Living on a Changing Planet

Carter Powis & Patrick Kennedy-Williams
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Living on a Changing Planet

Climate change has been endlessly debated. Is it happening? Are humans causing it? How bad is it going to get? What should we do about it? In this podcast a climate scientist and clinical psychologist team up to tackle the topic that’s missing from the climate conversation: how do you learn to live with it? Whether you’re an energy worker who’s facing the loss of your job and ability to provide for your family, a youth activist afraid of what the future holds, or a nature-lover grieving the rapid ongoing destruction of our biosphere - we sit down with world-leading experts on climate change and the energy transition to explore the thoughts and feelings that keep them up at 2 A.M., and talk about how they manage them productively. No political agenda. No alarmism. Just open, fact-based conversation about what it means to be a human being living on a changing planet. New episodes weekly!

Episodes

  1. Episode 11: Vicki Hollub

    08/28/2023

    Episode 11: Vicki Hollub

    President and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental Petroleum, one of the worlds largest fossil fuel companies. We speak with Vicki about how she feels about climate change and why, what it is like to work towards climate action within the fossil fuel industry, how lonely a position that can be, and how climate activists can more productively engage with the fossil fuel industry.

    58 min
  2. EP10 Don Wuebbles

    07/03/2023

    EP10 Don Wuebbles

    Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Author of multiple IPCC reports, and co-lead for the 4th US National Climate Assessment published under the Trump Administration in 2018. We speak with Don about his emotional journey over almost half a century in atmospheric sciences, about effective climate communication under challenging circumstances, and staying resilient in the face of personal attacks. Don's famous ozone paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/321755a0The latest in lethal heat research: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaw1838Medium Article on responding to trolls: https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/snuff-out-climate-trolls-with-this-one-sentence-it-works-every-time-7bc2d1e6dd4eOrganization mentioned by Patrick: https://climateoutreach.org/

    53 min
  3. Episode 09: Susan Clayton

    06/14/2023

    Episode 09: Susan Clayton

    Whitmore-Williams Professor of Psychology at the College of Wooster. Member of the APA task force on psychology and global climate change. Landmark contributor to the field of climate and environmental psychology, and IPCC chapter lead for the 6th Assessment Report. We speak with Susan about why she entered the field, the nature of climate anxiety, and the landscape of different options for responding to it. The 10000 young person study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext Why breathing is so effective at reducing stress: https://hbr.org/2020/09/research-why-breathing-is-so-effective-at-reducing-stress

    54 min
  4. Episode 08: Mark Maslin & Matt Winning

    05/29/2023

    Episode 08: Mark Maslin & Matt Winning

    Mark Maslin is a Professor of Earth System Science at University College London and the Natural History Museum of Denmark, a scientist, a science communicator, and an award-winning author. Matt Winning is an environmental economist at University College London, a climate comedian, host of the BBC radio show Net Zero: A Very British Problem, author of Hot Mess, and TED speaker on the importance of using humor to discuss climate change. We speak with our guests about what the paleoclimate record tells us about what we should be worrying about, and the effectiveness of humour as a coping mechanism to trauma. Mark's Books:https://www.amazon.ca/Climate-Short-Introduction-Mark-Maslin/dp/0199641137https://www.amazon.ca/Book-Futures-Planet-Survive-Century/dp/0241472520 Matt's Book:https://www.amazon.ca/Hot-Mess-Matt-Winning/dp/147227668X

    51 min
  5. Episode 07: Yadvinder Malhi

    05/08/2023

    Episode 07: Yadvinder Malhi

    Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford. Director of the Leverhulme Center for Nature Recovery. World-leading expert on Tropical Forests. We talk about the Amazon forest, and his emotional response to the fires and ongoing deforestation there. We discuss dealing with grief and anxiety related to observed loss of the natural world, in addition to exploring how amazing tropical forests are and the role they play in the Earth system.A great paper from Yadvinder on the future of the Amazon: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1146961How forests cause rain: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/59/4/341/346941Teleconnections between the Amazon Forest and Tibetan Weather: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01558-4

    58 min
  6. Episode 06: Spencer Glendon

    04/24/2023

    Episode 06: Spencer Glendon

    Spencer has been an industrial engineer, an economic historian, a scholar of language and finance, and an executive for a major asset management firm. He now works to connect science and culture as the Founder of Probable Futures, a not-for-profit climate literacy initiative, and as a Senior Research Fellow at Woodwell Climate Research Center. We speak to Spencer about his journey from working in finance to becoming concerned about climate change, and about the parallels between the emotional impacts of climate change and chronic illness. (While I (Carter) won't speak on behalf of Patrick here, this is personally my favorite episode of the entire season.) Probable Futures: https://probablefutures.org/

