WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?

A show about climate solutions, about what we need to do to address the climate crisis, and how to make those things happen — from changing laws, to electrifying buildings, to improving fashion and media. Each week an expert guest joins host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson to break it down, delightfully, and help us all envision what getting right on climate looks like, so we can reel that vision into reality.

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Latest Episodes:

What the Ocean Loses 🌊 if Trump Wins Nov 04, 2024

Show notes

Election Day is TOMORROW, y’all. 🫠 So I thought the best conversation to share with you right now would be one about some of the really important progress the Biden-Harris administration has made on ocean and climate policy. This progress is very much at risk if Trump and his fossil-fuel funded, climate-denying cronies end up back in the White House.

This conversation took place in Washington, DC with two White House staffers, climate policy experts and dear friends of mine: Maggie Thomas, special assistant to President Biden for climate in the Office of Domestic Climate Policy, and Dr. Miriam Goldstein, director of ocean policy in the Council of Environmental Quality.

One of the things I think doesn’t get talked about enough is who the next president will appoint to key positions like this. Personnel is policy, as the saying goes. It’s been such a thrill to cheer on Maggie and Miriam and watch from the outside, and to now share with you a bit of what’s been happening on the inside — from the Blue New Deal (aka how can we make sure that the ocean is included in federal climate policy) to the American Climate Corps to key lessons they’ve learned in the White House. It’s a wonky one. You’re welcome!

Links to the Blue New Deal and Ocean Justice Strategy are in Urban Ocean Lab’s resource hub. And you can find all the work of the White House Climate Policy Office and Council of Environmental Quality at whitehouse.gov/cpo and whitehouse.gov/ceq.

CREDITS: Thank you Maggie and Miriam. Thank you Politics and Prose bookstore for hosting us and Ellen Rolfes for recording the audio. Thank you people of DC for appreciating our nerdiest jokes — only there will Federal Register quips get a laugh! This episode was produced and edited by Nora Saks and me. Thanks also to Jenisha Shrestha, my chief of staff and tour producer.

Thank you so much for listening! As a parting gift, to help get you through election week, my Anti-Apocalypse Mixtape. 🎶

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Whiskey 🥃, Home, and Showing Up — with Colette Pichon Battle and Jade Begay Oct 31, 2024

Show notes

This episode is about the importance of home and community. It’s about the role of culture, of traditions, of protecting democracy, and how all of that is woven together in the context of the climate threats that we’re facing.

This is a conversation with two incredible and grounded women: Colette Pichon Battle, attorney and co-founder of climate justice organization Taproot Earth, and Jade Begay, a Dine and Tesuque Pueblo climate policy expert and Indigenous rights strategist currently serving as the Native American engagement director for the Harris-Walz campaign.

I interviewed Colette and Jade individually for my book, but I was eager to have a conversation with them together, as two heart-centered, sharply strategic leaders who are deeply rooted in the places where their families have lived for many generations – the bayous of Louisiana and the mesas of what is now called New Mexico.

A big question on my mind: What does home mean in the context of the climate crisis?

CREDITS: Thank you to Pioneer Works for hosting not only this event but the whole Science & Society event series, which was a key spark for my book. And thank you Site Santa Fe for hosting Jade and me there. This episode was produced and edited by Nora Saks and me, with production help in Brooklyn from Bob Bellarue, and in Santa Fe from Julia Sclafani. Thank you, as always, to Jenisha Shrestha, my chief of staff and tour producer. And thank YOU for listening! Please share this episode and spread the word, and we’ll be back very soon.

Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

Love politics 💛 with Bill McKibben and Abigail Dillen Oct 23, 2024

Show notes

Recorded at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, for the Climate One radio show and podcast, this episode features journalist and environmental legend Bill McKibben, founder of Third Act, and tenacious environmental attorney, Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice. Both are interviewed in What If We Get It Right?, but we covered new ground here, together: fossils for fossil fuels, changes in the Supreme Court, the Environmental Justice For All Act, some lessons instilled by my parents, love politics, and so much more.

CREDITS: This episode was produced and edited by Nora Saks, and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Big thanks to Climate One and the Commonwealth Club, and, as always, thanks to my chief of staff and tour producer, Jenisha Shrestha.

Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe

Connecting the dots with Stacey Abrams Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

I’ve always been impressed with Stacey Abrams from afar, so when I got an invitation to be directly in conversation with her, I was thrilled. In addition to her political leadership, Abrams is also a small business owner, a New York Times best-selling author, and —something far fewer people know — a champion for clean energy and climate justice.

In 2023, Abrams joined the team at Rewiring America as senior counsel. That’s a great nonprofit dedicated to electrifying our homes, businesses, and communities. If you want to ditch fossil fuels and upgrade to electric (and save money doing it!) their website has all the top tips.

I knew the conversation (during Climate Week NYC) would be interesting, but I had not anticipated that it would also be utterly delightful. Enjoy!

CREDITS: This episode was produced and edited by Nora Saks, and me, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. And, as always, thanks to my chief of staff and tour producer, Jenisha Shrestha. Big thanks to Stacey Abrams and her team, and to the event’s sponsors: Grist, Rewiring America, Mother Jones, and the Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School.

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Vote Climate ✅, with Nathaniel Stinnett and Whit Jones Oct 06, 2024

Show notes

The environmental movement has a voter turnout problem: 8 million environmental voters did not vote in the 2020 election. Eight MILLION! In a presidential election decided by thousands of votes. This 2024 election is similarly, stressfully close.

On September 20th, at Bowdoin College (where I teach), I sat down with Whit Jones, founder and executive director of Lead Locally, and Nathaniel Stinnett, founder and executive director of Environmental Voter Projectfor a conversation on climate and voting. We got into it, got nerdy and specific, about: fixing this MASSIVE voter turnout problem, how climate voters can influence policy, election wins we should celebrate, and why local elections matter very, very much.

It would be reckless to be on a book tour in September/October 2024 and not use every event to encourage people to #VoteClimate. So I’m taking Environmental Voter Project and Lead Locally on tour with me, at each stop registering volunteers to help with their worthy efforts. 30 days to go… join us!: getitright.earth/voteclimate

This episode was produced and edited by Nora Saks and me, Ayana, with support from Jenisha Shrestha. Special thanks to Bowdoin college for hosting and producing the event.

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Climate Variety Show 🚀 AKA my book launch with Jason Sudeikis Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?: the podcast! Here, we'll continue exploring answers to the big (huge!) question “What if we get it right?”, beyond what’s in the (New York Times bestselling!!! 😮) book. Our vibe is to take climate seriously, but don't take yourself seriously. Irreverent, nerdy, soulful, goofy.

I’m on a 7-week book tour 🫠 across the USA, and I’m taking you with me: 20 cities, 40 events, each one different. I’ll be in conversation with all sorts of fantastic folks, talking climate and policy and politics and culture. I’ll be sharing the best bits of that here. And perhaps I'll get to meet some of you in person along the tour. Details are here: getitright.earth/tour.

This first episode features excerpts from the book launch Climate Variety Show, which I co-hosted with Jason Sudeikis at the Brooklyn Museum on September 17th. It featured: Roy Wood Jr., Wyatt Cenac, Dr. Kate Marvel, Perrin Ireland, Oshima Brothers, Nicole Cardoza, Hila the Earth, Jacqueline Woodson, Amber Tamblyn, Mamoudou N'Diaye, and nine of the people I interviewed in the book.

It was such a hoot – enjoy!

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