1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by FX's Fleischman Is in Trouble, 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,399 Speaker 1: starring Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, Lizzie Kaplan and Adam Brodie. 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,639 Speaker 1: The strama tells the story of recently divorced Toby Fleischmann, 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: who dies into the world of at bass dating with 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: the kind of success he never had in his youth. 6 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 1: Then his ex wife disappears, leaving him with their two 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: children and no hint of her return effectus. Fleischman Is 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: in Trouble streaming November seventeenth only on Hulu. Good Morning, 9 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,279 Speaker 1: keep Sena. Welcome to Wika f Daily with Me your 10 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: Girl Danielle Moody recording from the Home Bunker. You know, folks, 11 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: everywhere that you look as it pertains to the climate crisis, 12 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: it's bad right now. I believe that over thirty of 13 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: the states in Nigeria or underwater. You wouldn't be hearing 14 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: that from our news because we could give a fuck 15 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,119 Speaker 1: about the continent of Africa or any of its countries. 16 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: But just to give you a quick picture, Nigeria is 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: responsible for like three percent of the carbon emissions, but 18 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: is now being hit with the overwhelming impact of climate 19 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: change that they didn't cause Right now, as I report this, 20 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: over six hundred Nigerians are dead, over a million have 21 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: been displaced. And if this sounds familiar, it should because 22 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: it was just maybe two months ago that I was 23 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: telling you the same story, except it was Pakistan that 24 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: has been underwater, most of the fucking country underwater because 25 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: of an uncharacteristic historic monsoon season. How many times do 26 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: we have to hear the word his doric right in 27 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: order for us to recognize that these things are historic. 28 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: They are our new abnormal. This is the reality of 29 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: how the world is moving because of what wealthy industrial 30 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: countries that are largely white lead countries have done. And 31 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: it is the browner and black countries that are going 32 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: to be the ones that face the most harm first. 33 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: But know that these conditions, these storms, these floods, these fires, 34 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: right are also happening in the United States. Case in point, 35 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: what just happened in Florida. Right. My younger cousin is 36 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: down there doing some of the demolition. Right. These homes 37 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: are completely and totally destroyed, and he's been sending pictures 38 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: home so that we can see and he's like, it 39 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,399 Speaker 1: looks like a war zone. He's like I mean, these 40 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: people have lost absolutely everything, and there's no way to 41 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: see even what rebuilding is going to look like because 42 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: we have so much damage to remove. And what I 43 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: say here is that the cost of ignorance is expensive. 44 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: It is in the billions. And yet people continue to 45 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: vote for Republicans who disavow climate changes and as even 46 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: being a problem because they don't give a fuck, because 47 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: they keep thinking to themselves, by the time it's a 48 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: real issue, you know, I'll be dead, right, or maybe 49 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: I'll have enough money to join Basos and the rest 50 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: of them on their rocket ships off of this fucking rock. Right, 51 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: the future in a lot of ways as we are 52 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: looking at it, and as young people generation Z is 53 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: getting ready to take over the helm and enter into 54 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: the workforce, are looking around and they're like, what is 55 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: this keeping pile of shit that you were leaving to us. 56 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: I don't think any other generation before Generation Z has 57 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: an outlook that looks so fucking bleak, right, And No, 58 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: we've had past wars, we've had, you know, civil rights uprisings, 59 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: we've had, but we haven't had them all at once. 60 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: And that's where we are. And so I'm really excited 61 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: today for the conversation that I am going to share 62 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: with all of you. That provides some level of hope, right, 63 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: that provides some level of I don't know, imagination, that 64 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: allows us to dream of something different and something better. 65 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: I've talked about on this show that at the beginning 66 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: of the pandemic in twenty twenty, I got into African futurism, 67 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: and you know, I needed to be taken away from 68 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: the current state and crisis that we were dealing with 69 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: and just be able to imagine and be in other worlds. Well, 70 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: I'm not the only one that feels this way, and 71 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: my next guest, Tory Stevens, is an award winning storyteller 72 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: who focuses primarily on climate fiction. The worlds he creates 73 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: serve as a means of raising awareness to the ongoing 74 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 1: climate crisis. But get this, He started a and founded 75 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: the Imagine twenty two hundred climate fiction initiative at Grist 76 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: magazine with Fixed Labs, and the idea was for people 77 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: to submit their stories of a uplifting climate future, something 78 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: that wasn't dystopian. Can we if we can imagine all 79 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: of the bad, can we imagine some of the good 80 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: that could actually happen as it pertains to our climate. 