Guardian Science Weekly

How to Save the Amazon part 3: ask the people that know – podcast

Loading player...
As a companion to the Guardian’s Missing in the Amazon podcast, global environment editor Jon Watts goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon? In the final episode of a three-part series, Jon encounters a radical new view of the Amazon’s history being uncovered by archaeologists. Far from an uninhabited wilderness, the rainforest has been shaped by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Jon finds out how their expert knowledge could be harnessed to secure the Amazon’s future. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
12 Jun 2025 English United Kingdom Science · Nature

Other recent episodes

Does Trump want to wage an AI-powered war?

In the past three months, Donald Trump’s White House has reportedly used AI twice to effect regime change – once in its capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and more recently to help plan the strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The most recent strikes coincided with…
3 Mar 16 min

Can degrowth save the climate?

Since the 1960s, global GDP has been rapidly rising and living standards have reached record highs. But something else has been rocketing up too – carbon emissions. For years, scientists and economists have been asking: is it possible to grow without heating and polluting the Earth? And as the climate…
26 Feb 18 min

The truth about fat, and its complex role in our health

For a long time fat was seen simply as an inert yellow substance wrapping around our bodies, but now that’s changing. Scientists are beginning to understand that our fat is actually intricate and dynamic, constantly in conversation with the rest of the body. It’s now even considered by some to…
24 Feb 16 min

Psychedelics for depression, dart frog poison and why do we have chins?

Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample and science correspondent Nicola Davis to discuss three eye-catching stories, including the impact of a powerful psychedelic on depression, answers on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and an explanation to the mystery of why humans have chins. Help…
19 Feb 19 min

Should we really all be taking magnesium supplements?

Testimonials about the beneficial health effects of magnesium supplements abound online, with influencers claiming that a daily pill can help with everything from anxiety to sleep and brain fog. But do any of these claims stack up? Ian Sample is joined by co-host Madeleine Finlay to find out where the…
17 Feb 16 min
All episodes