Episode 80 – Something in the Water – Hurricane Sandy & Flint Michigan

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In this episode, Elise examines what we’ve learned (and what we still need to learn) from the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy, including pathways to climate resilience, advancements in attribution studies, and what makes for a healthier city.

Then Olivia tells the story of the Flint water crisis, tracing back to a time when Vehicle City flourished and what happened when it floundered.

Other topics include great new climate books, Little Miss Flint, and whether we’ve lived up to our college freshman goals.

Story #1: Hurricane Sandy and Climate Attribution (Elise)

Super Storm Sandy Report, NOAA,
Climate Change Added $8 Billion to Hurricane Sandy’s Damage, Scientific American, May 2021
Safeguarding Our Shores: Protecting New York City’s Coastal Communities from Climate Change, New York City Comptroller, May 2019
Superstorm Sandy: Lessons for Climate Resiliency Ten Years Later, Council on Foreign Relations, Oct 2022
Climate Change’s Impact On Hurricane Sandy Has A Price: $8 Billion, May 2021
Economic damages from Hurricane Sandy attributable to sea level rise caused by anthropogenic climate change, Nature Communications, May 2021
Anthropogenic Climate Change Exacerbated Impacts Of Hurricane Sandy, Study Says, Climate Program Office, June 2021
FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Launches American Climate Corps to Train Young People in Clean Energy, Conservation, and Climate Resilience Skills, Create Good-Paying Jobs and Tackle the Climate Crisis, White House, Sept 2023

Story #2: Flint Water Crisis (Olivia)

Visual timeline: Flint, Michigan: Water Crisis Timeline
NYTimes timeline
NRDC timeline
Mari Copeny’s website
Asked and Answered: President Obama Responds to an Eight-Year-Old Girl from Flint, Obama White House Archives
Events That Led to Flint’s Water Crisis, New York Times, January 2016
Flint, MI Has Lost Over Half Its Population Since 1950, The Center Square, March 30, 2023
Demographic and Labor Market Profile: City of Flint, State of Michigan Dept of Technology Management and Budget, 2014
Flint Water Crisis Fast Facts, CNN, December 13 2022
What General Motors Did To Flint, Jalopnik, April 28, 2017
Riding Along With the Cops in Murdertown, U.S.A., New York Times, April 15, 2011
Health Effects of Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water, DC Water
Lead-Laced Water In Flint: A Step-By-Step Look At The Makings Of A Crisis, NPR, April 20, 2016
Biden says striking UAW workers deserve “fair share of the benefits they help create” for automakers, CBS News, September 15, 2023
Why is the UAW on strike? These are their contract demands as they negotiate with the Big Three, CBS News, September 19, 2023
GM to invest more than $1 billion in two Flint, Michigan, plants, Associated Press, June 5 2023
Flint, MI Filter Challenge Assessment, EPA, June 2016

Donate to: Little Miss Flint Clean Water Fund via GoFundMe!!

Little Miss Flint asks Biden for solutions

The Dump

We’re reading climate books, specifically: The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell and Our Fragile Moment by Michael Mann.

We’re listening to books on Libby, and we’re keeping track of our reading on Storygraph.

We’re also watching A Small Light, a limited series on the story of Miep Gies, who was one of Otto Frank’s employees who helped to hide the members of the Secret Annex during the war.

The World Is Burning bookshop is live! Help us come up with book list titles and bulk up our reading list.

Our World is Burning themed playlist is on Spotify.

You can keep up with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok.

If you enjoyed this episode, consider reviewing us on Apple Podcasts and downloading/subscribing/following wherever you like to do those things. It helps us immensely.

Thanks for listening!

Ep. 82 – Cheese Caves and Banana Republics – World Is Burning

We’re digging into America’s deepest darkest secrets — when it comes to food, that is. Elise tells us how one president’s cheese became the next president’s problem, which might lead you to Google “American government 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in caves.” We explore how the cheese caves of yesteryear became the weird milk ads of our present. Then Olivia gives us a brief history of bananas, which involves quite a lot of railroad tycoons, bare minimum union demands, and good old American capitalism. Plus, our theory as to why slipping on banana peels was more common a century ago, and our next book club pick. Subscribe/follow/press the button to keep up with new episodes every Wednesday! You can also follow us @worldisburnin on Instagram and Twitter, and check out our website worldisburning.com for extended show notes including sources and photos. World Is Burning is hosted by Olivia Hamilton and Elise Nye. Our theme music is by Kaycie Satterfield, and our logo was made by Sonja Katanic.