The Conversation Weekly – Details, episodes & analysis

In the second of two episodes on geoengineering, we hear the case against trying to reflect sunlight to cool the Earth.

Solar radiation modification has attracted attention and investment in recent years as a way to potential reverse the effects of climate change, but it remains a controversial idea.

We hear from researchers pushing a non-use agreement for solar geoengineering who explain why they believe these types of technologies are a dangerous distraction from what needs to be done to reduce fossil fuel emissions. 

Featuring Chukwumerije Okereke, professor in global governance and public policy at the University of Bristol, and Co-Director at the Center for Climate Change and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University in Nigeria and Aarti Gupta, professor of global environmental governance at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. And responses from Shaun Fitzgerald at the Centre for Climate Change at the University of Cambridge in the UK

Listen to the first episode to hear scientists who argue modifying the climate can help buy the world time.

This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with assistance from Katie Flood and sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Not such a bright idea: cooling the Earth by reflecting sunlight back to space is a dangerous distraction
• Solar geoengineering might work, but local temperatures could keep rising for years
• Blocking out the sun won’t fix climate change – but it could buy us time
• The overshoot myth: you can’t keep burning fossil fuels and expect scientists of the future to get us back to 1.5°C
• Africa has vast gas reserves – here’s how to stop them adding to climate change

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Geoengineering, the modification of the climate using technological interventions to reverse climate change, is a hugely divisive issue and we’ve decided to explore it in two episodes.

In this first episode, we talk to scientists working on potential geoengineering technologies who argue the case for conducting research into these interventions. We speak to Shaun Fitzgerald, director of the Centre for Climate Repair at the University of Cambridge in the UK and Hugh Hunt, deputy director at the Centre, as well as Ben Kravitz, assistant professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University in the US. We're also joined by Stacy Morford, environment and climate editor at The Conversation in the US.

Part two, out tomorrow, will focus on the case against a particular type of solar geoengineering called solar radiation management.

This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood, Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• What could we do to cool the Arctic, specifically?
• Climate engineering carries serious national security risks − countries facing extreme heat may try it anyway, and the world needs to be prepared
• Blocking out the sun won’t fix climate change – but it could buy us time
• The overshoot myth: you can’t keep burning fossil fuels and expect scientists of the future to get us back to 1.5°C

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We’re bringing you an extra episode this week from Don’t Call Me Resilient, another podcast from The Conversation. Hosted by Vinita Srivastava at The Conversation in Canada, Don’t Call Me Resilient is your weekly dose of news and current events through a sharply-focused anti-racist lens.

In this episode Vinita talks to Nisrin Elamin about the ongoing war in Sudan, which has displaced more than 10m people. Elamin, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Toronto in Canada, says that in the absence of a properly functioning government and looming famine, grassroots groups are stepping in to help people survive. This episode originally aired on May 30, 2024.

You can listen to or follow Don’t Call Me Resilient on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Further reading and listening:

• Iran’s intervention in Sudan’s civil war advances its geopolitical goals − but not without risks
• Sudan’s descent into chaos sets stage for al-Qaida to make a return to historic stronghold
• Sudan’s civil war is rooted in its historical favouritism of Arab and Islamic identity

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Momentum is growing for objects stolen during the colonial era that are now held in museums in Europe and North America to be returned to the places and communities that they were taken from. We talk to three experts about what happens to these objects once they're returned and the questions their restitution is raising about the relationship between communities and museums in Africa. 

Featuring John Kelechi Ugwuanyi, senior lecturer in archaeology and tourism at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Farai Chabata, visiting lecturer in heritage studies at the University of Zimbabwe and senior curator of ethnography for the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe and Aribiah David Attoe, lecturer in philosophy at the University of Witwatersrand.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading

• Germany is returning Nigeria’s looted Benin Bronzes: why it’s not nearly enough
• 3D printing is helping museums in repatriation and decolonisation efforts
• ‘Restitution’ of looted African art just continues colonial policies - much more is at stake

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From the US, to Brazil, to India, deepening political polarisation is used as a frame through which to see a lot of 21st century politics. But what can actually be done to depolarise deeply divided societies, particularly democracies? In this episode we speak to a political scientist and a philosopher trying to find answers to that question. 

