Episode

How Trump's EPA head has transformed the agency — and sided with polluters

Podcast: Fresh Air
Published: Apr 29, 2026
Duration seconds: 2682
Processing state: not_requested
Canonical source: https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5805006/how-trumps-epa-head-has-transformed-the-agency-and-sided-with-polluters
Audio: https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/npr.simplecastaudio.com/49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400/episodes/806b5364-c905-4393-bcea-3fa8d11ab811/audio/128/default.mp3?awCollectionId=49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400&awEpisodeId=806b5364-c905-4393-bcea-3fa8d11ab811&feed=jBsBZBHh&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5805006&p=381444908&d=2682&size=42913629
JSON: /v1/public/podcasts/fresh-air-214340/episodes/how-trump-s-epa-head-has-transformed-the-agency-and-sided-with-polluters
Markdown: /podcast/fresh-air-214340/how-trump-s-epa-head-has-transformed-the-agency-and-sided-with-polluters.md

Actions

POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fresh-air-214340/episodes/how-trump-s-epa-head-has-transformed-the-agency-and-sided-with-polluters/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340/how-trump-s-epa-head-has-transformed-the-agency-and-sided-with-polluters.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

‘New Yorker’ staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert says EPA chief Lee Zeldin has rescinded regulations, cut or eliminated departments and terminated the jobs of many scientists. Trump calls Zeldin "our secret weapon." The Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental journalist spoke with Terry Gross. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy