Climate History Podcast

Mar 06 2025 23 ep. 45 mins 11.5k

Climate History Podcast artwork

Climate History features interviews and discussions about the history of climate change. Conversations consider what the past can tell us about our present and future. It is hosted by Dr. Dagomar Degroot, associate professor of environmental history at Georgetown University, and Emma Moesswilde, a PhD student in environmental and climate history at Georgetown.

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Introducing The Climate Chronicles

Mar 06 2025 35 mins

The final episode of the Climate History podcast is also the first episode of The Climate Chronicles, a new podcast created, produced, and narrated by our host, Professor Dagomar Degroot of Georgetown University. The Climate Chronicles is a unique multimedia production that uses dramatic storytelling to explain how climate change shaped the history of humanity, from our evolution

A Millennium of Climate Change in Europe: From Medieval Warming to Today's Climate Crisis

Dec 11 2021 39 mins

In the 22nd episode of Climate History, co-hosts Emma Moesswilde and Dagomar Degroot interview Christian Pfister, co-author (with Heinz Wanner) of a new book: "Climate and Society in Europe: The Last Thousand Years." Pfister is one of the founders of the related fields of climate history and historical climatology. He explains how he helped establish these fields, how they benefi

Climate Histories and Futures in the Indian Ocean World

Jul 17 2021 42 mins

In the 21st episode of Climate History, co-host Emma Moesswilde interviews Debjani Bhattacharyya, Associate Professor of History at Drexel University. Professor Bhattacharyya is among the most innovative scholars of past climate change, and the histories she uncovers have clear relevance for the future of the Indian Ocean World. Moesswilde and Bhattacharyya discuss the history of

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson and the Record of Past Climate Change

May 16 2021 60 mins

In the 20th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde interview Jim McClure, General Editor of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson at Princeton University. Recently, Director McClure spearheaded the creation of a unique digital resource: a repository of Jefferson’s abundant observations of the weather and climate of his time. McClure discusses the crea

Little Ice Age Lessons: How to Better Understand the Societal Impacts of Climate Change

Mar 24 2021 68 mins

In the 19th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde discuss their work on a major article in the journal Nature. The article coins a new term – the “History of Climate and Society” (HCS) – to refer to the truly interdisciplinary study of the past impacts of climate change on human populations. It offers a detailed critique of the field as it

Making Climate Policy: What's Working, and Where We Should Go Now

Dec 17 2020 38 mins

In the 18th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde interview Vicki Arroyo, Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center and Professor from Practice at Georgetown Law. Professor Arroyo explains which climate policies have worked across the United States, and identifies where emissions reductions will be hardest to achieve. She emphasizes a pr

Pandemics, Empires, and the Lessons of History

Nov 29 2020 47 mins

In the 17th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde interview PhD candidate Emily Webster of the Department of History at the University of Chicago. Webster's trailblazing scholarship combines environmental history, the history of science, and medical history to transform understandings of disease in the British Empire. Among other topics, Webster d

Pandemics and Climate Change: What History Tells Us About Today's Greatest Challenges

Aug 25 2020 71 mins

In the 16th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde interview professor Timothy Newfield, a climate historian and historical epidemiologist in the departments of history and biology at Georgetown University. Professor Newfield explains how he landed in two very different departments, in two very different fields, and introduces the discipline of his

Teaching Across Disciplines: Reimagining University Education for Today's Multidisciplinary Problems

Jun 22 2020 48 mins

In the 15th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde interview Kathryn de Luna, Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor in the Department of History at Georgetown University. Professor de Luna combines paleoscience, archaeology, and historical linguistics to explore the deep history of eastern, central and southern Africa before the 20th century.

Climate Change in the Ancient World: Volcanoes, Rebellions, and Lessons from the Distant Past

Apr 30 2020 47 mins

In the 14th episode of Climate History, co-hosts Dagomar Degroot and Emma Moesswilde interview Joseph Manning, the William K. and Marilyn Milton Simpson Professor of Classics at Yale University. Professor Manning is a leading expert on the law, politics, and economy of the ancient world, particularly the Hellenistic Period (between 330 and 30 BCE). In recent years, he's led efforts