Episodes

  • Drilled: A True Crime Podcast about Climate Change
    May 28 2018
    Launching November 14th, Drilled is a limited series investigative true-crime podcast about the crime of the century: the creation of climate denial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    2 mins
  • The Bell Labs of Energy
    Aug 29 2018
    In the 1970s and early 1980s, Exxon wanted to be the Bell Labs of energy. It hired brilliant scientists who conducted cutting-edge research on everything from the "greenhouse effect" to renewable energy. At the time, there was bipartisan support around the idea of tackling global warming, and a sense that American innovation was up to the task. To see the documents referenced in this episode, check out the timeline on drilledpodcast.com. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    19 mins
  • The Turn
    Sep 4 2018
    As the price of oil dipped in the early 1980s, management changed at most oil companies and the industry as a whole became more concerned with preserving its core business than expanding in new directions and being "energy companies." Then the campaigns to undermine the science began. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    21 mins
  • Weaponizing False Equivalence
    Sep 11 2018
    As climate disinformation campaigns ramped up in the 1990s, oil companies and their PR firms exploited weaknesses in the U.S. media system and propped up "contrarian" scientists to push the narrative of scientific uncertainty and shift how journalists covered the issue. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    20 mins
  • Exploiting Scientists' Kryptonite: Certainty
    Aug 28 2018
    In addition to using journalists' views on their own objectivity against them, oil companies exploited various weaknesses in science, namely scientists' tendency toward not prioritizing or valuing good communication skills, and their absolute refusal to be certain about anything. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    16 mins
  • Aggressive Think Tanks, Shouty Pundits, and a New Religious Argument
    Sep 18 2018
    To make media manipulation and lobbying truly effective, oil companies and their public relations firms also had to shift the culture, influencing everything from civil discourse to how religious groups viewed the issue of climate change. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    20 mins
  • The First Step to Influencing Policy: Setting Research Agendas
    Sep 25 2018
    If you unravel climate policy back to its origins, eventually you get to academic research. Although oil companies dramatically reduced their own scientific research on climate in the 1990s, by the early 2000s they began funding research centers at prestigious universities throughout the country, subtly shaping the research that any eventual policy would be based upon. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    18 mins
  • Campaigns So Successful They've Landed in Court
    Oct 2 2018
    The fossil fuel industry's decades-long information war was so successful that even though oil companies themselves began publicly accepting climate science years ago, the public remains skeptical. Fewer Americans believe in the need to act on climate today than did 30 years ago, despite insurmountable evidence. Industry campaigns were so successful they've now landed oil companies in court, facing multiple suits attempting to hold them accountable for the damages inflicted by unchecked climate change. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    19 mins