Welcome to the last documentary-style package show of Season 1. Welcome to the world of tomorrow … which starts today.

This episode, Tomorrow’s World, discusses how a path to combatting climate change can be made possible through the linchpin of dense and clean energy – an abundance of it, supplied through new and advanced energy technologies.

Podcast host Rolake Ojo is joined by Gridlocked creators Nick O’Hara and Mark Havenner who, through presenting a mixture of guest expert contribution alongside their own narration, introduce listeners to some of the key issues in breaking the ‘gridlock’ to a clean energy future.

The episode starts with contributions from the planet’s most prominent architect, Lord Norman Foster, together with space architect, Guillermo Trotti. They discuss some of the ways in which design has always been at the heart of human progress, pivotal to creating a better tomorrow. 

We hear from Jacopo Buongiorno, MIT Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, who introduces listeners to a new, advanced microreactor nuclear energy system, also known as the nuclear battery. This innovative new technology could provide the option to move away from an electrical grid model that is the product of a century-long co-evolution of markets, fossil fuels, and centralized power production.

Jacopo and Norman Foster discuss nuclear batteries and their possible applications in delivering advanced industrial production systems – a combination that can transform the way we produce and consume energy, as well as transform our economies … creating tomorrow’s world, today.

Leading meteorologist and climate scientist, Kerry Emanuel, discusses his optimism for the future decarbonization of our economies as we push for clean energy solutions – a theme picked up by civil engineer and environmental advocate, Kristin Zaitz.

We hear one final time from former NASA deputy administrator and current director of MIT Media Lab, Dava Newman. The show ends with Dava and Nick O’Hara issuing a call to action for humanity, for us to meet the greatest challenge we’ve ever faced: to ensure that our children and grandchildren can inherit a liveable planet.  

Suggested Links:

• Gridlocked
• Renovata
• Jacopo Buongiorno
• Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems
• Mothers for Nuclear
• MIT Media Lab
• Norman Foster Foundation
• MIT Lorenz Center

In the podcast’s fourth panel discussion show, Gridlocked writer and producer Nick O’Hara is joined by:

• Kerry Emanuel, professor emeritus of meteorology and co-founder of the MIT Lorenz Center; and
• Jacopo Buongiorno, MIT professor of nuclear science and engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems.

The panel builds on many of the issues raised in the previous Inflection Point episode of Gridlocked, addressing key considerations of how to decarbonize societies and combat climate change.

In the show, Kerry and Jacopo cover different approaches to tackling climate change from a scientific perspective. They discuss the importance of cleaning up energy production and why popular approaches favored by some environmentalists – such as energy ‘demand reduction’ – do not work. They also discuss the importance of empirical evidence in environmental academic research.

Our panelists discuss the costs and economic opportunities presented in efforts to clean up energy generation, together with examples of countries successfully reducing harmful emissions and the best energy mixes for achieving this.

Jacopo and Kerry talk about the considerations at play in communicating science to the wider public and what types of messaging resonates (or not) with audiences, noting the current challenges in public discourse with many folks being mistrustful of ‘experts’. 

The show ends with our guests talking about their levels of optimism for the future, and how hopeful they are that humanity will rise to the challenges presented by a changing climate.

Suggested Links:

• Gridlocked 
• Renovata
• Jacopo Buongiorno
• Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems
• Kerry Emanuel with the Dalai Lama
• MIT Lorenz Center

Humanity is at a juncture in history requiring us to make a fundamental shift to clean energy, in order to decarbonize our societies and combat climate change. The global economy needs to transition out of its current fossil fuel dependency … but how can this best be achieved?

This episode, Inflection Point, discusses how advanced energy technologies – including small modular and micro nuclear reactors, together with renewables – can enable us to ‘turn the corner’ on climate change.

Podcast host Rolake Ojo is joined by Gridlocked creators Nick O’Hara and Mark Havenner who, through presenting a mixture of guest expert contribution alongside their own narration, introduce listeners to some of the key issues in unlocking a clean energy future.

In this episode we hear more from Joshua Goldstein, who co-wrote the film Nuclear Now with Oliver Stone.

Leading meteorologist and climate scientist, Kerry Emanuel, offers insights on potential energy mixes that can help us decarbonise our economies as we push for clean energy solutions. He is joined by civil engineer and environmental advocate, Kristin Zaitz. Together with Goldstein, they cover the theme of public acceptance for different energy sources, and how to discuss, debate and advocate energy policy issues.

The show ends with insights from two contributors we heard from in the earlier Spaceship Earth episode: former NASA deputy administrator and current director of MIT Media Lab, Dava Newman, together with International Space Station architect Guillermo Trotti.

This is the penultimate documentary show of the season and prepares the ground for the final show, in which we cover how to build a world for our children and grandchildren that is worth inheriting … how, if we seize this moment, we can create a brighter future. 

Suggested Links:

• Gridlocked
• Renovata
• Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems
• Mothers for Nuclear
• MIT Media Lab