81 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: With all of the information and education that we have 82 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: at our fingertips, is it possible to create other worlds 83 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: that are good? And so my conversation with Tori I 84 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: really left feeling uplifted because I think that fictional writing 85 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: and fiction films allow us to imagine world different from 86 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: what we are experiencing right now. And I think now 87 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: more than ever, a lot of us need some type 88 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: of escapism, something to be hopeful about and hopeful for. 89 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: And I think that the twenty two hundred Climate Fiction 90 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: Initiative is that right. Tori will talk to us about 91 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: the fact that they in the first year that they 92 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: did it, they were overwhelmed with the amount of submissions, 93 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: and he will talk about who the winners are and 94 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: where they're coming from. But you know, the idea here 95 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: is that he started writing climate fiction after heavily looking 96 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: into afrofuturism and being inspired by the protests surrounding the 97 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: murder of George Floyd, And so imagining something good out 98 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: of something so tragic is sometimes where we need to go. 99 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: Because I'll tell you that reality these days feels really 100 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: really stark, and I wouldn't mind taking the time to 101 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: imagine something much better than our present. So coming up 102 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: next my conversation with Tory Stevens. Hey there, I want 103 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: to tell you about another podcast I think you'll love. 104 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: The Brown Girl's Guide to Politics, hosted by a Shanty Gohler, 105 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: the president of Emerge BGG, is the one stop shop 106 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: for women of color who want to hear and talk 107 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: about the world of politics. Join a Shanty this season 108 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: as she talks to incredible women of color who are 109 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: changing the face of politics and tackling some of the 110 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: most important issues facing the United States, from reproductive justice 111 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: to voting rights, to climb to change, and more. Tune 112 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: in every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts, Folks. I 113 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: am very excited to welcome to Woke f Daily for 114 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: the very first time, Tory Stevens, who is the founder 115 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: and creative manager of Imagine twenty two hundred, a climate 116 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: fiction initiative at Fix, which is Gris's climate solution lab. Tory, 117 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: let's start out with Imagine twenty two hundred, because my god, 118 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: do I want to imagine something other than twenty twenty 119 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: two So tell me, so tell us about about Imagine 120 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: twenty two hundred. Yeah, thank you for that, thank you 121 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: for having me as well. I guess I'll start with 122 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: that's the premise of this, that's the point of this. 123 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: The point is to get outside of our everyday usual 124 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: kind of dreams, musings that we have around what we 125 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: want out of life. And so by situating a climate fiction, 126 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: it's a contest that we have. We advertise globally, so 127 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,439 Speaker 1: we're getting folks. The first year we got one thousand, 128 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: one hundred stories. We're now in the second year and 129 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: we got six hundred stories. We tampered down the advertising 130 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: because we had too many stories. It was really hard 131 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: to read all those stories, and we do want to 132 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: honor all the stories that come in. So the whole 133 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: idea is to get people to think about the future. 134 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: What is the future that you want and what is 135 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: the future that we all deserve. What does an abundant 136 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: future look like where we care for folks, where we 137 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: care for the planet, where we care for our non 138 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: human kin, the animals that live here as well. What 139 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: does that look like? You know, so many writers when 140 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: we asked them to, you know, look at the prompt 141 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: and they encountered it online or wherever they found it, 142 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: maybe in a college or in a writing community. They said, no, 143 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: they've never they never thought to write about hopeful, intersectional 144 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:06,959 Speaker 1: and resilient, abundant futures where we're winning were where the 145 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: world has this imbued with justice, where it's just like 146 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: a strong world that has all these things kind of 147 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: being held in a good way. And so after asking 148 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: that question, there's some folks that have, like I would say, 149 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: the solar punk community, which is a genre, and those 150 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: folks they often ideate and write around hopeful futures that 151 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: were technology technology and people are working together in harmony. 152 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: But many of the writers, not all of them, come 153 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: from the solar punk community. Again, this is a global contest, 154 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: so some folks haven't even heard of the term solar 155 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 1: punk and they come from another angle of this, and 156 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,319 Speaker 1: they were really excited to write about something hopeful as 157 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: it relates to the climate and as it relates to 158 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: how humans interact with each other. No, I love it, 159 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: and I love the idea so much. I mean I 160 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: joke on wok af on a regular basis that, like 161 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: you know, I just hold onto a mustard seed of 162 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: hope these days. So it is, you know, it is. 163 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,439 Speaker 1: It is very hard, I think when you have been 164 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: showcased just such a dystopian future, right. Anytime you know 165 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 1: that we have looked at science fiction, when we've looked 166 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: at fantasy, it's always been placed with well, Earth has 167 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,079 Speaker 1: collapsed and so now we're in space or we're still 168 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: on Earth. But it is, it is this tribal war, 169 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: you know, situation. And you know the question that I 170 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: want to ask you too, and I'm assuming that this 171 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: is kind of where you're the idea originated, is that 172 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: black people and brown people were written out of sci fi. Right. 