Today we’re talking about a key piece of the global transition to renewable energy: metals. Specifically, metals like copper, lithium and cobalt that we need to build wind turbines, electric vehicles and to improve our energy grid.

Vince Beiser, author of the forthcoming book “Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future,” said we’ll need hundreds of millions more tons of these metals. But mining them comes at a cost.

“The good news is there are plenty of these metals around. There is enough of them in the world,” Beiser said. “The bad news is they can be really hard to get to and getting them can cause enormous damage.”

On the show today, Beiser explains the environmental and social consequences of mining for these metals, China’s dominance over the supply chain, and ways to make the transition to renewables more fair. Plus, why mining in space is a pipe dream, at least for now.

Then, we’ll get into how the U.S. dairy industry could be upended if former President Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations took place. And, is Boeing too big to fail?

Later, how one listener makes voting a party. Plus, another listener was wrong about how people make choices.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

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