Introducing Drilled: Carbon Cowboys

Introducing Drilled: Carbon Cowboys

Author: Pushkin Industries May 12, 2026 Duration: 27:38

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, led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.

In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see 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. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

Here's episode 1 of Drilled: Carbon Cowboys. Find Drilled wherever you get podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Hosted by Ronald Young Jr., Solvable is a series of conversations that cut through the noise surrounding our biggest global challenges. Instead of just outlining the problems, each episode focuses squarely on actionable ideas and the people developing them. You’ll hear from pioneering scientists, community organizers, policy experts, and other innovators who are rolling up their sleeves. These discussions, brought to you by Pushkin Industries, refuse to shy away from complexity, yet they are grounded in a tangible sense of possibility. The dialogue consistently circles back to a central, motivating question: what does a practical path forward actually look like? This approach makes the podcast a refreshing listen for anyone weary of doomscrolling and looking for substance beyond the headlines. It operates on the conviction that even the most daunting issues can be broken down into manageable parts. By focusing on credible solutions, the series builds a compelling case for optimism that’s rooted in hard work and ingenuity. Tune in for a thoughtful exploration that balances clear-eyed analysis with the genuine hope that comes from seeing progress in action.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Solvable
Podcast Episodes
Kidney Failure is Solvable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:17
Dr. Carmen Peralta is the Chief Medical Officer at Cricket Health. She co-founded the Kidney Health Research Collaborative at University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.…
adrienne maree brown: Cancel Culture is Solvable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:19
adrienne maree brown is the author of We Will Not Cancel Us and Other Dreams of Transformative Justice, Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation, Pleasure Activism and also several works of…
Mary Aiken: Cybercrime is Solvable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:10
Mary Aiken is a Cyberpsychologist and Chair of the Department of Cyberpsychology Capitol Technology University in Laurel Maryland. She is a member of the Interpol Global Cybercrime Expert Group.Want to learn more? Here a…
Jade Begay: Indigenous People Were The First Climate Scientists [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:31
Jade Begay is the NDN collective’s Climate Justice Campaign Director. She is Diné and Tesuque Pueblo, has a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Leadership and is part of President Biden’s White House Environmental Jus…
The Ozone Hole Was Solvable, And So Is Climate Change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:49
Dr. Susan Solomon’s research in the 1980’s confirmed that the presence of chlorofluorocarbons was largely responsible for the hole in the ozone and that led consumers, chemical companies and manufacturers to a path for f…
Malcolm Gladwell on Near Misses [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:36
Ronald Young Jr. talks with Malcolm Gladwell (author of David and Goliath and the co-founder of Pushkin Industries) about what we can learn about surviving our current challenges by studying human behavior during past er…
Native Erasure and Invisibility is Solvable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:55
Dr. Adrienne Keene is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She’s an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, co-hosts a podcast called “All My Relations” and she’s the author of the ne…
Government Policy is Solvable (with behavioral science) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:02
Dr. Maya Shankar is the founder of the White House's Behavioral Science Team. She served as a senior advisor during the Obama administration and in 2016, Shankar was the first behavioral science advisor to the United Nat…
Psychedelics May Help Solve Addiction [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:00
Matthew Johnson is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University where research is underway to explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs to break through the crushing impact o…
Climate Change Despondency is Solvable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:06
Host Ronald Young Jr. sits down with Malcolm Gladwell to talk about climate change: the power of individual choices, cultural shifts and what to expect from the business sector too. Meaningful climate action requires tho…