173 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: It wasn't until the likes of you know, the late 174 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: brilliant Octavia Butler that we began to see a future 175 00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,719 Speaker 1: that saw us in it. And so I want you 176 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: to speak to speak to that and why this initiative 177 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: too is so important because of who is doing the writing. Yeah, 178 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:11,680 Speaker 1: that's that's definitely an important part of this, which is 179 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: that we want to show futures, as Adrian ree Brown says, 180 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:20,319 Speaker 1: futures have black people in it, Futures have brown people 181 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: and indigenous people where we will be there and not 182 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: only will we be there, Because this is a part 183 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: that I talk about a lot. We often have black 184 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:35,959 Speaker 1: or brown folks in stories adjacent or but they have 185 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: no culture to them. So I always say I don't 186 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: want I don't want lego people in my stories. And 187 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: what I mean by that is I don't want to 188 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: be able to take the head off and be able 189 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: to remove and switch the people. And it doesn't matter 190 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: like you could you made a scientist, you made that 191 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,719 Speaker 1: scientist black or brown because you name check that, but 192 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: you didn't add all the culture that comes with black folks. 193 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: You didn't add all the culture that comes with Caribbean 194 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: and folk. Some of the stories we have shown up 195 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: this year. We have the story that won for this 196 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: year takes place in Jamaica. We have another story that's 197 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: from Trinidad, and we have another story from Rwanda. And 198 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: I think that's just like incredible. The thing that makes 199 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,719 Speaker 1: it incredible is that they're not just lego people. They 200 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: have all this culture that is a part of the story. 201 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: So you mentioned sci fi science fiction always taking place 202 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: in space. Often you see this kind of like you know, 203 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: sanitized version of the world where there's this spaceship and 204 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 1: people have on the same materials or like, but there's 205 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: that that's not like how life is even in the future, 206 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: even if people did live on spaceships, they're going to 207 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: have their own vernacular, They're going to have their own culture, 208 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: ways of being, ways of movement, they will be danced, 209 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: they would just be people who one thing we will 210 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: show up with is culture. And so that's a big 211 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: thing that we're trying to do. It imagine is say, hey, 212 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: we're doing climate fiction, but we want climate fiction that 213 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: is just as important it is to address the climate crisis. 214 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,679 Speaker 1: It's also important that the characters feel real in like 215 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: folks that I would hang out with or are from 216 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: my family, so black, brown, indigenous, Yeah, just really want 217 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: that piece of it. And I guess I would also 218 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: layer in that we want intersectional characters. You know, culture 219 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: is important, but all these other identities like is the 220 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: person working class? What up with my queer folks? Like 221 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: what you know, don't erase them from the stories as well. 222 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: And the whole goal is one is this is how 223 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: the world is. Right. Our world is rich and beautiful 224 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: and vibrant, so let's show it as it is. But 225 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: also I want people to see themselves in these climate 226 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: futures like ways, I want people to see that day 227 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: two can be a part of the climate solution. And 228 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: the fact is, like frontline folks are already fighting, Like 229 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: you have folks in Cancer Alley and Louisiana, black brown 230 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: folks who are fighting against new plastic um. There's like 231 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: a plastic company that was going to move in there 232 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: that they fought and removed from from building a new 233 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: facility because all those facilities have caused UM. I mean, 234 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: there's a reason that's called Cancer Alley. You know, it's 235 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: a very sad reason. But people are fighting on the 236 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 1: front lines right now. And those people that are fighting 237 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: on the front line are most likely black and brown. 238 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: Because the climate crisis is not equal. You know, our 239 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: folk have um disproportionately been you know, put next to oil, um, 240 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: what do you call it, oil derricks, oil refineries, plastic places, 241 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: anything that's kind of like, you know, just not beautiful. 