Category: 9-NotNowMaybeSomeday

Cleaner energy! Reasoning with climate deniers! Using fandom to pass policy! And not burning out. Adam Met, of the colossal indie pop band AJR is also a career climate activist, an International Human Rights Law PhD, adjunct professor at Columbia University, and the author of the upcoming book “Amplify: How to Use the Power of Connection to Engage, Take Action, and Build a Better World.” He joins to chat about breaking through the overwhelm of climate causes, what action actually matters, if petitions even work, what happens to our brains at a rock concert, how human rights and climate policy intersect, if you should drive a gas or an electric car, how to solve problems that are vexing you by not working on them, carbon footprint guilt, the similarities between writing an album and writing a book, and how to do something about climate change without bumming everyone out. It’s possible. 

Visit Dr. Met’s website and follow him on Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn

Pre-order his book releasing June 3, 2025, Amplify: How to Use the Power of Connection to Engage, Take Action, and Build a Better World, on Bookshop.org or Amazon

A donation went to Planet Reimagined

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Critical Ecology (SOCIAL SYSTEMS + ENVIRONMENT), Conservation Technology (EARTH SAVING), Meteorology (WEATHER & CLIMATE), Culicidology (MOSQUITOES), Oceanology (OCEANS), Pedagogology (SCIENCE COMMUNICATION) with Bill Nye, Political Sociology (VOTER TURNOUT & SUPPRESSION), Fanthropology (FANDOM), Coffeeology (COFFEE)

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

We’re told America is hopelessly divided. But zoom in—like, say, to a school board in South Central Pennsylvania—and a different story emerges.

Full video viewing options for this story plus links to the Instagram and LinkedIn versions:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/proof-we-can-overcome-division-3rd 

This episode features Steph and Lance: one conservative, one liberal, both neighbors, both school board members. With the support of Urban Rural Action, they chose relationship over partisanship. Listening over labeling. Curiosity over contempt.

And the result? A school board that works. For the kids. For the community. For all of us. This is what it looks like to citizen:

Listen deeply. Speak honestly. Resist the pull to polarize. Build something different—together

🧭 More stories and updates: https://stories.howtocitizen.com

🎙️ This story series is a collaborative effort by Shira Abramowitz, Jon Alexander, Elizabeth Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston. Video produced by Anne Gutteridge.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Trump administration scrapped a civil rights agreement 14 years in the making with the Rapid City, S.D. school system. The agreement was aimed at correcting inequities for Native American students. Data show Native students in the district are given harsher punishments than their white counterparts. The students also are less likely to be in higher level classes. The decision comes as President Donald Trump has terminated nearly half of the federal Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights staff. We’ll also look at a Virginia tribe’s suit against the commonwealth for what the tribe says is withholding Medicaid reimbursements for tribal citizens’ health care.

Gare and James discuss a meeting between Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on expanding CECOT style prisons to hold US citizens and immigrants.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogLw7I2BWO0

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/14/el-salvador-president-return-wrongly-deported-trump-00289234

https://documentedny.com/2025/04/14/ice-bukele-cecot-tren-de-aragua-el-salvador-new-york-deported/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The United States invaded Afghanistan on October 7th, 2001 and remains embroiled in the conflict almost two decades later, making this the longest war in US history. Leaders from both of the dominant political parties continually argued that this was a winnable war, proposing new strategies, more troops, and more surges. Yet documents obtained by The Washington Post show that the long-running internal conversations painted a different -- and vastly more disturbing -- picture. Tune in to learn more about the Afghanistan Papers in tonight's Classic episode.

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It’s Tax Day in the U.S., a moment when many of us think about how we fund collective life. So today’s story? It’s about layoffs — but not the kind we’ve come to expect.

See the visuals for this story and all our Week of Citizening stories here:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/this-tax-day-solidarity-and-consent  

We’re often told democracy is too slow or messy for hard moments. But this episode shows that it’s exactly in those moments that shared power matters most. This isn’t just a story about layoffs. It’s a rejection of the authoritarian reflex in boardrooms, governments, and beyond. It’s about choosing to citizen, even — and especially — when it’s hard.

