When We Are with Alex Steffen

Alex Steffen
  • 5.0 (18)
  • News Commentary

The climate crisis is no longer something happening to other people, somewhere else. It's changing all our lives, right now. Few of us are ready. Join renowned climate futurist Alex Steffen and guests as we show the patterns behind the chaos, learn how to build smart climate strategies, and laugh at the absurdity of daily life in discontinuous times. alexsteffen.substack.com

  1. 2d ago

    Why do I need my own climate strategy?

    The gap between what we need to do to ruggedize for the climate chaos now unfolding and what we are doing is so large that whole regions, whole communities and many families will find themselves falling into brittleness. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re giving a short tour of the key questions in personal climate ruggedization. What are the major risks and how do we understand them? What does it mean to live in a time with no new normal? What are the fundamental steps we can take to survive, thrive and prosper in the midst of a planetary crisis? Today, I answer the question, “Why do I need my own climate strategy?” (Did you miss the start of the series? You can listen here.) Are you ready to step up to the challenge of ruggedizing your life? Now’s your chance. My Personal Climate Strategy Workshop will teach you how. In this eight-class workshop, you’ll learn a framework for making smart, practical decisions in a time of worsening crisis and deep uncertainty. There’s nothing else like this. With eight classes and discussions, a wrap-up call, resources and readings, guided writing prompts, discounts on private calls and access to an alumni group, this Workshop will help you start to make climate-savvy decisions about the things that matter most to you. This fall’s Workshop begins next Monday, September 21, 2026! Registration closes this coming Friday, September 18, or when enrollment reaches 25 participants. (There are seven specially priced discount seats left.) Learn more and save your seat. Questions? Feel free to email alison@alexsteffen.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  2. 3d ago

    How do I make good decisions when everything’s changing so fast?

    Today we explore discontinuity risk. Not only do we face climate chaos from within brittle systems, but the sheer scale and scope of changes around us make it harder to know if we’re making valid decisions. Formally sound choices are transformed into new liabilities. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m leading a short tour of the key questions in personal climate ruggedization. What are the major risks and how do we understand them? What does it mean to live in a time with no new normal? What are the fundamental steps we can take to survive, thrive and prosper in the midst of a planetary crisis? Today, I explore the question, “How do I make good decisions when everything’s changing so fast?” (Did you miss the start of the series? You can listen here.) Want to learn more? My Personal Climate Strategy Workshop will arm you with a framework for making better decisions in a future defined by discontinuity. In this eight-class workshop, you’ll learn the patterns underneath changing systems, practical steps for improving your access to relevant information, and prepare your own strategic approach to guide you successfully through ongoing uncertainty. You’ll get the tools you need to anchor the life you’ve built — your career, your family, your goals — on ground that will stay solid during the storms ahead. The next Workshop begins next Monday, September 21, 2026! Registration closes this coming Friday, September 18, or when enrollment reaches 25 participants. (There are seven specially priced Access Rate seats left — save $700!) Learn more and save your seat. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  3. 5d ago

    Will my community be able to bounce back?

    Climate chaos is here. What’s the plan? Over the next couple weeks, we’re giving a short tour of the key questions in personal climate ruggedization. What are the major risks and how do we understand them? What does it mean to live in a time with no new normal? What are the fundamental steps we can take to survive, thrive and prosper in the midst of a planetary crisis? Today, I explore the question, “Will my community be able to bounce back as climate impacts worsen?” (Did you miss the start of the series? You can listen here.) Are you ready to take action? My Personal Climate Strategy Workshop will show you how. In this eight-class workshop, you’ll learn a framework for making smart, practical decisions in a time of worsening crisis and deep uncertainty. The next Workshop begins next Monday, September 21, 2026! Registration closes this coming Friday, September 18, or when enrollment reaches 25 participants. (There are eight specially priced Access Rate seats left.) Learn more and save your seat: When We Are is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and other podcast platforms around the world. Please subscribe, rate and review! This series is public and free, not paywalled. Please share it with others. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Sep 11

    What should I be worried about?

    How do we ready ourselves for climate chaos? Over the next couple weeks, we’re giving you a short tour in climate preparation: Climate foresight. Discontinuity. What it means to live during unprecedented changes. How to understand the new risks we now face. Why the economic brittleness brought on by climate chaos is the greatest danger most of us face. Avoiding getting trapped in places with shrinking futures. Relocation, repositioning and ruggedization. The intensifying competition for relatively safe places and stable situations. Why some opportunities will actually increase in the coming decades. How to stay healthy and resilient when working to ready yourself for unprecedented times. Today, I answer one of the questions people often ask me: “What should I be worried about?” (Missed the first show in the series? You can listen here.) When We Are is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and other podcast platforms around the world. Please subscribe, rate and review! This series is public and free, not paywalled. Please share it with others. Ready to stop worrying and start strategizing? My Personal Climate Strategy Workshop is for you. In three weeks, you’ll learn the tools you need to survive, thrive and create a good life in the midst of climate chaos. The next Workshop begins Monday, September 21, 2026. Registration is open; space is limited to 25 participants. Learn more and save your seat: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Sep 10

