Who Will Live on the Islands of Trash?

Coming up on today’s show:

• More than 15 wildfires that started on Sunday night are still blazing across Northern California. At least 17 people have been killed, hundreds have been hospitalized, and about 150 people are missing. About 25,000 evacuees are still waiting to learn if anything more than ashes remain of their homes. Mina Kim, a news anchor for San Francisco public radio station KQED, and Heather Bailey, a co-owner of Phoenix Farms in Sonoma County and a fire evacuee, bring us the latest. 

• Yesterday, EPA Head Scott Pruitt signed a proposal to roll back the Clean Power Plan. To date, the Trump Administration has sought to reverse nearly 50 environmental rules — 24 rules have been successfully overturned, 17 rollbacks are in progress, and seven rollbacks are in limbo. Eric Lipton, Washington correspondent for The New York Times, examines the future of the EPA. 

• Border fences, deportations, and putting “America First.” It all happened in the 1990s, and it started in California.Scott Michels, a producer for the Retro Report documentary team, explains. 

• What does the future look like? In a special new series from The Takeaway, science fiction writers imagine what the world will look like in 2067. Today, we hear from author Kristen Simmons, who imagines an earth altered by climate change, with disappearing coastlines, droughts, and rampant disease.

• How is America’s leadership in science being challenged by policies under the Trump administration? Dr. Soheil Saravi, an Iranian researcher who arrived in Boston late last month, and  Dr. Thomas Michel, a professor of medicine and biochemistry at Harvard Medical School, and a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, weigh in. 

• Details continue to emerge around the sexual harassment and assault accusations facing Harvey Weinstein. On Tuesday, audio from an NYPD sting was released with Weinstein on tape admitting to groping a young woman in the entertainment business. We explore how a culture of silence allowed this behavior to persist for so long with Paula Froelich, former deputy editor of Page Six and founder of the “A Broad Abroad” travel blog.

This episode is hosted by Sarah Gonzalez.