The Latitude
Latitude Media
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Top 10 The Latitude Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Latitude episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Latitude for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Latitude episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Climavores: The protein we love to hate
The Latitude
09/13/22 • 46 min
Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.
When a lot of people think of soy, they think of allergens, overly processed food, and man boobs. There’s even a current full-court press in some corners of the nutrition community to blame seed oils like soybean oil for disease and obesity. And that’s not even taking into account environmental concerns around deforestation in the Amazon and heavy pesticide and herbicide use in soy monocultures.
The U.S. grows 90 million acres of soybeans annually, second only to Brazil in global soybean production. And almost all of that U.S. soy is genetically modified, another red flag for environmentalists.
But Mike and Tamar say soy has gotten a bad rap. And it’s time to set the record straight.
This week, they dig into the nutritional and environmental benefits of soy and ask how soy became a proxy for the evils of industrial agriculture.
Resources:
- National Institute of Health on the myth of man boobs
- GOOP on seed oils
- farmdocDAILY on lower fertilizer use in soy vs. corn
- Our World in Data on soy’s bad reputation and whether it’s justified
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 Listeners
12/20/22 • 62 min
This week on the show, internet sensation Hank Green talks with Mike and Tamar about the future of cell-based meat. Hank lives in Montana, which is hardcore ranching country. It’s a place where beef is king, cowboys are real and pickup trucks are the norm. But he’s convinced that the future of meat looks a lot different than it does today. And Mike and Tamar agree.
But there are huge hurdles to overcome before the majority of us sit down to cell-based steaks at the dinner table. Scaling up bio reactors in a way that maintains sterility is complicated; making cell-based meat that’s affordable to the general public is a long way out; and changing the “ick” mindset around cell-based meat will take a monumental cultural shift.
But despite all that, Hank predicts he’ll be eating cell-based nuggets by 2030 and loving them.
Click here for a full transcript of the episode.
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 Listeners
Climavores: Bursting the ‘eat local’ bubble
The Latitude
06/21/22 • 31 min
The eat local movement is huge. Bumper stickers in liberal towns across the U.S. tell us to “Eat local” or ask “Who’s your farmer?” But eating local food may be wildly overrated when it comes to climate change.
When we look at how foods are produced, transportation accounts for less than 10% of carbon emissions. So should we abandon farmers’ markets for big grocery store chains?
In this episode, Mike and Tamar break down the real carbon footprint of local food and ask whether the value of supporting local, small-scale farmers outweighs the climate benefit of not buying local (spoiler alert: Tamar says yes. Mike says no). They also dive into the history of the local food movement and explore why it’s gained such traction.
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 Listener
Climavores: The magic of trees
The Latitude
10/18/22 • 52 min
The vast majority of habitable land on our planet is either agriculture or forests. So when cropland and grazing land expands, forests shrink. This is a problem because forests soak up about a quarter of the carbon dioxide we emit.
Mike and Tamar talk a lot on the show about ways to make more food with less land. Why? Because doing that helps stop the deforestation that’s transferring carbon from trees to the atmosphere. In the current climate emergency, reducing emissions isn’t enough. We need negative emissions, and trees are the best technology we’ve got.
But fixing the world’s deforestation problems, and its food and climate problems, is more complicated than just planting more trees. In this episode, Mike and Tamar answer a listener question about the negative carbon footprint of fruit and nut trees. Then they dig in on everything from agroforestry and using forests as carbon offsets to burning trees for energy and national and international forest policy.
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
VERGE 22, taking place Oct 25-27 in San Jose, CA, will convene more than 4,000 leaders working together to address the climate crisis across six strategic areas: clean energy, sustainable transportation, carbon removal, regenerative food systems, net-zero buildings and the startup ecosystem. Register today and use the code V22PSMEDIA for 10% off of the pass type of your choice: https://bit.ly/3f2f2FQ
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1 Listener
10/25/23 • 10 min
Top tech companies are on a quest to run their massive data centers around the clock with clean power.
It’s not an easy task, but they’ve been making progress. The energy efficiency of large data centers has radically improved over the last two decades. And tech players have been buying renewables at breakneck speed.
But a new source of computational demand is complicating those efforts: artificial intelligence.
Today: Editor Lisa Martine Jenkins presents a story from writer Erin Wong called, “The AI ‘wild card’ promises to complicate clean clouds.”
For more of Latitude Media’s coverage of the frontiers of clean energy, sign up for our newsletter.
A big thanks to our launch sponsor, Scale Microgrids. Scale Microgrids is the distributed energy company dedicated to transforming the way modern energy infrastructure is designed, constructed, and financed. Check out scalemicrogrids.com/careers to learn more about the open roles.