242 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: And this isn't I'm making like an um, It's not 243 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: always the case, but better believe that, you know, the 244 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: very wealthy are not living right next to these kind 245 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: of like factories and plants where um, you know, there's 246 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: abnormally high cancer rate. Yeah, you know, and I think 247 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: to that point, well, one first I want to pick 248 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: up the Jamaicans that one, because my family is Jamaican American. 249 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: I'm Jamaican American. My family so from Jamaica, So pick 250 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: them up. And I can't wait to read that. But 251 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: you know, I think too to your last point with 252 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: regard to who is disproportionately impacted from the climate crisis, 253 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: we're seeing it right now, right, We're seeing it as 254 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: these hurricanes, um, you know, land and stay over Caribbean islands, 255 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: over low lying um you know, Api islands like and 256 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: these places, and we're saying, who are these people? Right 257 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: what we saw in Pakistan, right, we saw you know, 258 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: over eleven hundred lives lost, right to what they keep saying, 259 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: are these historic monsoons, historic seasons, And yet we're not 260 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: doing anything for the people who are putting out one 261 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: percent right of the carbon emissions, and they're dealing with 262 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: ninety nine percent of the problems. So, you know, I 263 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: want to also talk about is it important to you 264 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: as well, while you're framing this around hopefulness, around a 265 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: future that we can all see ourselves in, is it 266 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: also really important to hold up the truth of how 267 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: how our future can in fact sadly look like what 268 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 1: has been genre as dystopian, right, Like I brought up Pakistan. 269 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: We can look at Puerto Rico, we can look at Kansas, 270 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: we can look at Florida, we can you know, look 271 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,959 Speaker 1: at Germany and France and Australia that lost a billion animals. Like, 272 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: the future doesn't look bright. So how important is it 273 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 1: to juxtapose the hopefulness with the reality that people are 274 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: finally starting to see. Yeah, that's a really good question. 275 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: I would say that, you know, this project is focused 276 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: on hope, right, And the reason we do that is 277 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: we're trying to carve out a space for people to 278 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: dream about the future that we want. I'm not saying 279 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:07,160 Speaker 1: that dystopian stories are not important. I think they're really important. 280 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: They tell of a future that we could have, and 281 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: for some folks, they are living that future right now. 282 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: It's just that middle class folks are going to start 283 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: to feel that pain as well. White folks are going 284 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: to start because if you ask the folks in Cancer 285 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,199 Speaker 1: Alley if they're live in a dystopian future, they're going 286 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,400 Speaker 1: to say yes. Ask the people in Pakistan or they 287 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: live in a dystopian future right now, they're going to 288 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: say yes. The folks in Puerto Rico. I would say, 289 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: like there's been mixed you know, dystopian with like I've 290 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: seen some real resiliency there where folks have kind of 291 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: brought together and come together as a community. But it's 292 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: really important that we carve out space for hope, because 293 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: hope looks different to different people, and I want to 294 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: explore that. I think I've found myself looking at hope 295 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: in the middle of the pandemic and charged with founding 296 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: and starting. All we knew is we wanted to bring 297 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: climate fiction to Grist magazine, but we didn't know that 298 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: what that would look like. And I was like, wait, 299 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about hope in this moment. 300 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: It's really tough. But then once we started, I started 301 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: receiving the stories, I started reading them, and I started 302 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: seeing all the visions that people have of the world 303 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 1: where we're working together in concert to bring climate solutions 304 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: to all folks. It was life changing. Is probably like 305 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: a too big of a word, but like it was 306 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: close to that, like maybe even that's true. You know, 307 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: it has changed my perspective on hope. I would say 308 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: that I was someone who looked at hope from I 309 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: hope that things are going to be better. But now 310 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,239 Speaker 1: I see hope. It's like a praxis. And so this 311 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: is why sometimes I'm not dogging dystopian stories. I think 312 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: that they're important, but I think there's too many of 313 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 1: them and not enough hopeful visions of what our world 314 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: could look like. So you know, we have Black Mirror, 315 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: we have Squid Games, we have Stranger Things. I mean, 316 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: you can just the list goes on. We have Mad Max. 317 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: There's like just such a long list of dystopian stories. 