Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire

Drilling Deep: John Vaillant on Climate Change and Wildfire

Author: Pushkin Industries January 12, 2026 Duration: 1:01:22

Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent, and destructive as the climate heats up. Drilled reporter Royce Kurmelovs and Canadian author John Vallaint, author of Fire Weather, discuss the climate-fire nexus.

 

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There’s a story behind the stalled progress on climate change that goes beyond melting ice and rising seas-it’s a story of deliberate deception. Drilled, from Pushkin Industries, approaches the climate crisis through the lens of investigative true crime. Led by veteran reporter Amy Westervelt and a team of award-winning climate journalists, this podcast meticulously traces how networks of corporate interests and political operatives constructed a decades-long campaign of denial and delay. Each season is a deep forensic examination, pulling on threads of new evidence to unravel systems of disinformation and hidden power. What you’ll hear isn’t just a recap of scientific reports, but a gripping narrative that follows the paper trail, the leaked memos, and the orchestrated efforts that have held meaningful action just out of reach. The result is a compelling and often unsettling listen that reframes our understanding of the past half-century. By treating climate inaction as a crime story, this podcast reveals the human architects and the calculated strategies that brought us here, making complex collusion startlingly clear. Tune in for a masterclass in accountability journalism.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 247

Drilled
Podcast Episodes
Why Political Will is the Real Barrier to Climate Action [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:46
Despite at least a decade of scientific certainty, proposed technological solutions, and policy measures, the world still hasn’t acted on the climate crisis. The problem is a lack of political will—and how it’s been inte…
Integration: Bringing Men Into the Climate Movement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:50
The bros of the manosphere love to talk about "integrating" a man's warrior and civilized selves, but what would it look like to integrate men, and new ideas of masculinity, into the climate movement? Who is already doin…
Why Is the Fossil Fuel Industry Funding Anti-Trans Politics? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:52
Special guest Vivian Taylor, a researcher on both trans rights and climate policy, joins us to share the the shocking connections between fossil billionaires and anti-trans campaigns. Turns out, it’s easy to distract peo…
The SLAPP Heard 'Round the World: Standing Rock Verdict [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:07
The verdict in Energy Transfer's lawsuit against Standing Rock activists and Greenpeace is announced, more than doubling the damages. At a time when repression of protest is accelerating in the United States, Energy Tran…
Sacred Sites: Defending Indigenous Spaces [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:35
One of the charges Energy Transfer has made against Greenpeace is that the organization "defamed" the company by claiming the Dakota Access Pipeline was disturbing sites the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe views as sacred. The…
How "Energy Dominance" Became a Gendered Climate Narrative [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:05
“Energy dominance” became a defining slogan of the Trump administration—but who or what are they trying to dominate with all that oil and gas? Amy and Daniel trace how gender became so embedded in our collective understa…
The Testosterone Pipeline: How the Manosphere Fuels Climate Denial [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:42
Manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan, and Jordan Peterson aren’t just shaping ideas about masculinity—they’re also blasting their followers with climate denial. The fossil fuel industry has known since at l…