Spill

By Critical Frequency

Society & Culture Social Sciences

What's Spill about?

Climate news, culture and commentary from the team behind Drilled and Hot Take.

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Spill episodes:

05.30.2024
John Kasper: A Guy Who Sucked
Over the years we've talked a lot about the intersection between civil rights and climate change. Now Mary Annaïse Heglar has a novel out (her first!) that lives in that intersection and it's fascinating. On this episode she brings us...
05.08.2024
Maddie Stone on Microsoft's Role in the Climate Crisis
In a new story co-published by Grist and Drilled, Microsoft employees who spent years fighting the tech giant's oil ties are speaking out about the worker-led effort to get the world's most valuable company to stop helping the oil and...
04.22.2024
Welcome to Spill and Happy Earth Day: Freeing Palestine Is a Climate Issue
Hot Take co-hosts Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt are back with a new show blending climate news updates and cultural commentary, plus a monthly Hot Take-style conversation. In our first episode: what else? A conversation about the intersection between...
04.16.2024
Climate News Update: The New Carbon Majors + Swiss Elders Win Landmark Climate Case
Lots of news lately on stories we've been following, so in today's episode: an update! The landmark Carbon Majors report has been updated with some surprising new data, and the European Court of Human Rights has sent down an historic...
04.02.2024
Slow Factory's Céline Semaan on Climate Justice, Collective Liberation, and Building an Unbreakable Movement
When Celine Semaan began calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, she was surprised at the backlash she and her team at Slow Factory got, including multiple funders pulling their support. Today, Semaan is more determined than ever to push for...
03.05.2024
Messy Conversations: Rhiana Gunn-Wright on What the Climate Movement Loses When It Excludes Environmental Justice
Rhiana Gunn-Wright was one of the architects of the Green New Deal, and today works as the climate policy director for the Roosevelt Institute. In this episode we get into the nuances of the IRA, how to handle climate being...
02.27.2024
Messy Conversations: How to Talk to Kids about Climate Change, with Mary Annaïse Heglar — a Mini Hot Take Reunion!
Mary Annaïse Heglar's first book is out today, and it's a children's book about climate change. It's the first of *three* climate books Mary has coming out in the near future (the other two are a novel, called Troubled Waters,...
12.05.2023
Messy Conversations: Akshat Rathi on Climate Capitalism
Bloomberg climate reporter Akshat Rathi joins us to discuss his new book Climate Capitalism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.03.2023
The Climate Impacts of Deep-Sea Mining
Some mining companies claim that we can't "electrify everything" without deep-sea mining—a claim that has been debunked by various scientists. Environmentalists, car companies, and governments are pushing back, citing not only the obvious potential damage to marine ecosystems but also...
07.20.2023
Introducing: Inherited — Climate Youth Stories From Around the World
In the Season 3 premiere of Inherited, host Shaylyn Martos introduces us to storyteller Camara Aaron, who shares a personal story of family loss, structural resilience, and survival in an era of climate change. Camara, now 25, was only a child...
12.30.2022
F$#%, Marry, Kill Big Oil
For our last episode of Hot Take, Amy and Mary revisit their favorite jokes, and dig into the listener mailbag to answer questions from Hot Cakes around the globe. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake Learn more about your ad choices....
12.16.2022
The Zombie Apocalypse Is Real
This week, Amy and Mary discuss zombie ice viruses, the Keystone pipeline spill in Kansas, a global biodiversity crisis, the degrowth movement, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12.09.2022
Won't Someone Think of The Children
This week, Amy and Mary chat with Rebecca Nagle - an Indigenous journalist, host of This Land, and long-time friend of the show. They discuss Brackeen v. Haaland (a legal case threatening Indian Law), why Indigenous issues are so under...
12.02.2022
'Tis the Season to Want Nothing
Just in time for the holiday season, Amy and Mary chat with Aja Barber - a writer, stylist and consultant who works at the intersections of fashion and sustainability. They dive into the problems with fast fashion, and its worst...
11.18.2022
Call the COPs
Amy and Mary break down this year's COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, and explore the history of U.N. climate conferences beginning with the first summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. They also discuss the unseemly presence of fossil fuel...
11.11.2022
No Country for Centrist Dems
This week on Hot Take, Amy and Mary break down the midterms, examine the shadowy billionaires funding Republican candidates, and give an honest review of Elon’s performance as Twitter's CEO. Spoiler: He’s failing, but it might be on purpose. ...
11.04.2022
Every Election Is a Climate Election with Rhiana Gunn Wright
This week on Hot Take, Amy and Mary speak with Rhiana Gunn-Wright - Director of Climate Policy at the Roosevelt Institute and one of the architects of the Green New Deal. With the midterms right around the corner, they discuss...
10.28.2022
Election Spooktacular
This week on Hot Take, Amy and Mary pick apart the climate implications and nuances in key midterm races (Fetterman, Booker, Barnes, Beto), plus the upcoming Brazilian presidential election. They look ahead to COP and the conversation around loss and...
10.21.2022
On the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis
This week on Hot Take, Mary is joined by Sara Sneath, investigative reporter and alligator doula and Drew Costley, climate & environment reporter at The Associated Press. They discuss how to approach communities in the throes of a climate disaster,...
10.14.2022
Climate Candidates To Watch In The Midterms
This week on Hot Take, Amy & Mary discuss the new wave of Southern Black Democrats running on climate centric platforms and break down the important climate cases before the Supreme Court. They also bring updates on this year’s hurricane...
10.07.2022
Reclaiming Identity Politics with Olúfemi Táíwò
This week on Hot Take, Amy & Mary talk to Olúfemi Táíwò, author and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown, about tokenism, reparations, how the powerful have appropriated identity politics and turned it into a tool of division, and more....
09.30.2022
Hurricane Season Heats Up
This week on Hot Take, Amy & Mary give updates on Hurricane Ian, Manchin's failed permitting bill, discontent in Europe, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and sign up for our newsletter at hottakepod.com Learn more about your ad...
09.23.2022
Ask a Scientist, with NASA’s Dr. Kate Marvel
Today on Hot Take, Mary and Amy are joined by Kate Marvel, climate scientist at NASA, who answers listener questions about acid rain, geoengineering, astrology, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and sign up for our newsletter at...
09.16.2022
Follow the Money, Eat the Rich
We hear all the time that acting on climate can upset the delicate balance of the economy, worsen inflation, kills jobs. So on and so forth. But is it true? Today on Hot Take, Mary and Amy are joined by...
09.09.2022
