Go inside the global effort that led to the Montreal Protocol in this narrative podcast

Hear firsthand how scientists and policymakers saved the ozone layer

In this episode, atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon and Protocol architect Stephen Andersen recount how scientific discovery, diplomacy, and public pressure drove the Montreal Protocol—and share lessons for tackling climate change.

The history of the Montreal Protocol, the only universally ratified treaty in UN history

Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland discovered that chlorofluorocarbons released chlorine atoms that could break down molecules making up the protective ozone layer. Despite attempts to discredit scientists and economic concerns raised by politicians, the agreement to phase out ozone-depleting substances was signed in 1987.

Watch a 1986 television special about the discovery of the ozone hole

The groundbreaking discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in the mid-1980s marked a critical turning point, galvanizing international action to address the ozone-depleting properties of chlorofluorocarbons, which had been identified about a decade earlier. This environmental crisis was brought vividly to public attention through media pieces like this one.

A four-part podcast traces how the Manhattan Project reshaped the world

This podcast series explores the origins of the Manhattan Project, its secret cities, and the scientists behind it—showing how the effort contributed to the end of World War II, launched the Atomic Age, and later led Oppenheimer to become a critic of nuclear weapons.

Explore the history of antibiotics with 'This Podcast Will Kill You'

The show blends medical history with storytelling and science. In Episode 50, the hosts trace the dramatic origins of antibiotics—from Fleming’s moldy petri dish to Florey’s wartime labs—and explore their lasting impact on health.

Oil’s legacy: fueling industrial growth and shaping imperial strategies

This episode of The Rest Is History podcast traces oil’s pivotal role—from fueling industrial growth to steering imperial power. It also examines how access to oil shaped US politics, World War II, and sparked the creation of OPEC following the Suez Crisis.

The history of the World Trade Organization

This episode of the "Brettonomics with Nancy Jackson" podcast explores the history of the WTO and its predecessor, the GATT, revealing the key people, negotiations, and decisions that shaped today's international trade rules.

A World War I discovery about blocking ethylene, a plant hormone, now helps preserve our fruits

Listen to this in-depth podcast episode about discoveries that enabled fruits and vegetables to be preserved and appear fresh for months or longer and other scientific insights, including why iceberg lettuce was the salad staple people ate for most of the 20th century.

Discovering how the dinosaurs went extinct may have helped avert nuclear war

This NPR Throughline episode explains how the 1980 discovery that an asteroid-driven dust cloud killed the dinosaurs inspired Cold War scientists’ fears of “nuclear winter”—a sunlight-blocking aftermath of nuclear war that may have discouraged leaders from launching one.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Assessing the effectiveness of peacekeeping forces

This podcast episode of Diplomatic Immunity from Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy explores the evolution of UN peacekeeping over its 70-year history. The podcast is joined by Dr. Lise Howard to examine the origins, challenges, and shifting role of peacekeepers—those “blue helmets” deployed where few others will go—in a broader conversation about multilateralism and global conflict response.

Nitrous oxide is the third most significant greenhouse gas made by human activities

Emissions of this molecule increased 40% from 1980 to 2020, with atmospheric concentrations reaching levels higher than at any other time in the last 800,000 years, based on ice core records. Its warming potential is 273 times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years and remains in the atmosphere for more than a century, on average.

Explore a series of interdisciplinary explainers on climate science

From animations on the quantum mechanics of greenhouse gases to a photo essay on how scientists acquire climate data, this collection provides detailed explorations of how different branches of science have contributed to our understanding of climatology.

How Big Oil misled the public into believing plastic would be recycled

An NPR and PBS Frontline investigation reveals how the oil and gas industry used the promise of recycling to sell more plastic, even when they knew it would never work on a large scale.

How a single company hooked the world on herbicides

How harmful are today’s herbicides for us humans, and for the environments they’re seeping into? And do we really need weedkillers to feed the world?

The chemistry of ancient tacos

This 16-minute podcast explores the chemistry of Mesoamerica's corn tortillas, which involve a 3,500-year-old chemical process called nixtamalization that releases vitamins, including niacin, one of the essential B vitamins. This process also makes the tortillas softer and more delicious. Corn tortillas were a staple in Mesoamerica, and the archaeologist interviewed in this podcast argues cultures like the Aztecs and Maya wouldn't have thrived without nixtamalization.

How the ocean is the new frontier of innovation

Space has been called the final frontier of innovation and investment for decades. Many innovators say the ocean is the new space, the vast majority of whose hidden depths remain obscure. In this podcast episode, business-minded experts discuss the opportunities founders see in the ocean, including seagrass restoration, underwater cable networks, and more.

An adultery and poisoning case examined whether federal treaty power supersedes state law

This Radiolab podcast unpacks Bond v. United States, where a local love-triangle assault became a federal case under an international treaty—forcing the Supreme Court to confront a founding question: How far can federal power reach into crimes traditionally handled by the states?

Nonprofits strive to replant the Amazon and slow global warming

This article explores the efforts of nonprofit organizations like Rioterra in reforesting the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change. Their goal is enormous: reforest an area twice the size of Germany, costing over 20 billion dollars. In order...

On the role of 'Citizenship In A Republic'

After finishing a Smithsonian-sponsored expedition to East Africa, US President Theodore Roosevelt stopped by Paris and gave a speech about the responsibilities an ordinary citizen has to their republic. Citizens must know there is no effort without error, knowing they "fail while daring greatly" in pursuit of a truly democratic republic. This podcast series on powerful speeches across history is written and narrated by historian and author Jon Meacham.

David Attenborough received the 2021 Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award

The UN's highest environmental honor celebrated Attenborough as "one of the leading voices of the global environmental movement." For at least four decades, he collaborated with the UN Environment Programme by advocating for "efforts to counter the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution" and addressing "world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference" in 2021.

The Inca's last stand against the Spanish

The Inca Emperor marched to meet the Spanish, expecting them to surrender. Spoiler: They didn't. Listen to this podcast episode to hear what led up to this moment and what happened next.

A podcast about Honduras' narco-Presidente

The former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was once a US ally in the war on drugs, but he now stands accused of overseeing a narco-state. Hernandez served as Honduran president for eight years, once considered one of the United...

Colombia’s biodiversity performs the national anthem

Scientists and composers in Colombia trekked more than 600 miles collecting audio from the country's vast assortment of creatures. Using parabolic microphones, recorders, cameras and field gear, they recorded the sounds of birds, whales, landscapes, and more to eventually recreate their Colombia’s national anthem using its biodiversity as an orchestra. Follow the fascinating journey and listen to the “natural anthem” in the article.

Read more about the backstory on the 2025 Nobel Prize for immune system work

A trio of scientists won the Nobel in Physiology or Medicine that year, but they performed their award-worthy work beginning about two decades before winning the prize. This announcement includes details about the science and notes that the three scientists will equally share the 11 million Swedish kronor (almost $1.2M).

Breaking down the details on how the art heist at the Louvre unfolded

On October 19, 2025, several people dressed as construction workers climbed a construction lift and broke into the Louvre, stealing roughly $100M of crown jewels. This podcast breaks down the specifics of the heist.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.