How to save the Amazon part two: the magic and mystery

Loading player...
As a companion to the Guardian’s Missing in the Amazon, Jon Watts, global environment editor, goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon? In episode two, Jon meets the people trying to make sure the rainforest is worth more standing than cut down – from a government minister attempting to establish Brazil’s ‘bioeconomy’ to a startup founder creating superfood supplements and a scientist organising night-time tours hunting for bioluminescent fungi. Jon explores new ways of finding value in the forest and asks whether they will be enough to secure its future survival. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
11 Jun 2025 English United Kingdom Science · Nature

Other recent episodes

Sauna and cold plunge: where does the evidence stand?

Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users will be ready with all the reasons why it’s good for both the mind and the body. But what’s the evidence…
2 Apr 16 min

Does going to the moon still matter?

If all goes to plan, Artemis II, Nasa’s mission to return humans to the moon, will launch this week. The mission will mark the farthest that humans have travelled from Earth, and the first return to the moon in more than 50 years. It will also pave the way for…
31 Mar 19 min

Transporting the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth

A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. What looked like a casual drive around the Cern campus was actually a world-first experiment in transporting antimatter, the most expensive and…
26 Mar 15 min

What sets human consciousness apart in the age of AI?

Why is it like something to be ourselves and how do physical processes create our subjective experience? These questions get to the heart of the knotty problem of consciousness, and they provided the spark for the latest book from award-winning author and journalist Michael Pollan. In A World Appears, Pollan…
24 Mar 21 min

Off Duty: The Crime

On the evening of 29 December 2011, police officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated…
21 Mar 26 min