Shows
Sappenin’ Podcast with Sean SmithEP. 306 - Pixie LottAll About Tonight. Pop princess, blockbuster actress and Dolce & Gabbana model, Pixie Lott, is our guest on Episode 306 of Sappenin' Podcast! The British pop-culture figure, exposes secrets on her first new album in a decade, reinventing her sound and finally taking control of her own career narrative. In this conversation, Pixie opens up on going independent for first time vs taking a bet on herself, wanting to channel inner classic folk-rock influences, recoding in Encino, bursting into mainstream fame from a young age, music industry nightmares, getting used for producer hit singles vs writing for other artists, live band...2024-10-0459 min
Energy GangThe next stage of the IRA: permitting reformThe (shrewdly named) Inflation Reduction Act has been called the most significant climate legislation ever passed in the US. When it did pass, in 2022, the critical vote was cast by senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. Now in office as an independent, he and Republican senator John Barrasso from Wyoming came together to put forward a bill which advanced out of the Senate committee stage earlier this month. It’s meant to clear away some of the regulatory and legal obstacles that delay and deter infrastructure projects, including renewable energy and power transmission lines. It’s faced criticism from envi...2024-08-201h 01Energy GangCan America build new energy projects faster? Should it?Proposed permitting reforms could accelerate both renewable energy projects and new fossil fuel infrastructure. Is that a good deal for the climate?The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is seen as the most significant climate legislation ever passed in the US, because of the array of new, expanded and extended tax credits it offers for low-carbon energy. But when it was passed in 2022, the critical vote in the Senate was cast by Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and he always saw the IRA as just Part One of a two-part strategy. The second part would be to...2024-08-201h 01Energy GangA pause in US gas export approvals: a big win for the climate?The US is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), super-cooled to about -160 °C (or -260 °F) so it can be shipped in tankers. An investment boom means export capacity will soar over the next few years. But last month the Biden administration signaled it was putting the brakes on future growth, announcing a “pause” in new approvals for LNG plants to export to nations that don’t have a free trade agreement with the US.This decision is expected to stall future US LNG projects by preventing them accessing key global markets including...2024-02-0654 minEnergy GangClearing The Red Tape Around RenewablesWill permitting reforms make it easier to build infrastructure projects?A group called the REPEAT Project at Princeton University calculated last year that to unlock the full emissions reduction potential of the Inflation Reduction Act, the US needed to increase its total high-voltage transmission capacity by about 2.3% a year. That is more than double the pace achieved over the past decade. In Washington, reforms that could make it easier to build all kinds of energy infrastructure, including the grid connections vitally needed for wind, solar and storage, are back on the agenda. Attempts to build bipartisan support...2023-03-1054 minEnergy GangThe Supreme Court vs The EPAThere is never a dull moment in the world of energy. Despite the summer holidays in the northern hemisphere, this week was full of announcements and big news stories.Regular Energy Gang member Melissa Lott steps in as host this week while Ed Crooks takes a well-earned holiday. Joining Melissa is Emily Chasan from Generate Capital and Robbie Orvis from Energy Innovation.The discussion starts with the US Supreme Court’s decision to impose new limits on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The limits send a message about the reluctance to have the EPA make re...2022-07-1552 min
Watt It TakesOur Friends from The Big SwitchNormally, we’d be bringing you an episode featuring an entrepreneur who’s making our climate-positive future a reality. But behind every founder with a big idea are scientists, engineers and policymakers working hard to turn those big ideas into reality. And right now, a lot of them are tackling one of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis – carbonSo today, we have something new for you. As a bonus, we’re bringing you an episode of one of our favorite podcasts, The Big Switch. It’s hosted by the amazing Dr. Melissa Lott, Director of...2022-05-1023 min
The Big SwitchCrossover Episode: Watt It TakesHydrogen could be essential for the zero-carbon economy, especially for cleaning up concrete, steel, and chemicals. It’s also a promising fuel source for transportation and electricity that's attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in global investment. But there’s a problem. Every year, the world produces millions of tons of hydrogen through a dirty process that creates lots of CO2 and carbon monoxide. For hydrogen to be a truly clean fuel, we have to find a cleaner way to make it. And today we’re bringing you the story of one person who's spent a decad...2022-05-0449 minEnergy GangA Breakthrough In The Energy GameZero-emission, low-cost electricity, delivered to the grid from natural-gas fuelled technology. A wright-brothers first flight kind of breakthrough in energy? The gang discuss the possibilities and scalability of NET Powers Technology, a Texas-based energy company who’ve made this exact claim. Ed is joined as usual by Melissa Lott from Columbia University, and Emily Chasan from Generate Capital.The other big story of the week was the collapse of British energy provider Bulb, the 6th largest provider in the country and an issue that has impacted some 2 million customers. Could the same thing ha...2021-12-0347 minEnergy GangWhat Does The World Need From COP26?COP26 is under way in Glasgow. It has been billed as the “last best hope for the world to get its act together” on climate change, but what is the real significance of the talks? Host Ed Crooks is joined by new regular co-host of the Energy Gang Melissa Lott, Director of Research at the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, to discuss the key issues and outcomes of the conference. Also joining for this episode is Emily Chasan, Director of Communications at Generate Capital, and former Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg journalist. What...2021-11-0849 minThe Big SwitchThe Grid: The Zero-Carbon BackboneThe electric grid is the vast machine that powers everything around us. It’s also the part of the energy system where we're seeing the most dramatic changes as we address climate change. So what are the stakes, solutions and tradeoffs as we move to a net-zero energy system? In our first episode of season 1, Dr. Melissa Lott explores the intricacies of how the grid runs everything around us — and why it’s so vital to decarbonizing our economy. We’ll tell the story by visiting Texas, where the electricity system broke down in a spe...2021-06-1637 min
Trash Box: A Real Housewives PodcastBorn To Be A HousewifeWelcome to our 30th episode of Trash Box! Today we kick things off with Atlanta, and ask the important questions: Why does Kenya's 2-year-old daughter have her own phone? Why doesn't LaToya doesn't have a peach? Why the fuck is Drew playing her recording of Prophet Lott on a boom box? And is Shereé returning next season?
Then we switch over to Dallas, where we discuss the D’Andra/Mama Dee/step-mother drama. Emily goes so far as to track down the dead father’s memorial site and makes the shocking discovery that Mama Dee purpose...2021-04-241h 00