Consider the American bumblebee, once the most common bee species in the United States. Its numbers have declined by 90 percent in the last two decades. We’re talking about more than just the loss of an iconic species. Three-fourths of the food crops humans grow depend on pollinators – bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and more. Industrial monocultures sap the soil. Rampant chemical use poisons our water and our bodies. Reckless stewardship of the land wastes our precious resources. Buzzkill asks why we raise food this way – and how we can change things for the better.
Helena Bottemiller Evich and Theodore Ross analyze the chaotic landscape of American food politics, offering clarity on influential figures and their agendas in this interview episode.
11 Mar 2025
Buzzkill Bonus Episode: “Is urban beekeeping bad for bees?”
This is an engaging conversation on urban pollinators taped live during the Buzzkill celebration in New York City on March 3, 2025, moderated by Sewell Chan, executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, with Buzzkill host Teresa Cotsirilos, Sara Hobel, executive director of the Horticultural Society of New York, and Rebecca Louie, executive director of the Bee Conservancy.
4 Mar 2025
Buzzkill: A post-pollinator world
The Golden State’s annual almond harvest shows what happens when biodiversity collapses and bees become a commodity valuable enough to steal.
25 Feb 2025
Buzzkill: Bats and the blue agave
Nearly all tequila is made from cloned plants that are vulnerable to species collapse. In Mexico, a small group of people is trying to change that – and protect an endangered, nectar-slurping, agave-pollinating bat that’s only three inches long.
18 Feb 2025
Buzzkill: The lawn war
A suburban couple was passionate about pollinators, native plants, and living in harmony with nature. Their neighbors were not impressed. This “battle of the backyard” turned out to have national implications.
11 Feb 2025
Buzzkill: Colonialism and the land
White settlers viewed farmland as a resource to be exploited, while Indigenous people saw it as a partnership for mutual benefit. Now, a Native American tribe is solving today’s environmental problems and helping pollinators with ancient techniques.
4 Feb 2025
Buzzkill: The mystery of the dead bees
In Nebraska, a researcher’s bee colonies kept dying, and the evidence pointed to the ethanol plant next door – and a food system built on pesticides.
28 Jan 2025
Buzzkill: Save which bees?
Americans stepped up to do something about dying bees. But what if all those backyard colonies are making the problem worse? In Buzzkill’s premiere episode, we take an in-depth look at whether raising domesticated bees, especially in cities, is harming the wild species we need to preserve biodiversity.
21 Jan 2025
Introducing: Buzzkill, presented by REAP/SOW
We’re in the middle of a full-blown biodiversity crisis: American honeybee populations have declined by 90 percent in the last two decades. It's not rocket science. How we produce our food is killing off the very pollinators that food relies on. But don't panic, because it is not too late to fix this – and Buzzkill will show you how. Premiering January 28. 2025.
1 Feb 2024
Introducing REAP/SOW!
REAP/SOW: dispatches from the front lines of food, farming, and the environment, is the latest audio project from the Food and Environment Reporting Network, an independent, non-profit news organization. Learn about what you can expect and check out the trailer for our upcoming limited series, BUZZKILL!
15 Mar 2022
Hot Farm Trailer
Over four episodes, host Eve Abrams and her team travel the Midwest, engaging with farmers who are confronting the difficult reality of climate change—increasingly extreme floods and heat—including those who don’t believe they’re part of the problem. We also meet the scientists who are developing new crops that are better suited to an unpredictable climate, and the people who are trying to convince farmers and consumers to embrace those crops. And we get a detailed look at one possible future for agriculture in America: As California dries out and heats up, people are asking if other regions of the country can take up the slack. Part 1 coming April 12.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
42
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
Host of Buzzkill, presented by REAP/SOW?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
