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WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
A show about climate solutions, about what we need to do to address the climate crisis, and how to make those things happen — from changing laws, to electrifying buildings, to improving fashion and media. Each week an expert guest joins host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson to break it down, delightfully, and help us all envision what getting right on climate looks like, so we can reel that vision into reality. ayanaelizabeth.substack.com
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- 3 weeks ago1h 4m
What climate leadership looks like in Maine 🌲, with Hannah Pingree
This conversation had an odd effect on me. I found it... relaxing? To hear a politician speaking competently, calmly, clearly, practically and with nuance about climate policy was so soothing, reassuring. More of this please!How can we make things happen when your federal leaders are climate deniers in the pocket of fossil fuel industry? One answer is that state government leaders need to majorly step up. So, today’s conversation with Maine gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree is an important one.Hannah Pingree is is a longtime public servant and climate leader from a small island off the midcoast of Maine. I would describe her as a strategic problem-solver. Very importantly, in a fiercely independent “purple” state like Maine, Hannah also has a track record of something very rare in American politics right now: an ability to get things done across all sorts of political divides, including on climate issues.In this conversation, we cover everything from AI data centers, to clean energy, affordability, aquaculture, PFAS (aka forever chemicals), working waterfronts, and the critical role of governors in this era of excruciating federal rollbacks.After hearing this interview, you’ll get why I will be ranking Hannah Pingree #1 on my ballot and why Maine Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, and — perhaps most notably — the High School Democrats of Maine have endorsed her.This is an especially timely episode because early voting in Maine’s primary election is open NOW! And Election Day is June 9th. So whether you’re a Maine voter yourself, know someone who is, or are just interested in what state-level climate leadership can look like... this one’s for you. Have a listen and send this episode to all the Mainers in your life so they can make a more informed decision.And wherever you live, it’s a perfect time to pick a candidate, roll up your sleeves and help them win. These midterm elections are an ENORMOUS deal. Don’t know where to begin? Check out which candidates Lead Locally and Working Families Party have endorsed, and sign up to phone bank with Environmental Voter Project.Credits: This episode was produced by Remoy Philip and me, with support from Jenisha Shrestha. That’s it! That’s our small but mighty team.Alright, Earthlings, I’m gonna take the summer off from podcasting. And then! I’ll be back in the fall with an election season of the show. For that I’m going to be teaming up with a magnificent and wise and charming co-host. All will be revealed in due time... but get stoked, and stay tuned, and do your part, and be kind, and keep loving this planet. 🩵 Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe
- May 4, 202659 min
Climate Wayfinding 🧭 with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson
Today’s conversation is a special one. I’m joined by someone who’s been a collaborator and a dear friend in this work: Katharine K. Wilkinson.And tomorrow, May 5th, is publication day for Katharine's new book that’s the culmination of the last 5 years of her work — or perhaps of her lifetime. It’s called Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home.It’s such an important book because the vast majority of people are concerned about climate change. But a much smaller portion of people are actively engaged in pushing forward solutions. And so much of whether and how we step up and lean in is about our feelings. How do we move from anxiety and dread into something more like, as she puts it, a shimmering purpose?If you have questions about your role in climate solutions — how to move from, as the back cover says “ache to action, from doubt to possibility” — Climate Wayfinding will help you navigate toward answers. Let’s be honest, we all have these questions! So, head on over to your local independent bookstore and and pick up Katherine’s book in all its periwinkle glory, or request it from your local library.Notes:Katharine’s article in TIME Magazine: The Climate Crisis Is a Call to Action. These 5 Steps Helped Me Figure Out How to Be of Use.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 by Remoy Philip and myself with support from Jenisha Shrestha.Alright, earthlings. You know the motto: Take climate change seriously, but let’s not take ourselves too seriously. Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 17, 202629 min
An Ocean Love Story 🐠