    The keys to a personal climate strategy

    Hey friends, This is the first episode in a new series we’re doing on the fundamentals of designing a personal climate strategy. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll discuss the basics: Climate foresight. Discontinuity. What it means to live during unprecedented changes. How to understand the new risks we now face. Why the economic brittleness brought on by climate chaos is the greatest danger most of us face. Avoiding getting trapped in places with shrinking futures. Relocation, repositioning and ruggedization. The intensifying competition for relatively safe places and stable situations. Why some opportunities will actually increase in the coming decades. How to stay healthy and resilient when working to ready yourself for unprecedented times. Today, I answer one of the questions people ask me the most: “Do I need my own strategy for living in climate chaos?” When We Are is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and other podcast platforms around the world. Please subscribe, rate and review! This series is free and public. Please share it with anyone you know who’s trying to get ready for the climate crisis. Ready to turn theory into action? My Personal Climate Strategy Workshop is unlike anything else out there. In three weeks, you’ll learn the tools you need to survive, thrive and create a good life in the midst of climate chaos. The next Workshop begins Monday, September 21, 2026. Registration is open; space is limited to 25 participants. Learn more and save your seat: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Mar 20

    Do You Know What You've Lost?

    Do you know how much climate chaos is costing you, now? This episode of When We Are is a quick exploration of how much loss is both a) already being incurred, and b) largely being ignored (or even being actively denied). We can’t avoid future loss completely, but turning our attention to the ways we now face riskier, more brittle and less prosperous futures can help us make better decisions as climate chaos worsens. If you’re interested in the topic, I’ve included some additional reading below. Thanks for listening, Alex I wrote about the active denial of present risk in this newsletter: I wrote about the ways climate chaos is already undermining our economic prosperity in this essay: I also wrote about the myriad ways in which the erosive effects of climate shifts — individually almost too slow or small to notice, but dire in aggregate — can wreak havoc on the systems we depend on for our prosperity: PS: As always, if you get some value from these discussions, please take a minute to rate the show. In Apple podcasts, go to the podcast’s main show page and scroll down to “Ratings & Reviews,” then click the star ratings. This really helps more people find the show. Thanks! PPS: If you find these newsletters helpful or interesting, please help spread the word: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Mar 9

    The Hidden Climate Advantages of Being Young

    Find out more about my Personal Climate Strategy Workshop here. We live in a planetary crisis that is at its very core intergenerationally unjust. The vast majority of the benefits of predatory delay and extractive prosperity have gone to (and been consumed by) the oldest people in out society, while their unprecedented costs will land most heavily on the youngest. But what if being young and bold can actually become an advantage at this moment? The reaction to my podcast Crisis Advice for Young People was very positive, but folks wanted to hear more about what younger people might actually do to improve their odds. This podcast is my attempt to suggest one way younger people may be able to leverage the freedoms of being young into a better position in the rough times ahead: by moving faster than other can. As the man says, “Quick’s the word and sharp’s the action.” If you find it useful, please pass it along. Alex PS: The next Personal Climate Strategy: The Basics class is right around the corner, on Thursday, March 19th at 12pm PST // 8pm GMT! Get an introduction to a proven system for building a rugged decision-making framework, ready for times of increasing stress and disruption. Considering relocation? Planning for kids? Thinking about a new career? Mapping out the future of your business? This class can set you up to make better choices. Sign up by March 10th and save $100! PPS: As always, if you get some value from these discussions, please take a minute to rate the show. In Apple podcasts, go to the podcast’s main show page and scroll down to “Ratings & Reviews,” then click the star ratings. This really helps more people find the show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Mar 7

    The Myth of the Starting Gun and the Flat Track Fallacy

    Reminder: The early-bird for the next live Personal Climate Strategy: The Basics ends on Tuesday, March 10! Sign up now for $97 (save $100). Class meets Thursday, March 19th at 12pm Pacific. I think of it as “The Myth of the Starting Gun and the Flat Track Fallacy.” There are two parts here: The Starting Gun: the idea that climate action and response will have a definable moment of acceleration, where delay drops away and rapid progress begins. and The Flat Track: the notion that when that moment of acceleration comes, our task will be deploying the kinds of policies, technologies and culture changes that advocates have been demanding for decades — that future action looks more or less like what we’ve been working towards, just arriving a little later than we hoped. I think both parts are wrong. No moment of political transformation is coming, only the acceleration of capacities with unevenly distributed and partial successes. And as action does increase, we will increasingly find that our past plans simply no longer match the scale of discontinuity in front of us. No Orderly Transition is coming, and the broader climate debate is unprepared for what’s coming now. I explore this idea in this episode of When We Are. Alex PS: The ninth Personal Climate Strategy: The Basics class is coming up on Thursday, March 19th at 12pm PST // 8pm GMT! Get an introduction to a proven system for building a rugged decision-making framework, ready for times of increasing stress and disruption. Considering relocation? Planning for your kids or grandkids? Mapping out the future of your business? This might be for you. Sign up by March 10th and save $100! PPS: As always, if you get some value from these discussions, please take a minute to rate the show. In Apple podcasts, go to the podcast’s main show page and scroll down to “Ratings & Reviews,” then click the star ratings. This really helps more people find the show. PPPS: If you find these newsletters helpful, please spread the word: Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alexsteffen.substack.com/subscribe

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The climate crisis is no longer something happening to other people, somewhere else. It's changing all our lives, right now. Few of us are ready. Join renowned climate futurist Alex Steffen and guests as we show the patterns behind the chaos, learn how to build smart climate strategies, and laugh at the absurdity of daily life in discontinuous times. alexsteffen.substack.com

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