Sea Change Radio

Hosted by Alex Wise

Business News CommentaryInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Independent journalism focused on environmental and economic sustainability

Listen to episodes

20 recent

September 2, 202629 min

Vincent Bevins: Dissent and Demonstration in the 21st Century

Have you gone to any of the No Kings marches in the last couple of years to connect with fellow American residents who are appalled by the current state of affairs? Or did you stay at home thinking that your participation wouldn’t make a difference anyway? This week on Sea Change Radio, we hear from writer and journalist Vincent Bevins , the author of The Jakarta Method and If We Burn , to try to get a clearer understanding of mass protests in the 21st century. We look at the impact of January 6th (an event that took place after the publication of Bevins’s books) compare protest movements in this country with those that took place around the world in the 2010s, and discuss how the internet and social media have changed the nature of protesting (for better and for worse).

August 25, 202629 min

Carol Anderson: The Fight Over Voter Suppression

Despite all the damage that this conservative-leaning Supreme Court has wrought on women’s rights, immigration, and the environment while green lighting runaway presidential lawlessness, the longest lasting legacy of the Roberts Court may well be its turning back the clock on voting rights. Recent Supreme Court decisions are throwing us back to the 1950s and putting our very democracy in peril. This week’s ruling, which allowed the Trump administration to move forward with an executive order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting, was yet another stain on the current Court’s record. Today on Sea Change Radio, we are joined by Dr. Carol Anderson , a professor of African American Studies at Emory University , to discuss her 2018 book One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy . We explore the patterns of limiting access to the ballot box and look at how debates over voter ID and “election integrity” are really just dressed up solutions in search of a problem.

August 19, 202629 min

John Stoehr: Dems and the State of Political Journalism

When you read political articles these days, do you often find yourself incensed that the author has chosen to speak for “mainstream Dems,” “many Americans” and other wide swaths of the electorate without the slightest bit of data to back it up – or have you become immune to this sort of framing? This week on Sea Change Radio we speak to John Stoehr of The Editorial Board about the reliance that political journalists have on the “voice of God” to carve the narratives they desire. We discuss how the media has created a dynamic where political fictions so easily become reality, look at the impact that the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America , is actually having on the Democratic party, and examine communication issues within the party’s leadership.

August 11, 202629 min

Susan Jackson of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation

Did you know that the contents of that can of tuna sitting in your cupboard can actually be traced back to the waters and boat where the fish was caught? Organizations like the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (the ISSF) have placed seafood traceability squarely in the 21st century. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with the president of the ISSF, Susan Jackson, to learn more about tuna fishing. We look at her organization’s partnership model, discuss the viability of maintaining healthy global fish stocks, and talk about some of the challenges facing the industry.

August 4, 202629 min

Rebecca Leber + Rebecca John: Uncovering the Gas Deception

If you’ve heard natural gas depicted as a more environmentally friendly fuel alternative as compared to traditional oil and gasoline, you are definitely not alone. Unfortunately, it’s not true. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome two researchers from the Center for Climate Integrity , Rebecca Leber and Rebecca John , to discuss their report profiling the natural gas industry’s efforts over the past several decades to mislead the public about its products. We examine the dangers of methane gas emissions that were kept quiet for so many years, talk about the powerful messaging behind the word “natural” gas, and look at how effective the industry has been in positioning natural gas as a bridge fuel to fight climate change.

July 28, 202629 min

Jennifer Smith Richards: The Trojan Horse of School Vouchers

If you’re a parent trying to decide where your child should go to school, you’d prefer to have a choice, right? After all, everyone likes to have options. But the appealing rhetoric of school choice is being used by the right-wing to undermine and underfund public schools, while allocating public subsidies to wealthy families. Today on Sea Change Radio we are talking about school vouchers . Currently, eighteen states have a universal private school choice program, and more are likely on the way. But the expansion of the school voucher system has been made with minimal oversight and has led to waste, fraud, and abuse. The cost to public education is tremendous, as public revenue that would otherwise support public schools (which still educate roughly 90 percent of American students) is redirected to private, religious, and largely unregulated institutions. Our guest this week is ProPublica reporter Jennifer Smith Richards who is here to tell us what she has learned about the damaging effects of school vouchers across the country. We look at the history of the concept in the US, examine issues of abuse and discrimination in Arkansas and Florida, and discuss the very powerful messaging tool embedded in the term “school choice.”

July 21, 202629 min

Dan Werb on “Our Wild Familiars”

Many listeners are probably familiar with the term misanthrope – combining the Greek misein (to hate) and anthrōpos (human), it means someone who doesn’t like people (and most of us probably know one or two such folks, for better or for worse). But today we are talking about synanthropes, plants and animals that live and thrive by hanging around human beings in human environments. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Dan Werb , an epidemiologist who’s new book Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities and Reshaping the Natural World delves into the fascinating domain of synanthropic creatures. Come dumpster diving with us as we learn more about raccoons, rats, and coyotes and how we are all existentially linked.

July 14, 202629 min

Marshan Camese: Fighting Fire With Fire

In May of 2026, Marshan Camese addressed a Louisiana state senate subcommittee to voice his objection to the elimination of one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black districts. The moment went viral as Camese’s fiery rhetoric captured the feelings of millions of Americans fed up with the status quo. This week on Sea Change Radio, we are joined by Camese as he breaks down the behind-the-scenes story of the speech, discusses some of the inequities that ignite his passions, and talks about why he’s hopeful that a positive change is imminent.

July 7, 202629 min

Don’t Call It A Comeback: Jason Mark on Shifting Baseline Syndrome

Imagine you jumped in a time machine and went back 15 years. You might get a chuckle seeing the flip phones and watching masses of people on that thing we used to call a “work commute,” but you might not think twice about the slightly cooler temperatures. If you set the machine to go back a century, however, you would probably want to pack an extra sweater. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with author and environmental journalist Jason Dove Mark to explore a phenomenon known as shifting baseline syndrome. We discuss Mark’s new book, The Earth Said Remember Me , learn how our brains adapt to the new normal of degraded environmental health, and unpack examples of how we are collectively being lulled into complacency.

June 30, 202629 min

Roddy Scheer: Urban Nature Explorations

What better way is there to recognize the value of the natural world than to spend some quality time outdoors? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with environmental journalist Roddy Scheer about his series of field guidebooks, which, incidentally, cover destination hikes as well as city trails. We look at how urban and easy-access trail guides can help raise people’s awareness of their surroundings, get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it takes to publish a field guidebook, and discuss some helpful technology for hikers.