WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?

Hello Earthlings! Welcome back to What If We Get It Right?While you and I know that we already have most of the climate solutions we need — it’s more a matter of how quickly and justly we are going to implement them — most people do not know this. And you kinda can’t blame them because most of the news, plus movies and TV and social media, focus on climate problems.This is a massive storytelling challenge. We have a narrative gap, to put it mildly.And so for this special last episode of the season, I had the pleasure of sitting down with award-winning filmmaker and writer dream hampton in front of an audience at Bowdoin College in mid-November. For her whole career, dream has been making art about power and justice, and more recently has been creating works about climate, which, of course, I’ve been thrilled about. Her credentials are deep, as both community organizer and artist. Recently, she was showrunner and executive producer on the Emmy-nominated documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, which earned her a Peabody Award. In 2019, TIME magazine named dream one of the most influential people in the world, and she’s certainly been influencing my thinking in the decade or so I’ve known her.Here, we talk about how to embed climate solutions into popular culture, and the history of how activists (and bad actors) have utilized various storytelling, narrative-setting strategies. As dream put it in her opening remarks:Stories don’t just reflect the world. They create it. They decide who the heroes are, what problems matter and what futures feel possible. So what story is shaping your worldview? What story could you help write? What future do you want for Maine and who stands beside you in that story? How will your generation turn anxiety into action and possibility into progress?We screened dream’s beautiful film Freshwater. It’s a meditative, intimate, quietly devastating piece that uses the language of memory, water, and place to make climate change feel personal. dream narrates, talking us through flooded basements of homes in her home city of Detroit, Michigan.We also played and discussed A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which lays out a compelling vision for what the future could look like if the bold promise of a Green New Deal became reality — animated gorgeously by Molly Crabapple. It depicts a future that feels possible and tangible; an imperfect future, but one very much worth fighting for. Watch it below. And as a bonus, watch dream’s explainer of the War on Drugs, narrated by Jay-Z and again illustrated Molly Crabapple — a powerful example of narrative-setting, and a precursor to the GND video that helped establish the form.And that’s a wrap on What If We Get It Right? Season 3!If you’re enjoying this podcast, please help others find us — follow, rate, and review the show. ✅ Send the link of your favorite episode to your favorite group chat, and discuss! 🗣️Notes:This podcast is ad-free thanks to the support of Future Being, a grant making and special project studio, which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity.BIG thanks to Bowdoin College for bringing dream to campus and producing this event, with a special shoutout to Benje Douglas. This episode was produced and edited by Remoy Philip and me, Ayana, with help from associate producer Jenisha Shrestha.If you’re new here, peruse the back catalog. A few dozen hours of sweet podcast conversations with incredible guests await you. ✨Shoutout:While the WIWGIR podcast goes on break for a few months, we recommend cuing up the latest season of How We Survive, a podcast from Marketplace that will give you new perspective on your holiday meals. Host Amy Scott investigates how the climate crisis is threatening our agricultural systems and how scientists are racing to develop alternatives that will shape the future of food.Plus, check out their free climavore-friendly cookbook. It features recipes from Amy, “The Splendid Table” host Francis Lam, and Samin Nosrat, chef and author of “Salt Fat Acid Heat” and “Good Things.”P.S. dream’s shirt! 🇯🇲 IYKYK Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

What if businesses got creative to unleash funding, political influence, and cultural clout to address our environmental challenges?What if corporations were driven not by maximizing quarterly earnings and shareholder profits, but by being good citizens of planet Earth?There are some companies truly trying to get it right. I happen to be on the board of one of them – the outdoor company Patagonia. I joined the board of directors in 2021, as Patagonia was going through a major transition that resulted in the world having one less billionaire, the founder Yvon Chouinard, and a plan to give away basically all the company’s profits to environmental causes in perpetuity.I thought you might like a peak behind the curtain of all this, so I sat down with the CEO, Ryan Gellert, to dig into the values and practices that have shaped not just Patagonia, but set a high bar across sectors for everything from materials and manufacturing, to worker’s rights and activism, to philanthropy. Now, it’s not a perfect company, certainly, environmentally or otherwise, but it’s a model worth considering.Links/resources for the topics we covered, are all in the newsletter: ayanaelizabeth.substack.com Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

