TILclimate is an award-winning podcast produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, which is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The podcast is suitable for those interested in climate issues; no in-depth specialist knowledge is required. The podcast episodes address questions such as why, how, and what for. Each podcast episode lasts approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
The range of topics is broad, covering areas such as energy infrastructure, air quality, battery recycling, and greenhouse gases. The focus is not only on diagnosing problems, but also on solutions, measures, and possible courses of action.
Those who want to delve deeper will also find plenty to explore here. There is a Dive Deeper navigation tab with further resources. In addition, the content of each episode is fact-checked.
TILclimate Podcast details
How often a new episode is released?
Weekly, two times a week, one season in a year with around eight to ten episodes.
What does TIL stand for?
Today I Learned: climate
What is the official Website for the podcast?
Podcast-URL: https://climate.mit.edu/tilclimate-podcast
Who is the podcast by?
MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
What terms are mentioned?
TILclimate – Episode Guide
| No. | Season-Episode | Title | Navigate to episode | Published | Description Excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | S07-E08 | Transmission: Power to the people | 2025-07-10 | In this episode of TILclimate, we explore what we stand to gain from a bigger, better transmission system, and how we might make it happen. … | |
| 69 | S07-E07 | Cleaner air | 2025-06-12 | Here at TILclimate, we’re often asked about the health and environmental effects of materials in solar panels and batteries. But what if the greatest costs … | |
| 68 | S07-E06 | Dealing with dead batteries | 2025-05-29 | The world’s demand for batteries to power electric vehicles is growing at incredible speed. What will we do with all these batteries when they die? … | |
| 67 | S07-E05 | Geothermal: Earth’s infinite clean power | 2025-04-17 | Deep beneath the Earth’s surface, a molten stew of metals radiates vast amounts of energy. Prof. Roland Horne, Director of the Stanford Geothermal Program, joins … | |
| 66 | S07-E04 | The great indoors | 2025-04-03 | Modern buildings are complex machines, using heating, cooling and a host of other appliances to turn energy into comfort. But that energy comes with a … | |
| 65 | S07-E03 | Did climate change do that? | 2025-03-20 | A new type of climate science is allowing us to draw clearer connections between our warming planet, and the extreme weather events this warming creates. … | |
| 64 | S07-E02 | Hasn't the climate changed before? | 2025-03-06 | The Earth has gone through massive climate change before—many times over, in fact!—but human civilization has not. … | |
| 63 | S07-E01 | Farm to table, with a side of fossil fuels | 2025-02-20 | The way we grow and distribute food today is deeply dependent on fossil fuels, yet that dependence can feel invisible. Sustainable food systems researcher Prof. … | |
| 62 | S06-E10 | 2°C: the story of the global climate goal | 2024-06-06 | The landmark Paris Agreement of 2015 gave the world a shared target for halting climate change: that global warming should stop well short of 2 … | |
| 61 | S06-E09 | Slow carbon, fast carbon | 2024-05-30 | The Earth naturally absorbs some of our climate pollution from burning fossil fuels. But how much, and how fast? … | |
| 60 | S06-E08 | Is it safe to store CO2 underground? | 2024-05-23 | Today, companies are storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide underground every year to prevent this climate pollution from warming the planet. In the future … | |
| 59 | S06-E07 | An introduction to carbon capture (re-air) | 2024-05-16 | What if there was a way to continue using fossil fuels for energy without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere? To prepare for a new listener … | |
| 58 | S06-E06 | How clean is green hydrogen? | 2024-05-09 | Is hydrogen fuel a climate solution? That depends on how you produce it. … | |
| 57 | S06-E05 | Why are EVs more popular than hydrogen cars? | 2024-05-02 | Just 20 years ago, hydrogen cars and battery electric cars were pretty evenly matched as clean alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. But today, batteries are way … | |
| 56 | S06-E04 | An introduction to hydrogen energy (re-air) | 2024-04-25 | Hydrogen gas acts like a fossil fuel, but with no carbon emissions. Is it the silver bullet we’ve been waiting for? To prepare for some … | |
| 55 | S06-E03 | Do wind turbines kill birds? | 2024-04-11 | MIT Professor Michael Howland returns to the podcast to answer a listener's question about the risks of wind energy to birds—and explain how wind turbines … | |
| 54 | S06-E02 | Do wind turbines freeze up in the cold? | 2024-04-04 | You might have heard how wind turbines failed in Texas during a terrible cold front in 2021. Does this mean we can’t rely on this … | |
| 53 | S06-E01 | Won’t more CO2 help plants grow? | 2024-03-28 | Plants take in CO2 from the air to grow—and today’s atmosphere has about 50% more CO2 than it did before we started burning massive amounts … | |
| 52 | Season 6 Preview: Something a Little Different | 2024-03-15 | People all around the world write into our team with questions about climate change. So this season, we’re working with scientists and experts at MIT … | ||
