Podcasts · Science · True Crime

Drilled

Pushkin Industries

268 episodes · in order

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, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Drilled: A True Crime Podcast About Climate Change

    · 2:27

    Launching November 14th, Drilled is a limited series investigative true-crime podcast about the crime of the century: the creation of climate denial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. Exploiting Scientists' Kryptonite: How Oil Companies Weaponized Uncertainty

    · 14 min · S1 E1

    Oil companies targeted scientists' biggest weakness—their refusal to be absolutely certain about anything—to sow doubt about climate change. In addition to using journalists' views on their own objectivity against…

  3. The Bell Labs of Energy: How Exxon Led Early Climate Research

    · 16 min · S1 E2

    In the 1970s and early 1980s, Exxon wanted to be the Bell Labs of energy, hiring brilliant scientists to conduct cutting-edge research on the "greenhouse effect" and renewable energy. At the time, there was bipartisan…

  4. The Turn: How Big Oil Shifted from Innovation to Climate Denial

    · 18 min · S1 E3

    As the price of oil dipped in the early 1980s, oil companies and the industry at large became concerned with protecting their core business rather than expanding in new directions and becoming "energy companies."…

  5. Weaponizing False Equivalence

    · 18 min · S1 E4

    Climate disinformation ramped up in the 1990s, with oil companies and their PR firms exploiting media weaknesses and propping up "contrarian" scientists to push the narrative of scientific uncertainty, ultimately…

  6. Shaping Culture and Faith: How Big Oil Influenced Climate Conversations

    · 17 min · S1 E5

    To make media manipulation and lobbying truly effective, oil companies and their PR firms had to shift the culture, influencing everything from civil discourse to how religious groups viewed climate change. Support…

  7. The First Step to Influencing Policy: Setting Research Agendas

    · 15 min · S1 E6

    By the early 2000s, oil companies were funding prestigious university research centers to subtly steer climate narrative, shaping the academic research that would eventually inform policy. Support us:…

  8. Climate Denial Campaigns So Successful They’re Now in Court

    · 16 min · S1 E7

    The fossil fuel industry's decades-long information war left the public skeptical of climate change, even as oil companies themselves publicly accepted the science. Fewer Americans believe in the need to act on climate…

  9. Winning the War: Fighting Back Against Decades of Climate Delay

    · 20 min · S1 E8

    Fossil fuel disinformation and campaigns have cost the world 30 years of action, but all is not lost. The technology to address climate change exists and if there's one thing about America's history, it's that radical…

  10. Big Oil’s First Amendment Defense: Can Climate Denial Be Protected Speech?

    · 24 min · S1 E9

    ExxonMobile is invoking the First Amendment to fight lawsuits over climate change, accusing counties, cities, and states of conspiring to quash its rights to political speech. Support us:…

  11. Coming Soon: Hot Water

    · 2:05 · Trailer

    In 2015, a "warm water blob", the result of both warming oceans and shifting wind patterns, wreaked havoc on West Coast fishing towns. Three years into a new reality in which climate change has shifted the marine food…

  12. West Coast Crab Fishermen vs. Big Oil

    · 21 min · S2 E1

    In 2015, climate change shut down West Coast crab fisheries, disrupting ecosystems, food chains, and livelihoods. Scientists had warned the oil industry this would happen for decades. We explore how the fisherman…

  13. West Coast Crab Fisheries Face a Shaky Future

    · 17 min · S2 E2

    As 2015's late season continues to impact West Cost crab fishers, many fisherman are getting desperate and facing uncertainty. Some are forced out of business, while others worry that this is the new normal under…

  14. Two Lawsuits, One Industry: Crab Fishermen Take on Big Oil

    · 20 min · S2 E3 · Explicit

    Facing repeated closures due to climate change, crabbers learn new information that spurs them to take action and become the first industry to sue Big Oil. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled See…

  15. Taking Big Oil to Court

    · 18 min · S2 E4 · Explicit

    As West Coast crabbers file a historic lawsite against the world's 30 largest fossil fuel producers, we examine the evidence and what exactly sent fisherman—particularly more conservative ones—to court. Support us:…

  16. David vs. Goliath

    · 17 min · S2 E5

    As the first industry to sue Big Oil, the West Coast crab fishery is likely to meet an even tougher fight than the states, counties, and cities trying to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. Oil companies invoke…

  17. Facing Extinction

    · 13 min · S2 E6 · Explicit

    As the crabbers' 2018-2019 season comes to an abrupt end, they prepare for a year that could see the fishery close altogether. Meanwhile, Big Oil pushes to dismiss the crabbers' climate suit, forcing the question:…