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1 Listener
06/21/22 • 28 min
Searing heat waves, massive forest fires, rising sea levels – the effects of climate change are all around us. But the role our food system plays in fueling the problem? That’s less clear to most of us.
We know our food doesn't magically appear on grocery store shelves. Somebody's growing it. But that process of feeding the planet generates a third of all greenhouse gasses. And agriculture alone emits a quarter of all greenhouse gasses. Pesticides, fertilizers, burping and farting cows, cutting down trees to plant crops – it all wreaks havoc on our climate. But we all have to eat...so, what’s the solution?
In this premiere episode, co-hosts Tamar Haspel (To Boldly Grow, The Washington Post), and Michael Grunwald (The Swamp, Canary Media) talk about what led them to start thinking about food in the context of climate change and what it means to be a “climavore.” They also tackle the question, “What should people eat to be responsible humans on a warming planet?”
Turns out, it’s complicated.
We want your question for future episodes! Leave a message for Mike and Tamar on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question in a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 Listener
07/12/22 • 43 min
Demand for plant-based meat products surged in 2019 as companies developed better-tasting products, negotiated better shelf positioning, and tapped into shifting consumer preferences. But demand flatlined in 2021, raising questions about whether plant-based products can put a dent in meat consumption.
Environmentalists have criticized companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods for lack of transparency on land and water use. And nutrition experts dislike how processed they are. But the reality is clear: these products are much, much better for the climate than beef.
In this episode, Tamar and Mike look at whether people are going to ditch beef patties for a slab of soy or pea protein. What are all the cultural obstacles?
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media. Post Script Media is backed by Prelude Ventures.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Climavores: Are processed foods evil?
The Latitude
09/27/22 • 49 min
Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.
Draw a Venn diagram of people who care about the climate impact of their food and people who are suspicious of processed food, and you’ll see an awful lot of overlap. People love to hate on processed foods.
But historically, food processing actually freed women from the literal daily grind of putting food on the table. And from a climate impact standpoint, more processed foods actually contribute to less food waste. So what gives?
This week, Mike and Tamar dig into the pros and cons of processed foods. From Impossible Burgers to Doritos, almost everything we eat is processed. But there’s a difference between processed and ultra-processed and the impacts each has on our health and our planet.
Resources:
- Cambridge University Press on the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08/24/22 • 51 min
Last week, Barack Obama called President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act a “BFD” on Twitter. With about $370 billion worth of climate funding, it’s an especially BFD for the planet.
The IRA marks the single largest climate investment in U.S. history, promising lower energy costs, increased energy security, targeted decarbonization efforts across all sectors of the economy, investments in disadvantaged communities, and support for rural communities. But how will it impact food and agriculture in particular?
In this episode, Mike and Tamar dig into the bill’s fine print and highlight some of the “Climavores provisions” they’re excited about. They also check whether Congress followed their four-point plan to promote eating less beef, tackle food waste, ditch biofuels, and safeguard yields. (Spoiler alert: they mostly didn’t). But both agree, there’s still lots to like in this bill.
Resources:
- AgWeb: What's Ag's Stake in the Senate-Passed Inflation Reduction Act?
- The Hill: Inflation Reduction Act puts our oldest climate-fighting technology to work
- Holland & Knight: The Inflation Reduction Act: Summary of Budget Reconciliation Legislation
- farmdocDAILY: Reviewing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; Part 1
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode.
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A US city tries a novel approach to microgrids
The Latitude
02/26/24 • 8 min
As cities around the U.S. ramp up their renewable energy goals, they’re sometimes at odds with the utilities that serve them. Some have tried to break away and form their own utilities. Others are creating community choice aggregators to negotiate clean power supply for residents.
The city of Ann Arbor is trying something different – building microgrid projects to serve local load without the help of the utility.
The effort could be costly, contentious, and complicated. But if it works, it could create a whole new model for local clean energy supply.
In this edition: Editor Lisa Martine Jenkins presents a story from the pages of Latitude Media on a microgrid project in Michigan that aims to bypass the local utility.
For more of Latitude Media’s coverage of the frontiers of clean energy, sign up for our newsletter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Latitude have?
The Latitude currently has 50 episodes available.
What topics does The Latitude cover?
The podcast is about News, News Commentary and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on The Latitude?
The episode title 'Climavores: The protein we love to hate' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Latitude?
The average episode length on The Latitude is 31 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Latitude released?
Episodes of The Latitude are typically released every 7 days, 1 hour.
When was the first episode of The Latitude?
The first episode of The Latitude was released on May 10, 2022.
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