Lise Van Susteren: Turning What We Know into What We Do

“The issues that we attempt to suppress and sweep under the rug--or repress, which means we sweep under the rug unconsciously—they don’t go anywhere, they just go in the darker crevices of our mind and then, like poisoning in groundwater, they seep into us, unconsciously, and we feel stressed and anxiety, and when it reaches a certain level we become more aware of it, and when we don’t take action is that it just keeps poisoning us, building up, we know over and over again, and studies show this, that when people start to name the problem and figure out a strategy to address it, that their anxiety goes down.”

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Dr. Lise Van Susteren is a general and forensic psychiatrist in Washington, DC,  and an expert on the physical and mental health effects of climate disruption. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at George Washington University and co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. A frequent contributor on television, radio and in the print media, she was also the expert witness on the psychological damages to children in Juliana v US Government, and the People V Arctic Oil before the European Court of Human Rights. Just last week, she was the expert witness for the youth in the Held v Montana trial.

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Work mentioned:

Ronald Wright A Short History of Progress: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-short-history-of-progress-fifteenth-anniversary-edition-ronald-wright/15363036?ean=9781487006983 Stacey Colino, Countdown: https://bookshop.org/p/books/count-down-how-our-modern-world-is-threatening-sperm-counts-altering-male-and-female-reproductive-development-and-imperiling-th/18889230?ean=9781982113674 Stacey Colino and Lise Van Susteren, Emotional Inflammation: https://bookshop.org/p/books/emotional-inflammation-discover-your-triggers-and-reclaim-your-equilibrium-during-anxious-times-stacey-colino/9835653?ean=9781683644552 Lise Van Susteren, in progress, Climate and Your Mind Erica Chenoweth on nonviolent revolutions: https://www.ericachenoweth.com/

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This episode is the last interview of the season, though I may do a bonus episode in the coming weeks. Once I’m back in the city and have a better internet connection again, I plan to return for a new season in the fall and winter, interviewing some terrific folks about what a better and healthier world might look like: our cities, wild places, food systems, and more. Until then, I wish you historically seasonal weather, clear air, calm seas, and at least some of the pleasures of our childhood summers.

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Many thanks to Hank Lentfer for the use of his gorgeous nature sounds, and to Lindsay Jaeger for the cover art.