| 51 | S05-E08 | Why does it take five years to build a wind farm? | 2023-12-07 | The United States has a goal to power the country with 100% clean electricity by 2035. Unfortunately, our energy regulations are not set up to … | |
| 50 | S05-E07 | Energy storage: keeping the lights on with a clean electric grid | 2023-11-30 | The large majority of new energy we’re building today comes from clean, renewable wind and solar projects. But to keep building wind and solar at … | |
| 49 | S05-E06 | A public health expert’s guide to climate change | 2023-11-16 | We all want to live full, healthy lives. But climate change is threatening a growing number of people’s lives and well-being. So we’ve invited a … | |
| 48 | TILclimate presents: What the heck is El Niño, anyway? (from Outside/In) | 2023-11-09 | We were going to produce an episode on El Niño, and its relationship to climate change. And then we found out that Outside/In, from New … | ||
| 47 | S05-E05 | Wildfires and how we're changing them | 2023-11-02 | If you live in the U.S. Mountain West, the Pacific Coast of the Americas, or large parts of Australia or southern Europe, there’s a good … | |
| 46 | S05-E04 | Can desalination solve water scarcity? | 2023-10-26 | Today we’re talking about desalination: turning saltwater into freshwater, so we can drink it or use it to grow crops. And we’re talking about this … | |
| 45 | S05-E03 | Don’t throw away your refrigerator | 2023-10-19 | Refrigerants are in every refrigerator, freezer and air conditioner, and the world is on track to make a lot more of them in the years … | |
| 44 | S05-E02 | How tackling methane cools the planet fast | 2023-10-12 | Carbon dioxide—CO2—is the greenhouse gas you’ve probably heard most about, on this podcast and elsewhere. But it turns out, methane is an incredibly important greenhouse … | |
| 43 | S05-E01 | Wait, how do greenhouse gases actually warm the planet? | 2023-10-05 | You probably know that today’s climate change is caused by certain gases—what scientists call greenhouse gases—that human activity has been adding to our atmosphere. But—how … | |
| 42 | Coming Soon: TILclimate Season 5 | 2023-09-21 | On October 5, TILclimate is returning for our fifth season! If you're looking to get smart quick on climate change – without the jargon and … | ||
| 41 | America’s Big Year of Climate Action | 2023-08-16 | On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It was the largest of three bills signed over the … | ||
| 40 | Announcing TILclimate's Live Event: "America’s big year of climate action" | 2023-04-11 | On Wednesday, April 19, TILclimate will host its first live event at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts! Reserve your seat at tilclimate.org to watch … | ||
| 39 | S04-E08 | TIL about recycling | 2023-02-16 | We often hear about recycling as a way to make an impact on climate change right in your own home. But how big a difference … | |
| 38 | S04-E07 | TIL about winter storms | 2022-12-15 | Winters are warming faster than any other season here in the U.S. So why are some winter storms getting even more intense? Today, we’re going … | |
| 37 | S04-E06 | TIL about carbon offsets | 2022-11-17 | What if you could pay someone else to cancel out your carbon emissions? For this episode, we sat down with Dr. Barbara Haya from the … | |
| 36 | S04-E05 | TIL about everyday travel | 2022-09-15 | Roughly ten percent of the world’s CO2 emissions come from passenger vehicles: cars, pickups, motorcycles, buses, and taxis. So today, we’re going to zoom in … | |
| 35 | S04-E04 | TIL about electric cars | 2022-08-25 | Electric vehicles (EVs) are being touted as a major solution to climate change. But why is that? How do they work and what kinds of … | |
| 34 | S04-E03 | TIL about hydrogen energy | 2022-07-14 | Hydrogen gas acts like a fossil fuel, but with no carbon emissions. Is it the silver bullet we’ve been waiting for? Prof. Svetlana Ikonnikova of … | |
| 33 | S04-E02 & S04-E01 | TIL about the changing ocean (part 1 & 2) | 2022-06-02 | The ocean is a critical piece of the climate change puzzle. It's estimated that the ocean has absorbed about one third of the excess CO2 … | |
| 32 | Season 4 Preview | 2022-06-02 | The ocean is a critical piece of the climate change puzzle. It's estimated that the ocean has absorbed about one third of the excess CO2 … | ||
| 31 | Season 4 Preview | 2022-05-05 | At MIT, we have a commitment to sharing what we know about climate change. That’s why, this summer, we’ll be back soon with a fourth … | ||
| 30 | S03-E08 | TIL what it costs | 2022-02-03 | When people talk about how much it costs to stop climate change, what are we paying for? And who’s paying, exactly? And if we don’t … | |
| 29 | S03-E07 | TIL about what I eat | 2022-01-20 | Today we bring climate change to the dining room table. In this episode, we reinvited Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig onto the TILclimate podcast to tell us … | |
| 28 | S03-E06 | TIL about farming a warmer planet | 2021-11-18 | Over the last fifty years, our world has made remarkable progress in reducing hunger around the world. How can we keep our farms and food … | |
| 27 | S03-E05 | TIL about planting trees | 2021-10-07 | In our last episode, we talked about using technology to suck out extra carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But you might also be thinking—don’t trees … | |
