Climate Crisis Culture

“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/

________________________________________

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

“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

"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

“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/

“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.

“These creatures provide us with so much and these ecosystems keep us alive, yet we can’t seem to grasp it (the loss). And that’s what’s so important about what artists and musicians do - they cultivate that connection, they cultivate that love and that feeling for these things that are essentially abstract. Things you don’t know on a personal level, but that you ultimately need for survival.”

In the sixth episode (and final of season one) of Climate Crisis Culture, podcast hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris explore loss. This episode is a personal one. Both women suffered great personal loss - each losing their mother in their early twenties. A couple of years later they met through work and went on to form a deep bond over this devastating shared experience.

Jenny and Eilidh use the time in this podcast to discuss their journeys through grief and how the loss has impacted their understanding of the climate crisis. They also talk about the deep sense of loss associated with ecosystem collapse, exploring how this compares to personal loss and if and how the two are connected.

Significant mentions of: Thanatology (the study of death), ecological grief, shifting baseline theory, Solastalgia, the anticipation of loss, Naomi Klein, planetary crisis vs climate crisis, and the importance of creative practice as a coping mechanism for loss.

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/

________________________________________

Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin

Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris

Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin

Music: Michael Weldon

Links

• Read more about Climate Cafes here.
• Listen to / buy Anohni’s album Hopelessness here.
• Read more about ‘Ice Watch’ by Olafur Eliasson here.
• Check out The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris here.
• The Red Hand Files by Nick Cave here.

“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/

________________________________________

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.

“Now is the time for a reframing of this concept of environmental sustainability. It’s been around since the 70s, since the start of the first environmental movement and I think it’s really important that we reframe the language of that because it’s obviously not working very well! We need more, we need sustainability plus...we don’t want to just maintain and continue things...and regeneration is the right, more progressive little sister which will step into its place.”

In the fourth episode of their podcast Climate Crisis Culture, podcast hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris explore regeneration and how it can be used as a system to tackle the climate crisis. They look into its history, their personal experiences and, as always, the cultural references they’ve found to reference it.

Do we really want to keep sustaining things, or can we move forward with a different, potentially better model - regeneration? If so, how can we implement regeneration into our everyday lives? Is sustainability an outdated term or is it just a case of reframing it?

Significant mentions of: bioregions and the regeneration of place, the regeneration of self, indigenous history and culture, Groove Armada (what, I hear you say!), better sustainability, and apple trees!

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/

________________________________________

Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin

Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris

Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin

Music: Michael Weldon

Links

• Read more from John Thakara here
• Watch the 2040 film here
• An article on Andy Cato / Groove Armada and regenerative farming here
• Find out more about Earth Guardians here
• Stay up to date with Refuge x Regenerate Festival here
• Danial Christian Wahl articles on Medium here
• Find the book Designing Regenerative Cultures here
• Read more from Colouring in Culture here
• Watch Greening the Desert here
• Find out about Trees for Life here

“The most important thing you can do as an individual is process these feelings, sit with them then move to a place of action. A lot of the work that needs to happen to reverse things is outwith our control but what the individual can do is sit with these heavy, dark emotions and process the anxiety in a way that helps them make informed educated decisions - and be a force for good.”

In the third episode of their podcast Climate Crisis Culture, podcast hosts Eilidh McLaughlin and Jenny Fraser Harris tackle the difficult issue of eco-anxiety: what it means, what it looks like, how it can be induced and what coping mechanisms they both use to deal with it all. Recorded at the end of a difficult year for so many, the hosts guide you through their personal experiences of eco-anxiety.

How do we deal with the constant barrage of horrific news stories detailing environmental degradation around the world? Can we use this to motivate us to do better? How does defining the term and learning about it help us to cope? How does motherhood impact our feelings of climate anxiety?

Significant mentions of: Caroline Hickman, doom scrolling, finding balance, feeling your feelings, dried beans from the zero waste store, allowing occasional numbness and watching Netflix, not doing it all, the Paris Climate Accord, feeling alive and contributing, and, not to forget, the teeny tiny issue of societal collapse.

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/

________________________________________

Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin

Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris

Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin

Music: Michael Weldon

Further Reading / Links:

• Read about Caroline Hickman here and her podcast Climate Crisis Conversations here
• Read more from Jem Bendell here
• Listen to the Deep Adaptation Podcast here
• Sign up to Britt Wray’s Gen Dread newsletter here
• Read Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò article here
• Watch Vinay Gupta TED talk here
• Eco Anxious Stories here
• Podcast search for ‘eco-anxiety’
• Search for Detox Your Thoughts book by Andrea Bonoir

"It makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, and it strengthens that broken system which allows those in power to stay in power...then, how do people who don’t have that money or background even think about getting into politics or having their voices heard?”

In the second episode of their podcast Climate Crisis Culture, hosts Jenny Fraser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin break down the complex issue of systems; exploring how, when broken, systems only serve to fuel the fires of the impending climate crisis. Recorded around the time of the US election in November 2020, the episode gives an overview of systems focusing mostly on the political systems and its failings.

They share personal stories and discuss the ins and outs of permaculture design, food and agriculture, and the political system. Plus they argue the importance of learning about systems at an academic level and how that affects future life choices.

So, what’s wrong with politics? Is the system outdated, unadaptive? Do the way politicians communicate make us cringe? How do Citizens Assemblies impact government decisions? Lots of things were discussed and most were answered!

Interesting mentions to note: Citizens Assemblies, democratic system change in Chile, Julian Casablancas and Henry Giroux discussing fascism, Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown, Japan’s Future Design Movement, and Donella Meadows and systems thinking. And of course we couldn’t talk about a broken political system and not mention: Trump and Twitter!

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/

________________________________________

Hosts: Jenny Faser Harris and Eilidh McLaughlin

Music: Michael Weldon

Editing + Artwork: Jenny Fraser Harris

Show Notes: Eilidh McLaughlin

Fact Checks / Links

• Read more about Citizens Assemblies here.
• Read more about Permaculture here.
• Find out more about the book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right here.
• Read about the overturn of the constitution and new era of democracy in Chile here.
• The Looming Threat of Facism with Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) and Henry Giroux can be found here.
• Find out more about the book Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown here.
• Read about Japan’s Future Design Movement here.
• Read about Donella Meadows’ Systems Thinking work here.