Climate Conversations: A Climate Change Podcast
by ClimateX
Climate Conversations was a weekly climate change podcast from two MIT alumni and MIT Open Learning, as a part of their ClimateX project. ClimateX was an online platform that facilitated climate change learning, connection, and action.You can also find us on iTunes at http://bit.ly/ClimateConversations
Episodes
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S3E10: From Learning to Teaching with Boston Latin School & YouthCAN Alumna Rebecca Park
In Episode 4, we heard about a pioneering form of climate-related learning in the Boston school system, Youth Climate Action Network (YouthCAN). Join us in this episode to hear from Rebecca Park, an alumna of Boston Latin School (BLS), as she opens a window onto the impact of Youth CAN on her…
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S3E5: More with MIT Terrascope Lecturer Dr. Ari Epstein
In Episode 2, we heard how MIT's Terrascope program empowers and engages university students through free-choice learning. Here's an extended cut of our conversation with MIT Terrascope lecturer Ari Epstein, where we discuss how Terrascope achieves its powerful results, and how the free-choice...
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S3E4: NextGen Learning to Change with Boston Latin School YouthCAN
What happens when a high school student passionate about climate action shows up at a City Council meeting? In this episode, we talk to Cate Arnold, Boston Latin School history teacher and climate instigator and two of her students, Rebecca Park and Susan Tang. They are members of YouthCAN, a...
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S3E2: Free Choice Learning in Universities with MIT Terrascope
What happens when college students are given a massive problem to solve, and the wide-open space to unleash their full potential? Deep engagement, a healthy dose of frustration, empowerment, and changed lives. We explore this promising space in conversation with an alum (Lauren Kuntz) and an...
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S3E1: The Psychology of Learning to Change, a Conversation with Renee Lertzman
Learning to change begins in the personal sphere. How do emotions attached to climate change drive how we communicate and act on the issue? In this first episode of season 3, we talk with psychologist Renee Lertzman about how we, individually and in our communities, can create the necessary space...
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Season 3 Teaser: Learning to Change
The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we learn so many things, together -- going faster, going bigger, finding new ways to share and build upon what we're figuring out all around the world. Join us for Season 3 of the ClimateX podcast "Climate Conversations" as we explore: how do we…
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Climate Conversations Bonus Episode: MIT Solve and Coastal Communities
30% of the population lives on or near a coast, and the majority of global trade runs through ports on coasts. How can the impacts of rising sea levels and stronger storms be mitigated? In this special bonus episode of Climate Conversations, the team sits down with Dr. Alexander Dale, the Senior...
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S2E13 Climate Conversations Season 2 Wrap-Up
After a whole season of climate justice episodes, the ClimateX team and podcast producer Dave Lishansky step back and take stock. How has our understanding of climate justice evolved? What voices and stories have stuck with us? The team discusses recurring themes, such as visibility issues,...
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S2E12 Market Forces and Climate Action
The Climate Conversations team sits down with the director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, Jason Jay, to discuss the role of market forces and government regulation in climate action. They discuss the theoretical framework of capitalism, and how it can lend itself to benevolent...
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S2E11 Intersectionality and Climate Justice
The Climate Conversations team sits down with Jacqui Patterson, the Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. They discuss intersectionality within the climate justice movement, and how global warming disproportionately impacts women of color. Looking at impacts on...
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S2E10 Climate Resilience in Puerto Rico
On this week of Climate Conversations, the team sits down with Ramón Bueno; a MIT alumnus and climate and development specialist. They discuss the devastation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, in the context of systems failure and intersectional justice. Bueno outlines the significance of the...
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Designing a Better Future: Climate CoLab and Crisis Mitigation with Maarten van Aalst
In this special podcast, we sit down with Marteen van Aalast to discuss climate resilience and his role in the Climate CoLab A2R contest. Van Aalst is the director of the Climate Center and coordinates support to climate risk management across the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. Van Aalst…
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S2E9 Motherhood and Mobilization
How can we get more families involved in environmental justice? The Climate Conversations team sits down with Zeyneb Magavi, a leader in Mothers Out Front in Cambridge, MA. Zeyneb wears multiple hats as an activist with Mothers Out Front, Research Director for HEET, and a member of the Gas Leaks...
