Hurricanes, wildfires, heatwaves, and drought. Keeping up with climate-related news this summer sometimes felt like drinking from a firehose. To help listeners make sense of the latest climate news, In This Climate (ITC) podcast returns for its third season. According to ITC producer Emily Miles, episodes this season will focus more on current events and the climate news of the week—whether it be an electrical grid failure, wildfires, oil spills, or new climate-related legislation.
“There’s really no telling what it could be,” Miles said. “We can do what we want.”
In late August, the podcast published a spring interview with activist and author Adrienne Maree Brown as a teaser for the new season
Whatever topics end up in the news, Miles said this season will deliver interviews and features that provide more perspectives than those offered by traditional media, such as the viewpoints of farmers, scientists, mechanics, and others directly affected by climate change.
“That’s part of the goal of this—to work with people who aren’t necessarily journalists,” she said. “I think people who tell stories from their own perspective are way more valuable than we give them credit for.”
One such story this season highlights changing rain patterns and their effect on crops in Uttar Pradesh, India. The episode, co-produced by independent journalist Monika Mandal with the support of IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute, dives into the daily realities of people living in the populous state. Another reoccurring theme will be environmental justice.
“I know that we are going to be making sure that in every instance we drill into the justice issues around the topic at hand,” Miles said. “I care about getting at the fundamental reason things are happening, and it’s something that our relatively new host Gabe Filippelli is really passionate about.”
ITC’s new structure is an exciting change for the podcast, Miles said, which took a more thematic approach in previous seasons. Miles also said she looks forward to the often overlooked perspectives this season will highlight.
“I’m honestly most excited to work with more people on high-impact stories,” she said. “At the end of the day I have only one perspective, so I’m excited to be able to amplify other people’s perspectives.”
In This Climate is a joint venture of the Environmental Resilience Institute and The Media School at IU and can be listened to through the ITC website, Apple podcasts, and Spotify.
