Climate leadership - knowledge is power

Oct 19, 2024

Lakshmi Krishnan, a physician and cultural historian of medicine, discusses the pressing link between climate change and healthcare. The conversation highlights how healthcare is a significant carbon emitter, urging immediate action for sustainability. Krishnan explores the genre of climate fiction ('cli-fi') as a tool for advocacy, sharing book recommendations to inspire action and hope. Additionally, the panel examines the effects of climate change on migration and tuberculosis, emphasizing the need for enhanced nutritional support to tackle this global health crisis.

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Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

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Climate Change and Healthcare Leadership

01:44 • 8min

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Climate Action in Healthcare

09:43 • 4min

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The Power of Climate Fiction

13:28 • 18min

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Literary Reflections on Climate and Society

31:54 • 2min

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Climate Change, Migration, and TB

34:23 • 4min

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Food Insecurity and Tuberculosis: A Critical Link

38:34 • 3min

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Exploring Future Topics in Medicine and Science

42:04 • 3min

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#6236

• Mentioned in 5 episodes

Y the Last Man

Pia Guerra

Brian K. Vaughan

The series follows Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand as they navigate a world where all male mammals have died. Yorick's mother, a U.S. Representative, commissions Agent 355 to protect Yorick as they travel to meet Dr. Allison Mann, a geneticist working to discover why Yorick survived and how to save humanity. The story explores themes of survival, identity, and the future of humanity in a world without men.

#415

• Mentioned in 44 episodes

The Ministry for the Future

Kim Stanley Robinson

The Ministry for the Future is a novel by Kim Stanley Robinson that delves into the urgent issue of climate change. Set in the near future, the story follows the establishment of a UN agency, the Ministry for the Future, whose mission is to advocate for the rights of future generations. The novel is told through multiple perspectives, including those of Mary Murphy, the head of the Ministry, and Frank May, an American aid worker who survives a devastating heat wave in India. The book explores various innovative solutions to climate change, such as the introduction of a new currency called 'carboni' to incentivize decarbonization, and it presents a hopeful yet realistic vision of how humanity might cooperate to mitigate the effects of climate change. The narrative includes a mix of fictional eyewitness accounts, non-fiction descriptions, and diverse writing styles, reflecting the complexity and urgency of the climate crisis.

#6376

• Mentioned in 5 episodes

Land of Milk and Honey

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Oryx And Crake

Margaret Atwood

In this novel, Margaret Atwood delves into a future where genetic engineering and pharmaceutical manipulation have catastrophic consequences. The story follows Jimmy, also known as Snowman, who survives a global pandemic that wipes out most of humanity. The narrative alternates between Jimmy's current survival in a harsh environment and his past, where he grew up in a corporate-controlled world. The novel introduces the Crakers, genetically engineered beings designed to replace humanity, and explores themes of genetic modification, corporate power, and the dangers of unchecked technological advancement. Atwood raises profound questions about the ethics of scientific intervention and the future of humanity.

#18971

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

The Fifth Season

N.K. Jemisin

The Fifth Season is set in the supercontinent of Stillness, where periodic catastrophic events known as Fifth Seasons cause widespread destruction. The story follows three female orogenes: Essun, Damaya, and Syenite, each living in different time periods. Essun, a middle-aged orogene, embarks on a journey to find her daughter after her son is murdered and her daughter is taken away. The novel explores themes of racial and religious intolerance, environmental calamities, and the moral complexities of power and identity. It is the first book in The Broken Earth trilogy, which has won numerous awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2016.

#7116

• Mentioned in 4 episodes

Day of the Triffids

John Wyndham

In this classic science fiction novel, a spectacular meteor shower causes widespread blindness, leading to the collapse of society. The protagonist, Bill Masen, who retains his sight due to being in the hospital with bandaged eyes, must navigate this new world. Along with a few other sighted survivors, including the novelist Josella Playton, Bill faces the dual threats of blind humans and the triffids, carnivorous plants that can move and kill with their poisonous stingers. The novel explores themes of survival, societal collapse, and the human response to catastrophic events, including bio-warfare and mass destruction, all set against the backdrop of Cold War paranoia.

It’s an often cited statistic that if healthcare was a country, it would be the fifth largest carbon emitter. At The BMJ we want to change that, and move healthcare towards a more sustainable future.

In this week’s episode, we’ll hear about our annual climate edition from two of The BMJ’s editors, Sophie Cook and Juliet Dobson.

We’ll be diving into Cli-Fi and asking how climate fiction can galvanise our collective response to climate change. Our panel includes Howard Frumkin, professor emeritus at University of Washington. Lakshmi Krishnan, internist and Director of Medical Humanities at Georgetown university, and Sarah Grossman, journalist and author of Fire So Wild.

And Finally, Tereza Kasaeva, director of the WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme, explains how migration and food insecurity, exacerbated by climate change, are affecting TB - and why, despite effective treatment, there are still over a million deaths from the disease annually.

Our panel's cli-fi book recommendations

A Fire So Wild - Sarah Grossman
The Last Man - Mary W. Shelly
The Broken Earth - NK Jemisin
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Attwood
The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson
Olga Dies Dreaming - Xóchitl González
Land of Milk and Honey - C Pam Zhang
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham

Links

The BMJ’s annual climate issue
Cli-Fi—helping us manage a crisis
Writing towards a healthier future amid climate disaster
WISH report - Tuberculosis

Lakshmi’s references

Fundamental Role of Arts and Humanities in Medical Education
Capable of being in uncertainties’: applied medical humanities in undergraduate medical education
The introduction of medical humanities in the undergraduate curriculum of Greek medical schools: challenge and necessity
The medical humanities at United States medical schools

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