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S2E8 Indigenous Perspectives on Just Transitions
The Climate Conversations team interviews Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte, a Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State -- about indigenous views of climate change and climate justice. As a context for understanding those views, Dr. Whyte outlines how the legacy of colonialism,...
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Climate Summit Recap with Tom Kiley
The Climate Conversations team sits down with Tom Kiley, the organizer of the Northeastern North American Climate Policy Summit hosted by MIT in December, 2017. They discuss key results and takeaways from the event, how to strengthen ties between researchers and policy makers, and…
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S2E7 Climate Justice Through Community Partnerships
What is climate justice? How do we come up with solutions that not only recognize that climate change disproportionally impacts marginalized people, but amplify the voices of those in frontline communities? We sit down with Lisa Young, the Climate Justice Partnerships Organizer for the Better...
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S2E6 Justice, Equity, and Climate Change
Have justice issues changed, or are we standing still? These are the questions we’re asking Trish Weinmann, the Associate director of Radius, a place for the MIT community to discuss issues of justice and equity. Trish explains to us the role that Radius plays in helping the MIT community reflect...
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S2E5 Transportation for Communities and a Healthy Planet
This week, the Climate Conversations team are joined by Zak Accuardi, a Senior Program Analyst at TransitCenter, and former research fellow at Project Drawdown. Zak explains how improvements to public transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while improving the lives of a community's...
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S2E4 Planning for Climate Change with Communities
This week, we’re joined by Mike Wilson, graduate student at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. We discuss transformative adaptation, and how planners can develop green infrastructures whilst improving the lives of everyone in our global society. Mike explains how future planning in...
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Together in Climate Action Summit: Regional Carbon Pricing vs. Federal Inaction
This special episode is part of MIT’s Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. In this episode, we interview Deb Markowitz, a former six-term Vermont Secretary of State, and Secretary...
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Together in Climate Action Summit: Nature and Cities Get Together
This special episode is part of MIT’s Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. In this episode, we interview Professor John Fernandez, Director of the Environmental Solutions…
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Together in Climate Action Summit: State Governments Together in Climate Action
This special episode is part of MIT’s Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. We interview Dr. David Cash, former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental...
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S2E3 How will Human Beings Adapt to a Changing Climate?
How well have humans adapted to the current climate, and how will we adapt to new climate complexities? This week, the Climate Conversations team is joined by climate research scientist Nick Obradovich, who discusses the many ways the climate affects us in our day-to-day lives, including the way…
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S2E2 Standing up to the Fossil Fuel Industry
In this week’s episode, we are joined by climate activist and Harvard / MIT researcher Geoffrey Supran, whose recent peer-reviewed paper exposed ExxonMobil for misleading the public about climate science and its implications. Geoffrey discusses the importance of the science community going beyond...
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S2E1 An Appalachian Perspective on Just Transition
In the first episode of Climate Conversations Season 2, we are joined by ex-coal miner and author of The Thoughtful Coal Miner blog, Nick Mullins. We discuss the history of coal mining in the Appalachian region, including the coal industry’s exploitation of coal miners, and what a just transition...
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S1E15 Why is Climate Change a Justice Issue?
This week, the Climate Conversations team explore why some social groups, including women and people of color, are disproportionately affected by climate change. We examine how justice issues play out in climate disasters such as hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and consider what a “just…
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S1E14 Climate Disasters and Inequality
This week, we’re discussing the human response to extreme weather and climate change, with Patrick Field, Managing Director at the Consensus Building Institute. Pat explains his role in intricate climate change negotiations, and how governments fund and adapt to climate challenges in coastal and...
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S1E13 Brokering International Climate Deals
This week we are joined by Associate Professor Noelle Selin, from MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society, who has an intimate knowledge of international climate negotiations. Professor Selin explains the complexities of international environmental agreements, including the impact of social...
