# Metals and Minerals

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507/metals-and-minerals
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507/metals-and-minerals.md
Podcast: [Rare Earth](https://stenobird.com/podcast/rare-earth-6755507)
Published: 2025-06-20T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002dlh3
Audio file: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0lkgj3v.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rare-earth-6755507/episodes/metals-and-minerals
Duration seconds: 3190

## Resource

The transition to an economy based on renewable energy and electric cars needs huge quantities of materials like copper and rare earth metals. Sourcing them can be a problem. Mining damages the surrounding landscape and many of the materials come from unstable regions with poor records on child labour and environmental regulation. Are there alternative materials or do we simply need to consume less? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski investigate. Producer: Emma Campbell Rare Earth is produced in collaboration with the Open University

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## Transcript

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