Drilled
Pushkin Industries
Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists and led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.
Episodes
Mentioned books
7 snips
Oct 2, 2018 • 16min
Climate Denial Campaigns So Successful They’re Now in Court
Exploring the successful fossil fuel industry campaigns causing public skepticism on climate change. Legal battles hold oil companies accountable for climate damages. Discussion on misinformation, local lawsuits, and educating the public on climate science. Revealing Big Oil's deception and legal battles mirroring Big Tobacco's tactics.
6 snips
Sep 25, 2018 • 15min
The First Step to Influencing Policy: Setting Research Agendas
Exploring how oil companies shaped research agendas at universities to influence climate policy. Uncovering influence campaigns funded by fossil fuel interests. Discussing the impact of industry funding on research agendas and the urgency of taking action against climate change.
Sep 18, 2018 • 17min
Shaping Culture and Faith: How Big Oil Influenced Climate Conversations
Exploring the influence of oil companies on public opinion and how they shifted culture through media manipulation and lobbying, including the impact on conservative views on science and progress dependency on oil. Highlighting the tactics employed by the fossil fuel industry to discredit climate science and promote climate denial, targeting specific demographics and using conspiracy theories. Delving into the intertwining of religion, the environment, and the philosophical implications of this relationship in shaping environmental policy decisions.
8 snips
Sep 11, 2018 • 18min
Weaponizing False Equivalence
Oil companies manipulated media to create false narratives of scientific uncertainty about climate change, hindering efforts to address CO2 emissions. Industry used contrarian scientists and advertorials to shape public opinion and oppose climate policies, exploiting weaknesses in U.S. media system.
12 snips
Sep 4, 2018 • 18min
The Turn: How Big Oil Shifted from Innovation to Climate Denial
As the price of oil dipped in the early 1980s, oil companies and the industry at large became concerned with protecting their core business rather than expanding in new directions and becoming "energy companies." Innovation took a backseat and the campaigns to undermine climate science began. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11 snips
Aug 29, 2018 • 16min
The Bell Labs of Energy: How Exxon Led Early Climate Research
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Exxon wanted to be the Bell Labs of energy, hiring brilliant scientists to conduct cutting-edge research on the "greenhouse effect" and renewable energy. At the time, there was bipartisan support around the idea of tackling global warming and a sense that American innovation was up to the task. To see the documents referenced in this episode, check out the timeline on drilled.media. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/DrilledSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12 snips
Aug 28, 2018 • 14min
Exploiting Scientists' Kryptonite: How Oil Companies Weaponized Uncertainty
Oil companies targeted scientists' biggest weakness—their refusal to be absolutely certain about anything—to sow doubt about climate change. In addition to using journalists' views on their own objectivity against them, uncertainty became a tool for misinformation. Support us: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4 snips
May 28, 2018 • 2min
Drilled: A True Crime Podcast About Climate Change
Delve into the historical origins of climate denial propaganda, revealing a strategic manipulation of media and institutions in the 1980s and 1990s to cast doubt on climate change. Explore the journey of climate change research from its scientific roots to becoming a politically charged topic, with urgent calls for action in the 1990s and the formation of international bodies.
