# Are insects the answer? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507/are-insects-the-answer Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507/are-insects-the-answer.md Podcast: [Rare Earth](https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507) Published: 2025-05-30T11:53:00+00:00 Episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002cq4z Audio file: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0lf6rj8.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rare-earth-6755507/episodes/are-insects-the-answer Duration seconds: 3204 ## Resource Insects are the quiet engineers of the environment - pollinating our plants, balancing our ecosystems and clearing up our waste. Some insects can digest plastic, and they play a vital role in crop production. At the same time their populations are under threat from pesticides, habitat loss and climate change. In this programme, Helen Czerski and Tom Heap explore the largely ignored world of insects. Could they be the answer to some of the environmental problems we have created? Would eating them help lower our carbon footprint, and will the western world ever overcome its squeamishness to the idea? Helen and Tom explore the weird and wonderful world of insects with a panel of experts. Producer: Emma Campbell Assistant Producer: Toby Field Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rare-earth-6755507/episodes/are-insects-the-answer/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507/are-insects-the-answer.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.