Temperature Check: Recent Episodes
Grist
Temperature Check is a podcast at the intersection of climate and justice brought to you by Fix, Grist’s solutions lab. In each episode, we serve up the innovative ideas — and the people behind them — that are moving us ever closer to a clean, green, just future.
For Season Two, we asked six climate and justice leaders to tell us their greatest mentors -- the people whose influence and guidance have impacted what they do and why they do it. Then we invited the pairs to come together and discuss their relationship ... to the work and to each other. The result is a series of intimate, insightful conversations about what it takes to find purpose, passion, and even enjoyment in the fight for a better planet.
For more on the unique ways climate leaders found their calling, and how new approaches to mentorship are upending old power structures, check out Fix's Mentorship Issue at grist.org/fix.
After getting her linguistics degree, Nicole Horseherder planned to return home to Black Mesa and teach. But with the region’s aquifers under threat from coal companies, she rallied against them – and won.
Full transcript and related reading: https://grist.org/temperature-check/nicole-horseherder-coal-navajo-water/
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Struggling with depression and on medical leave from his corporate job, Olatunji Oboi Reed decided to get his bike out of the basement and go for a ride. That ride set him on a new path that led to his current work: promoting racial equity in transportation and beyond, through his organization Equiticity.
Full transcript and related reading: https://grist.org/temperature-check/olatunji-oboi-reed-equiticity-biking-equity
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Growing up, Hamid Torabzadeh experienced the impacts of climate change and pollution. In high school, he found a club that showed him his path to doing something about it. Now a college freshman, he's studying to be what he calls a "new type of doctor" in the field of climate health.
Full transcript and related reading: https://grist.org/temperature-check/hamid-torabzadeh-readyteens-climate-health
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Maya Lilly had achieved the dream of many a theater kid: studying at Juilliard. But when she realized her environmental activism didn’t have a home there, it set her on a mission to bring climate storytelling to mainstream audiences. It was a journey that took decades.
Full transcript and related reading: https://grist.org/temperature-check/maya-lilly-climate-hollywood-producer/
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Until last year, Nate Johnson was a journalist at Grist, covering climate. But when he felt his passion for writing start to wane, he found a new direction — as an electrician. Now, instead of writing about the need to electrify everything, Nate is doing that work himself … and he says he is happier than ever.
Full transcript and related reading: https://grist.org/temperature-check/nate-johnson-journalist-electrician/
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Sharon Lavigne lives in St. James Parish, Louisiana, where industrial pollution causes high cancer rates. For decades, Sharon witnessed her neighbors suffer as air quality worsened. But when yet another plant planned to open in her community, she decided to do something about it.
Full transcript and related reading: https://grist.org/temperature-check/sharon-lavigne-cancer-alley-industry-formosa/
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This season, meet 6 very different climate and justice leaders who faced crucial pivot points in their paths to climate action. Each immersive episode follows one person's journey, and the story of how they made a big change in their life, career, or community.
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Valencia Gunder and Tamara Toles O’Laughlin are dedicated to improving the lives of those facing unjust conditions in frontline communities. They discuss what it means to build coalitions and work the levers of policy to combat environmental racism.
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For these two Indigenous women, mentorship is “less about teaching skills and more about welcoming in.” Activists Jade Begay and Eriel Tchekwie Deranger talk about the consequences of holding in trauma, and the relief that comes from sharing that burden within their communities.
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Herpetologist Earyn McGee and science journalist Tien Nguyen bonded over their experiences as women of color in STEM and finding their paths from academia to media. Says Tien, “This industry needs our stories.”
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Bringing as many people as possible into the environmental movement is the goal for drag queen Pattie Gonia and science writer Spencer R. Scott. And the best, most inclusive way to do that? “Collaboration, community, and joy.”
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“When you don’t consider the nuances [among different groups of people], it can be really harmful,” says Leah Thomas, who founded Intersectional Environmentalist to do exactly that. In this episode, she speaks with her friend and mentor Teresa Baker, founder of the African American National Park Event.
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Xiuhtezcatl was an aspiring hip hop artist when he met photographer Josué Rivas. The two have been collaborating ever since, documenting the struggles of Indigenous communities through powerful lyrics and provocative images.
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Meet 6 climate and justice leaders and the people who have supported, mentored, and sustained them, as they engage in deep conversations about the world they’re building together.
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In Temperature Check's final episode of the season, host Andrew Simon sits down with Grist CEO Brady Piñero Walkinshaw to recap the season's standout moments. Then, we hear from runner and filmmaker Faith Briggs about her documentary, "This Land." In it, Briggs runs 150 miles through three national monuments amid controversy surrounding public lands. And for anyone wanting to pick up running this year, she gives some tips on the easiest ways to lace up and get out the door.
Further Reading
- Faith's website
- Faith's documentary This Land
- This Land on Instagram
- More on the Antiquities Act executive order of 2017
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
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Host Andrew Simon speaks with renowned climate and weather specialist Marshall Shepherd about what he'll be looking for in the climate arena this year under a new administration. We also learn about the inspiration behind his new book, "The Race Awakening of 2020: A 6-Step Guide for Moving Forward."
