

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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 3, 2025 • 28min
The truly amazing world of fungi (Rebroadcast)
Think fungi are just mushrooms and mold? Think again. Over 90% of fungal species are still unknown, and scientists are discovering new ones all the time. This World Fungus Day, dive into the hidden, fascinating world of fungi with us.

Sep 26, 2025 • 29min
Norway's big green lie
Norway shines as a climate leader, yet its oil and gas exports tell a different story. A geologist grapples with his role and joins climate protests, igniting a crisis of conscience. Critics dissect the nation's green image amid substantial fossil fuel ties and recent approvals for new oil projects. Discussions touch on the moral dilemmas of carbon capture, legal battles against field approvals, and the urgent call for a shift to green energy investments. Can Norway reconcile its ambitions with its fossil fuel dependence?

Sep 19, 2025 • 30min
Message in a bottle – Saving Louisiana’s sinking coastline
Louisiana loses a football field’s worth of land every 100 minutes to coastal erosion. Franziska Trautmann, co-founder of Glass of Full, tells the story of how she and her boyfriend stumbled upon a genius solution to save the region's natural barrier against hurricanes – by tapping into New Orleans’ party culture.

Sep 12, 2025 • 32min
Storms, science, and threats: the struggles of a local weatherman
What happens when science collides with conspiracy? When a weather forecast sparks hate mail and even death threats? In this episode, we follow the journey of a meteorologist who risked his career - and peace of mind - to bring climate truth to the airwaves, and explore how misinformation is fueling hostility against those on the frontlines of communication.

Sep 5, 2025 • 24min
What’s really holding back train travel?
Long-distance trips make up just a fraction of our journeys - yet they drive most of our travel emissions. Trains can cut that footprint by up to 75%, but planes still dominate. What will it take to shift how we move across countries and continents?

Aug 27, 2025 • 32min
The forgotten children of hurricane Katrina
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, leaving behind a deadly path of destruction. It was the costliest disaster in US history. As E'jaaz Mason can attest, many kids like himself didn't talk about their experiences for years after the storm. It wasn't until working on the award-winning documentary "Katrina Babies" that he heard those stories — and began reflecting back on his own.

Aug 22, 2025 • 30min
Greener Living Ep 5 – Spilling the beans on tea vs. coffee
Tea and coffee. Millennia-old drinks that fuel our mornings and shape our cultures. But behind every steaming cup lies a journey across continents, a web of farms and workers, and a pretty hefty environmental tab. Which one leaves the bigger footprint, and how can we shrink it? We trace their histories, their impact, and some things we can do to brew a better future.

Aug 15, 2025 • 32min
Greener Living Ep 4 – The real cost of smelling clean
We love the smell of fresh laundry – but at what cost? In Episode Four of our Greener Living series, we unpack how our quest for "clean" has been shaped by marketing, not necessity – and how it’s filling our air, water, and bodies with microplastics and nasty chemicals. The good news? A few simple changes can lighten the load.

Aug 8, 2025 • 31min
Greener Living Ep 3 – Pets: A mirror on our mess
Who's a good boy? We love our pets (how could we not?) – and they love us back. But the way we care for our furry companions says a lot about how we consume, what we value, and the systems we're part of. In Episode Three, we reveal the environmental pawprint of having pets and what it can teach us about ourselves. Not to worry though – we're still allowed to have nice things, including pets.

Aug 1, 2025 • 28min
Greener Living Ep 2 – What to look for in your sunscreen
Decipher the back of your sunscreen bottle with the help of an ecotoxicologist in Episode Two of our Greener Living series. Craig Downs helps us understand, and if we're honest, pronounce, the chemicals that have become the norm for protecting ourselves from skin cancer. But what exactly are they doing to the marine life at our favorite beaches?