Living Planet

DW

Looking to reconnect with nature? Want to make better decisions for the health of the planet? Every Friday, Living Planet brings you the stories, facts and debates on the key environmental issues of our time.

  • 36 minutes 8 seconds
    The hidden toll of roadkill (Rebroadcast)
    Every year, countless animals meet their end on our roads - yet most of us barely notice. But this isn’t just a minor tragedy; the sheer scale is reshaping ecosystems across the planet. So, how can we make a difference - and could eating roadkill be part of the solution?
    19 December 2025, 10:00 am
  • 30 minutes 50 seconds
    What we get wrong about eating protein
    Protein obsession is reshaping our diets — and our planet. We lift the lid on the protein craze, what we truly need for good health, why animal protein carries such a heavy climate footprint, and what choices could cut emissions without sacrificing strength and health. And we hear from one powerlifter's surprising shift from meat-lover to vegan butcher, against the backdrop of online culture wars.
    12 December 2025, 10:00 am
  • 31 minutes 26 seconds
    The Switch 3 | Bill McKibben: One big thing is going right
    For 40 years, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben has chronicled the worsening climate crisis and politicians' failure to stop it. But now, for the first time, he says he can actually see a path forward. In the third and final part of our special miniseries, The Switch, we ask him what that path looks like – and what still threatens to derail it.
    5 December 2025, 10:00 am
  • 27 minutes 58 seconds
    The Switch 2 | Blackout: What's really breaking energy grids
    We're generating more solar and wind power than ever before, but somewhere between where it's made and where it's needed, the energy system can't keep up. From Spain's blackout to bottlenecks across Europe, the way we move electricity is in desperate need of some updates. In Part 2 of The Switch, we reveal the power grid cracks halting climate progress.
    28 November 2025, 10:00 am
  • 26 minutes 19 seconds
    The Switch 1 | Deserted: Why solar power's failing where it should shine
    Some of the places hardest hit by climate change are also home to one of the future's most powerful gifts: superabundant sunshine. If solar is now cheaper than ever, what’s stopping the clean energy revolution from taking off where the sun shines the brightest? In Part 1 of our special miniseries, The Switch, we head to Morocco in search of the promise, and the politics, of desert power.
    21 November 2025, 11:00 am
  • 1 minute 29 seconds
    The Switch — a miniseries
    Solar power is the cheapest energy source in history – and wind isn’t far behind. So why isn't the clean energy transition moving faster? In a new three-part miniseries, we’re digging into why the switch is so damn hard. From solar mega-farms in Morocco to European bottlenecks to climate writer Bill McKibben’s office, we're asking what the holdup is – and where to from here. Starting November 21.
    14 November 2025, 10:00 am
  • 35 minutes 50 seconds
    Breaking gold's toxic bond with mercury pollution
    When mercury pollution makes headlines, it's often linked to fish and human health. But there's another big source of mercury pollution that's affecting millions of people across the world - artisanal and small-scale gold mining. This episode looks at efforts in South America to reduce mercury use in mining - and what that means for people's health and the future of the Amazon.
    7 November 2025, 10:00 am
  • 23 minutes 1 second
    The resale illusion: Why second-hand isn't always better
    Your thrifted shirt might not be as green as you think. From Ghana's "dead white man's clothes" to the rise of resale, we uncover fashion's hidden impact - and a way forward that could change it all.
    31 October 2025, 7:37 am
  • 23 minutes 38 seconds
    Introducing: Boy Wasted
    This week on Living Planet, we're sharing Boy Wasted - a gripping three-part environmental true crime series by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor and co-produced by Adnan Khan. It begins with a shocking find: a boy's body hidden in a bale of recycled plastic in Turkey, leading to a dangerous, cross-border investigation into a global recycling scandal.
    24 October 2025, 10:00 am
  • 29 minutes 46 seconds
    Can a cancer hotspot be saved from our addiction to plastic?
    The harm of plastics on human health is well known, but what about their impact on the people living near the plants that produce them? In this episode, we hear from the women on the frontlines of the fight against petrochemical companies in one of the US’s most toxic strips of land known as “Cancer Alley.”
    17 October 2025, 8:46 am
  • 35 minutes 57 seconds
    What are students really learning about climate change?
    In classrooms across the US, fossil fuel interests and political pressure are shaping the science - and leaving key facts out. Meet two teachers fighting to keep climate education honest, local, and alive.
    10 October 2025, 10:00 am
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