This story is not the teary CEO on Zoom. Not the cold memo. Not the decision handed down from above. This story is different. Kate “Sassy” Sassoon helped an organization in financial crisis involve everyone in the decision-making process. Together, they:

• Cut costs with consent

• Shared the burden of leadership

• Kept more people employed — and all people respected

“They felt like complete, full humans. Seen. Heard. Valued.” — Kate

Sign up to share and discover more stories like this: https://stories.howtocitizen.com

Video Produced by: Tess Novotnoy

Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The recent winter proved deadly for honey bee colonies. The Washington State University’s Honey Bees and Pollinators Program reports mass die-offs for commercial beekeepers. Honey bees, butterflies, and even small vertebrates like bats and birds are important to agriculture and are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Their populations fluctuate and are affected by pesticide use, habitat loss, and climate change. Tribes and Native groups like the Euchee Butterfly Farm are among those devoting resources to pollinator restoration work. We’ll talk with Native pollinator protectors about efforts to help turn the threat to pollinators around.

Have you scrubbed down the top of your fridge lately? Home & garden correspondent Sarah Archer is here to tell us how and when we got so obsessed with the antiseptically clean house as a status symbol, and whether we really need to worry about every bit of dust on that baseboard.

Find out more about Sarah Archer:

https://www.sarah-archer.com/

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Sarah's other show, You Are Good

Links:

http://patreon.com/yourewrongabout
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Support the show

In this episode, the Goods from the Woods Boys are THRILLED to welcome the hilarious Heather Winter back to Disgraceland Studios for an absolute banger of an episode. We kick this one off with an Ardor Energy Seltzer and we talk about its slob-coded owner. Then, we talk about a YouTube idiot who went to a forbidden island and a teacher who tried to hire a student as a hitman. Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" is our JAM OF THE WEEK. Get into it, y'all!  Follow Heather on all forms of social media @HeatherRWinter  Follow the show on all the socials @TheGoodsPod   Rivers is @RiversLangley  Sam is @SlamHarter  Carter is @Carter_Glascock  Subscribe on Patreon for the UNCUT video version of this episode as well as TONS of bonus content!  http://patreon.com/TheGoodsPod   Pick up a Goods from the Woods t-shirt here:  http://prowrestlingtees.com/TheGoodsPod

James and Gare discuss the terrible impact of the earthquake that hit Sagaing in late March, how the Junta has blocked aid workers, and how the revolution has responded. We also talk about how you can help.

Better Offline & Weird Little Guys are nominated for this year’s Webby Awards! Get your votes in by April 17th! 🗳️🗳️🗳️

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/business

https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/crime-justice

Sources:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/up-to-700-myanmar-muslims-killed-in-quake-hit-mosques-weakened-by-neglect.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/world/asia/myanmar-earthquake-aftershocks-airstrikes.html

https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-juntas-aerial-attacks-continue-despite-post-quake-ceasefire/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/myanmar-junta-shoots-chinese-earthquake-aid-convoy-rcna199233

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/world/asia/myanmar-earthquake-aid.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/economy/myanmar-lashes-out-at-quotchocolate-barquot-foreign-aid-idUSSP172535/

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/lives-updates-quake-death-toll-rises-to-3600-junta-suspends-tourist-visa-after-quake-private-us-field-hospital-in-naypyitaw-and-more.html

https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/global-response-to-myanmar-earthquake-shines-light-on-strategic-rivalries.html

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/live-updates-death-toll-exceeds-3500-hundreds-in-urgent-need-of-quake-aid-juntas-airstrikes-still-rage-on-and-more.html

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/world/live-updates-death-toll-rises-to-3471-quake-relief-teams-must-obey-junta-us-pledges-additional-7-million-in-quake-relief-and-more.html

https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/resistance-forces-capture-indaw-town-after-months-of-fighting/?sfnsn=scwspmo

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-junta-airstrikes-kill-over-30.html

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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