Dr. Patrick Hunnicutt and Dr. Geoffrey Henderson discuss their research that air pollution reduces the level of political participation in the United States. As they explain, this could have serious negative consequences for the future of American democracy — as air pollution increases, democracy will suffer. Despite their findings, Drs. Hunnicutt and Henderson offer clear policy solutions and suggestions to reverse this negative trend.

We speak with Eve Schaub, an internationally published author and humorist. She is the author of Year of No Sugar and Year of No Clutter, and her work has been featured on the Dr. Oz Show, Fox & Friends, USA Today, and The Huffington Post among others. We discuss Eve’s latest book, Year of No Garbage, in which she describes her attempt to live an entire year without creating any trash at all! Eve explains the ubiquity of plastics which she characterizes as the 'Darth Vader’ of the environment, provides insight on why our modern recycling system is broken, and argues that it may actually be better not to recycle.

In this episode, Dr. James Kinter of George Mason University provides a basic understanding of climate change. We cover key terms and frequently asked questions including how we define “climate” and what it means for climate to change. He helps us understand other key concepts and terms, and addresses conspiracies and commonly misunderstood facts. Dr. Kinter closes by discussing potential policy solutions, and we we should be optimistic about the future.