Inherited podcast finds hope in the dreams of young climate activists

Inherited

Critical Frequency

GRETA THUNBERG has been the star of the youth climate movement since her first school strike in 2018, in which she sat outside the Swedish parliament to demand action on the Paris climate agreement. Yet she is just one of millions of young people coming to terms with a crisis they inherited.

“There are tons of young people fighting today, and many who have fought before, and we all feel the same terrifying weight,” says writer and audio producer Georgia Wright in an episode of Inherited, a podcast she co-hosts and produces with Julianna Bradley. The show shares the experiences of teenagers and twenty-somethings dedicating their lives to the climate emergency.

Its four-episode pilot season features guests telling their own stories, bringing the challenges and emotions they face to life while also touching on the origins of the crisis.

Age is often a barrier because it prevents young people being taken seriously. Inherited‘s first episode follows the early days of the Sunrise Movement, a political group led by young people in the US aiming to stop climate change. One member was described as “young and naive” when she challenged a politician about action on the issue, spurring the group on to disprove the patronising remark. The result was a protest organised in 2018 that was a turning point for Sunrise.

At that time, the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had just been released, warning that society had 12 years to control climate change. Yet Nancy Pelosi, then incoming speaker of the US House of Representatives, didn’t seem to be making climate a priority in the next session of Congress. Sunrise organised a sit-in at her office, attracting a lot of media coverage. Since then, the movement has bloomed and it has helped elect climate-minded politicians.

The success of Sunrise touches on another theme of this podcast: community. Many young people suffer from climate grief, anxiety and guilt. Climate activist Xiye Bastida, a guest on the show, recalls how she collapsed after hearing that US president Donald Trump was rolling back certain environmental regulations. But connecting with others experiencing the same thing can help. “We are in a climate crisis, but we can’t live in a state of crisis,” says Bastida. “If we go through our days with hopelessness, we’re not going… to get anything done.”

It can be difficult, however, to convince some people that climate change is real. In one episode, a guest named Jenna describes how her community in the Rockaways area of New York City was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. A day after the storm, local houses were flooded and fires raged. She didn’t go back to school for three weeks and the relief effort took years.

Although the hurricane changed her life and drove her to pursue a climate-related career, some who lived through the disaster still denied the links to climate change. “Often [humans] prefer to shut off these big abstract thoughts… focusing on challenges that are more manageable,” says Bradley.

Inherited highlights how informed and dedicated many young people are when it comes to climate change. The season ends on a hopeful note. Past generations may be responsible for the crisis, but the message is that today’s youth can choose what comes next. “Instead of resigning ourselves to a terrible fate, we’re dreaming up a new path,” says Bradley.