    1h 16m
  7. Episode 05: Britt Wray

    04/10/2023

    Episode 05: Britt Wray

    Human and Planetary Health Fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, best-selling author of Generation Dread, TED speaker. We speak with Britt about the mental health impacts of the climate and wider ecological crisis, and the challenging decision of whether or not to have children in the context of a warming planet. Gen Dread - Britt's newsletter: https://gendread.substack.com/ Generation Dread - Britt's book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647141/generation-dread-by-britt-wray/

    56 min
  8. Episode 04: Per Espen Stoknes

    04/03/2023

    Episode 04: Per Espen Stoknes

    Behavioral psychologist, economist, entrepreneur, author of What You Think About When You Try Not To Think About Global Warming, TED speaker, and Member of the Norwegian Parliament. We discuss Per Espen's journey to becoming concerned about climate change, how and why he developed some of the foundations of the field of climate psychology, and conclude with an exploration of the different coping strategies people use to avoid engaging with the emotional consequences of a warming planet. Per Espen's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/per_espen_stoknes_how_to_transform_apocalypse_fatigue_into_action_on_global_warming?language=en

    58 min
  9. Episode 03: Myles Allen

    03/20/2023

    Episode 03: Myles Allen

    Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Oxford. A coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on 1.5 Degrees. Credited as one of the scientists who discovered “net-zero” emissions are required to stop warming. We discuss how Myles' emotional response to climate science has changed over an almost 40-year career, and the way in which some climate anxiety is driven by a misunderstanding the 1.5C target. To conclude, Patrick & I speak about the value of education in managing fear. Notes: Myles refers to "Bill Nordhaus" making an accurate global warming prediction in the 1970's. He's actually referring to Jules Charney & the Charney report, the first major scientific report on climate change published in 1979, which can be found here: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/12181/chapter/1#vii The IPCC's Special Report on 1.5 Degrees: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ A detailed explanation of why net-zero emissions are needed to stop warming: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01245-w

    1h 9m
  10. Episode 02: Mitzi Jonelle Tan

    03/13/2023

    Episode 02: Mitzi Jonelle Tan

    Youth activist, founder of the Fridays for Future (FFF) organization in the Philippines: Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP). We speak with Mitzi about the challenges of living in a country on the front lines of the impacts of climate change, and the emotional experiences that have led her to take up an activist role. We investigate the role of self-care in emotional resiliency, and the importance of breaking the link between unhelpful emotions and action. To conclude, we think about how institutions and activist communities can better engage with each other. Notes: Organizations Mitzi belongs to: https://fridaysforfuture.org/, https://yacap.org/ Evidence of the link between climate change and tropical storms: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/chapter-11/ (See 11.7)

    58 min
  11. Episode 01: Carter, Patrick, and Joe Duggan

    03/06/2023

    Episode 01: Carter, Patrick, and Joe Duggan

    Joe Duggan is a science communicator at the Australian National University, and a TED speaker. As far as we can tell, Joe was the first person to have the idea that someone should be sitting down with world-leading experts and talking with them about how climate change makes them feel. He founded the "Is This How You Feel" project, where he asked eminent climate scientists to write him hand-written letters describing how climate change makes them feel. We could think of no better person to start our journey with. Notes: Joe's Is This How You Feel (ITHYF) project: https://www.isthishowyoufeel.com/ Evidence that uncertainty in climate science skews towards worse outcomes, not better: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/chapter-7/ (See section 7.5.5) Patrick's book: https://uk.jkp.com/products/turn-the-tide-on-climate-anxiety

    1h 13m
  • 11 Episodes

About

Climate change has been endlessly debated. Is it happening? Are humans causing it? How bad is it going to get? What should we do about it? In this podcast a climate scientist and clinical psychologist team up to tackle the topic that’s missing from the climate conversation: how do you learn to live with it? Whether you’re an energy worker who’s facing the loss of your job and ability to provide for your family, a youth activist afraid of what the future holds, or a nature-lover grieving the rapid ongoing destruction of our biosphere - we sit down with world-leading experts on climate change and the energy transition to explore the thoughts and feelings that keep them up at 2 A.M., and talk about how they manage them productively. No political agenda. No alarmism. Just open, fact-based conversation about what it means to be a human being living on a changing planet. New episodes weekly!

Information

  • Creator
    Carter Powis & Patrick Kennedy-Williams
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 Living on a Changing Planet Podcast
  • Show Website
    Living on a Changing Planet

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