  18. Big Oil Ramps Up PR Spend and Oil Production

    · 12 min · S1 E10

    Since the Paris Agreement in 2016, the fossil fuel industry has ramped up both oil production and greenwashing. We break down how the industry manipulates public perception and mainstream media. Support us:…

  19. Fake Reporters and Energy Blogs: How Big Oil Spins Climate News

    · 16 min · S1 E11

    A look at how fossil fuel-backed deception campaigns are continuing today, behind layers of energy industry organizations, alliances, and "news" sites. Additional resources: Western Energy Alliance 990, showing global…

  20. ExxonMobil NY Fraud Trial Recap: What the Verdict Means for Big Oil

    · 20 min · S1 E12

    New York's fraud trial against ExxonMobil closed November 7th. Reporter Emily Gertz and Union of Concerned Scientist's Kathy Mulvey bring us their takes on this and Exxon's next fraud trial. Support us:…

  21. Youth Climate Suits and Inter-generational Injustice

    · 27 min · S1 E13

    Young people around the world are taking governments to court over climate change—and winning global attention in the process. We breakdown the Juliana vs. United States case, where a group of young people sued the…

  22. Coming Soon: The Mad Men of Climate Denial

    · 3:00 · Trailer

    Big Oil gave Hitler propaganda tips decades ago and their PR machine has only grown from there. Explore the history of fossil fuel propaganda and the "Mad Men of climate denial" PR strategists that shaped it. Coming…

  23. The Father of Public Relations

    · 15 min · S3 E1

    In order to understand Big Oil's propaganda machine, and why it's been so effective, we have to go back more than 100 years to Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller and his son, a bloody miners' strike, and the very first…

  24. The Oil-Nazi-Propaganda Triangle

    · 21 min · S3 E2 · Explicit

    Ivy Lee worked with Standard Oil and the Rockefellers to establish the American Petroleum Institute in 1919, as well as a petrochemicals partnership with German chemical giant IG Farben. That job took Lee to Germany,…

  25. Psychological Warfare and Big Oil

    · 21 min · S3 E3

    Daniel Edelman learned the tools of his trade combating Nazi propaganda in WWII, then came home and put his psychological warfare training to work for American industry, including tobacco and Big Oil. See…

  26. Oil Slick, Part 1: Mobil's PR Mastermind and the Rise of the Corporate Persona

    · 20 min · S3 E4 · Explicit

    Mobil Oil's Herb Schmertz humanized the oil company, creating the "corporate persona," fighting for First Amendment rights to extend to corporations, and laying the groundwork for decades of aggressive media…

  27. Oil Slick, Part 2: False Equivalence and Free Speech

    · 16 min · S3 E5 · Explicit

    In part two of our episode on former Mobil VP Herb Schmertz, we dig into how Schmertz's approach bred false equivalence, and why he pushed so hard for the extension of First Amendment rights to corporations. Support us…

  28. Guardian Bans Fossil Fuel Ads: Emily Atkin Talks with CEO Anna Bateson

    · 23 min · Bonus

    We'll be back with more Mad Men tales next week, we promise! While we're out chasing leads, listen to this great interview from Emily Atkin with The Guardian's interim CEO Anna Bateson about that publication's decision…

  29. The Origins of Corporate PR Manipulation

    · 27 min · S3 E6

    Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, coined the term "public relations" when propaganda started to become a negative term. His specialty was using psychological know-how to manipulate the masses and orchestrate…

  30. The Tobacco-Oil-Plastic Triangle

    · 25 min · S3 E7

    John Hill, founder of Hill & Knowlton, was an Ivy Lee devotee who worked for Standard Oil in the 1930s, strategized against labor movements and the New Deal, and wound up representing the American Petroleum Institute…

  31. Meet the Harrisons: Architects of Greenwashing and Environmental PR

    · 29 min · S3 E8

    E. Bruce and Patricia Harrison launched the E. Bruce Harrison Company in 1973, working for a mix of chemical companies, oil and gas companies, and tobacco companies. E. Bruce is considered the father of environmental…

  32. Tackling Disinformation: Jay Rosen & Nicholas Johnson on the Media’s Role

    · 30 min · S3 E9

    What can be done about Big Oil disinformation now? New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen and former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson join us to talk about everything from the Fairness Doctrine to cable…

  33. From Hot Take: Seeing Climate Through Coronavirus Glasses with David Wallace-Wells

    · 1 h 34 min · Bonus · Explicit

    Hot Take hosts Mary Annaise Heglar and Amy Westervelt talk to David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth and deputy editor of New York magazine, about the intersection of climate change and the coronavirus…

  34. How Big Oil Exploited the COVID-19 Pandemic

    · 22 min · S4 E1

    The oil and gas industry was headed for financial collapse long before COVID-19, but now the Trump administration wants to use the pandemic to put it on life support. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute is…