Both Sides of the Mississippi
For this week’s Hot Take Labor Day special, Mary and Amy look into the connections between labor unions and the climate movement, the mega droughts in China and California, and the ongoing water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. Follow us...
09.02.2022
Climate Colonialism 101
This week on Hot Take, Mary and Amy talk to Abrahm Lustgarten about how colonialism, both in the past and the present, put the weight of the climate crisis on the shoulders of the people who did the least to...
08.26.2022
A FOX in the newsroom
This week, Mary and Amy are joined by Evlondo Cooper, a journalist at media watchdog - Media Matters, to chat about the connections between the shrinking local new landscape and right-wing climate disinformation campaigns that have been lying on the...
08.19.2022
Amy and Mary Take a TV Break
Tune into Hot Take this week, where Mary and Amy take a much needed break by watching TV! They look at how climate is represented in TV and film by revisiting Don’t Look Up, Billions, I May Destroy You, Beasts...
08.11.2022
Devil in the IRA details
Amy and Mary cut through the noise to break down the good and the bad in the climate legislation that just passed the Senate - and take stock of what it means for the climate movement and where the conversation...
08.05.2022
The Quiet Climate Emergency
This week, Mary and Amy break down the latest in climate news from - the Inflation Reduction Act, the possibility of a climate emergency declaration, Taylor Swift’s private jet use, and much more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake...
07.29.2022
Climate Behind Bars
This week, Mary and Amy are joined by investigative journalist Alleen Brown to take a closer look at mass incarceration. If we're going to talk about the communities most vulnerable to climate change, we have to talk about mass incarceration....
07.22.2022
Joe Manchin vs. The World
This week, Joe Manchin spiked Biden's climate bill, but the planet is no political football. This week's episode of Hot Take takes a closer look at the true stakes of the climate crisis with a focus on the Global South....
07.15.2022
"Resistance" Over "Resilience"
Today on Hot Take is all about resilience—and the limits thereof. Mary talks with two fellow southerners - Ko Bragg, Scalawag’s Race & Place Editor, and Amal Ahmed, Disaster Reporter at Southerly. They discuss the uneasiness of today's summers, the...
07.08.2022
Scene on Radio: In the Beginning
This week on Hot Take, we’re off! But, we’ve brought you an episode from one of our favorite shows - Scene on Radio. Amy was the co-host of the most recent season, along with John Biewen. If you like this...
07.01.2022
Supremely F$%#ed
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary sit down with Leah Litman, a law professor from our sister show - Strict Scrutiny, about SCOTUS aka the most hated reality TV show in America. They discuss Roe v Wade, WV v...
06.24.2022
Trans Rights Are Climate Justice``
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Yessenia Funes, Climate Director of Atmos Magazine, discuss queerness and climate justice, recent elections in Latin America, the vanishing Colorado River, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and signup for our newsletter at hottakepod.com. ...
06.17.2022
How Many Oil Jobs Are There Really?
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary talk to Sara Sneath, New Orleans-based investigative journalist of Floodlight, about exactly what kind of jobs the fossil fuel industry creates and the quality of those jobs. Plus all the ways Big oil...
06.10.2022
A Republican Climate Plan?
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary discuss the recent Republican “climate plan”, the Democratic primaries, heatwaves, a special fossil fuel f@$#boi, and more. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and signup for our newsletter at hottakepod.com Learn more about your...
06.03.2022
Death of Democracy with Adam Serwer
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary talk with The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer about the future of US politics and how the path to climate justice requires a functioning democracy. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and signup for our...
05.27.2022
Of Meat and Men with Alicia Kennedy
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary sit down with writer Alicia Kennedy to discuss the Netflix documentary, Bad Vegan. They also talk about bad weather, bad politicians, bad carnivores, and bad Bezos. Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake...
05.20.2022
Down Uterus, Down Girl! with Rebecca Solnit
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary talk with Rebecca Solnit about our patriarchy problem, the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion, her role as the climate hope lady, and so much more! Follow us on twitter @RealHotTake and signup...
05.13.2022
A Total Moral Disaster
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary talk with David Wallace-Wells about the lessons we can learn from Covid-19, the parallels between pandemic response and climate response, and how Russia’s war in Ukraine sits at the intersection between the two....
05.06.2022
The Kids Are All Angry!
Today on Hot Take, Amy and Mary revisit why Joe Biden is struggling with Gen Z, and they talk about the terrible heatwave in South Asia, climate court cases, everybody’s (least) favorite billionaire and more! Learn more about your ad choices....
04.29.2022
Free Britney and Lock Up Exxon
Amy and Mary sit down with Kate Aronoff, climate reporter at The New Republic, to talk about wtf nationalization means. They explore America's long and obscured history of it and why, how however messy it may sound, nationalization may be...
04.22.2022
The Real F&#!bois of Fossil Fuel
Hot Take is officially BACK! And in their very first episode as part of the Crooked Media network, Amy and Mary reflect on the roots of Earth Day, which was born out of the Civil Rights movement and used as...
04.15.2022
Coming April 22... the return of Hot Take!
The climate crisis is literally the world’s biggest existential problem. But we can’t even begin to solve it if we don’t know how to talk about it first. That’s why Hot Take is back! Every week, Amy Westervelt and Mary Annaïse...
06.06.2021
Big Oil Had a Bad Month (Which Means We Had a Good One)
In our S3 finale we talk about the very bad month Big Oil had in May, how much the climate story has changed in the past couple years, and what lies ahead as wildfire and hurricane season pick up, and...
05.16.2021
What Covid and Climate Have in Common: Science Denial
Pro Publica healthcare reporter Caroline Chen joins us to talk about her experience navigating that minefiled, where public health and climate intersect, what happened when all the climate journalists got reassigned to Covid, how to better integrate the ways we...
05.02.2021
Moving Fast and Breaking Sh*t
Journalist Maddie Stone joins us to talk about Silicon Valley (yes, also the HBO series) and Big Tech's approach to both climate change and climate journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.18.2021
April 20 Is #FUBPday
We missed the 10-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, so on the 11-year anniversary we're going big: It's #FUBPday. Plus: Why Seaspiracy sucked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's Spill about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Spill episodes:

