About Sam @samkweber
Sam Weber has covered everything from living on minimum wage to consumer finance as a shooter/producer for PBS NewsHour Weekend. Prior joining NH Weekend, he previously worked for Need to Know on PBS and in public radio. He’s an avid cyclist and Chicago Bulls fan.
Sam’s Recent Stories
Science Mar 17
Uncovering the history of Earth’s climateTo understand the history of climate change, researchers are digging underneath the ocean floor where organisms and plants have accumulated in sediment over millennia. Maureen Raymo studies this science of paleoclimatology using a vast collection of materials at Columbia University’s…
Nation Feb 23
New York moves to regulate a ‘likely human carcinogen’ in drinking waterNew York state is proposing the country’s first firm limit on a chemical found in drinking water in heavy concentrations in some Long Island, New York communities. 1,4-dioxane has been labeled a “likely human carcinogen” by the EPA, but is…
World Dec 09
Brexit may divert power from these ocean energy advancesAs Scotland moves ahead with bringing tidal energy from an emerging technology to a commercial reality, Brexit could shake up the ocean power industry. To end a two-part series on advances in this field, Hari Sreenivasan heads to an ocean…
World Dec 08
Scotland is betting on tidal energyAs Scotland transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy, it is investing in an unexpected source: tidal currents. Similar to wind turbines, which sit above ground, tidal turbines are one hundred feet below water and use tides instead of wind…
Nation Nov 11
Can an entire town run on solar?In an attempt to “do it the right way,” developer Syd Kitson is building Babcock Ranch, an 18,000-acre planned community just north of Ft. Meyers, with hope that it can operate almost entirely on solar power. So far about 200…
Politics Oct 21
Will conservative Nebraska vote to expand Medicaid?Nebraskans will vote in November on whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The state’s Republican legislature and governors have refused to expand Medicaid after states were given that option in 2012 by the Supreme Court. The ballot…
Science Oct 13
This leather substitute is grown in a New Jersey labModern Meadow, a New Jersey-based startup, is using biotechnology to produce material that looks and feels similar to leather. The company says that producing this leather-like material, made of lab-grown collagen, carries a lower environmental impact than other means of…
Nation Sep 15
Can blockchain help fill journalism’s funding gaps?The New York-based startup Civil launched last year with the goal of using blockchain -- the same technology that powers the cryptocurrency Bitcoin -- to help to build a network of independent news organizations with a sustainable business model. Civil…
Nation Aug 04
Police face new challenges when determining if someone is too high to driveAs states across the country legalize marijuana, efforts to determine whether someone is too high to drive is becoming a thorny public health issue. From brain functioning analyses and phone apps to training police officers on looking for signs, Hari…
Science Jul 14
‘Living shorelines’ use oyster shells and marsh grass to reverse coastal erosionAmericans who live along coastlines are watching their land disappear and property threatened as climate change causes sea levels to rise. While homeowners often rely on expensive seawalls and bulkheads to slow the erosion, a growing number are building “living…