Featuring Jennifer Lynn McCoy, professor of political science at Georgia State University in the US and Robert B. Talisse, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University in the US.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Read a transcript of this episode. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Democratic and Republican voters both love civility – but the bipartisan appeal is partly because nobody can agree on what civility is
• Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?
• Brazil election: what I saw on the streets made me cautiously optimistic

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Welcome to the first episode of Discovery, a new series via The Conversation Weekly where we hear the stories behind new research discoveries from around the world. In this episode, Ruth Mace, professor of anthropology at University College London in the UK, explains how her research with the families of Tibetan monks in China suggests celibacy might have some surprising evolutionary advantages. 

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer was Gemma Ware. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. 

More episodes of our Discovery series will be published via The Conversation Weekly every couple of weeks. 

Further reading:

• Celibacy: its surprising evolutionary advantages – new research

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Humans do a lot of different things to the environment, and there aren’t many natural processes that can rival the scale of changes brought on by human activity. In this episode, we speak to three experts who study different ways that human action – from radiation to pollution to urbanization – is affecting how plants and animals evolve, and how humanity has become the single biggest driver of evolutionary changes on Earth. 

Featuring Germán Orizaola, a biologist at the University of Oviedo in Spain, Andrew Whitehead, a professor of environmental toxicology at University of California, Davis in the US and Marc Johnson, a professor of biology at the University of Toronto in Canada.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Daniel Merino and the executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Chernobyl black frogs reveal evolution in action
• Russian capture of Ukraine’s Chornobyl nuclear plant threatens future research on radioactivity and wildlife
• To avoid humans, more wildlife now work the night shift

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Digital nomads who work as they travel are often attracted by a life of freedom far removed from the daily office grind. Many head to cities that have become known hotspots for remote workers. In this episode, we find out what impact digital nomads have on these cities and the people who live there, and how governments are responding to the phenomenon. 

Featuring Dave Cook, PhD candidate in anthropology at UCL in the UK, Adrián Hernández Cordero, head of sociology at Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico and Fabiola Mancinelli, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Barcelona in Spain.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Read a transcript of this episode. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• As countries ranging from Indonesia to Mexico aim to attract digital nomads, locals say ‘not so fast’
• Digital nomads have rejected the office and now want to replace the nation state. But there is a darker side to this quest for global freedom
• The great remote work experiment – what happens next? Podcast      

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Soon after Jair Bolsonaro’s election as president of Brazil in 2018, he began making it a lot easier for people in the country to buy guns. In this episode, we speak to two experts about Brazil’s boom in private gun ownership and why it’s exacerbating fears about political violence ahead of a run-off presidential election on October 30. 

Featuring Erika Robb Larkins, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University in the US and Juliano Cortinhas, professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia in Brazil.

This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Read a transcript of this episode. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Brazil: inside Jair Bolsonaro’s militarised democracy – podcast 
• Bolsonaro’s first-round election bounce back reminds us why populist leaders are so popular
• Another stress test for democracy: The imminent election crisis in Brazil
• Brazil election: how the political violence of the country’s history has re-emerged

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A new barrier to climate action is opening up in an obscure and secretive part of international trade law which fossil fuel investors are using to sue countries if policy decisions go against them. We speak to experts about the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism and how it works. Many are worried that these clauses in international trade deals could jeopardise global efforts to save the climate – costing countries billions of dollars in the process.

Featuring Kyla Tienhaara, Canada research chair in economy and environment at Queen's University, Ontario in Canada, Emilia Onyema, reader in international commercial Law at SOAS, University of London in the UK, Lea Di Salvatore, PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham in the UK and Maria-Rita D'Orsogna, anti-oil activist and professor of mathematics at California State University, Northridge in the US.

This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript is also available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• How treaties protecting fossil fuel investors could jeopardize global efforts to save the climate – and cost countries billions
• Energy charter treaty makes climate action nearly illegal in 52 countries – so how can we leave it?
• British investors could sue Australia over climate action if UK joins trans-Pacific trade pact

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