Gungho Eco

Just when you thought you should pack your bags and move to Canada, the leading climate scientist at Union of Concerned Scientists breaks it down for us. We cover Jason Funk's experience at the Paris Climate Summit COP 21, how to frame the climate conversation for disbelievers, the separation of corporation and state... and why we shouldn't just pick up and move in fear. This one is super inspiring!

Many know the name Starhawk, the popular author of twelve books, including the seminal The Spiral Dance, a classic of feminist spirituality. Starhawk is an elder in the permaculture communities, and is a frequent lecturer around the world. The 5th Sacred Thing novel, written by Starhawk and published by Bantam books, has a longstanding, devoted following, a touchstone for activists and social change makers for over twenty years. It’s the book Julia Butterfly Hill read in the branches of the redwoods during her two-year tree sit, that the WTO protestors carried in their backpacks, that Occupiers passed around their libraries. Continuously in print since 1993, it’s sold over a 100,000 thousand copies, translated into four languages. I chat with Starhawk about her newest sequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing, called City of Refuge, which picks up with the characters where we left off. The book is available soon for sale, and it's incredible!

Beth Karlin knew she wanted to combat climate change, but in a very different way than most. As a savvy PhD’d academic, Beth chose to focus instead on psychology, uses her astute lens to see how media can be used to transform individuals, communities and systems. She started the Transformational Media Lab within UCIrvine, and now works at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, specializing in film and social change. Needless to say, she’s the person who knows how to fix and shape any message, including environmental ones.