Can you believe it? We’ve reached the end of Climate Curious Season 3 and we’re looking back with co-hosts Ben and Maryam.
In this episode, Ben and Maryam discuss some of their favourite moments of the season. Have a read of this handy overview of some of the most powerful insights and conversations from the series recorded at TED Countdown. Get up to speed on what you missed, or refresh your memory on some of the most jaw-dropping moments yet, all summarised here for you.
Six stand out ideas from Season Three:
- The fossil fuel industries want you to think climate change is a lifestyle problem. –Tzeporah Berman
- It’s impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet. –Shweta Narayan
- The climate movement isn’t just Jane Goodall, David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg pushing a giant boulder up a hill. –Katharine Hayhoe
- Cities are a bit like acupuncture; a small move can make a really big difference. –Vishaan Chakrabarti
- We need to approach the problem of nutrition differently and find solutions that suit the community’s needs – burgers are ok! –Ermias Kebreab
- We need to be imperfect environmentalists to be better people in this world – let’s focus on doing more overall, and letting go of climate perfectionism. –Isaias Hernandez
Tzeporah Berman, climate campaigner on the Climate Curious podcast
The super villain moment
Why fossil fuels are the new weapons of mass destruction, with environmental campaigner Tzeporah Berman
Good for: People who are struggling with the concept of personal responsibility.This episode does a really good job of shifting your perspective from the climate crisis being about you as an individual and the choices that you’re making.
Ben says: “This sounds like a conspiracy theory, that fossil fuels wouldn’t be in the Paris Agreement, but it’s actually real life. Like that is wild, absolutely wild.”
Maryam says: “I think this episode definitely shook my understanding of the world.”
Listen to Tzeporah’s full episode on Climate Curious.
Watch Tzeporah’s TED Talk from Countdown
Sign the Fossil Fuel Treaty
The burgers are back in town moment
How seaweed reduces cow burps, with animal scientist Ermias Kebreab
Good for: People who are interested in how nutrition intersects with climate. This episode is great at offering some different solutions to straight up veganism.
Maryam says: “Ermias understood nutrition on a very different level than maybe other climate scientists. Malnutrition is an incredibly devastating thing that can happen, especially in childhood. And for me, I thought he really embodies the intersectional perspective that we’re always talking about.”
Ben says: “There’s something really humbling in this conversation in particular, which is coming to terms with the fact that this person for a lot of their careers probably felt quite ostracised by the climate community, and was made to believe that they were working on something that was a waste of time, which actually a real solution, a real time problem solver. So super, super, super interesting.”
Listen to Ermias’s full episode on Climate Curious
The people matter just as much as polar bears moment
Why the climate crisis is a health crisis, with health campaigner Shweta Narayan
Good for: People who are interested in health and wellness, and want to understand the impacts of air pollution on your health
Ben says: “The framing of the climate crisis from the point of view of the Hippocratic Oath, i.e. ‘do no harm’, for me, was like, really, really monumental, like a big, big, big shift in my mind. So not just thinking about this, like through the terms of the planning, and actually considering that this is really doing harm to people. How do we stop that from happening? That’s a responsibility that all of us have.”
Maryam says: “I love polar bears, but I’m finding it really refreshing that we’re starting to get this perspective about people and about the impacts of climate change on people.”
Listen to Shweta’s full episode on Climate Curious
Watch Shweta’s TED Talk from Countdown
The professor skyscraper moment
How cities are redefining what it means to be green, with architect and urbanist Vishaan Chakrabarti
Good for: People who love cities! And are fed up with being talked about like the enemy when it comes to fighting climate change.
Maryam says: “The thing that this episode did was connect two things in my brain, which is that we blame cities, right? Of course, we blame people in cities, because people in cities are poor, and they’re brown, and they’re working class, often. And so we become the people who are the source of the problem, right?”
Ben says: “I’ve really never considered what Vishaan was talking about in terms of people being centralised in one space, and maybe how that might help us rather than hinder us.”
Listen to Vishaan’s full episode on Climate Curious
Watch Vishaan’s TED Talk from Countdown
The climate self-care moment
Why climate has a youthwashing problem, with environmental educator Isaias Hernandez (aka @QueerBrownVegan)
Good for: People who are tired of always having to be the 24/7 climate activist, and can’t give themselves a break
Ben says: “There’s so much guilt that’s heaped onto individuals about their lifestyle choices, which can paralyse a person. And I think what Isaiah was saying was this can really lead to burnout, which means that you can’t do any work, right? So I love that idea of – if you need to go skiing, or you need to eat a burger, then focus the energy that you gained from doing that activity into making some kind of impact somewhere else.”
Maryam says: “Even though I’ve been doing this for years, I feel it all the time. This burden of perfectionism, and this idea that ‘how can I justify wanting to take a flight? Take a holiday? Having a burger?’”
Listen Isaias’s full episode on Climate Curious
The aha moment
Why talking is the most important thing you can do to fight climate change, with atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe.
Maryam says: “I love that Katharine gave us really tangible things that we can do to talk about climate, and why talking about climate is so important.”
Ben says: “How do we talk to people that don’t understand this issue in the same way we understand it? It provided so many solutions in terms of how you have these climate conversations.”
Listen to Katharine’s full episode on Climate Curious
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So there you have it – six stand out moments summarised for your from the Climate Curious podcast by TEDxLondon.
In this conversation, hosted by TEDxLondon’s Maryam Pasha and advocate and activist Ben Hurst, the co-hosts playback some of their favourite quotes from our guests, reflect on why that idea stuck with them, and share how it made them think differently when it comes to climate.
Fear not – we’re not going anywhere. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing some extra bonus content and new quickie 5-min episodes. Make sure to subscribe via your podcast provider to listen as soon as they release.
Until next time – stay curious!
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