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Justice Advances in Cancer Alley
Descendants of enslaved people fighting pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ have been greenlit for a trial. Their lawsuit alleges the St. James Parish government discriminated against Black residents by repeatedly permitting industrial plants in predominantly Black districts while shielding mostly white districts from industry. We discuss how the 13th amendment outlawing slavery plays into the case.
Trump, Glyphosate and Cancer
President Trump has deemed glyphosate as essential for national security even though some 200,000 people have complained they have gotten cancer or other adverse health effects, while using it as directed. Meanwhile a Missouri state court has given preliminary approval to a class action settlement plan for people sickened by Roundup, which contains the herbicide glyphosate. Why some in the Make America Healthy Again movement feel betrayed by the Trump Administration’s support for glyphosate.
Stinky Seaweed Menace
Though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems, with impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.
Bonaire Residents Fight for Climate Justice
The Dutch special municipality of Bonaire in the Caribbean is already experiencing dangerous heat and could see a fifth of its land disappear under rising seas by 2100. But the Netherlands is discriminating against these overseas citizens by failing to adequately reduce global warming emissions and develop adaptation plans to help them cope, according to a January 2026 Dutch court decision.
The Possibility of Tenderness
Poet and author Jason Allen-Paisant left his native Jamaica to gain a graduate school education and prize-winning poetry career in England and France. He now looks back with wonder at the green of Jamaica where generations of his ancestors fed and healed his family. He shares this history in his book The Possibility of Tenderness: A Jamaican Memoir of Plants and Dreams.
Wastewater to Wealth
Urine is packed with nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which can be pollutants when they enter the environment unchecked. But these can also be turned into vital fertilizer to nourish our crops, and 2025 MacArthur Fellow William Tarpeh, an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University, is developing methods for “refining” wastewater.
Trump Canceling Climate Regs
After a landmark Supreme Court case that directed EPA to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health, the agency found in 2009 that indeed they do. Now, the Trump EPA is attempting to revoke that endangerment finding to unravel all subsequent regulations on tailpipes, smokestacks and more, setting up what looks to be a long legal fight.
Celebrating 30 years of Living on Earth!
Host Steve Curwood in the Living on Earth studio
Join the Living on Earth Book Club on October 13th!
Bestselling science journalist Ed Yong joins us to talk about his new book. Click here to learn more and register!
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Justice Advances in Cancer Alley
Descendants of enslaved people fighting pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ have been greenlit for a trial. Their lawsuit alleges the St. James Parish government discriminated against Black residents by repeatedly permitting industrial plants in predominantly Black districts while shielding mostly white districts from industry. We discuss how the 13th amendment outlawing slavery plays into the case.
Trump, Glyphosate and Cancer
President Trump has deemed glyphosate as essential for national security even though some 200,000 people have complained they have gotten cancer or other adverse health effects, while using it as directed. Meanwhile a Missouri state court has given preliminary approval to a class action settlement plan for people sickened by Roundup, which contains the herbicide glyphosate. Why some in the Make America Healthy Again movement feel betrayed by the Trump Administration’s support for glyphosate.
Stinky Seaweed Menace
Though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems, with impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.
This Week’s Show
March 6, 2026
listen / download
Justice Advances in Cancer Alley
listen / download
Descendants of enslaved people fighting pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ have been greenlit for a trial. Their lawsuit alleges the St. James Parish government discriminated against Black residents by repeatedly permitting industrial plants in predominantly Black districts while shielding mostly white districts from industry. We discuss how the 13th amendment outlawing slavery plays into the case.
Trump, Glyphosate and Cancer
listen / download
President Trump has deemed glyphosate as essential for national security even though some 200,000 people have complained they have gotten cancer or other adverse health effects, while using it as directed. Meanwhile a Missouri state court has given preliminary approval to a class action settlement plan for people sickened by Roundup, which contains the herbicide glyphosate. Why some in the Make America Healthy Again movement feel betrayed by the Trump Administration’s support for glyphosate.
"Sneckdowns" and Reimagining Streets
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If you’re one of the millions of city-dwelling Americans who saw over a foot of snow in recent weeks, you might have felt a bit buried by the endless snowbanks. But all that snow made traffic slow down and gave people a chance to see sidewalks and streets differently than before. Living on Earth’s Bella Smith has this report on the phenomenon of the “sneckdown.”
"The Frozen Creek"
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Living on Earth’s Don Lyman has been finding reptiles and amphibians since boyhood. This long winter took him back to a childhood memory of finding a bull frog swimming under the ice in what he calls “The Frozen Creek.”
Stinky Seaweed Menace
listen / download
Though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems, with impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.
BirdNote®: The Cuban Tody, A Caribbean Jewel
listen / download
A “must-see” bird for anyone traveling in the West Indies, the Cuban Tody is a tiny bird with a lot of personality. In this week’s BirdNote®, Michael Stein introduces us to these striking Cuban natives.
Special Features
Field Note: "After the Storm"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, ruminates on the storm as it meets the shore.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Field Note: "Countermeasures"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, shares observations about shorebirds in flight.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
...Ultimately, if we are going prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we are going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them...
-- President Barack Obama, November 6, 2015 on why he declined to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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