Interview: Controlling the Weather: The Promise and the Power of Cloud Seeding

As water shortages intensify across the globe, one company is betting on a controversial solution: making it rain—literally. In this episode, we’re joined by Augustus Doricko, founder and CEO of Rainmaker, to break down the science, promise, and misconceptions around cloud seeding.

We explore how this decades-old technology has advanced, what it could mean for agriculture and the environment, and why it’s drawing renewed interest. Doricko walks us through how cloud seeding actually works, the regulatory safeguards in place, and how it differs from more speculative geoengineering efforts. He also weighs in on the ethics of weather modification and why water access is becoming a national security issue.  He also fact checks various theories when it comes to ways the weather CANNOT be altered. 

Note: Our conversation took place before the recent record flooding in central Texas. Rainmaker faced accusations on social media that their cloud seeding may have contributed to it. We include Doricko’s response. 

Rainmaker is a sponsor of this podcast episode. 

Mosheh Oinounou (@mosheh) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.