Podcast Playlist

Podcasts about the weather

Oscar Wilde said "conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative." We have to wholeheartedly disagree. From frantic storm chasing to the soothing lull of the shipping forecast, these podcasts will get you talking about the weather.

Oscar Wilde was wrong.

A person walks a dog as heavy snow falls in Vancouver, on February 10, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

After I heard Reveal's story about Pinhook, Missouri, I couldn't stop thinking about it. We hear a lot about the structural racism in our society, but for those of us who aren't subjected to it, it can be difficult to see. But this story makes it plain as day. When Pinhook was founded many years ago, the only place the town's African-American founders could buy land was on a designated floodway. When the floodway finally had to be used decades later, the town was destroyed. Stories like this are a stark reminder about the way decisions made decades ago can have a profound butterfly effect down the line. That's why it's my pick of the week.

Julian Uzielli,Producer, Podcast Playlist

Outside Podcast - Thanks to viral videos on the internet, storm chasing exploded in popularity in the 2000s. And thanks to improving technology, "chasers" got more and more confident that they knew what they were doing, and that it was safe. Until 2013, when a monster tornado changed everything.

99 Percent Invisible - The strange and soothing allure of the Shipping Forecast.

  • After this piece, we also mention the CBC's own regular report from the sea: CBC Newfoundland's The Broadcast.

Cited - A story about the unequal ways that climate change is felt around the world.

The Allusionist - When you're a TV weather forecaster, you have to deal with the mismatch of your specialist vocabulary - as well as cover all the weather across a whole country, translate conditions into something the viewer can identify with, and warn people about cyclones without making them too panicked.

Reveal - When a river floods, all that water has to go somewhere. So how do you decide who gets to stay dry and who gets evacuated?

The Anthropocene Reviewed - How has our modern age influenced the weather? Host John Green gives it a star rating out of five.


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