Tales from the Belly of the Beast: An ExxonMobil Whistleblower’s Story

What would you risk to tell the truth, if the institution you served was one of the most powerful corporations on Earth?

Early scientific warnings about global heating have long stood in tension with corporate narratives shaping public understanding. This episode examines the enduring disinformation created and disseminated by the fossil fuel industry: how it evolves, why it persists, and what it means for the pace of climate action. Through the perspective of a former insider at ExxonMobil, we explore the widening gap between the disinformation narratives pumped out by fossil fuel companies and the personal consequences of challenging one of the most powerful corporations in modern history.

Featured guest:

Lindsey Gulden, Principal Data Scientist at Leg Up Data and former employee at ExxonMobil

Audio sources: 

Oil giant ExxonMobil predicted climate change in 1970s - BBC News

Exxon CEO and Chairman of the American Petroleum Institute Lee Raymond speech (1996) - CPAN

WSJ: SEC probes Exxon after whistleblower complaint - CNBC

Links:

New study in 'Science' puts a number on what Exxon knew decades ago about climate change - Potsdam Institute

How a Newton woman became an enemy of ExxonMobil - The Boston Globe

Tracing Big Oil’s PR war to delay action on climate change - The Harvard Gazette

Carbon Capture and Storage: The Billion Dollar Scam - Environmental Defence

Trump says he might keep Exxon out of Venezuela - Reuters

Countering Climate Disinformation - C40 Cities

Disinformation episodes - Cities 1.5

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website at https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

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Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. Sign up to the Centre newsletter: https://thecentre.substack.com/

Writing and executive production by Peggy Whitfield.

Narrative and communications support by Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/