Episode Show Notes: S01E08 Culture Hacking with Elijah Zarlin from Yellow Dot Studios

In this season one finale of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Elijah Zarlin, Head of Digital and Engagement at Yellow Dot Studios—the climate film studio started by Adam McKay after his movie Don't Look Up with Leonardo DiCaprio, about a comet crashing down on Earth as a metaphor for the climate crisis. Elijah's journey from writing emails for Obama's 2008 campaign to getting arrested in front of the Obama White House protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline taught him a hard truth: even the most gifted communicators won't prioritize climate when fossil fuel narratives still dominate our culture.

Yellow Dot is proving that before we can change policy, we need to change the story people tell themselves about energy and who the real villains are. From viral Chevron spoof ads to the Gigaton Salon comedy shows featuring bumbling fossil fuel "executives," they're using the tools of creativity, celebrity, and comedy to expose, deconstruct, and deprogram decades of fossil fuel propaganda.

Discover why culture always comes before policy in social change movements, how to counter-program fossil fuel narratives with content that's more entertaining than the propaganda, and why making fossil fuels culturally embarrassing isn't just creative—it's strategic. Because when democracy and policy are this deeply broken, pulling the climate culture lever isn't optional, it's essential.

FULL TRANSCRIPT LIVES HERE.

Culture as the Last Lever for Change

Yellow Dot's Counter-Programming Strategy

The Power of Entertainment in Climate Communication

Small Creator Playbook

Fossil Fuel Propaganda We've Internalized

From Policy to Culture: Elijah's Journey

"In this moment when policy and democracy are so deeply broken, culture is the one lever that we as individuals and we as creatives and storytellers, still really have."

"The goal of Yellow Dot is to expose and deconstruct and deprogram [Fossil Fuel propaganda] using the tools of creativity and celebrity and comedy or entertainment."

"The stuff that travels on social is not necessarily the stuff that's expensive. Use strong language and evoke strong emotions—it doesn't have to cost a lot of money."

"People say, oh, the science is complicated. It's really not that complicated…They just need to understand that there are fossil fuel executives who are intentionally murdering them and that it doesn't need to be that way. Stories need villains. And this story has villains."

"The fossil fuel industry has so much disinformation for so long that I see people buying into the frames of the fossil fuel industry all the time—like climate communicators, people on our side. Energy scarcity? That is a fossil fuel myth. The sun produces virtually unlimited energy."

"I was in front of the White House getting arrested, telling Obama to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline... It was a real wake up call about how far we need to come, how hard this is, and how hard we need to go."

"It's a battle... working with creative people who care and are just trying to make fun and funny and interesting things that speak to this moment... try like hell to break something loose. 'Cause that's all we can do."

Elijah's Work:

Yellow Dot Content Referenced:

Key People Referenced:

Research & Reports Referenced:

Historical Social Change Parallels:

Culture Always Precedes Policy in Social Movements

Systematic Counter-Programming vs. Counter-Messaging

Entertainment as Strategic Weapon

The Journey from Inside to Outside the System

Fossil Fuel Frames We Need to Reject

Frustrated with how slowly climate policy is moving? Good. That frustration is fuel. The question isn't whether leaders will finally prioritize climate—it's what cultural lever YOU can pull while we're waiting.

Support Yellow Dot's Work:

Take Action:

Get Involved with Climate Shifted:

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Neelambaree Prasad, a pharmacologist and classical Indian dancer who refused to live a "split screen life." After becoming a mother during the pandemic and witnessing how climate change was the root cause of global health crises, Neelambaree co-founded ClimArts—a nonprofit that bridges the gap between climate scientists and artists to create stories that connect with both hearts and minds.

From ancient Indian temples that served as centers of learning through dance and music, to modern collaborations featuring ballet dancers personifying coral bleaching and comedians tackling air pollution, Neelambaree shows us why the future of climate communication isn't just better science or better art—it's the magic that happens when research meets emotional resonance.

Discover how to match scientific expertise with artistic expression, why "bounded imagination" keeps collaborations grounded, and the practical framework any organization can use to create climate stories that actually move audiences to action. Because when we combine data with dance, facts with feelings, we create something neither science nor art could achieve alone.

FULL TRANSCRIPT LIVES HERE.

The Art-Science Gap in Climate Communication

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Problems

ClimArts' Collaborative Framework

Impact and Distribution Strategies

"I always had this unrest in me about why my two worlds cannot converge."

"The pandemic had its root cause in climate change... And that's how ClimArts began."

