Cultivating Positivity in the Midst of Environmental Breakdown
53m
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Climate Crisis Culture
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“In thinking about the climate crisis, a lot of these new stories have to come from within us because we’re talking about something that is this hopeful, possible, imagined future. I think if I can see possibility for that I feel like I can cultivate positivity.”
In the fifth episode of their podcast Climate Crisis Culture, podcast hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris explore positivity in times of crisis, particularly the climate crisis, and address the difficulties that come with articulating what positivity means in a world where things can sometimes feel overwhelming.
Do we lack emotional resilience and is this making us incapable of dealing with the climate crisis? What is toxic positivity and is it related to greenwashing?! Is it OK to feel OK (and ultimately use positivity as a coping mechanism) in a time when the world is obviously on its knees? They answer all these and more!
Significant mentions of: toxic positivity, radical hope and the range of emotions in between, climate positive design, the Art of Mentoring, adaptation, Caroline Hickman and eco-anxiety (again), and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible!
If you enjoyed this episode please give it a review on whichever platform you use to download or listen! Follow us on Instagram @climatecrisisculture @creative.sustainability @jfraserharris or find us at https://climatecrisisculture.podbean.com/
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Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin
Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris
Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin
Music: Michael Weldon
Links
- Read/support Positive News Magazine here.
- Check out sustainability influencer Stevie Yaaaay here.
- Buy Only Planet by Ed Gillepsie here.
- Check out Fourthland Arts here.
- Head over to Charles Eisenstein’s website here.
- Resurgence and Ecologist magazine can be found here.
The episode Cultivating Positivity in the Midst of Environmental Breakdown from the podcast Climate Crisis Culture has a duration of
53:46. It was first published
More episodes from Climate Crisis Culture
Motherhood and Parenting in the Climate Crisis
“The whole process of bringing a child into the world (and mothering) has really made me look at myself and my resilience. I don’t think I was all that resilient before…but there’s something about the urgency of getting to the truth and really sorting out myself as a role model to her. I want my daughter to grow up with resilience and have a strong sense of her values and I need to model them for her in these early years. Facing these difficult truths, being able to sit with them and still contribute and function…I want to acknowledge the environmental breakdown, the broken systems, the political shitshow but I want to get to the place where I feel empathy for people in such denial and that’s what I want to model and embody.
I believe that all these things that are good for our personal wellbeing are good for the planet too and it’s about how we show up in the world - the West needs to stop devaluing these feminine principles and then there would be a shift out of the systems which are destroying the world!”
As women in their mid thirties who have a deep level of awareness around the climate crisis, hosts Jenny Fraser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin thought it important to talk next about a deeply personal and somewhat controversial topic: Motherhood.
There is a strong connection between mothering and environmental advocacy - existentially, when thinking about Mother Nature, and more practically, when asking what motherhood and parenting looks like in a time of climate crisis, and how, as women, birthing people and mothers, we adapt.
At the time of recording Jenny and Eilidh were both at unique points in their Motherhoods - Eilidh was just about to have a baby and Jenny, who already has one child, was at the precipice of a big decision about having another - so it was an ideal time to explore this topic. This episode aims to present some thoughts and experiences on their own journeys with the hope of helping listeners process this emotional and very personal topic.
If you enjoy this episode please give it a like/review/share on whichever platform you use to download or listen! Follow us on Instagram @climatecrisisculture @jfraserharris @creative.sustainability or find us at https://climatecrisisculture.podbean.com/
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Hosts: Jenny Fraser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin
Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris
Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin
Music: Michael Weldon
Links
- Check out Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis here
- Read Mothering into the Anthropocene by Kailea Frederick here
- More info on Spilt Milk Gallery here
- More about Pregnant athen Screwed here
- Get involved with: Parents For Future here
- Mothers Rise Up
Caroline Hickman study here
Environmental Apathy: The Biggest Threat to Our Planet? Understanding Our Own Apathy and How to Counter It!
“It comes to this point: are my individual needs greater than the environment’s needs?”
Upon reaching a milestone of 1000+ downloads, hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris release episode ten of their podcast Climate Crisis Culture. Having watched the new Netflix blockbuster Don’t Look Up, this episode explores environmental and climate apathy.
Using the film as a cultural reference and starting point they recognise the parallels between real life and ‘make believe’, trying to understand what roles different actors in society play when thinking about climate apathy - namely the media, politicians, scientists and citizens. In examining what apathy is, why it occurs and what they can do about it, the hosts reflect on personal experiences to understand how apathy occurs within their own lives.