318 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: But then when you ask about, like what's the most 319 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: hopeful thing you watched recently, they're like more of these 320 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: like Will Smith like movies that are like about hope 321 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: in a kind of happy, feel good way. But that's 322 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: not the type of I mean, those are great, that 323 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: they're good for society. But what I'm trying to get 324 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: after and get stories written and submitted to the contest 325 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: about our stories where hope is driving us to a 326 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: better reality in a it's not about feel good. It's 327 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: about changing systems, changing norms, tackling white supremacy, patriarchy, and 328 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: just going after these systems that are oppressing people so 329 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 1: that other folks in folks that like and even myself 330 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 1: just feel more liberated in this world. Get a behind 331 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily Show on 332 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from The Daily Show 333 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood Junior goes 334 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: deeper with the notable guests and experts from the Emmy 335 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to tackle current 336 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: topics from gentrification to gun laws and take a closer 337 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: look at how and why these topics matter. Listen to 338 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: Beyond the Scenes from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah 339 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get 340 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday. Tory, I love the 341 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: phrase hope as a practis my goodness. You should coin 342 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: that and I when you said it, because it triggered 343 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: for me this idea of our ancestors and activism and 344 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: what it meant to, for instance, fight for the abolition 345 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,159 Speaker 1: of slavery. At the time that it was beginning to 346 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: be fought, you had to be hopeful of a future 347 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: that you hadn't seen right, centuries centuries of terrorism, abuse, torture, 348 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: and brutality, and your abolitionists were imagining a time that 349 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: they were never going to necessarily live in, and that 350 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: to me embodies the hope as as practis right as 351 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: somebody who is super political. You know, the framing of 352 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: the future has always I think a lot of the 353 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 1: times been by the opponents of that future, right, people 354 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: who have said, oh, well, we can't spend money on 355 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: clean energy, right because what about big oil and big coal. 356 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: We can't you know, talk about the reality of science 357 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: and climate change because it will hurt people's feelings. I 358 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,680 Speaker 1: think that we've allowed people to drain us of that hopefulness, 359 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: and we've kind of fallen into this dystopian narrative that 360 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: says to us that the future is already written, right, 361 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:58,439 Speaker 1: and what you're doing, and what you're doing is saying, no, 362 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: it does not have to be. And I think that that, 363 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: you know, that of itself is a form of activism 364 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: that I don't think that we talk about nearly enough. 365 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 1: That hopefulness isn't just about that I wish for and 366 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: that I hope for, like we're blowing out candles, It 367 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: really is in the doing of the thing. And so 368 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: for you know, story for people who again have not 369 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:27,440 Speaker 1: seen their future and have not seen their path be written. 370 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: Just just talk a bit more about the importance of 371 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: us writing our own stories and ones that are framed 372 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 1: not about our deficit but in the face of abundance. Yeah, 373 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: I would say that the way you framed it around 374 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: like folks being like, you know, abolitionists, that's a really 375 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: good example of folks that really had no clue if 376 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: they were going to live, they would live in the 377 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: world in which the one that they were dreaming of. 378 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: So you know that that's a good reference point. That's 379 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: a good thing that I should even remember, like as 380 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: when I'm talking about this, the thing that I also 381 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: want to bring up is, so you before we started 382 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 1: the show, you were talking about afrofuturism. And so when 383 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 1: I was looking into who's hopeful in the feet, who's 384 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,199 Speaker 1: hopeful in this kind of way? Who are folks that 385 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: are like oppressed but still looking at a hopeful future, 386 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: I was looking at you know, disabled futurisms. I was 387 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: looking at afrofuturism, Latins futurism, Indigenous futurism. I didn't even 388 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: know there was all these futurisms like until I started 389 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: this project, and so I started to look into that 390 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,080 Speaker 1: and there was all these folks dreaming of like their 391 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:48,159 Speaker 1: version of Wakanda basically yes and right, and so I 392 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: I that gave me hope, right, And so then I 393 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: started to write the bones of this project in a 394 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: different frame. You know. When I first started, before I 395 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: started diving into these other futurisms, I was, you know, 396 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: looking at climate solutions and the place that I'm at Grist. 