WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?

• How do you convince a room full of influential people to care about climate change… in 6 minutes? 🎤

  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

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• Climate hushing, fart jokes, and love. 😝 John Marshall on how to market climate action.

  For those of us trying to advance climate solutions (go team!), there’s always the question of how to be more impactful, how to bring more people along with us into this work. And often the answer is not fancier technology or more brilliant policy, it’s more compelling communication for recruiting and persuasion.Today’s podcast guest, John Marshall, is an expert in marketing. He spent the first half of his career working with corporations who want to sell us stuff. And now, as founding executive director of the nonprofit Potential Energy, he’s using those same tools to sell climate solutions.So, what messages are most effective? What words should we use or avoid? Who are the best messengers? What’s his advice for me about how to be a better one? And what’s love got to do with it?I learned so much, including that we simply have to talk about climate MORE. So, Earthlings, let’s get into it!John’s CALL TO ACTION 🗣️Rally your crew, build the team: "Do things, invite people. You invite three people and they invite three people, and that’s how change actually happens. And that’s how we get an acceleration. So do talk about it with somebody. Invite somebody to do something together."Simple, necessary, and something each of us can do more of. To put it in the words of Bill McKibben, sometimes the best thing an individual can do is to stop being such an individual.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 Gabby Bulgarelli, 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

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• Presenting — Sabotage: The Splat 🥫🖼️

  Almost exactly three years ago (Oct 14, 2022) a couple of climate activists hurled tomato soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers.” It got a whole bunch of press. Do you remember this? Did you ever look into who did it and why?Well, this week on the What If We Get It Right? podcast, we’re gonna get to the bottom of it. I’m sharing the first episode of the climate podcast Sabotage: “The Splat.” Season 1 of this fascinating investigative show, tells the story of the people behind the climate activism group Just Stop Oil. Co-hosted by Alessandra Ram and Samantha Oltman, the show asks: How radical is radical when it comes to climate activism right now? And it all starts with the splat heard round the world — that tomato soup splashing all over the painting’s glass and frame and the wood floor in London’s National Gallery.I hope you enjoy this episode of Sabotage as much as I did. Subscribe! Their season 2 is dropping soon..._____I’ll be back with a new interview episode next week. In the meantime, my call to action for you: VOTE CLIMATE ✅Election day in the U.S. is November 4th. For the love of all that is good, please vote. Check details for your polling place and what’s on your local ballot at iwillvote.com. There are so many important local positions and ballot initiatives. Do your research, share useful info with friends & neighbors. And be sure to research the climate platforms of all candidates. Duh. See Lead Locally’s endorsements here.Then, hit the phones ☎️: Phone bank with Environmental Voter Project and Lead Locally. (And listen to Season 1, Episode #2: Vote Climate for my conversation with the founders of those organizations.)Until we as Earth-lovers become a formidable voting block, politicians won’t prioritize climate policy. So GOTMFV! Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

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• What now for climate law? ⚖️ Abigail Dillen has answers.

  This week I’m chatting with environmental lawyer Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm whose tagline is “because the Earth needs a good lawyer.” Indeed, it does.The stakes, in her words: “We could come out of this time with neither presidential authority nor congressional authority to create, and enforce strong environmental laws.”Oof. But we are not quitters, right team? So, from from the Supreme Court, to suing the government, to Project Phoenix, to her spicy take on the whole abundance narrative, Earthlings 🌎, let’s dive in.Abbie’s CALL TO ACTION 🗣️ Buckle up, this is an especially nerdy one: Read Supreme Court dissents in order to fire yourself up, starting with what Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had to say in Trump v. CASA, on universal injunctions and beyond.Notes:If you’re enjoying this podcast, help others find us — follow, rate, and review. ✅ 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 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

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• Climate Change vs. Coffee, Wine, and Chocolate ☕️🍷🍫 with Sam Kass

  Food is a major driver of our environmental problems. It uses ~38% of Earth’s land, drives ~70% of our water use, and emits ~22-34% of our greenhouse gas pollution globally. I know it’s not popular to say it, but a lot of that impact is driven by beef and dairy.On the one hand, agriculture is driving deforestation and warming the planet. And on the other hand, our changed climate is determining what foods we can continue to grow and where.So, this week I’m sharing what turned out to be, notwithstanding those terrible stats I just rattled off, an utterly delightful conversation with food mega nerd Sam Kass.Sam was Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition in the White House during the Obama administration, and he was also White House chef. He is the founder of TROVE and a partner in Acre Venture Partners. In 2012, he helped create the American Chef Corps, which is dedicated to promoting diplomacy through culinary initiatives. And he has a new book that just came out on October 7 called The Last Supper: How to Overcome the Coming Food Crisis.This conversation, recorded live during Climate Week in NYC at an event organized by PlanetFWD, is a sneak peak into what Sam covers in the book — from what our last supper might be missing (sorry to the coffee, chocolate and wine lovers), the enormously important role of culture, stories from his time in the White House (like the organic vegetable garden he created with FL Michelle Obama), and how what we eat and how we farm can be SOLUTIONS.And I can’t miss the chance to say that it is my fervent belief that the climate movement needs more dinner parties! So when you’re done listening, make a plan to gather with good people over nourishing food and conspire about implementing climate solutions.Notes:If you’re enjoying the show, please help others find us — follow, rate, review, tell your crew! ✅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.Special thanks to Julia Collins and the team at PlanetFWD for hosting this live taping. This episode was produced and edited by Gabby Bulgarelli, and me, Ayana, with help from associate producer Jenisha Shrestha.Bon appetite, Earthlings 🌎 xo Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

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