WATER: October 2025 podcast playlist

Water isn’t just about turning on the tap—it’s the hidden force shaping economies, politics, and daily survival. From shrinking rivers in the West to skyrocketing city water bills, from the global scramble for access to the surprising demands of AI, these episodes dig into how we use, value, and fight over the planet’s most essential resource. This playlist pulls together big ideas, tough questions, and eye-opening stories about who controls water, who pays for it, and what happens when there isn’t enough to go around.

This playlist was curated by Sarah, the leader of our Baltimore chapter.

Podcast Playlist on WATER

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
The Indicator from Planet Money: “The water mystery unfolding in the western U.S.” (January 2025, 11 min)
A short, punchy look at why the West keeps running out of water—and why no one can agree on who should cut back.
Water Resources Podcast: “Peter Gleick and The Three Ages of Water” (November 2024, 52 min)
A sweeping conversation with one of the world’s leading water thinkers about how humanity’s past, present, and future can be read through our relationship with water.
Liquid Assets: “Global Water Scarcity with Tess Russo from the Gates Foundation” (June 2024, 32 min)
A global lens on the scale of the crisis, where philanthropy, policy, and science collide over who gets clean water and who doesn’t.
The Maryland Curiosity Bureau: “The complex ills of water bills” (January 2022, 28 min)
A surprisingly human story about how something as mundane as a water bill exposes hidden inequities and systemic dysfunction.
Today in Focus: “Why is AI so thirsty?” (January 2025, 21 min)
A deep dive into the hidden water costs of AI, and what it means when the tech of the future guzzles the planet’s most finite resource.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Should water always be free, or do price tags keep us from wasting it?
2. If farms use most of the water, why do cities and households take the heat for conservation?
3. Would you trust AI and big tech companies to manage water more efficiently—or will they just drain it faster?
4. Is desalination a silver bullet, or just an expensive distraction?
5. Who should get first dibs when water runs short: people, crops, or industry?
6. Why are water bills so confusing—and who benefits from that complexity?
7. Should access to water be guaranteed as a human right, no matter the cost?
8. Are we headed for “water wars,” or is that just fear-mongering?
9. What’s the most surprising way climate change is already reshaping how we get water?
10. If you controlled your city’s water budget, what would you cut—or raise—to make it sustainable?