Curiosity Weekly – Designing Cities for a Warmer World

Host: Dr. Samantha Yammine
Guest: Jesse M. Keenan, expert in climate adaptation and urban planning
Date: October 8, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Curiosity Weekly explores how cities around the world are adapting to the accelerating impacts of climate change. Host Dr. Samantha Yammine and producer Teresa Carey delve into what it truly means to design "climate resilient" cities, moving beyond just infrastructure and engineering to address social, ecological, and governance challenges. The episode features expert insights from Dr. Jesse M. Keenan, with practical examples from cities like New York and Miami. Additional segments include a promising dental breakthrough using keratin and a discussion on the tricky balance of transparency and trust in science communication.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Latest Breakthrough: Tooth Enamel Repair from Hair Protein

[01:31 – 04:31] Dr. Samantha Yammine

• Keratin-Based Enamel Repair:
  • Scientists at King's College London discovered that keratin (the protein in hair, nails, and skin) can repair tooth enamel and prevent early decay.
  • When combined with minerals in saliva, keratin forms a crystal-like scaffold, attracting calcium and phosphate to rebuild a protective enamel layer.
• Environmental Promise:
  • The keratin is sourced from sheep’s wool, making it renewable and biodegradable, potentially replacing less eco-friendly toothpaste ingredients.
  • Quote:

    “If it gives me a better smile and saves the turtles at the same time, sign me up.”
    — Dr. Samantha Yammine [04:22]

2. Defining "Resilience" in Urban Planning

[07:34 – 09:33] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Three Pillars of Resilience:
  • Engineering Resilience: Performance + recovery of infrastructure after disasters.
  • Ecological Resilience: Maintaining environments (like clean air, water, and biodiversity) to support human settlement.
  • Community Resilience: Learning from and responding to disasters at the household, neighborhood, and institutional level.
• Quote:

  “Resilience is one of many allied concepts... Engineering resilience, ecological resilience, community resilience are the sort of three pillars we see globally.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [08:02]

3. Practical Adaptation Strategies in Cities

[09:33 – 13:34] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Risk Profiles Differ, but Tools Can Be Shared:
  • While cities face unique risks (sea level rise, hurricanes vs. heat waves, wildfires), many adaptation tools overlap.
• Concrete Adaptations:
  • At Building Level:
    • Rainwater collection barrels and cisterns (reducing potable water use)
    • Green roofs (reduce heat load), blue roofs (store water)
    • Shade landscaping, planter boxes (improve stormwater management)
    • Green walls and living facades (cooling + energy savings)
    • Passive survivability: buildings retaining safe temperatures during blackouts
  • Public Health Angle:
    • Reducing radiant heat benefits vulnerable populations (elderly, low-income residents without AC).
• Quote:

  “If you’re reducing radiant heat from the outside, it’s making that building safer in the event that the power goes out.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [12:31]

4. The Rise of Climate Intelligence

[13:34 – 15:36] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Data-Driven Urban Planning:
  • Cities increasingly rely on climate modeling and real-time environmental data for planning.
  • Challenge: The highest-quality data remains costly and inaccessible to ordinary consumers.
• Equity Issue:
  • “The flow of data and information is really benefiting the private sector and those who can pay... [for] these sophisticated analytics.”
    — Jesse M. Keenan [14:32]

5. Practical Tips for Homeowners

[15:03 – 16:43] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Risk Awareness:
  • Homeowners can access basic risk profiles (e.g., flood prone or not).
• Adaptation Steps:
  • Elevate HVAC systems, improve insulation, install batteries/solar, weatherize property: actions that serve both mitigation and adaptation.
  • Local context matters (Maine vs. California: different focus, same principle).