John Kasper: A Guy Who Sucked

Maddie Stone on Microsoft's Role in the Climate Crisis

Welcome to Spill and Happy Earth Day: Freeing Palestine Is a Climate Issue

Climate News Update: The New Carbon Majors + Swiss Elders Win Landmark Climate Case

Slow Factory's Céline Semaan on Climate Justice, Collective Liberation, and Building an Unbreakable Movement

Messy Conversations: Rhiana Gunn-Wright on What the Climate Movement Loses When It Excludes Environmental Justice

Messy Conversations: How to Talk to Kids about Climate Change, with Mary Annaïse Heglar — a Mini Hot Take Reunion!

Messy Conversations: Akshat Rathi on Climate Capitalism

The Climate Impacts of Deep-Sea Mining

Introducing: Inherited — Climate Youth Stories From Around the World

F$#%, Marry, Kill Big Oil

The Zombie Apocalypse Is Real

Won't Someone Think of The Children

'Tis the Season to Want Nothing

Call the COPs

No Country for Centrist Dems

Every Election Is a Climate Election with Rhiana Gunn Wright

Election Spooktacular

On the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis

Climate Candidates To Watch In The Midterms

Reclaiming Identity Politics with Olúfemi Táíwò

Hurricane Season Heats Up

Ask a Scientist, with NASA’s Dr. Kate Marvel

Follow the Money, Eat the Rich

Both Sides of the Mississippi

Climate Colonialism 101

A FOX in the newsroom

Amy and Mary Take a TV Break

Devil in the IRA details

The Quiet Climate Emergency

Climate Behind Bars

Joe Manchin vs. The World

"Resistance" Over "Resilience"

Scene on Radio: In the Beginning

Supremely F$%#ed

Trans Rights Are Climate Justice``

How Many Oil Jobs Are There Really?

A Republican Climate Plan?

Death of Democracy with Adam Serwer

Of Meat and Men with Alicia Kennedy

Down Uterus, Down Girl! with Rebecca Solnit

A Total Moral Disaster

The Kids Are All Angry!

Free Britney and Lock Up Exxon

The Real F&#!bois of Fossil Fuel

Coming April 22... the return of Hot Take!

Big Oil Had a Bad Month (Which Means We Had a Good One)

What Covid and Climate Have in Common: Science Denial

Moving Fast and Breaking Sh*t

April 20 Is #FUBPday

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