Further Reading
Marshall Shepherd
- @DrShepherd2013 on Twitter
- @marsh4fsu on Instagram
- The Race Awakening of 2020: A 6-Step Guide for Moving Forward
- Other publications
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Host Andrew Simon sits down with co-host Justin Worland of Time Magazine to talk about the biggest climate stories of 2020. Then, we hear from filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo about her documentary "Landfall," which captures the stories of everyday Puerto Ricans living—and rebuilding—after Hurricane Maria.
Further Reading
Cecilia Aldarondo
- Find more about her film Landfall here
- Landfall trailer
- Grist 50: Cecilia Aldarondo "After Hurricane Maria, she kept the cameras rolling"
- @blackscrackle on Twitter
Justin Worland
- @JustinWorland on Twitter
- Writing (2020 Is Our Last, Best Chance to Save the Planet)
- Newsletter
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Host Andrew Simon and returning co-host Angely Mercado talk big takeaways from a recent UN climate report on global warming. Then, we hear from Dr. Gaurab Basu about the relationship between people's health and planetary health.
Further Reading:
Dr. Gaurab Basu
- @GaurabBasuMDMPH on Twitter
- "Want to prevent the next pandemic? This doctor is prescribing climate action"
- Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy
Angely Mercado
- @AngelyMercado on Twitter
- @angely_mercado on Instagram
- Writing at Grist
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Host Andrew Simon and returning co-host Yessenia Funes discuss president-elect Joe Biden's climate czar pick. Then, we hear from Doctor Chelsea Frazier about Black feminism, and how it's core to saving the planet.
Further Reading:
Dr. Chelsea Frazier
- Website
- "Black Feminist Ecological Thought: A Manifesto"
Yessenia Funes
- Website
- Her newsletter, The Frontline
Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm
Octavia Butler's The Parable Series
Combahee River Collective
On John Kerry
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This Thanksgiving holiday, we're publishing a special episode—a podcast version of the Grist and Town Hall Seattle chat between New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones and Bloomberg CityLab writer and editor Brentin Mock. This summer, the two sat down to talk about the New York Times 1619 Project, which sheds light on the consequences of slavery in the U.S.
Further Reading
- Grist and Town Hall Seattle present Nikole Hannah-Jones with Brentin Mock onRace, Journalism, and Justice
Nikole Hannah-Jones
- The 1619 Project in the New York Times
- "What is Owed" in the New York Times Magazine
- Website
Brentin Mock
- Work at Bloomberg CityLab
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Host Andrew Simon and co-host Justin Worland of Time Magazine talk about the state of renewable energy in 2020. Then, we hear from Kristal Hansley, founder and CEO of We Solar. Hansley wants to bring community solar to underserved communities.
Further Reading:
Justin Worland
- Writing (2020 Is Our Last, Best Chance to Save the Planet)
- Newsletter
Kristal Hansley
- We Solar
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Host Andrew Simon and co-host Angely Mercado talk climate under the incoming administration. Then, we hear from James Beard award-winning Chef Edouardo Jordan about sustainable foods and diversity in the culinary industry. And stay tuned for cooking tips for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
Further reading / eating:
Chef Jordan on Twitter and Instagram
His restaurants:
- Junebaby (Be sure to check out Junebaby's Encyclopedia)
- Salare
- Lucinda
Angely Mercado on Twitter and Instagram
- Grist: "Is the lonely astronaut in Bad Bunny’s latest music video thinking about lost love or a lost climate?"
- Grist: "Here’s what it will take for Biden and Harris to deliver on environmental justice"
Temperature Check is a podcast from Grist, produced in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Host Andrew Simon and co-host Yessenia Funes talk about what the pending results of the 2020 presidential election means for environmental justice. Then, we hear about the push for environmental equity, the recent merging of social movements, and about powwow dancing from Julian Brave NoiseCat, Vice President of Policy and Strategy at Data for Progress, a non-profit progressive think tank.
Further Reading:
Julian Brave NoiseCat
- Website
- The art of Ed Archie NoiseCat (Julian's father)
Yessenia Funes
- Website
- The Frontline newsletter
Host Andrew Simon sits down with Gimlet Media's Kendra Pierre-Louis to learn how suburbs are harsh on the planet and how stories about solutions don't have to be boring. Plus: some of the best -- and worst-- songs that mention climate change.
Further Reading & Listening:
'Wakanda Doesn't Have Suburbs': How Movies Like Black Panther Could Help Us Save the Planet
The Hot 10 Climate Songs
How to Save a Planet: Unnatural Disasters
Grist is excited to introduce Temperature Check, a new show about climate, race, and culture. 2020 has been a year of reckoning with racial justice on a global scale, while another global crisis - climate change - continues to grow. But these two stories are actually one and the same: climate justice is racial justice. Join us and host Andrew Simon each week as we talk to inspiring leaders, changemakers, and journalists about the overlaps between climate change and social justice, and how unsung leaders in pop culture are reimagining a better, more just planet.