New show alert: The David Suzuki Podcast
We’re excited to announce the launch of a brand new show we’ve been working on since July.
Produced for David Suzuki Foundation (of course), this five-episode season entitled COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life will launch on December 2nd wherever you get your podcasts.
Check out episode one with Jane Fonda on Apple.
You probably know host David Suzuki from CBC’s Quirks and Quarks, The Nature of Things, or from his many talks. He’s a Canadian scientist, environmental activist, broadcaster, and author. And this is his first podcast!
Since March, Suzuki has been thinking about how the COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our lives and forced us to slow down, pause, and consider how we might relearn to live healthily and sustainably.
Using the framework of the five elements: fire, water, air, earth, and spirit, Suzuki searches for insights on how to build back better after COVID-19. As Suzuki says in the series trailer, when our relationships with the elements are out of balance, our very existence is at risk; but COVID-19 represents an opportunity for change.
Suzuki speaks with old friends (Jane Fonda and Neil Young); to young activists (Autumn Pelletier and Allie Rougeot); to experts (Jennifer Keesmaat and Kwame McKenzie) and other brilliant thinkers. The show is equal parts conversational and informational. Featuring the music of unsigned artists from the heart of Turtle Island, it’s also reflective, explorative, and encourages creative advocacy.
This show was challenging to make remotely, with a production team in Toronto and Vancouver; a host in Victoria; and guests across the globe—during a global pandemic!
We couldn’t have done it without the pluckiness and resourcefulness of our producers Ren Bangert and Michal Stein.
I caught up with them about their favourite moments from the series and why you should listen.
It can be really tough to strike the proper balance when it comes to climate change communication.
You don’t want to completely paralyze your listeners with doom and gloom, and you also don’t want to discount how serious the climate crisis is. COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life offers first-person narratives from engaging speakers and advocates with personal human narratives to help explain the situation we’re all in. This solutions-based approach makes climate change feel more tangible and digestible.
Both Ren and Michal particularly liked the episode with Jennifer Keesmaat, former chief city planner of Toronto, who offered a very solutions-based approach to climate change.
“The narratives, without diminishing how serious the situation is, are still going to leave people feeling hopeful, with a vision of how we can move forward,” Ren says. “Listening to people talk about how terrible and serious and complicated the issue is—even though that's true—it can really have an effect on your brain where you kind of shut down and you don't absorb the information.”
Ren explains that with climate change communication, especially when it comes to structural issues, it should be approached from a solutions-based perspective, or else people are not going to be able to mobilize themselves.
“I'm personally biased, I just love solutions journalism. I just came off studying it for a couple years. So it's in my brain all the time,” she says.
Michal liked that the podcast considers the spirituality of nature and humans' connection to nature—and how it informs our need to address climate change. “This is something this podcast does very well. We really make a connection with the environment on a spiritual level,” Michal says. “I think the more that people can make that connection, the more willing and able will all be to really commit to this fight.”
“The environment and climate change has always been a big consideration for me. It's always been something that has governed a lot of my decisions in different ways at different points in my life,” she says.
And, of course, both Ren and Michal were thrilled to welcome Jane Fonda to the show. “She was amazing. The whole experience of listening to her, she’s so fiery and exciting,” Ren says. “That was one of the most fan-girly moments that we had.”
Subscribe to The David Suzuki Podcast on Apple, Google & Spotify.