  35. Why ExxonMobil and Chevron Oppose a Shale Gas Bailout

    · 15 min · S4 E2

    The American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil and Chevron have been amongst the biggest opponents to bailouts for shale gas companies as part of the coronavirus relief package. DeSmog's Justin Mikulka explains why.…

  36. Texas Shale Refineries Release "Unimaginable" Amounts of Methane Emissions

    · 13 min · S4 E3

    Field investigator Sharon Wilson has spotted a troubling increase in methane emissions from refineries in the Permian Basin, in Texas. Things went from bad to worse in January 2020, and really blew up in early March…

  37. New Research Shows Fossil Fuels Are Not As Essential As The Industry Would Like You to Believe

    · 22 min · Bonus

    Fossil fuel use has certainly grown GDP, but it has had no effect on life expectancy. In other words, the industry's "benefit" has acrrued to relatively few humans. Dr. Julia Steinberger, professor of social ecology…

  38. Held Hostage by Fracking: Colorado Seniors Shelter In Place

    · 11 min · S4 E4

    As shelter-in-place orders went into effect, residents of Broomfield, Colorado faced exposure to flowback-driven air pollution thanks to their proximity to oil and gas operations. When the city issued an emergency…

  39. How Big Oil is Using COVID-19 to Push Plastic

    · 18 min · S4 E5

    A new report from the Center for International Environmental Law examines how oil, gas, and petrochemical companies are leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic to push policy and increase profits. Carroll Muffet walks us…

  40. Art, Autodesk, and What Accountability Looks Like for the Tech Industry

    · 21 min · S4 E6 · Explicit

    Joanie Lemercier has been a thorn in software company Autodesk's side for more than a year now, since the French artist first pointed out that Autodesk's computer-aided drafting (CAD) software keeps Europe's largest…

  41. Earth Day in Louisiana: A Petro-state Fights Back

    · 28 min · S4 E7

    On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and a decade after the BP Deepwarter oil spill, we head to Louisiana to examine petrochemicals, petroleum, plastic, fossil fuel philanthropy, and the impact the pandemic is having…

  42. What Planet of the Humans Gets Wrong About Climate Change

    · 26 min · Bonus · Explicit

    The Michael Moore–produced documentary Planet of the Humans sparked controversy around renewable energy. Political scientist and environmental policy expert Leah Stokes joins us to discuss the many things the new film…

  43. A Lawsuit Could Force FERC to Consider Climate Impacts of New Oil and Gas Projects

    · 17 min · S4 E8

    A lawsuit filed against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over a small Massachusetts project could have nationwide implications. The lawsuit aims to force FERC to evaluate the overall emissions and…

  44. The Death of Fred Singer and the Endurance of Climate Deniers

    · 41 min · Bonus · Explicit

    In April 2020, Fred Singer, longtime "king" of the climate deniers, died at the age of 95. Singer played a key role in shaping the history of science denial. Investigative reporter Dan Zegart, author of the book Civil…

  45. From Hot Take: Why the GOP's "Climate Lockdown" Narrative is Wrong

    · 9:49 · S4 E9 · Explicit

    The New York Times recenty ran a story on the GOP's new climate narrative: that the Dems imposing climate action will be worse than the pandemic quarantine. In this episode from Hot Take, Mary Annaise Heglar and Amy…

  46. New Investigation Finds Shell Directly Funded Climate Denial

    · 23 min · Bonus

    A major investigative report from the Netherlands has uncovered new evidence that Royal Dutch Shell directly funded climate science denial in the 1990s. Reporters Alexander Beunder and Jilles Mast have been combing…

  47. Naomi Klein on "Disaster Capitalism" in America

    · 35 min · S4 E9

    Naomi Klein describes how "disaster capitalism," the corporate feeding frenzy that happens in the wake of major crisis, is playing out in America right now. On a research trip to post-Katrina New Orleans for her book…

  48. From Hot Take: Yes, We Still Need to Talk About Climate

    · 28 min · S4 E10 · Explicit

    Amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, some climate activists have been saying "now's not the time to talk about climate." On Hot Take, Mary Annaise Hegler and Amy Westervelt discuss the idea that climate and…

  49. Big Oil's Multi-Billion-Dollar Blind Spot

    · 24 min · S4 E11

    A new Carbon Tracker report finds that oil and gas companies have been grossly underestimating the cost for plugging and abandoning wells, particularly for fracking wells. The report co-authors Rob Schuwerk and Greg…

  50. Minnesota and D.C. File Climate Fraud Suits

    · 12 min · Bonus

    Two new lawsuits, in Minnesota and D.C., were filed within 24 hours of each other and allege the same thing: that fossil fuel companies misled consumers about climate change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

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