Not Your Typical Podcasts Marking Climate Week 2023
By: Andrea Learned (she/her), creator & host of Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership
Having been in the climate space for a while, I’m always on the lookout for the not-so-usual, probably not tech-focused, conversations or stories told from interesting angles or by energized and enthusiastic people. I didn’t see enough of that sort of show around, so that — along with Larj Media’s massive creative and production expertise — is how Living Change came to be.
It’s been great to get reviewed by listeners using terms like “human,” “informative,” “fun,” and “uplifting.” And, that’s also what I’m looking for in my own climate podcast listening.
So, it is lovely to have this opportunity to also share the shows that feed me through unique — often surprising — voices and stories. Heading into Climate Week NYC, and knowing that the climate action we need can be a frustrating, draining pursuit, I offer these suggestions for your playlist!
One more thing, in a call to all of you: please listen, like, and review climate podcasts more often. Podcasts are such a fantastic way to learn and get motivated to use your own climate influence better, and time is of the essence to reach many more… earbuds.
Listens for Climate Week
Click on the images to listen
Climify
As they put it on their site, the point of this Climate Designers-produced podcast is to “climify your syllabi”. Turns out, you can learn a lot by listening to a podcast aimed at connecting climate scientists with design educators, even if you are neither of those. The show’s core audience are those interested in teaching the next generation of leaders who will help more and more people understand this challenging topic. Their guest list has been really wide-ranging, and also was recently focused on women leaders who I was honored to be among.
Fostering Our Earth
Host Awoenam Mauna-Wonaya (Awoe) brings a social justice and infrastructure lens to his conversations about the sustainable future we need. In the process of being interviewed for Fostering Our Earth (FOE) myself, I experienced his kind, thoughtful, and big picture approach. He talks with key leaders who, again, you might now otherwise know, about transportation, built environment, cities and more. FOE interviews are always positive and future-oriented, leaving you with plenty to ponder.
Drilled
Uber-talented, investigative environmental journalist Amy Westervelt can’t help but activate you, whether through her written work or podcasts. And she is refreshingly “tell it like it is” in this excellent, long-running podcast produced by Critical Frequency. Amy finds incredible sources and offers super-smart takes on, ugh, the overwhelming corruption of the fossil fuels industry. Even with so many new climate podcasts to choose from, it’s worth it to keep listening to every season of Drilled. Amy always leaves you with steam coming out of your ears, ready to start using your own louder voice to call out these fossil fuel giants. (P.S. Climate Week is the perfect time to re-ignite your frustration in this manner)
Longform
Sometimes a favorite podcast has nothing to do with climate, as such, but it delivers amazing wisdom through the occasional climate-focused guest. I started listening to Longform years ago to learn about the writing process from their interviews with storytellers and journalists. So the episodes where they happen to be talking with an environmental journalist are a huge bonus. See their recent episode with Jeff Goodell as an example. His lens on climate change gives you the horrifying facts in compelling ways, nudging you to stay engaged and active.
Volts
Though I have mentioned before that I tend not to gravitate towards tech podcasts, I do love listening to long-time environmental journalist David Roberts (I started following him in his Grist days, way back when) and his somewhat wonky Volts podcast. David’s wise, dry take on everything is unique and well-grounded. Each episode’s conversation with a politician, analyst, innovator, or activist will educate you about the progress in this fight, with a surprising amount of humor and hope. Volts’ guests are always people you’ll be glad to know are out there innovating and collaborating for big change.
Living Change: A Quest for Climate Leadership
What’s different about my podcast is that I tend to find and talk with climate leaders in unusual places rather than the usual suspects from well-known global stages. I absolutely love bringing my guests into wider recognition. Whatever these folks are up to, we usually talk about how they got bolder, made a decision, and started using their work — and, their visibility — to scale their impact. For season 1, I talked with John Richards, globally known KEXP DJ and owner of a Seattle plant-based, music-focused bar. I also talked with an Emmy-award winning founder of a film and TV production app, several bike/e-bike-riding mayors and city leaders, and two food policy-focused corporate leaders. Living Change is storytelling about leaders doing the thing themselves, understanding how they got to that point, and amplifying their practices to show listeners how many cool ways you can act on climate AND start to nudge a lot more people to do the same.
