1383: The power of the stories we tell about the ocean

Science Friday · Sep 1, 2026 · 18m

There’s been wave after wave of bad news about the ocean: warming temperatures, overfishing, acidification, coral bleaching. But in the last few years, there have also been some big wins for the big blue—as well as a narrative shift, in which the ocean itself has almost become its own larger-than-life character in conservation conversations.So how should we think about the future of the seas? And how do the stories we tell about the ocean shape how we think about it? Flora chats with marine biologist Helen Scales, author of “What the Wild Sea Can Be,” which is the Science Friday book club…