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Ammonia is produced on a massive scale around the world. Over 250 million tons of it were manufactured in 2023. Eighty percent of it is used as fertilizer, but ammonia is also used for the production of plastics, fibers, explosives, nitric acid, and for the manufacture of dyes and pharmaceuticals.

Sand mining is the second most widespread human activity in marine environments after fishing. In fact, sand is second only to water as a natural resource used by humans. Currently, around 40 billion tons of sand is mined every year. The greatest use for sand is as a component of concrete, mortar, asphalt, and fill. But sand is also used for manufacturing glass, silicon chips for electronics, and metal castings, as well as for filtration, landscaping, and abrasives. Sand is a cornerstone of modern society.

(Airs 01/02/26 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: New York state sees a record-breaking number of flu cases, we’ll speak with WNYC’s Jimmy Vielkind about some of the top political stories of the year, and the New York Farm Bureau says there should be no more bio-solids used as fertilizer unless they’re clear of P-FAS forever chemicals.

Karen Russell's latest, “The Antidote,” is a dust bowl novel and a reckoning with a nation’s forgetting that enacts the settler amnesia and omissions passed down from generation to generation.

(Airs 01/08/26 @ 3 p.m.) WAMC’s David Guistina in conversation with New York State Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay, about their agenda for the 2026 session, his thoughts about Congresswoman Elise Stefanik dropping out of politics forcing him to switch his endorsement to Bruce Blakeman, discussion of the new prison reform law, and more.

In his newest novel, "Buckeye," Patrick Ryan explores the ways families hold together even as the past threatens to pull them apart. Moving between generations, Ryan explores how we inherit not just our parents’ habits and hopes, but their unfinished business.

Playlist as aired on January 3rd, 2026

Climate change is increasing pressure on farmers around the world as rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events make growing conditions less predictable. In Ghana, where agriculture largely depends on rainfall, cacao farmers are already feeling its impacts. As rains become less reliable, how can cocoa production adapt to a changing climate?

(Airs 01/09/26 @ 3 p.m. & 01/11/26 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with Judy Patrick, former Editor of The Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of The Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Judy, Barbara and David talk about how the media handled coverage of the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, and the death of a U.S. citizen after a confrontation with ICE officers in Minnesota, as well as the official end of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and more.

(Airs 01/09/26 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: Governor Kathy Hochul announces plans to invest significantly in child care across the state, a U.S. district court judge blocked the Trump-picked federal prosecutor from investigating state attorney general Tish James, and New York State Assembly Republican Minority Leader Will Barclay shares his priorities for 2026.