Our guest this week is Geza Gyuk, Director of Astronomy at Chicago’s Adler
Planetarium. The 1859 Carrington Event, also known as the perfect solar superstorm, was the most intense Coronal Mass Ejection (large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun's corona) in recorded history. These fast-moving geomagnetic waves wreaked havoc with technology and telegraph communications worldwide. With current society so heavily dependent on technology and electricity, Geza discusses just how detrimental it would be if a similar storm hit Earth today, what systems are in place to detect these storms and how you can be prepared.

Traditionally mileage has been a key factor in determining a car’s value, but that
is not the case for electric vehicles. This week we spoke to our Guru of Gears,
Tom Appel, the publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive and the host of the
podcast Car Stuff, to take a look at how EVs are valued and resold as they age.

Hidden Lemur is a sustainable travel website that aims to give travelers better
access to ethical travel experiences. We spoke with Hidden Lemur’s Founder
and CEO, Conor Armor, to discuss the growing interest in eco-tourism and if
these sustainable travel destinations are minimizing social, physical, and
economic impacts on these sensitive environments.

The Environmental Working Group is on a mission to shine a light on outdated legislation, harmful agricultural practices, and industry loopholes that risk human health and the environment. This week we spoke to EWG’s Senior Scientist, Tasha Stoiber, to learn more about PFAs synthetic fluorine-based compounds that are everywhere and never break down! Hear Tasha's helpful tips on what you can do to avoid these chemicals.

This week we are joined by Mary Beth Cowardin, the Vice President of Marketing and member engagement at AmericanHort, the organizers of Cultivate, the premier horticulture industry trade show. AmericanHort is on a mission to unite, promote, and advance the horticulture industry through advocacy, collaboration, connectivity, education, market development, and research. We spoke with Mary Beth about today’s current global supply chain issues, rising input costs, climate change, and its impact on the greenhouse and nursery ecosystem. 

This week we spoke to Bronx educator Stephen Ritz, who is on a mission to build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development. Stephen discusses how he developed an incredibly successful indoor gardening curriculum in the Bronx that allows children to grow vegetables in the classroom, helping them eat better, be more engaged with school, and providing inner city kids with pathways for jobs in agriculture.

Over the last several years, billions of dollars have been poured into the Agri-food tech industry, yet only a small percentage of the money goes to women-owned
companies. This week we spoke to Amy Wu, who is on a mission to get more women at the table and raise awareness about the lack of representation in funding in the Agri-food tech space. Amy is the Founder and Creator of From Farms to Incubators. This multimedia platform uses documentary, video, photography, and the written word to tell the stories of women leaders and innovators in Agtech.

This week we are joined by Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health at
Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. We discuss how the
Respiratory Health Association is on a mission to prevent lung disease, promote clean
air and help people live better through education, research, and policy change. We
review a recent report showing which Chicago neighborhoods are air pollution hot
spots.

The Hawaiian economy historically has been very dependent on tourism revenue which rapidly saw a decline at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. With more tourists comes an environmental impact causing local government to rethink its economic development policies. This week we are joined by Kelly Takaya King, who holds the County Council seat for the South Maui residency area. She is the Chair of the Climate Action, Resilience, and Environment Committee. Kelly is a champion of change and discusses her efforts to create meaningful climate action policy, economic diversification beyond tourism, and sustainable agriculture practices to grow more food on the island.