Jennifer Atkinson launches “Facing It” podcast on the emotional burden of climate change

IAS faculty member Jennifer Atkinson launched Facing It, a new podcast exploring the emotional burden of climate change. The project is a collaboration between Atkinson, who is the writer and host, and London-based composer and sound artist Roberto David Rusconi.

In her pilot episode, Atkinson explains the podcast theme:

“The age of climate crisis is upon us, and grief and anxiety are on the rise. Overcoming the paralysis arising from this emotional burden is the first step in moving toward action, and yet official climate strategies rarely address the emotional toll of eco anxiety. Meanwhile, frontline communities — particularly people of color, indigenous communities, and other historically-marginalized groups — are experiencing the heaviest mental health impacts of climate disruption and displacement. This series introduces ways to move from despair to action by addressing the psychological roots of our unprecedented ecological loss.” Jennifer Atkinson, 2020

 In subsequent episodes, Atkinson takes up the question of whether reason or emotion is more important in driving climate action — or whether those binaries are themselves part of the problem. She also explores how mental and emotional states relate to public perceptions of climate risk: “While some climate activists argue that we should focus on facts instead of feelings, others know that our intense emotional response to climate chaos is far from irrational,” she explains. Moreover, feelings like anger, hope, anxiety, and fear profoundly shape our perceptions of the world, and can motivate the public to act or shut down and retreat.
In the most recent episode, Atkinson explores the value of grief as a way to overcome collective denial as we move into an uncertain climate future. While many environmentalists have urged the public to focus on hope, Atkinson argues that grief and hope aren’t mutually exclusive, and in fact for many, grief may be an even more powerful force for transformation in confronting an existential crisis like climate destabilization.

Facing it is produced by Intrasonus UK, and will ultimately feature ten episodes exploring eco-grief.