397 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: We've fixed the lab that I'm in. We've always had 398 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: like an idea of like turning stories from gloom and 399 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: doom to one of hope in you know, solutions. So 400 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: that was there, but these other pieces bringing in threads 401 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: that other folks have already paved the way for in 402 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: the afrofuturist kind of vein where abundance is talked about, 403 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: where the white gaze doesn't exist because it's not about 404 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: like we're not centering people here, We're sending black and 405 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: brown folks right and opening up that dream space. It 406 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:40,920 Speaker 1: was something I was working with um the Waconda Dream Lab. 407 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: That's a clique of black and brown creatives that really 408 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: lean into visioning, and so I learned from them as well, 409 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: and it was just so helpful to kind of just 410 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,439 Speaker 1: listen to the way they just talked about visioning and 411 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: how it could you know. So I guess one background 412 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: I want to give is that it was this was 413 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: life changing. I'll just lean into that. I used to 414 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: be in policy healthcare policy, as a as a fundraiser, 415 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: and so a lot of like I thought visioning was 416 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: kind of a bunch of kind of you know, woo 417 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: woo stuff, right, And it wasn't until I met with 418 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: the Wakanda Dream Lab folks and they got me right 419 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: around how powerful visioning can be by stepping outside of 420 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: your immediate Like I was looking at goals as a fundraiser, 421 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: I really wanted, you know, let we have to raise 422 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: money like now this quarter. It's really important because we 423 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,920 Speaker 1: need to get folks who don't have medicaid medicaid like, so, 424 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: you know, let's push that policy, let's advocate, let's raise 425 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: the money we need. We had short timelines, and they 426 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: got me to think outside of the scope of, you know, 427 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: something immediate and look at something that was one hundred 428 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: and eighty years from now just as an exercise, and 429 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: I saw how powerful it was for me and my team. 430 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: And then that's how we kind of pulled that into 431 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: the climate fiction world because we were like, oh, now 432 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,119 Speaker 1: we can allow people to dream of abundance in a 433 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,640 Speaker 1: way that has nothing to do with like what's going 434 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: on with right now, so they could world build and 435 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: sketch out the kind of world they actually want and deserved. Yeah, 436 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 1: I can't express to you one. I had just eighteen 437 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: ideas pop into my head of things that I want 438 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: to do with you all and lift up and lift 439 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: up these different laps and the and the people that 440 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 1: are visioning behind them, like yourself when you said the 441 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: importance of visioning and like the stepping outside of the 442 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: immediate scope. And I think about the fact that politics, 443 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 1: you know, and I used to work in policy as well, 444 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:54,919 Speaker 1: environmental policy many you know, many moons ago, and thinking 445 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: about what it means to pause to dream, what it 446 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,159 Speaker 1: means to actually pause to think about the one, the 447 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: what can be, the what is possible instead of the 448 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:10,399 Speaker 1: what is? And how like that is that is where 449 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 1: like the future. It's like the future is developed in 450 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,719 Speaker 1: that in between space. And I think that we allow 451 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: for the negativity and the toxicity of where we are 452 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: to move us outside of that dream. And if I 453 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: really think about it, you know, that is what it 454 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: means to live in an authoritarian state, is like, it's 455 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: the lack of dreaming, right, It's the it's the lack 456 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 1: of having the possibility of the thing. Right. And if 457 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: you if your future is already carved out, then what 458 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 1: am I? What am I working towards? What am I 459 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: dreaming towards? And so I just I love I love 460 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: that you said that, and I love that that context 461 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: that that you put it in. UM last question for 462 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:59,200 Speaker 1: you is you know, what are your hopes story for 463 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: you know, for this, for this project, but also just 464 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: in general of again existing inside of the climate reality 465 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: that people are just waking up to. Right these are 466 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: things that have been warned up. We're experiencing things that 467 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: have been warned about for thirty and forty years right 468 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: and now and now they are happening at rapid pace. 469 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 1: So what is your what is your you know, your 470 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: your your idea of the future for um Imagine twenty 471 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: two hundred, but also in context of what we are 472 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: seeing and living through now, Yeah, I would say that 473 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: more and more people, as you said, are waking up 474 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 1: to the fact that this is like an urgent issue, 475 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: and so as people become more awake to this issue. 476 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: What we want to do is be able to reach 477 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: them all with the right information because there's a lot 478 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 1: of misinformation out there. So Grist as a magazine, as 479 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: a media news organization has does that on the news 480 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: side of things, and so in our lab we were 481 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: thinking about we always think about storytelling and using storytelling 482 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: to reach people who just aren't interested in the news 483 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:09,880 Speaker 1: or aren't interested in the type of news that's like 484 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,719 Speaker 1: more fact based, science based. And so we've been on 485 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: the fixed side of things, telling stories from a human 486 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: interest point of view with the climate solutions involved in 487 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 1: that the person is involved in. So typically you'll see 488 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 1: on the fixed side of things, we tell a story 489 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: about the climate solution and then you'll learn a lot 490 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: about the person. So there's people who really like that 491 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: style of storytelling, so we leaned in on that, but 492 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: then we realize there's still a whole other segment of 493 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: people who get their orientation through fiction and through these 494 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: kind of stories. So that's when we start an experiment 495 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: to say, well, let's let's drop up this climate fiction 496 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: initiative and see if you know, we can reach more people. 