
Reversing Climate Change
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Reversing Climate Change is a podcast that bridges science, technology, and policy with the richness of the humanities. From the forefront of carbon removal and climatetech to explorations of literature, history, philosophy, and geopolitics, we dive deep into the people, ideas, and innovations shaping a better future for the planet and its inhabitants.
Latest episodes

Apr 6, 2021 • 44min
S2E58: Oceans and climate, Waves and Beaches—w/ Kim McCoy, oceanographer and author
Few of us live at sea, so the ocean doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves in the climate conversation. But Kim McCoy contends that phytoplankton deserve just as much consideration as polar bears, and it’s time for us to understand how rising temperatures impact the water, the wind, the waves, and the weather. After all, we all live downstream of climate change.
Kim is the oceanographer who updated Willard Bascom’s Waves and Beaches: The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast, adding new insights around the impact of climate change. On this episode of the podcast, Kim joins Ross to discuss the impact of changing the amount of energy in a given system (i.e.: adding energy in the form of heat) and explain the relationship between changes in the atmosphere and changes in the ocean.
Kim shares the scientific data around the increase in accumulated cyclone energy fueling Atlantic hurricanes and describes how private property is becoming public due to sea level rise. Listen in for Kim’s take on interventions like iron fertilization and solar radiation management and find out what we can do restore the health of the hydrologic cycle that connects us all!
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Resources
Waves and Beaches: The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast by Willard Bascom and Kim McCoy
Books by John Kretschmer
John Kretschmer on Reversing Climate Change S2EP33
John Martin’s Iron Hypothesis
Running Tide
Brian Von Herzen on Reversing Climate Change EP034
Brian Von Herzen’s RCC Bonus Episode on the Documentary 2040

Mar 30, 2021 • 34min
S2E57: Farming While Black: race and regenerative agriculture—w/ Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farms
Regenerative agriculture is sometimes branded as a new idea. But the tradition of maintaining soil carbon and honoring the earth, of leaving the land better than we found it, has been part of indigenous traditions for thousands of years. So, what can we do to re-center the stories of Black and Native American growers and give credit where credit is due?
Leah Penniman is the Co-Director and Farm Manager at Soul Fire Farm, an Afro-Indigenous-centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. Leah has 20-plus years of experience as a soil steward and food sovereignty activist, and she is the author of Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation of the Land. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Leah joins Ross and cohost Rebekah Carlson to explain George Washington Carver’s work pioneered modern regenerative agriculture—two decades prior to J.I. Rodale.
Leah describes the work she has done to reclaim a connection with the land (beyond the oppression of slavery and sharecropping) and offers advice on reconnecting with your own indigenous roots. Listen in for Leah’s insight on the shift among Black Americans from rural to urban farming and learn how you can support Soul Fire Farm’s work to promote social and environmental justice.
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Listen to our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Soul Fire Farm
Soul Fire on Facebook
Soul Fire on Instagram
Soul Fire on Twitter
Soul Fire on YouTube
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation of the Land by Leah Penniman
‘Why Farming Is an Act of Defiance for People of Color’ in Healthyish
Owen Taylor on The Table Underground Podcast EP030
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
The land-healing work of George Washington Carver at Grist
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon
The Justice for Black Farmers Act

Mar 23, 2021 • 59min
S2E56: Celebrating your very own Climate Passover Seder—w/ Sarah Tuneberg of Geospiza
The Passover story is one of intense grief and loss as well as redemption and freedom. And while the Jews fled Egypt 3,000 years ago, many aspects of the story seem particularly relevant in a world plagued by extreme climate events and COVID-19. So, how might the events of Passover inform the way we think about climate change? Can we customize our Passover observances in a way that considers our responsibility to solve the climate crisis?
Sarah Tuneberg is the CEO of Geospiza, a software company that helps cities and corporations take action around climate risk, and she spent 2020 leading the State of Colorado’s Coronavirus Innovation Response Team. On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Sarah returns to explain the Jewish tradition of the Passover Seder and explore how it might be customized around the theme of climate change.
Sarah walks us through the Seder meal, describing the inclusive nature of the service and the Jewish tradition of questioning that allows for reinterpretation of the Passover story. Listen in to understand how the idea of tikkun olam requires an active pursuit of social justice and learn how to incorporate climate elements in your Seder celebration this year.
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Resources
Sarah on Twitter
Geospiza
Sarah Tuneberg on Reversing Climate Change EP094
New American Haggadah by Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer on Reversing Climate Change S2EP29
Jonathan Haidt
Books by Amy-Jill Levine
Greta Thunberg
An Overview of the Story of Passover
What to Expect at a Passover Seder

