

#5: Julia - Building Emotional Infrastructure
Ben dives in with Julia, a psychotherapist, and Asa’s mom (Asa was the 7-year-old star of Episode #4).
After a false start leads to a parenting reflection, they dive into the psychology of thinking and working on climate change. As wide ranging as the conversation was with Asa on the external world, Julia and Ben explore the internal. They hit on fundamental tensions–how do we engage without being overwhelmed, how do we trade off our basic desires with long term planning, and do we focus on me and mine vs. the collective good.
As is often the source of truth in parenting and life, they find that Daniel Tiger is full of deep wisdom that you can be and feel more than one thing at the same time. They discuss the importance of building up internal scaffolding to be able to ride the complex waves of engaging with climate change.
Referenced in the episode:
Personal Infrastructure vs. Behavior (A Matter of Degrees)
- The Opposite of Spoiled
- Rewiring America
- The Uninhabitable Earth
- Speed & Scale
- Daniel Tiger - Mixed Feelings
Julia’s leisure picks:
Music
Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)Get connected:
- Ben - Climate Papa
- Julia - Send Ben a message to pass along.
Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ben@climatepapa.com
Special thanks to Julia for recording a second session and to Arthur Shwab for editing assistance.