23 January 2021 | New Scientist | 31Podcast
Inherited
Critical Frequency
GRETA THUNBERG has been the
star of the youth climate movement
since her first school strike in
2018, in which she sat outside
the Swedish parliament to
demand action on the Paris climate
agreement. Yet she is just one of
millions of young people coming
to terms with a crisis they inherited.
“There are tons of young people
fighting today, and many who have
fought before, and we all feel the
same terrifying weight,” says writer
and audio producer Georgia Wright
in an episode of Inherited, a podcast
she co-hosts and produces with
Julianna Bradley. The show shares
the experiences of teenagers and
twenty-somethings dedicating
their lives to the climate emergency.
Its four-episode pilot season
features guests telling their own
stories, bringing the challenges and
emotions they face to life while also
touching on the origins of the crisis.
Age is often a barrier because it
prevents young people being taken
seriously. Inherited’s first episode
follows the early days of the Sunrise
Movement, a political group led by
young people in the US aiming to
stop climate change. One member
was described as “young and naive”
when she challenged a politician
about action on the issue, spurring
the group on to disprove the
patronising remark. The result was
a protest organised in 2018 that
was a turning point for Sunrise.
At that time, the latest report
from the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) had just
been released, warning that society
had 12 years to control climate
change. Yet Nancy Pelosi, then
incoming speaker of the US House
of Representatives, didn’t seem to
be making climate a priority in the
next session of Congress. Sunrise
organised a sit-in at her office,
attracting a lot of media coverage.
Since then, the movement has
bloomed and it has helped elect
climate-minded politicians.
The success of Sunrise touches
on another theme of this podcast:
community. Many young people
suffer from climate grief, anxiety
and guilt. Climate activist Xiye
Bastida, a guest on the show, recalls
how she collapsed after hearing
that US president Donald Trump was
rolling back certain environmental
regulations. But connecting with
others experiencing the same thing
can help. “We are in a climate crisis,
but we can’t live in a state of crisis,”
says Bastida. “If we go through our
days with hopelessness, we’re not
going... to get anything done.”
It can be difficult, however, to
convince some people that climate
change is real. In one episode, a
guest named Jenna describes howher community in the Rockaways
area of New York City was ravaged
by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. A day
after the storm, local houses were
flooded and fires raged. She didn’t
go back to school for three weeks
and the relief effort took years.
Although the hurricane changed
her life and drove her to pursue
a climate-related career, some
who lived through the disaster still
denied the links to climate change.
“Often [humans] prefer to shut
off these big abstract thoughts...
focusing on challenges that are
more manageable,” says Bradley.
Inherited highlights how informed
and dedicated many young people
are when it comes to climate
change. The season ends on a
hopeful note. Past generations may
be responsible for the crisis, but
the message is that today’s youth
can choose what comes next.
“Instead of resigning ourselves to
a terrible fate, we’re dreaming up
a new path,” says Bradley. ❚A mural depicting climate
activist Greta Thunberg
in Brighton, UK
Sandrine Ceurstemont is
a science and technology
writer based in MoroccoJONSANT
A^ CRUZ/SHUTTER
ST
OC
KA whole world to change
Millions of young people are fighting for action on climate change.
Sandrine Ceurstemont listens to a podcast that tells their stories
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