Logo for Sea Change

Sea Change

WWNO & WRKF

Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.

Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.

Sea Change is a new podcast hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast.

Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio. Sea Change is a part of the NPR Podcast Network and is distributed by PRX. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste.

Sea Change is made possible with major support provided by The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Meraux Foundation.

2023-2026

Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.

Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change.

Sea Change is a new podcast hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast.

Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio. Sea Change is a part of the NPR Podcast Network and is distributed by PRX. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste.

Sea Change is made possible with major support provided by The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Meraux Foundation.

2023-2026
25hr 10min
Thumbnail for "The Drowning South: A Conversation with the Washington Post".
The American South is experiencing one of the fastest rates of sea level rise on earth.
Thumbnail for "Sacred and Submerged".
Thumbnail for "Introducing: Hazard NJ "First a Miracle, Then a Curse"".
Thumbnail for "Classic Episode: Salty Chefs".
Thumbnail for "From Sea to Rising Sea".
Thumbnail for "Lights, Camera, Action: Climate Change in Hollywood".
Thumbnail for "Fish to Fork: Bonus Interview with Chef Jim Smith".
Thumbnail for "Fish to Fork".
Thumbnail for "The Future Is Not Yet Written: A Conversation with Ayana Johnson".
Thumbnail for "Partly Cloudy With a Chance of Climate Action".
TV Weather Gets Heated
Thumbnail for "In Hot Water".
Our oceans are heating up—what does that mean for all the life that lives in the sea...and us?
Thumbnail for "The Stormy Insurance Crisis in the Sunshine State".
Thumbnail for "Bringing Back the Beach".
Thumbnail for "Hot Summer Reading".
Thumbnail for "Coastal Cities for the Future".
Thumbnail for "Nuoc: A Viet-Cajun Story".
Thumbnail for "Sea Change Live! Inside the Insurance Crisis".
We host our first live event...all about the insurance crisis. And the event sold out!
Thumbnail for "Introducing: Ripple ".
Thumbnail for "Redfish Blues".
Redfish are Louisiana's most iconic fish. But is their decline a warning of a bigger collapse?
Thumbnail for "All Gassed Up: Inside the International Fight Against LNG".
Anti-LNG leaders from the Gulf Coast, Germany, and Japan tell us about why they have united to stop the global expansion of LNG.
Thumbnail for "All Gassed Up, Part 3: The Sugar Daddy of LNG".
One country has been on the LNG train the longest… and doesn’t plan on getting off. But if the global gas industry continues to expand, what does that mean for the rest of us?
Thumbnail for "All Gassed Up, Part 2: The German Connection".
The Russian invasion of Ukraine set off an energy crisis. President Biden said we could help save Europe, by selling them LNG.
Thumbnail for "All Gassed Up, Part 1: The Carbon Coast".
Right now, in the U.S., there’s a GAS BOOM. A liquified natural gas boom. And Louisiana is ground zero.
Thumbnail for "Introducing Season 2".
Sea Change is back with a brand new season!
Thumbnail for "Presenting: The Anti-Dread Climate Podcast".
Does what we do as individuals even matter in our fight against climate change? Spoiler: heck yes!
Thumbnail for "A World of Hope".
Stories about the good. Today, we're focusing on solutions — finding the bright spots in our fight against climate change.
Thumbnail for "The American Whale".
Investigation: There are only around 51 Rice’s whales left in the world, and they all live in the Gulf of Mexico. Are we protecting them?
Thumbnail for "Pardon the Intrusion".
What happens when saltwater intrudes where it's not wanted?
Thumbnail for "Designing With Nature".
As we experience worsening impacts from climate change, we’re wondering: How can we rethink engineering? Instead of trying to control nature, can we design with nature?
Thumbnail for "Presenting: KQED’s Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America".
When the water comes for your home, how do you adapt?
Thumbnail for "Flood By Flood".
Recovery after a disaster doesn’t happen quickly… or evenly.
Thumbnail for "Riddle of the Ridley".
Kemp's Ridleys are the most endangered sea turtle on the planet...can they lose their nickname of the "heartbreak turtle"?
Thumbnail for " Abandoned in (Plant)ation Country".
A change in the White House could have changed everything for Black communities in Louisiana's polluted "Cancer Alley." Then, federal officials walked away.
Thumbnail for "Presenting: Outside/In "Windfall"".
Windfall is the story of the potential of wind power in a changing climate. Today is the first-ever wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.
Thumbnail for "Expand Your Blue Mind".
We dive into our human connection to oceans and how we can harness that love to save them.
Thumbnail for "The Craft of Climate Writing".
Authors Jeff Goodell, Katharine Wilkinson, and Nathaniel Rich unveil their craft of writing about climate change and why they do it.
Thumbnail for "I'd Like My Life Back".
Has the broken system that led to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster been fixed? And, what has happened to all the cleanup workers?
Thumbnail for "We Could All Use A Little Creativity".
How can artists help us reimagine how we look at the climate crisis? From creating paint from the earth to rock puppet shows with terrifying clouds.
Thumbnail for "Rescuing our Past".
What does it mean to keep history alive when the place itself is disappearing? We travel through Louisiana’s bayous to learn from people dedicated to protecting the stories of our past in the face of climate change.
Thumbnail for "Presenting: Parched "The Boldest Idea of All"".
Can pumping water from the Mississippi River save the Colorado River?
Thumbnail for "If I Get Called "Resilient" One More Time...".
When we talk about climate change, we hear one word all the time: resilient.
Thumbnail for "Salty Chefs".
How can we keep enjoying the food we love to eat without hurting the ecosystems it comes from? We meet chefs leading the way in sustainability and in efforts to save our coast.
Thumbnail for "(Plant)ation Country".
Louisiana’s "Cancer Alley" has no shortage of Black communities overburdened by pollution. But years of protest have begun to turn the tide.
Thumbnail for "Music Fights Back".
How can music inspire us to save the planet? We talk with a Grammy-award-winning Cajun punk musician bringing solar power to the bayous and a reverend fighting climate injustice with hip hop.
Thumbnail for "Shrimp on the Line".
We eat more shrimp than any other seafood in this country. So times should be really good for shrimpers, right? In this episode, we head to the docks and out in the bayous with shrimpers fighting for a livelihood and a culture that has been here for centuries.
Thumbnail for "Trailer".
Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world.

The Drowning South: A Conversation with the Washington Post

Thumbnail for "The Drowning South: A Conversation with the Washington Post".
May 10, 202426min 50sec

The ocean is rising across the South faster than almost anywhere else in the world. Today, Eva Tesfaye, a reporter for Sea Change, talks to the two journalists behind the Washington Post’s new series “The Drowning South.” Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis discuss their data-driven reporting, which takes them from Texas to North Carolina. It’s a fascinating conversation about how journalists are finding ways to tell the complicated stories of climate change and offers deep insight into why the south is especially at risk. That’s coming up after the break.

Links to the first stories in the Washington Post’s series, “The Drowning Coast.”

“Where Seas are Rising at Alarming Speed”

“The New Face of Flooding”


This episode was produced by Eva Tesfaye, and me Carlyle Calhoun. Sea Change’s managing producer is Carlyle Calhoun. Our sound designer is Emily Jankowski. And our theme music is by Jon Batiste. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX.

Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

Thumbnail for "The Drowning South: A Conversation with the Washington Post".
The Drowning South: A Conversation with the Washington Post
00:00
26:50