about how the "energy transition" frame got so entrenched, why clean-energy innovation is not the same thing as decarbonization, how the fossil fuel industry helped launder pipe dreams of dysfunctional technologies into mainstream climate “solutions”, and much more (and more and more). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 20 Jan 2026 · 46 min
Introducing Lawless Planet: "Surveillance and Sabotage on the Dakota Access Pipeline"
When activists Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya take drastic measures to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, they have no idea that a shadowy private security contractor called TigerSwan has them in its sights. Special thanks to: Alleen Brown and The Intercept ( https://theintercept.com/2018/12/30/tigerswan-infiltrator-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock/ ) You Strike A Match by Julia Shipley (https://grist.org/protest/dakota-access-pipeline-activists-property-destruction/) Democracy Now ( https://www.democracynow.org/ ) Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest…
S14 · 12 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire
Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent, and destructive as the climate heats up. Drilled reporter Royce Kurmelovs and Canadian author John Vallaint, author of Fire Weather , discuss the climate-fire nexus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · 29 Dec 2025 · 25 min
The Norwegian Paradox: Norway's Fossil Fuel Dilemma
In this bonus episode of The Black Thread, we examine a single legal case that distilles the Norwegian paradox perfectly: the planned electrification of the Melkøya gas processing plant. It's a key conflict site where Norway's net zero transformation clashes with its fossil fuel industry, Indigenous rights, youth climate activism, worker safety, and even criticism from the United Nation. Additional resources: Communicating Climate Change See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · E14 · 28 Dec 2025 · 57 min
How Climate Activists Successfully Fight Obstruction
Despite growing repression worldwide, climate activists continue to stick it to obstructionists and drive change. In this season's finale, Jennie Stephens (University of Ireland Maynooth) and Sharon Yadin (University of Haifa) share the effective strategies that activists can use to push back against the forces that block climate action. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S14 · E13 · 10 Dec 2025 · 48 min
How Litigation Works to Fight Climate Obstruction
It's bleak out there and while climate obstruction can feel overwhelming, there are efforts being made to fight back against it. One of them is litigation and holding corporations legally accountable. Joana Setzer (London School of Economics) speaks to how climate litigation is being used to challenge companies, enforce climate commitments, and push for climate action globally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About Drilled

Drilled is a English tech & science podcast from Pushkin Industries. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Pushkin Industries
Language: English
Category: Tech & Science
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 40 min
Latest episode: 9 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1439735906
Rights: 2026 Pushkin Industries

RSS feed Apple Podcasts

More English tech & science

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.