Mike Kiniry

The world filled with portable devices and electric cars that we’ve come to rely upon is mostly powered with lithium-ion batteries. Most of the lithium-ion batteries we use require cobalt. Most of the cobalt that’s being used in these batteries is extracted from the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and much of it is sent to China to be processed for the global market. The Blood Diamond initiative in the 1990s sought to raise awareness about, and eventually create systems to mitigate the use here in the U.S. of, so-called ‘blood’ or ‘conflict’ diamonds that were being mined in places like Sierra Leone and the DRC where workers were being mistreated and profits were fueling war. Our guest was instrumental in the Blood Diamonds initiative, and is now leading the new Blood Battery Campaign that’s modelled after it.

Feral cats gather in colonies across Southwest Florida and around the United States. The National Feline Research Council estimates there are around 32 million nationwide.

A r ecent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal opens with the story of a man who believed his 83-year-old mother was plotting to assassinate him. His conversational partner and sounding board — in that case ChatGPT — told him he wasn't crazy and his instincts were sharp , and that vigilance was fully justified. Not long after the man killed his mother before taking his own life.

Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan is known for his analysis of how mass media and technology shape human consciousness and society.

This episode originally aired on June 2, 2025 . All of the information this conversation contains still applies.

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum and Aquarium on Sanibel has been a fixture on the island since it opened in 1995. Its story began in the 1980s when a local shell collector named Charlene McMurphy provided some seed funding, and then a nonprofit was formed to begin raising funds and attention. One of the museum's early boosters was Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame.

Southwest Florida in recent years has been prone to harmful algae blooms, both red tides offshore and blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria blooms in freshwater.

Up until the early 1900s about three-quarters of Florida's southern coast, from about Tampa Bay on the Gulf side around to The Indian River Lagoon on the Atlantic Ocean, was covered with, and protected by mangroves.

Former global advertising executive Tim Love's 2025 book “The Medium is the Mirror: The Reformation of Truth Reshaping Our Relationships, Politics and Sacr

The Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs has roots that date back to 1936 . It was created as The Reptile Gardens by brothers Bill and Lester Piper and