If you enjoyed this episode please give it a review on whichever platform you use to download or listen! Follow us on Instagram @climatecrisisculture @jfraserharris @creative.sustainability or find us at https://climatecrisisculture.podbean.com/
________________________________________
Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin
Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris
Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin
Music: Michael Weldon
Links
- Check out Mona Chalabi’s work here
- Sign up to the Plastic Free July campaign here
- Learn more about the Don’t Look Up Climate Platform here
- Read the To Mend a Nation article here
- Read the Ben Okri article here
- Watch the Solli Raphael x Greenpeace "Let's Make More Minutes Count" video here
A Brief Debrief of COP 26 - Our Personal Experiences
"With the practical things we do it can sometimes feel like sacrifice and that's not a good space to feel like you're living life from. This feeling of giving things up, as human beings we don't want to live like that. We want to live in a full, joyful, happy, nourishing way...and we need arts and culture to show us how to do that. To see that a better world is possible and that we're not sacrificing, we're not giving up, we're just living in a different, better way for both us and the planet."
In a break from the usual structure, hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris debrief their differing and shared experiences of COP26 in the 9th episode of their podcast, Climate Crisis Culture.
Tune in to catch this honest and heartfelt conversation which details the ups and downs of their personal experiences during the two weeks of COP26.
If you enjoyed this episode please give it a review on whichever platform you use to download or listen! Follow us on Instagram @climatecrisisculture @jfraserharris @creative.sustainability or find us at https://climatecrisisculture.podbean.com/
________________________________________
Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin
Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris
Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin
Music: Michael Weldon
Links
- Kill the Bill campaign
- Trash Plastic by Sophie Tait
- Emi Mahmoud
- George Monbiot Article
What Is COP 26? Your Cultural Guide and Why Creative Engagement is Important
“Being there is vital for my outlook and hope for life because it can feel really heavy and hard to deal with the climate crisis. I think being there and being part of this thing will give me hope and remind me of why humans and life and being on this planet are amazing. I need that hope. And I think, especially with the last 18 months, doing events via Zoom and not with other people who are giving you that nourishment. People are beautiful and the world is beautiful, and I just need to be there for my own sanity! ”
Climate Crisis Culture podcast hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris take on COP26 in this short one off episode which delves into what COP is, why it’s so important and what the potential problems with it are.
As well as defining and describing COP they confess their hopes and fears for the event, and discuss what role art and culture plays in the communication of the complex information and messages being discussed.
Watch out for their top highlights as they spotlight some great events happening both on and offline during the talks.
If you enjoyed this episode please give it a review on whichever platform you use to download or listen! Follow us on Instagram @climatecrisisculture @jfraserharris @creative.sustainability or find us at https://climatecrisisculture.podbean.com/
Facing Climate Fear
“The world that we talked about that we're so fearful of - yes that is happening but it doesn't need to be what we imagine. This fear of the future really gets me because what could be the future could be so amazing! Our lives don't need to be less than or deemed shit in comparison to what we had. And the world we could live in could be SO enriching and SO amazing but how do we communicate that? How do we get society to understand that by transitioning to this world that is better for the planet, we're not giving up loads of shit, we're giving up the stuff that doesn't matter! In turn we're going to move forward into this beautiful potential life that is so much more enriching.”
In this new series of Climate Crisis Culture, podcast hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris are back with a bang! Off the back of the release of the IPCC report, this episode explores climate fear: what it is, why we feel it and what we can do about it.
What are our personal fears relating specifically to the climate crisis, and what is the route of these fears? How can we make ourselves feel better about the climate crisis while actually taking action to combat it? How is our mental and physical health so intricately linked with the health of the planet and nature? How can we face this fear and turn it into positive action?
Significant mentions of: Anthropologist Aet Annist, COP 26 and the IPCC report, Kardashians in a bunker, over consumption and Earth Overshoot Day, autonomy and self care, filmmaker John Akomfrah, photographer Mitch Epstein and fear tactics, Gen Dread, the Climate Psychology Alliance and of course, as we do in every episode, the magnificent Caroline Hickman!
If you enjoyed this episode please give it a review on whichever platform you use to download or listen! Follow us on Instagram @climatecrisisculture @jfraserharris @creative.sustainability or find us at https://climatecrisisculture.podbean.com/
________________________________________
Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin
Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris
Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin
Music: Michael Weldon
Links
- View Mitch Epstein’s American Power collection here.
- Read about John Akomfrah’s installation here.
- Read more about All We Can Save x Gen Dread here.
- Sign a petition to stop the Cambo oil field here.
- Sign up for the Climate Reality Project Leadership training here.
- Read all about COP26 here.