Mar 16, 2021 • 1h 32min
S2E55: Gather: Reclaiming indigenous foodways—w/ Twila Cassadore, Nephi Craig, & Sammy Gensaw
There is a growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, cultural, and political identities. And restoring indigenous food practices is central to this work. The new documentary Gather follows several indigenous leaders as they work toward food sovereignty, demonstrating the hope and healing power of traditional food.
On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, three of the people featured in the film join Ross to discuss how they got involved in Gather and share their work around reclaiming indigenous foodways with the world. First, traditional food forager and educator Twila Cassadore explains the importance of food sovereignty in the context of her work with the Western Apache Diet Project.
Then, Apache & Navajo restauranteur and executive chef Nephi Craig of Café Gozhóó describes his journey through classical French cuisine back to Native food, exploring the power of indigenous food practices in healing chemical dependency and generational grief. Finally, Yurok fisherman and Ancestral Guard founder Samuel Gensaw III offers insight on the Fish Wars of the 1970s and his ongoing fight to protect future generations through indigenous food. Listen in to understand why he believes indigenous values are key in sustaining life on earth and learn what you can do to support Twila, Nephi, and Sammy’s work.
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Purchase Nori Carbon Removals
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Email podcast@nori.com
Listen to our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Gather Documentary
San Carlos Apache Tribe
Western Apache Diet Project
Tribal Food Sovereignty Advancement Initiative
Twila Cassadore at the Quivir Coalition
Café Gozhóó
White Mountain Apache Tribe
Sunrise Park Resort
Nephi Craig on Instagram
Nephi Craig on Facebook
Native American Culinary Association
Victorious Gardens Initiative
Ancestral Guard on Instagram
FishboneTradeCo
Guardians of the River on YouTube
The Fish Wars

Mar 9, 2021 • 36min
S2E54: Survivorman in an age of climate trouble—w/ Les Stroud, survival expert
Extreme weather can cause desperate situations. So, what can survival experts teach us about navigating wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and severe winter storms? Can we prepare for these natural events without turning into full-fledged preppers or giving into the assumption of doom? How do we adapt to a changing climate?
Les Stroud is a filmmaker, musician, and author best known for Survivorman, the pioneering documentary series that launched Survival Television as a genre. He is also the author of the new children’s book Wild Outside: Around the World with Survivorman and the creator of the forthcoming PBS special Surviving Disasters with Les Stroud. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Les joins Ross to share his mission around connecting people with nature and using film as an outlet to teach bushcraft and primitive earth skills.
Les explains how his work is ‘changing into the future’ to help people adapt to climate change, stressing the general skills of resilience and ingenuity, and reminding us that the truth of survival is in community. Listen in to understand how Wild Outside encourages kids to have adventures in their own backyard (be it the back forty or an urban park) and learn how to prepare for natural events so that they don’t turn into disasters.
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Resources
Survivorman Les Stroud on YouTube
Les Stroud’s Website
Wild Outside: Around the World with Survivorman by Les Stroud
Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere—Alive by Les Stroud with Michael Vlessides
Les Stroud’s Wild Harvest
Surviving Disasters with Les Stroud
The 10 Bushcraft Books by Richard Graves
Primitive Technology on YouTube
Max Brooks
Survivor Man on The Office
Ray Mears
Bush Tucker Man

