Episodes Notes:
We’re Deep Frying the Rainforest
Sources & Citations
Citations reference first appearance, without repeating for subsequent usage:
Smithsonian Magazine: The World’s Oldest Forest Has 385-Million-Year-Old Tree Roots (2019)
Our World in Data: Deforestation and Forest Loss (2021, updated 2024)
World Resources Institute: Fires Drove Record-breaking Tropical Forest Loss in 2024 (2025)
Global Witness: Products in US supermarkets linked to deforestation of tropical forests (2024)
Oregon Zoo: 5 things you should know about palm oil (2020)
World Wildlife Fund: 8 Things to Know About Palm Oil (accessed 2025)
The Guardian: How the world got hooked on palm oil (2019)
World Wildlife Fund: Which Everyday Products Contain Palm Oil? (accessed 2025)
Oil Palm is the World’s Most Productive Vegetable Oil (based on 2018 European Commission Report)
Unilever: 1900 – 1950 – Joining forces, Unilever comes to life (accessed 2025)
Index Mundi: United States Palm Oil Imports by Year (accessed 2025)
Mayo Clinic: Trans fat is double trouble for heart health (2025)
US Department of Energy: Renewable Fuel Standard (accessed 2025)
The Conversation: How palm oil became the world’s most hated, most used fat source (2021)
Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries: Palm Oil Production (Ton) Bar Chart Race (accessed 2025)
The New York Times: Meet Peat, the Unsung Hero of Carbon Capture (2022)
World Resources Institute: Forests Absorb Twice As Much Carbon As They Emit Each Year (2021)
The Great Projects: The Evolution of the Orangutan (2017)
The New York Times: Revealing Behavior in “Orangutan Heaven and Human Hell” (2005)
Greenpeace: Amazon rainforest fires 2022: Facts, causes, and climate impacts (2022)
Associated Press: Palm oil labor abuses linked to world’s top brands, banks (2020)
Reuters: Slaves to deforestation: Labor abuses fuel Brazil’s Amazon destruction (2021)
The Guardian: Murder of two journalists leads to arrest of Indonesian palm oil boss (2019)
RSPO: RSPO Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil Production (2007)
RSPO: Board of Governors (accessed 2025)
The New York Times: Defining “Sustainable” Palm Oil Production (2009)
Friends of the Earth Europe: RSPO: Stop destructive Palm Oil (2012)
EIA: Who Watches the Watchmen? Auditors and the breakdown of oversight in the RSPA (2015)
World Resources Institute: Indonesia’s Ambitious Forest Moratorium Moves Forward (2011)
Brooking’s: Indonesia’s Green Prosperity (2011)
Wilmar International Limited: No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation Policy (2013, updated 2019)
Mashable: It’s not just you, Google Search really has gotten worse (2024)
The Register: AI’s thirst for power keeps coal fires burning bright (2024)
Nusantara Atlas: Illegal Deforestation Exposed in Indonesia’s Prime Biodiversity Hotspot. (2024)
Rainforest Action Network: 10 Years in the Leuser Ecosystem (2025)
The New York Times: Can Europe Save Forests Without Killing Jobs in Malaysia? (2024)
European Commission: Implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (accessed 2025)