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It’s now a half century since James Lovelock originated the Gaia Hypothesis – which says that our planet’s biosphere is an intelligent entity that self-regulates conditions for the mutual benefit of all. Though many mainstream biologists hated it and still do, maybe Gaia doesn’t even go far enough. Why not the entire cosmos?

Playlist as aired on Saturday, March 28th, 2026

Globally, the clean energy economy has been on a steep growth trajectory for more than a decade. Global investment in the clean energy transition reached a record high of over $2.3 trillion dollars in 2025, driven by major spending on renewable power, electric vehicles, and modernizing grid infrastructure. Around the world, battery manufacturing, solar and wind generation, and electrical vehicle manufacturing all surged. Last year, spending on renewables, nuclear power, and energy storage was roughly double what was spent on fossil fuels.

It seems as if the whole world is retreating on climate and green energy. Politicians in many places are calling for so-called energy realism. In the US, President Trump calls global warming a hoax. The EPA has repealed the endangerment finding, the 2009 science-based finding that the buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare.

Henry David Thoreau is a lot of things: a father of nature writing in 19th century America; a radical thinker who challenged societal norms; the subject of homework assignments for bored 21st century high school students.The transcendentalist’s legacy is the subject of a new three-part documentary. We’ll speak with the filmmakers behind the project.

Best-Selling Author Anna Quindlen’s latest novel, ‘More Than Enough,’ centers on Polly Goodman, a high-school English teacher whose closest confidants are the women in her book club. When the group jokingly gives Polly a DNA ancestry test, the results uncover an unexpected family connection that raises new questions about her past.

Significant blooms of the brown seaweed Sargassum in the tropical Atlantic have been taking place since 2011, impacting tourism in the Caribbean. A more general observation is that between 2003 and 2022, macroalgal mats and microalgal scum have expanded around the globe. A recent study looked at the rise of macroalgae blooms across the globe over the past two decades.

Microplastics are pretty much everywhere on Earth. They have been found in ocean water, wildlife, and even in the human body. Ocean currents carry these tiny fragments far from where they are produced, meaning even remote places are not immune to plastic pollution.

The world is undergoing an energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables. It is a global response to the dangers of global warming. The United States fully withdrew from United Nations climate negotiations in the fall of 2025. With an administration composed entirely of climate change deniers, the U.S. has abandoned global leadership on the energy transition. This radical action has enormous geopolitical, economic, and climate ramifications. For Americans, none of them are good.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research. Cats make a lot of noises. And while an individual cat’s meows, growls and hisses might be unique, researchers say their purrs might be the most reliable way to tell them apart.And colorful feathers discovered in a coastal Peruvian cave clued researchers into an ancient parrot trade.