Mar 5, 2021 • 41min
A jaunt to the climate crises of deep time—w/ Peter Brannen, author of The Ends of the World
A temperature rise of three or four degrees doesn’t seem like a big deal… Until you go back a few million years and start exploring what the world looked like the last time the Earth was that hot and CO2 levels were even higher than they are now.
Peter Brannen is an award-winning science journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED and The Guardian, among many other national publications. He is also the author of The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Peter joins Ross to discuss his most recent article in The Atlantic, ‘The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record.’
Peter explains what the planet was like during the Pliocene (the last time CO2 reached 400 PPM), the Miocene (500 PPM) and the Eocene (600-plus PPM), describing how rising levels of carbon dioxide might transform the Earth as we know it. Listen in for Peter’s insight on what an understanding of deep time can teach us about the impact climate change has on the planet and help us appreciate the difference three degrees can make.
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Resources
Peter’s Website
‘The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record’ in The Atlantic
The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen
Peter on Reversing Climate Change EP087
David Grinspoon
David Grinspoon on Reversing Climate Change: Geology Cage Match! The Sapiezoic vs. the Anthropocene—w/ Dr. David Grinspoon, astrobiologist
David Grinspoon on Reversing Climate Change S1E47: 47: David Grinspoon, Astrobiologist
The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth’s Climate by David Archer
Jessica Tierney on Twitter
Ted Scripps Fellowship Program
‘Atmospheric CO2: Principal Control Knob Governing Earth’s Temperature’ in Science
Wallace Broecker

Mar 2, 2021 • 1h 17min
S2E53: Paul Kingsnorth on the shared roots of climate crisis, transhumanism, & immortality
Paul Kingsnorth is tired of talking about the scope of the climate crisis. In his view, we can’t fix climate change. But we can uncover the spiritual root of the problem and explore how we might live through it.
Paul is the founder of The Dark Mountain Project and a prolific writer of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. His latest release, the novel Alexandria, serves as the capstone of the acclaimed Buckmaster Trilogy. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Paul joins Ross to discuss the connection Paul sees between transhumanism and the climate crisis, explaining what’s behind our ideology against limits and why he believes the mind and soul can’t live separate from the body.
Paul shares his take on capitalism versus distributism, describing how systems of radical local democracy would root us in community and prevent the kind of scale that leads to tyranny. Listen in for Paul’s insight on the emptying of the will at the heart of most religious traditions and learn why he believes a connection with something greater than ourselves is key to effective activism.
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Resources
Paul’s Website
The Dark Mountain Project
Alexandria by Paul Kingsnorth
Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays by Paul Kingsnorth
Savage Gods by Paul Kingsnorth
Ronald Wright on The Progress Trap
What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams
‘The Immortal’ by Jorge Luis Borges
Gnosticism
Distributism
Catholic Social Teaching
Dorothy Day
Rerum Novarum, papal encyclical by Pope Leo XIII
The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
Hieromonk Gabriel on Orthodox Christianity and Politics
God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson

Feb 26, 2021 • 29min
What makes an online climate community work?—w/ Evan Hynes of Climatebase
In the new community economy, many content creators have moved beyond simply sharing ideas with an audience. For many the goal is to facilitate connection among their followers and foster a sense of belonging. So, how can businesses and organizations in the climate space leverage community to shape the low-carbon future we need?
Evan Hynes is a Cofounder at Climatebase, a platform that makes it easy to discover jobs, people, and organizations working to solve the climate crisis. On this bonus episode of the podcast, Evan joins Ross to discuss how Climatebase has evolved into a professional network for the climate space, sharing his team’s mission to build a one-stop shop for climate opportunities.
Evan explores the sense of belonging that comes from being a part of a few small, unique climate communities and challenges content creators to complement each other rather than compete for attention. Listen in for Evan’s insight on following a healthy ‘information diet’ and learn how you can contribute to the next iteration of the Climatebase community.
Connect with Ross & Nori
Join Nori's community and book club on Patreon
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Nori
Nori on Facebook
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Our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Climatebase
Climatebase Public Profiles
Climatebase Fellowship Program Application
Nori’s Job Opening on Climatebase
Evan Hynes on Twitter
Evan Hynes on Climatebase
Slack
Clubhouse
Paul Gambill on Climatebase
Evan Hynes on Reversing Climate Change in May 2020
My Climate Journey
Air Miners
The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community Your Competitive Advantage by David Spinks
Allbirds
‘Dunder Mifflin Infinity’ on The Office
Chris Sacca on Twitter
Discord