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S1E12 Divesting Your Career
This week, we interview MIT student and Fossil Free MIT member, Jeremy Poindexter. We discuss Fossil Free MIT’s new career pledge, which encourages students to prioritize climate change and sustainability when making future career choices, fossil fuel divestment and much more.
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S1E11 Climate, Food Security and Water: Interdisciplinary Insights
This week, the climate conversations team are joined by Élodie Blanc and Erwan Monier, research scientists at MIT who are investigating the way climate change affects the amount of water available for agriculture. We discuss how climate modelling and collaborative research are used to assess the...
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S1E10 Beyond Techno-Fixes
Renewable energy, geoengineering and other technological solutions dominate the climate action spotlight, but are they the only way forward? As our reading of Project Drawdown shows, some of the highest impact solutions are low-tech: stop eating meat, empower women and girls. We have been…
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BONUS: To fly or not to fly?
In this bonus episode, the Climate Conversation team asks, should we reduce how frequently we fly?
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S1E9 Addressing Climate Change Through Electrochemistry
This week, the team are joined by MIT Professor of Materials Chemistry, Don Sadoway. In this fascinating discussion, we explore extreme electrochemistry, Don’s novel efforts to cut the carbon footprint of steel, his liquid metal battery for grid-scale storage, and the great things you can do…
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S1E8 How Climate Puzzles of the Past Point us to the Future
This week, the Climate Conversations team are joined by MIT’s Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, David McGee. We discuss the many climate changes that the Earth has experienced in the last half million years, our dependence upon climate stability and David’s role in Terrascope…
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BONUS: The Environmental Impact of Using Amazon
In this bonus episode of Climate Conversations, the team discusses the environmental impact of using Amazon versus physical stores.
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S1E7 Reaching Climate Neutrality in Somerville by 2050
This week, the Climate Conversations team interviews the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Somerville, Hannah Payne. Hannah explains Somerville’s climate mitigation and adaptation plans, and how Somerville is preparing to be carbon neutral by 2050.
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S1E6 Plastics and Siberia
This week, Rajesh and Laura Howells discuss the pervasiveness of plastic and which countries contribute the most plastic to the world's oceans. The two also talk over some recent natural events happening in Siberia.
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S1E5 Teaching Kids about Climate Change
This week the Climate Conversations team are joined by the founder of ClimateCurriculum.com and Science Teacher at Boston Latin School, Timothy Gay, whose goal is to get schools across the country teaching students about climate change. We discuss the challenges associated with bringing climate...
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Bonus: Considering College Through a Climate Lens
In this special bonus episode of Climate Conversations, the team takes a climate approach to the question, where should my kids go to college?
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S1E4 Making MIT's Campus Sustainable
This week, the Climate Conversations team are joined by special guest, MIT's Director of Sustainability, Julie Newman. In this episode, we explore the challenging and growing role of sustainability officers, plus autonomous vehicles, the campus building renaissance and MIT's path to carbon...
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S1E3 The Conflicts of Climate Stakeholders
This week on Climate Conversations, the team discusses the problematic term ‘stakeholders’ and ask whether climate policy makers can ever treat all stakeholders with equity. We also consider the role of individual action, and what we can do each day to support green initiatives and reduce our...
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S1E2 The Complexities of Climate Modeling (with John Reilly)
In episode 2 of Climate Conversations, the team explores the role of market forces in tackling climate change. They are joined by special guest John Reilly, who discusses the complex nature of climate modeling, and the challenges faced by the climate science community in the current political...
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S1E1 Climate after Paris
How is the US responding to the Paris withdrawal and how will it affect world climate? Is Geoengineering a necessary risk? These are the questions that Climate Conversations host Rajesh Kasturirangan is discussing with ClimateX Team members Curt Newton, Dave Damm-Luhr and Laura Howells, in the…
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About this show
Climate Conversations was a weekly climate change podcast from two MIT alumni and MIT Open Learning, as a part of their ClimateX project. ClimateX was an online platform that facilitated climate change learning, connection, and action.You can also find us on iTunes at http://bit.ly/ClimateConversations
Hosted by
ClimateX