| 26 | S03-E04 | TIL about removing CO2 from the atmosphere | 2021-08-19 | Professor Niall Mac Dowell of Imperial College London joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to demystify the process and feasibility of removing CO2 from the atmosphere. … | |
| 25 | S03-E03 | TIL about national security | 2021-07-22 | Is climate change really a national security issue, in the same way we think about terrorism or nuclear weapons? And if so, what are our … | |
| 24 | S03-E02 | TIL about sea level rise, part 2 | 2021-07-01 | Sea level rise is already happening and affecting people right now. We invited Prof. James Renwick back to TILclimate to talk about the near future: … | |
| 23 | S03-E01 | TIL about sea level rise, part 1 | 2021-06-17 | If you’ve heard only one thing about climate change, it might be that sea levels are rising, and many of the Earth’s islands and coastlines … | |
| 22 | TIL what Americans think about climate change | 2021-02-25 | Surveys show that both left- and right-leaning Americans support policies that slow climate change. So why aren’t we seeing more of these policies pass as … | ||
| 21 | Season 3 Preview | 2021-02-25 | Climate change can be confusing, and there’s so much to know. That’s why we’re back with a third season of TILclimate, bringing you new episodes … | ||
| 20 | Is it too late? | 2020-10-29 | Is it too late to prevent climate change? Are the scary predictions that we hear about inevitable? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned … | ||
| 19 | S02-E09 | TIL about cleaning up clean tech | 2020-10-29 | Technologies like solar panels and batteries help us slow down climate change, but they’re not inherently perfect. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned … | |
| 18 | S02-E08 | TIL about fusion energy | 2020-08-13 | Let’s talk about a technology that could change our whole energy system, but so far hasn’t generated a single watt. In the season finale of … | |
| 17 | S02-E07 | TIL about carbon capture | 2020-07-16 | This season, we’ve talked about alternative energy sources that don’t emit carbon dioxide -- but what if there was a way to continue using fossil … | |
| 16 | S02-E06 | TIL about nuclear energy | 2020-06-18 | We know how to generate tons of electricity without pumping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, using a technology that’s already mature, widespread, and competitive with … | |
| 15 | S02-E05 | TIL about energy efficiency | 2020-05-07 | We hear a lot about technologies that produce carbon-free energy, but what about actually using less energy to begin with? In this episode of TILclimate … | |
| 14 | S02-E04 | TIL about wind and solar | 2020-04-02 | What will it take to generate the electricity our society needs, without generating carbon emissions? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Dr. … | |
| 13 | S02-E03 | Is it energy or electricity? | 2020-02-13 | In this mini-episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), host Laur Hesse Fisher breaks down what we’re actually talking about when we use the word … | |
| 12 | S02-E02 | TIL about fossil fuels | 2020-02-06 | Fossil fuels -- coal, natural gas, and oil -- provide the large majority of our power in the United States and around the world. In … | |
| 11 | S02-E01 | TIL about the electric grid | 2020-01-30 | The electric grid are networks that carry electricity from central power plants to our homes. But how exactly is electricity generated and brought to our … | |
| 10 | TIL what I can do | 2019-10-03 | Here at TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), there’s one question we get from our listeners more than any other: “What can I do to make … | ||
| 9 | S01-E08 | TIL about geoengineering | 2019-05-01 | When talking about climate change solutions, we often hear about reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts, but a third option is starting to get … | |
| 8 | S01-E07 | TIL about carbon pricing | 2019-04-24 | What exactly is a carbon price, and how does it work? What would it look like and how would it change everyday life? In this … | |
| 7 | S01-E06 | TIL about climate impacts | 2019-04-17 | With climate change, some parts of the world will get more water, but others will experience droughts. Some will start seeing more mosquitoes, but some … | |
| 6 | S01-E05 | TIL about uncertainty | 2019-04-10 | How do we make choices in the face of uncertainty? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Kerry Emanuel joins host … | |
| 5 | S01-E04 | TIL about hurricanes | 2019-04-03 | Scientists predict that hurricanes will hit us harder in the future — but why? And what can we expect to see? In this episode of … | |
| 4 | S01-E03 | TIL about materials | 2019-03-27 | Humans use around 90 billion metric tons of materials every year, creating about ⅓ of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Which materials produce the most … | |
| 3 | S01-E02 | TIL about clouds | 2019-03-20 | Wrap your head around this: humans have changed clouds. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Dan Cziczo joins host Laur … | |
| 2 | S01-E01 | TIL about planes | 2019-03-20 | “I love to travel. But I hate the fact that something I love to do, creates so much pollution.” In this episode of TILclimate (Today … | |
| 1 | Coming Soon: TILclimate from MIT | 2019-03-06 | MIT Climate is launching a new podcast that breaks down climate science and its impact on our society. Here's a teaser. Full episodes will be … |