Episode Details

From 2009-2015 Volkswagen cheated on emissions tests to convince customers to buy 11 million VW cars they thought burned clean diesel. Kimberley Kinsley says “Dieselgate” was the largest ever case of corporate greenwashing. Also: Big tech companies often boast they’re using technologies that can save the planet. But Jesse Goldstein argues that the allure of AI–which requires energy hungry data centers–will lead to more and more excuses for why they have to keep fossil fuels flowing. Later in the show: The can-do innovation that emerged after World War II came to define American identity. In his new book, Every American an Innovator, Matthew Wisnioski traces how that culture of innovation we once celebrated is facing a backlash. Plus: For decades, children have traveled with a wacky teacher named Miss Frizzle, who drives the Magic School Bus. Michael Meindl explains how The Magic School Bus became one of the most successful informal science education initiatives ever.