"Science provides data and analysis and evidence while art accesses emotions and intuition, so together they create a more complete understanding of complex problems."

"It's not science alone that can do it. Not just policy that can do it, but there needs to be a cultural transformation, and that is where art comes in to change the narratives."

"We personified the river through our dance to convey that it's a sentient being."

"You cannot do it alone. That's the one big learning—you have to join forces... Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration is my learning."

"Who is this message for? No funder will accept the answer that my audience is the general public."

Neelambaree's Work:

Key Collaborations & Partners:

Key People Referenced:

Climate Impact Studies:

Collaboration & Communication Frameworks:

The Power of Personification

Cultural Transformation Through Art

Collaborative Framework Design

Community-Centered Impact

Are you a scientist with a story burning inside, or an artist ready to ground your work in evidence? The climate crisis is too important for us to keep working in silos.

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In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Autumn Leiker, a designer and climate artivist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While many climate stories are doom-and-gloom, Autumn decided to ask their community a different question: considering the realities of the climate crisis, what world do you actually want to live in? This simple but powerful question became Into the Unknown Together, a beautiful anthology of stories, recipes, and art from the people of New Mexico. This work is powerful because when we get out of the limiting fear mindset and into creative ideation, when we imagine the world we do want, we actually start to build it. 

Autumn had never published a book or run a contest before—but they showed that any of us can create something meaningful in our own communities.

Discover why listening matters more than telling, how stories are humanity's most powerful tool for creating change, and the practical steps any of us can take to inspire climate imagination in our own communities. Because when we tell new stories about our climate future, we imagine the pathways for living into them.

FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE

The Power of Place-Based, Community Storytelling

Building Climate Imagination

Community-Centered Approach

Practical Project Building

"We are the storytelling animal... Everything is a story that someone has imagined, so the world that we're living in today and all the systems that we are living in, for better or worse, they are all something that someone imagined at some point."

"When writers create new stories, they open up pathways that we can also live into... it is how we can create new worlds."

"If we don't try to start imagining what we do want and then how to get there, then it's never going to happen."

"Being on the right side of history doesn't necessarily mean we're going to make it... but I want to be on the right side of things, and I want to help others engage with that as well."

"I so want more people to do this. Please take the idea, do whatever you want with it, change it, do it in your communities."

Autumn's Project:

Influences & Inspiration:

Essential Reading Mentioned:

Grief and Joy as Climate Tools

Place-Based Climate Action

Creative Climate Communication

Which story or voice does your community need to hear? What world are you helping them imagine?

Support Autumn's Work:

Connect with Climate Shifted:

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Melinda Briana Epler, a TED Speaker and behavior change strategist who has worked on national programs with organizations like the American Hospital Association. Melinda is currently authoring a whitepaper on climate communication best practices called Our Moment is Now, out soon.

Discover why fear-based climate messaging burns people out, how to move audiences up Maslow's hierarchy of needs to create lasting change, and why listening might be the most powerful tool in a climate communicator's toolkit. Learn practical frameworks for designing user journeys that meet people where they are and guide them toward sustained climate action over time.

The Psychology of Climate Motivation

Behavior Change Strategy

Communication Tactics That Work

Bridging Political Divides

"Often people want to just go right to the solution and jump into building awareness... But I would say you need to take a step back to really understand the problem that you're trying to solve."

"Fear is a common emotion that can be evoked by climate communications... And it's not a sustainable emotion. That's why climate anxiety is on the rise."

"If somebody identifies as somebody that takes climate action, they're much more open to taking other climate actions."

"The number one role in communications I would say is listening. First really understanding where people are coming from."

Melinda's Climate Communication Research:

Featured Interview:

Key Frameworks Mentioned:

Climate communication doesn't have to rely on fear and guilt. Download Melinda's executive summary on climate communication best practices and start designing behavior change campaigns that meet people where they are and guide them toward lasting action.

Subscribe to Climate Shifted wherever you listen to podcasts and follow @climateshifted on social media for more expert insights on what actually works to shift hearts and minds on climate.

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Xavier Cortada, a socially engaged environmental artist and Florida Artist Hall of Fame member. He creates participatory art projects transforming how communities understand and respond to the climate crisis. 

Xavier shares how his "Underwater Homeowners Association" project used lawn signs showing home elevation levels to make sea level rise personally relevant to inland residents, how he strategically uses art to invite curiosity rather than confrontation, and how he builds coalitions with local institutions to create lasting policy change. 

Learn how his approach to "social practice art" sculpts people instead of clay, makes topics personal to bypass political polarization, and discover how anyone can get started doing projects like this in your own communities.