Feb 23, 2021 • 1h
S2E52: Using captured carbon to make art—w/ Annalee Levin of Captured Carbon Studio
When artist Annalee Levin learned about carbon capture on the Reversing Climate Change podcast, the idea captured her imagination. Knowing that the technology exists to capture and store CO2 in concrete, for example, Annalee set out to find a way to make art out of materials containing captured carbon.
Today, Annalee is the textile, hand embroidery, and sculpture artist behind Captured Carbon Studio, a space for exploring captured carbon as an art medium and avenue for educating the public about reversing climate change. She is also a chef-in-training, an experienced beekeeper and the first ever Artist-in-Residence at Carbon Upcycling Technologies. On this episode of the podcast, Annalee joins Ross to discuss her hands-on approach to making art and explain why she is drawn to physical, material crafts as opposed to other art forms.
Annalee describes how she came to make crayons out of recycled CO2 and shares what she is trying to communicate by using captured carbon in her art. Listen in to understand how organic and industrial materials coexist within Annalee’s carbon removal aesthetic and learn how you can support her work or create your own art using tools that reverse climate change.
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Purchase Nori Carbon Removals
Nori
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Resources
Captured Carbon Studio
Captured Carbon Studio on Instagram
Annalee’s Website
Annalee on Instagram
Carbon Upcycling Technologies
Lorraine Smith on Reversing Climate Change EP044
Royal School of Needlework
San Francisco School of Needlework and Design
Luis Merchan
SkyBaron
Carbon Upcycling Technologies on Reversing Climate Change EP078
Carbon XPRIZE
Graphitic Nanoplatelets
Annalee’s Carbon Crayons
Annalee’s Carbon Worry Stone
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
Alton Brown
Jacques Pepin
Maillard Reaction
Samin Nosrat
Nori Book Club
Carbon Upcycling Pen-100 Nurdles & Talc
Carbon Upcycling Enhanced Fly Ash

Feb 16, 2021 • 1h 37min
S2E51: Kim Stanley Robinson chats The Ministry for the Future, blockchain, & macroeconomics
12 years ago, Nori cofounder and CEO Paul Gambill was a College Republican. And while he wasn’t a climate denier, he didn’t think that humanity’s 1% contribution to global CO2 emissions was a big deal. And then he read Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy and began to understand the outsized impact of our actions. Not only did the science fiction novels change Paul’s perspective on climate change, they inspired him to dedicate his life’s work to making it better.
American novelist Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the foremost living writers of science fiction. Many of his books explore how climate change will impact us in the coming decades, including the new release (and self-described mic drop moment) The Ministry for the Future. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Stan joins Ross and Paul to discuss how science fiction can help us make better decisions and share his perspective on the politics of the genre.
Stan explains why central banks play such a prominent role in his most recent work, introducing us to the financial system he imagines in his future history novels and sharing his ‘creeping reformist’ approach to building an economy around carbon removal. Listen in for Stan’s insight on why cryptocurrency is featured in his new book and learn how carbon sequestration might work within the framework of modern monetary theory.
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Resources
There are so many things referenced in this show. When Anchor ups its character limit for show descriptions we will go back and add them all. Here's a curated list:
Stan’s Website
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
J.G. Ballard
Frederic Jameson
Georgy Plekhanov
Raymond Williams
Ernst Bloch
Louis Althusser
Ursula K. Le Guin
Iain Banks’ Culture Series
Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures by Mark Fisher
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by John Clute and Peter Nicholls
Delton Chen’s Carbon Coin Plan
Socialist Calculation Debate