6. The Retrofit Dilemma: To Build New or Adapt Old?

[16:43 – 20:20] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Embodied Carbon vs. Utopian Plans:
  • Building entirely new climate-resilient cities is mostly a “fiction”—costly, environmentally intense, and likely exacerbating inequities.
  • Retrofitting Existing Cities is more practical and sustainable (less waste, more carbon savings).
• Quote:

  “The idea of building new kind of utopian resilient cities is really more or less a fiction. It would undermine affordability for people of lesser means.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [18:36]

7. Climate Migration and Optimism

[20:20 – 23:09] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• The "Climate Haven" Myth:
  • So-called “climate havens” are often misleading — everywhere faces tradeoffs. True agency comes from making informed, proactive adaptation and mitigation choices.
• Opportunity in Movement:
  • As people are displaced, there’s potential to avoid repeating old suburban sprawl and instead invest in sustainable, healthy, equitable communities.
• Quote:

  “Even if it’s infill development, we’re retrofitting housing... it’s going to improve social welfare, public health, and environmental quality.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [21:48]

8. Vision for the Climate Resilient City, 2050

[23:09 – 24:41] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Key Features:
  • Dense, transit-oriented development to cut transportation emissions.
  • Urban greenery: tree canopies, bioswales, sustainable landscaping.
  • Shift from gray (concrete) to green and blue (nature-based) infrastructure.
  • Attention to the aesthetics and mental health benefits of biophilic design.
• Quote:

  “There’s a kind of biophilia... relationships between human and environment are mediated in designed places.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [24:22]

9. Equity, Social Bonds, and the Public Good

[24:41 – 26:46] Teresa Carey & Jesse M. Keenan

• Inclusive Adaptation:
  • Green spaces and parks serve both ecological and social functions, promoting equity, community, and public health.
• Shared Responsibility:
  • Climate change is a shared challenge, requiring renewed investment in the public commons and attention to marginalized communities.
• Quote:

  “We have to invest in the public good and not lose track of that... Climate change forces us to recognize that we’re all in this together.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [26:07]

10. The Transparency Paradox in Science Communication

[29:11 – 33:09] Dr. Samantha Yammine

• The Paradox:
  • Transparency increases trust when sharing good news, but can reduce trust if it reveals uncertainty or “bad news” (e.g., conflict of interest, side effects).
  • Many people hold science to an impossible standard of certainty—a key reason public trust is shaken when risks or mistakes are revealed.
• Proposed Solution:
  • Better science education and communication must normalize the openness, uncertainty, and ongoing nature of science.
• Quote:

  “Science is iterative and changes as we learn more... For me, understanding how science really works... that helps develop a more realistic trust in science, one that’s not easily broken.”
  — Dr. Samantha Yammine [32:09]

Memorable Quotes

• “Resilience is one of many allied concepts... Engineering resilience, ecological resilience, community resilience are the sort of three pillars we see globally.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [08:02]

• “The idea of building new kind of utopian resilient cities is really more or less a fiction. It would undermine affordability for people of lesser means.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [18:36]

• “If it gives me a better smile and saves the turtles at the same time, sign me up.”
  — Dr. Samantha Yammine [04:22]

• “We have to invest in the public good and not lose track of that... Climate change forces us to recognize that we’re all in this together.”
  — Jesse M. Keenan [26:07]

• “Science is iterative and changes as we learn more... For me, understanding how science really works... helps develop a more realistic trust in science, one that’s not easily broken.”
  — Dr. Samantha Yammine [32:09]

Key Segment Timestamps

• Tooth enamel breakthrough: [01:31 – 04:31]
• Resilience in cities – Concepts and examples: [07:34 – 13:34]
• Climate intelligence and data access: [13:34 – 15:36]
• Retrofitting vs. new cities debate: [16:43 – 20:20]
• Migration, optimism, and building better communities: [20:20 – 23:09]
• 2050 city vision: [23:09 – 24:41]
• Equity and the public good in urban planning: [24:41 – 26:46]
• Transparency Paradox in science: [29:11 – 33:09]

Tone & Language

This episode combines practical, expert-driven discussion with empathy, optimism, and humor. The hosts speak plainly and directly, making technical material accessible without oversimplification.

Final Thoughts

Designing Cities for a Warmer World offers a nuanced, hopeful perspective on how cities can—and must—adapt to climate change. The conversation is a reminder that solutions go far beyond engineering, touching every facet of society from social equity to science communication. If you’re looking for pragmatic optimism and actionable ideas, this episode is a must-listen.