"Art allows you to see things differently, but it also allows you to behave differently. And you then model to those who aren't part of the process, how they too can do the same thing." - Xavier Cortada

"My way in was the yard sign. What's this weird number doing in my neighbor's front yard? And then that curiosity allows you to understand that you have a vulnerability, that it's not someone else's problem, it's your problem." - Xavier Cortada

"What I try to do is journey into this land called hope, and art gets us there." - Xavier Cortada

"At the end of the day I'm not trying to change human behavior. I'm trying to change the policies that allow corporate interests to exploit people and to extract from our environment." - Xavier Cortada

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Dr. Renee Lertzman, a pioneer in climate psychology who is transforming how we communicate about our planet's future. While most climate messaging bombards us with facts or terrifies us with doomsday scenarios, Renee's approach taps into something deeper: our human need to feel heard before we can change. Her groundbreaking work with Project Inside Out reveals why traditional "yelling, telling and selling" tactics fail so spectacularly with climate issues—they actually trigger defensiveness. Instead, Renee offers frameworks that help us become guides who create genuine dialogue rather than delivering monologues. Her approach is built on the same psychological techniques that help people overcome addiction—some of the most difficult behavior change imaginable. Whether you're an activist looking for new tools, a communicator hitting walls, or simply someone who cares and wants to share effectively, this conversation provides practical frameworks to transform how you engage with people about the climate crisis.

Transcript available here

"Your job is to draw out from others what their concerns are, values, volition for change, and it's actually massively more impactful and effective than what I call yell, tell, and sell." - Renee Lertzman

"How to become a climate communication “guide”? The first step is to become very self-aware and with a lot of compassion, to go through a bit of an internal reflection on how am I showing up?" - Renee Lertzman

"It was crystal clear that we needed to be bridging these worlds of psychological insight with, what does it mean to actually come to terms with climate issues as well as how did we get here?" - Renee Lertzman

"It's very hard to do this work effectively unless you have a pretty high level of self-awareness." - Renee Lertzman

"A really good guide also is tuned in to how people are doing. And so, it's always a matter of balancing the 'take action now' with, 'I get it. Maybe this is upsetting to you, but we need to take action anyway.'" - Renee Lertzman

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Benjamin Von Wong, an environmental artist and activist who creates large-scale art installations to make climate issues accessible to wider audiences. Benjamin shares how he uses familiar cultural metaphors to draw people into climate conversations, strategically places his art to influence decision-makers, and approaches climate work from love rather than duty. Learn how his installations like the four-story "Turn Off the Plastic Tap" sculpture and "Biodiversity Jenga" use recognizable concepts to make complex environmental issues instantly understandable, and discover his insights on creating sustainable activism practices that avoid burnout.

Transcript available here

"I try to think of popular metaphors or popular cultural tropes that I can hijack." - Benjamin Von Wong

"Coming at things from a place of love, it's almost like a privilege to be able to show up and to offer yourself in the fullest most complete way." - Benjamin Von Wong

"My role is to simply provide a piece of art that is as universal as possible that any organization or even a company or a government, regardless of where they are on the journey, can find utility in what I'm creating." - Benjamin Von Wong

"The ultimate goal of mine is to be able to constantly create work that requires no words to explain." - Benjamin Von Wong

"As climate professionals, we spend a lot of time thinking about regeneration and sustainability for the outside world. I think we also need to put up a mirror every so often and think about how are we making our work and career path sustainable and regenerative." - Benjamin Von Wong

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Julie Mallat, founder of The Climate Propagandist. Julie shares how she studies propaganda and persuasion techniques to help climate advocates craft more compelling messages that stick and spread. Learn how big oil has weaponized propaganda for decades and how we can flip their tactics to drive climate action. Explore what makes messages stick, Michael Mann's 5Ds framework for understanding corporate delay tactics, and why hope might be the biggest threat to polluting industries.

Transcript available 

"We're not just in a battle of science, we're in a battle of narratives." - Julie Mallat

"Climate communication doesn't have to be boring or academic. It can be engaging, impactful. It can be easy to digest." - Julie Mallat

"Hope is actually a direct threat to their agenda." - Julie Mallat

Notable Ads & Campaigns Discussed

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Podcast where psychologists, behavior designers, artivists & movement builders share how to shift perception for climate action.

Featuring guests like Dr. Renee Lertzman, Xavier Cortada, Melinda Briana Epler, Autumn Leiker, Benjamin Von Wong, and more.

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