In the spirit of the What If We Get It Right? paperback launch, sharing an excerpt of the audiobook. The heart of this audiobook is 20 interviews with people who have shaped my understanding of the answer to the titular question. It’s kind of like a whole season of a podcast packaged up with essays by me and poetry by others. Also, ahem, the audiobook was a finalist for the Audie Award. (If you’re gonna lose, lose to Stephen King.)Order the full audiobook here.The prelude, the first chapter, is “An Ocean Love Story.” It’s about how I fell in love with coral reefs at 5 years old, and how the ripples that flowed from that have shaped the unfurling of my life ever since.This chapter is my origin story, in brief. From Brooklyn, New York, to Key West, Florida, to Washington, DC, and the Caribbean. It's one of the most personal things I’ve ever published. A little funny. A lot honest. It’s the start of my quest to understand how we, humans, can get it as right as possible here on this magnificent planet. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it has similarities with your story, too. ____CREDITS: 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 by Remoy Philip and me, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, with support from Jenisha Shrestha. The original audiobook was produced by Olivia Langen for Penguin Random House audio, recorded at Expanding Sky Studios in Brunswick, Maine.____Subscribe to the WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? newsletter. Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 3, 202634 min
Rewind: That time we made a Climate Variety Show. 🤪
Back in September 2024, on the day my book What If We Get It Right? was published, I did one of the most absurd and delightful things I’ve ever done. I co-hosted an over-the-top goofy Climate Variety Show with actor Jason Sudeikis at the Brooklyn Museum. Sold out crowd. Strong high school talent show energy. And we took the “variety” in variety show seriously – magic, music, hula hoops, comedy, costumes, dance off, and of course many shoutouts to climate solutions. Honestly have trouble believing it actually happened. Total fever dream of a “What if we…?” question. 🧐As we gear up for the publication of the paperback on April 14th, I’m thinking back on the hardcover launch oh so fondly. So today’s episode is re-run of the very 1st episode of our podcast, which was an audio montage, if you will, of excerpts from that variety show (and enjoy some photos here!).A tiny time machine to revisit the silliness that transpired a year and a half ago. I present to you: ✨The Climate Variety Show.✨For the visuals to go with it, peep my slideshow (and subscribe to the newsletter while you're there!): https://ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/p/climate-variety-show-slideshowAlso! Paperback tour = Climate Dance Parties. If you love the Earth, dance with us. 🌎🕺🏽 Kicking off April 14th — Brooklyn, Monterey, Manhattan, San Diego, Los Angeles, Maine! Snag your tickets here: www.getitright.earth/tour.And while you’re on the crazy internet, pretty please pre-order the paperback from your local bookstore or bookshop.org. 📚 Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe
- Mar 13, 202635 min
For the love of nature, culture, and the future 💖 with Dr. Heidi Roop
Hello Earthlings, we are back with a new episode of the What If We Get It Right? podcast. This is the first episode of Season 4, which will be a short season — maybe 6 episodes? Not sure! We’ll see how it goes.Today’s conversation, with Dr. Heidi Roop, was recorded at The Great Northern festival’s Climate Solutions Series in Minneapolis on January 31st.Dr. Roop is an expert in climate science and adaptation. She is the Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership. From 2024-2025, she served two presidential administrations as the Assistant Director of Climate Services in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. During this time, she also served as Acting Executive Director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, coordinating research and services across the over fourteen federal agencies and advising the White House on how to effectively manage climate risks.She also wrote a wonderful book, with incredible infographics, called The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions for Everyone, which I highly recommend.So... it’s a little odd that she was interviewing me and not the other way around! Yes, this is an unusual episode in that I am the one getting asked the questions. But it was such a wonderful event and conversation that I thought I’d share it to give you all a sense of where my head is at these days. These wild days.Special thanks to The Great Northern and Bell Museum, for hosting this conversation. And a huge shoutout to the good humans of Minneapolis, continuing to hold it down and be truly excellent neighbors and citizens.This episode was produced by Remoy Phillip, and me, Ayana, with support from assistant producer Jenisha Shrestha.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. Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe
- Dec 23, 202534 min
Winning the narrative battle 🎥, with dream hampton
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
- Dec 12, 20251h 2m
Earth is our only shareholder 🌏, with Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert
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
- Nov 21, 202544 min
The Current Politics of Food and Farming 👨🌾 with Dave Herring
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
About WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?
A show about climate solutions, about what we need to do to address the climate crisis, and how to make those things happen — from changing laws, to electrifying buildings, to improving fashion and media. Each week an expert guest joins host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson to break it down, delightfully, and help us all envision what getting right on climate looks like, so we can reel that vision into reality. ayanaelizabeth.substack.com
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