497 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: And what we've seen is that there's a growth for this, 498 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: Like so the in the first year we had one 499 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: seventy five thousand, two hundred thousand people depending on the 500 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: numbers visit the site, and so that's you know, a 501 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: lot of people reading stories around hopeful futures, abundance. We 502 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 1: have a lot of The interesting thing I would say 503 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: about Imagine twenty two hundred is that, yes, these are 504 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: client by stories, but there are also stories about care work, 505 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: about respecting our elders, about the importance of caring for 506 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: our elders in their final days, about reparations, about giving 507 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: land back to indigenous folks. So sometimes the climate is 508 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: like just one of the many issues in the story, 509 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: and we want to introduce people to these ideas as 510 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: well and have them find values in value to the 511 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 1: stories because they feel at home with these stories. They're like, oh, 512 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: finally someone's doing these kind of stories, and so we're 513 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: creating a platform for people to do that. And I 514 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,120 Speaker 1: guess I'll answer the question around what I hope for 515 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: the project is we would love to take There's some 516 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: folks called the Good Energy Folks or Project, and they've 517 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: been pushing Hollywood to do more stories that have a 518 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: climate at the center of the story, as a plot 519 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: or even adjacent. They found in their most recent reports 520 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: that less than four percent of all of the TV 521 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: that we stream and movies that we watch have anything 522 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 1: to do with climate. And so that's like, this is 523 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: one of the biggest stories, is one of the biggest 524 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: things we're going to go through in our lifetime, yet 525 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: it's not being depicted on our one of our most 526 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: popularized way of consuming stories, which is through Hollywood. So 527 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 1: I hope at some point that we could take some 528 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: of these stories off the page and turn them into 529 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: either an animation project or live actors. We're exploring those 530 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: right now with a couple different partners, and you could 531 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: see in a few years. Things move really slow in Hollywood, 532 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: so you could see in a few years some of 533 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: these jump off the page and beyond the screen. I mean, 534 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: I'm excited to see it and watch. And as I 535 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: mentioned briefly to you before we started recording m if IF, 536 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: I had not been introduced to African futurism and afrofuturism 537 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: at the beginning of twenty twenty by a good friend 538 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,479 Speaker 1: of mine that said, Danielle, you need to get out 539 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: of what is happening and just just go to another 540 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: world for a bit, just just dream for a bit. 541 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: And so she introduced me to Nadi okafor and I 542 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: ripped through I think every single thing that she had 543 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 1: had written. Um, I've been turned onto NK Jemison. Obviously 544 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,960 Speaker 1: before that, I had, you know, had already read Octavia 545 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 1: Butler's Parable series, which I base a lot of things 546 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: that are happening right now around. But it was just, 547 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: you know, being introduced to powerful black women that were 548 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: writing the future was like even even still in some 549 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: of their stories, obviously it is dystopian, but they were 550 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: still I still felt seen and I still felt that 551 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: we were going to be a part of the future. 552 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: So it was, you know, it was it was honestly 553 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:14,839 Speaker 1: eye opening and life changing for me. So I hope 554 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 1: that the stories that you're bringing do the same for 555 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: for folks as well. Tori, thank you so much for 556 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 1: making the time to join woke APP. I hope that 557 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 1: you come back. Yeah, thanks for having me. Really appreciate 558 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: this conversation and want to follow your journey. And yeah, 559 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. That is it today for me. 560 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: Friends on woke app. As always, power to the people. 561 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,320 Speaker 1: And to all the people power get woke and stay 562 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: woke as fun. Get a behind the scenes look at 563 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: Comedy Central's The Daily Show on Beyond the Scenes, an 564 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: original podcast from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, 565 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,799 Speaker 1: host Roy Wood Junior goes deeper with the notable guests 566 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: and experts from the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they 567 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: use comedy to tackle current topics from gentrification to gun 568 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 1: laws and take a closer look at how and why 569 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: these topics matter. Listen to Beyond the Scenes from The 570 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: Daily Show with Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, 571 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday.