Building our Climate Futures Through Storytelling (Pt. 2), w/Kendra Pierre-Louis and Mary Heglar

77 minutes

In the finale to our season on climate data, we continue our exploration of storytelling as a way to imagine and build climate futures. Jacquelyn and Ramesh first speak with climate reporter and podcaster Kendra Pierre-Louis about science fiction, representation, and her own shift from writing apocalyptic stories to working on the solutions-focused podcast How to Save a Podcast. Next, they speak with Mary Heglar, co-creator and co-host of the Hot Take newsletter and podcast (along with Amy Westervelt), about the authors and works that influenced how she saw her role in a warming world, including Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, and more, as well as the importance of grappling with climate grief and the historical injustices that have given rise to the consequences of climate change, both now and in the future.

You can find a transcript of this episode on our Medium page:
https://ourwarmregards.medium.com/building-our-climate-futures-through-storytelling-pt-2-w-kendra-pierre-louis-and-mary-heglar-dff39a779957

Kendra Pierre-Louis

Her personal website:
https://www.kendrawrites.com/

Follower Kendra on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/KendraWrites

A republished version of her essay about Wakanda and climate change:
https://time.com/5889324/movies-climate-change/

All We Can Save:
https://www.allwecansave.earth

Subscribe to How to Save a Planet:
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet

Mary Heglar

Follow Mary on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MaryHeglar

Listen to Hot Take and subscribe to their newsletter:
https://www.criticalfrequency.org/hot-take

Climate Change Isn’t the First Existential Threat
https://zora.medium.com/sorry-yall-but-climate-change-ain-t-the-first-existential-threat-b3c999267aa0

Feel Something, Learn Something, Do Something: A Care Package for Climate Grief
https://medium.com/@maryheglar/feel-something-learn-something-do-something-a-care-package-for-climate-grief-394cc83933d2

Climate and the Personal Essay — A Reading List
https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/02/11/climate-personal-essay-reading-list/

The big lie we’re told about climate change is that it’s our own fault:
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/10/11/17963772/climate-change-global-warming-natural-disasters

Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/70962fbf-178f-40f5-882d-510a9f46c70e

Official website of the Octavia Butler Estate:
https://www.octaviabutler.com

The Octavia Butler Legacy Network:
http://octaviabutlerlegacy.com

The Expanse & Climate Change

https://io9.gizmodo.com/if-you-care-about-earth-you-should-watch-the-expanse-1836708366

The Day After Tomorrow & Climate Awareness

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2014/11/the-long-melt-the-lingering-influence-of-the-day-after-tomorrow/

https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/before-and-after-the-day-after-tomorrow/

Katharine Hayhoe: the most important thing we can do about climate change is talk about it:
https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_hayhoe_the_most_important_thing_you_can_do_to_fight_climate_change_talk_about_it?language=en

Eric Holthaus: On Being a Climate Person:
https://thecorrespondent.com/98/on-being-a-climate-person/12973890622-af2e1b83

You can subscribe to Sustain 267 here or wherever you get your podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sustain267-podcast/id1512446379

Please consider becoming a patron on Patreon to help us pay our producer, Justin Schell, our transcriber, Jo Stormer, and our social media coordinator, Katherine Peinhardt, who are all working as volunteers. Your support helps us not only to stay sustainable, but also to grow.
www.patreon.com/warmregards

Find Warm Regards on the web and on social media:

Web: www.WarmRegardsPodcast.com
Twitter: @ourwarmregards
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WarmRegardsPodcast

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