About a third of our climate problem is caused by agriculture and land use. So, what are we gonna do about it?One key solution is shifting to regenerative agriculture, aka growing food in ways that are actually good for soil and ecosystems and water and air.Our guest this episode is Dave Herring, executive director of Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment. It’s is a farm-based education, research, and visitor center set amidst more than 600 acres of conserved open space on the coast of Maine’s Casco Bay.Dave and I talked about helping farmers make the transition to regenerative practices, getting involved in environmental policy, running a farm camp so kids understand how their food is grown, and working to make our food system a part of our climate solutions.CALL TO ACTION: Really think about (and get more curious about) where your food is coming from. And eat more local, more seasonal, more plant-based.If you’re in a position to help others access nutritious food, please do. Our neighbors and food pantries and soup kitchens need our support. Find resources near you 💛: findhelp.orgAnd if you’re inspired by what you heard in this episode, and furious that the Trump administration cancelled their grant to do exceedingly important work, support Wolfe’s Neck Center! 👩🏽‍🌾: wolfesneck.org.Podcast notes:If you’re enjoying this podcast, please help others find us — follow, rate, and review the show. ✅ Text the link of your favorite episode to your favorite group chat, and discuss! 🗣️This podcast is ad-free thanks to the support of Future Being, a grant making and special project studio, which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity.This episode was produced and edited by Remoy Philip and me, Ayana, with help from associate producer Jenisha Shrestha.If you’re new here, peruse the back catalog. A few dozen hours of sweet podcast conversations with incredible guests await you. ✨ Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode is all about HEAT, that climate change bummer from which so many other impacts ripple out. The Earth is hotter now than at any other point in all of human history. From our homes and our jobs, to our policies and culture, how do we adapt? My guests for grappling with all this are Jainey Bavishi and Jeff Goodell.Jainey served as deputy head of NOAA under President Biden, and as head of resiliency for NYC under Mayor de Blasio. Perhaps you remember her from Season 2: “The Future of Coastal Cities.”Jeff is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. He has also been a climate reporter at Rolling Stone for over two decades.BONUS CONTENT: Head to the newsletter (ayanaelizabeth.substack.com) to watch the hilarious cold open by Brad Einstein with sassy Earth puppet.Follow, rate, review! ✅ Text your favorite episode to your favorite group chat, and discuss!CREDITS: This episode was recorded live at Pioneer Works during Climate Week NYC. This podcast is supported by Future Being, a grant making and special project studio, which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity.Special thanks to Pioneer Works and Wellcome Foundation for hosting this live taping. This episode was produced and edited by Gabby Bulgarelli, and me, Ayana, with help from associate producer Jenisha Shrestha. Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

Last week, I received the TIME Earth Award at the TIME100 Next gala. I worked really hard on my acceptance speech because it was an opportunity to recruit those 100 culture-shaping rising stars to get more involved in climate solutions. We need them! I’m sharing this speech with you in the hopes that hearing the way I speak about climate issues in rooms of power will encourage you to also speak up. Because the truth is that every one of us has a sphere of influence we should be activating.For the transcript, video, and photos head to my newsletter: ayanaelizabeth.substack.com. And while you're there, I'm curious: What would you have said if you had that microphone? Let me know in the comments.Thank you to Future Being for keeping this podcast ad-free, to Remoy Philip for producing this episode, and to assistant producer Jenisha Shrestha.Okay, Earthlings 🌎, that’s it for now. We’ll be back next week with a piping hot new interview episode. Stay tuned… Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe