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(Airs 12/25/25 @ 3 p.m.) WAMC’s David Guistina in conversation with Paul Wolf, President Emeritus of The New York Coalition for Open Government, about why they put Governor Kathy Hochul on their naughty list for the third year in a row, and much more.

Somewhere between 97% and 99.9% of actively publishing climate scientists agree that climate change is happening and is primarily caused by human activities. However, while science is based on observations and evidence, politics is not.

Coastal ecosystems are undergoing a process known as a coastal squeeze. Beaches face a combination of rising sea levels caused by climate change and reductions caused by expanding development in coastal zones. Between the two forces, beaches are gradually being eaten away. According to research by a marine scientist in Uruguay, almost half of the beaches in the world could disappear by the end of this century.

Climate change is making air quality worse in many parts of the world. Rising temperatures increase ground-level ozone and more frequent wildfires release harmful smoke and particulates into the air. These shifts, together with ongoing pollution from vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, are leading to longer and more intense episodes of unhealthy air.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.This week we’ll celebrate the best of The Best of Our Knowledge in 2025.We’ll learn about a new color that humans normally can’t see, a project that created one of the most advanced maps of the brain, and research that uncovers truths to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Playlist as aired on December 27th, 2025

(Airs 01/02/25 @ 3 p.m. & 01/04/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of The Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, and Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of The Saratogian. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, and Barbara talk about newspapers charging for letters to the editor, requiring students to read newspapers in India, a look back at 2025, and more.

Changes to the atmosphere and to the climate are interrelated and understanding what effects such changes have is a complicated matter. Wildfires are increasingly commonplace and many of their effects are obvious. Air quality in places hundreds or even thousands of miles from wildfires can become degraded and even hazardous to human health. Ecosystems are disrupted by killing wildlife and destroying habitats. A new study by Harvard University looked at the effects of wildfires on the upper atmosphere.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.On this episode, we’ll speak with a scientist who helped pinpoint a unique – and long theorized – form of matter.And we’ll visit museum in upstate New York that organizers hope will inspire the next generation of firefighters.

Livestock production contributes between 11% and 19% of global greenhouse emissions. The largest source of these emissions is enteric methane, the gas produced during digestion as the feed ferments in the animal’s stomach and is released mainly through burping. There are other cattle-related emissions as well, including the release of nitrous oxide from manure.