From Drilled: The Carbon Gold Rush

From Drilled: The Carbon Gold Rush

Author: Pushkin Industries May 19, 2026 Duration: 28:06

We usually bring you failures of the past, but today we're sharing an episode from someone who uncovers failures as they happen. Amy Westervelt is an award-winning investigative climate journalist and the host of Drilled, a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.

Drilled's latest season, Carbon Cowboys, examines a group of people who've turned climate policy into a profit engine. In September 2025, a group of Brazilian government ministers flew to North Dakota to watch a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota.

Here's episode 1 of Drilled: Carbon Cowboys. Find Drilled wherever you get podcasts and hear episodes early and ad-free with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


There’s a reason we share scary stories-not just to entertain, but to learn. Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford applies that same instinct to the real world, digging into history’s most fascinating blunders and disasters to uncover what they can teach us today. Brought to you by Pushkin Industries, each episode feels like a masterfully told story, where Tim Harford-known for his work at the Financial Times, the BBC, and as author of “The Data Detective”-unpacks a single event. You’ll hear about catastrophic business decisions, scientific hubris, and public policy fiascos, all presented with a blend of narrative flair and sharp analysis. This isn’t just a history podcast; it’s a deep dive into human nature, decision-making, and the unexpected consequences that ripple from a single mistake. Listening feels like having a brilliantly insightful guide explain why things went so terribly, or hilariously, wrong. The stories are gripping on their own, but the real value lies in the lessons they make tangible for our own lives and choices. If you’ve ever wondered how a group of smart people could make a disastrous call, or how a seemingly small error snowballed into legend, this is the podcast for you. New episodes arrive every Friday, ready to transform a true tale of error into a lasting piece of wisdom.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Podcast Episodes
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Duration: 37:44
Sherlock Holmes is known for approaching all mysteries with cool logic - and yet when his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw photographs taken by two young girls purporting to show real life fairies at play... he unwisel…
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Duration: 38:30
A megaplant near the small village of Flixborough, England, is busy churning out a key ingredient of nylon 6, a material used in everything from stockings to toothbrushes to electronics. When a reactor vessel fails, the…
The Disappearance of Grace Oakeshott [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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At the start of the 20th century, Britain was slowly becoming a freer place for women. Young Grace Oakeshott seized every opportunity to learn and improve the world around her - though she found those opportunities frust…
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Homo deceptus: Science's Dirty Little Secret [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:56
In 1912, a fossil discovery shakes the scientific world. Piltdown Man is the elusive missing link between humans and their ape-like ancestors. Forty years later, a researcher at the Natural History Museum gets a chance t…
Kyoto: The Battle that Defined Climate Politics - with Joe Robertson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:19
Misinformation, double-dealing, character assassination - lobbyist Don Pearlman will stop at nothing to prevent the world from agreeing to cut carbon emissions. This arch disrupter, who works for fossil fuel companies an…