Watt It Takes - Alex Blumberg, Host of ‘How to Save a Planet’

Alex Blumberg, Host of ‘How to Save a Planet’

11/22/21 • 42 min

There are a lot of nuances to the way people perceive our warming planet. But media coverage of the issue is often catastrophic, scientifically dense, or framed exclusively around politics.

So how do we talk about climate in a way that resonates across diverse groups of people?

That's what our guest, Alex Blumberg, kept asking himself.

Alex is an acclaimed audio journalist. He’s the co-founder of Gimlet Media and host of the Spotify climate solutions podcast How to Save a Planet.

Alex has pushed the boundaries of audio storytelling. His startup-turned-podcast-empire, Gimlet Media, was one of the first breakthrough podcast companies, focusing on ambitious explanatory journalism and rich narratives. In 2019, Gimlet was acquired by Spotify for $230 million.

Alex is known for a very specific brand of storytelling -- blending rigorous reporting with a casual, conversational delivery. He does it with a very deliberate purpose: to make complex topics accessible.

So what does Alex think the future of climate storytelling looks like?

From co-creating Planet Money to Startup to How to Save a Planet, Alex has been a major source of information and inspiration for host Emily Kirsch. Alex sat down with Emily to talk about his entrepreneurial story, how it led him to climate change, and how he thinks we can save the planet.

Watt It Takes is brought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 — so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, in every hour of the day. Learn more.

Watt It Takes is also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

Powerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate. Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund.

To hear more stories of founders building our carbon-free future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

There are a lot of nuances to the way people perceive our warming planet. But media coverage of the issue is often catastrophic, scientifically dense, or framed exclusively around politics.

So how do we talk about climate in a way that resonates across diverse groups of people?

That's what our guest, Alex Blumberg, kept asking himself.

Alex is an acclaimed audio journalist. He’s the co-founder of Gimlet Media and host of the Spotify climate solutions podcast How to Save a Planet.

So what does Alex think the future of climate storytelling looks like?

Watt It Takes is also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

To hear more stories of founders building our carbon-free future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Previous Episode

Aurora Solar Co-Founder Samuel Adeyemo

The United States recently surpassed 100 gigawatts of installed solar capacity, enough to power nearly 20 million homes.

But to decarbonize the power grid by 2035 and meet growing demand, the Department of Energy estimates that we'll need 1,000 gigawatts of solar capacity, providing 40% of the nation's electricity in just 15 years.

That means, on average, we'll need to install solar at quadruple the rate we did in 2020.

We can't achieve that growth without creative new ways to install solar in as many places as possible.

That’s where our guest, Aurora Solar Co-Founder & CRO Samuel Adeyemo, comes in.

Aurora is tackling one of the biggest problems in the rooftop solar industry: "soft costs."

The cost of solar panels has fallen 99 percent since 1980. But the cost of everything else involved in installing those panels — the paperwork, the design, the sales process — is now higher than the hardware itself.

Aurora makes software designed to tackle them all together.

Over the last decade, Aurora has raised $321 million to help digitize the solar design and installation process.

We talked with Sam about how he turned a challenging experience with a solar installation in Kenya into a company valued at $2 billion.

Watt It Takes is also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

To hear more stories of founders building our carbon-free future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Next Episode

Fervo Energy Co-Founder & CEO Tim Latimer

Starting in the 1960s, the United States became a world leader in building large-scale geothermal power plants.

That changed in the mid-2000s with the fracking boom. Drillers turned their attention to oil and gas. And as wind, solar and batteries got cheaper, bankers and developers put their money into those resources.

Today, geothermal development around the world has flatlined.

But a small legion of clean energy entrepreneurs is working quietly in the background on innovations that could catalyze the geothermal industry once again.

One of those entrepreneurs is Tim Latimer, Co-Founder and CEO of Fervo Energy.

Fervo Energy is a geothermal developer using advanced drilling techniques from fracking in the oil and gas industry to make it easier to find and harness heat underground.

Tim calls the 2020s "the geothermal decade." We can't transition to a zero-carbon grid without round-the-clock clean energy resources to supplement wind and solar - and geothermal offers that always-on feature.

Tim believes a combination of technology innovation and public attention are setting up a new phase of growth.

Emily spoke with Tim about how he's combining his expertise in oil & gas drilling with a dedication to solving the climate crisis -- and using his experience to break open an overlooked renewable resource.

Watt It Takes is also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

To hear more stories of founders building our carbon-free future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.