Buzzkill, presented by REAP/SOW
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About This Podcast
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.
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Recent Episodes
Introducing: Forked, presented by REAP/SOW
American food politics are a mess. The traditional forces driving policy in agriculture and nutrition have been wiped away, and ordinary people are struggling to figure out who is in charge, what…
S3E7 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…
S3E6 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.
S3E5 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,…
S3E4 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…
S3E3 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…
S3E2 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.
S3E1 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…
S3 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…
S2E1 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…
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…
Frequently Asked Questions
Buzzkill, presented by REAP/SOW has published 11 episodes since March 2022, covering topics in Documentary, Society & Culture.
Buzzkill, presented by REAP/SOW is currently sporadic with new episodes every 2 months. Average episode length is 24m.
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