People over Plastic

A People’s Climate is back for Season 2! 

Host Shilpi Chhotray takes you inside the fight for climate and environmental justice with organizers, legal experts, filmmakers, and movement leaders challenging the corporate and political forces blocking real change — from Big Oil and militarism to over-policing and the Supreme Court. 

This is essential listening for anyone serious about building a mass climate movement.

New episodes every Saturday starting Oct 3, 2026.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and learn more at:

apeoplesclimate.org

Guests this season include:

• LaTricea Adams - Founder and CEO of Young, Gifted & Green
• Brea Baker - Writer, Activist and Author of ROOTED: The American Legacy of Land Theft & The Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership
• Dr. Hatem Bazian - Decolonial scholar, professor at UC Berkeley, author, and activist
• John Beard Jr. - Founder and CEO of the Port Arthur Community Action Network
• Nalleli Cobo - Environmental Activist and Co-Founder of South Central Youth Leadership Coalition
• Kamau Franklin - Founder of Community Movement Builders
• U.S. Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost - Florida’s 10th Congressional District
• Abby Martin - Investigative journalist, Director of Earth’s Greatest Enemy, and founder of The Empire Files
• Elie Mystal - Justice Correspondent for The Nation
• Sean Sherman - Chef and Founder of Indígena by Owamni and North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems
• And more to be announced.

Credits

Presented by Counterstream Media and The Nation
Powered by Wildseeds Fund
Host: Shilpi Chhotray
Executive Producer: Mindy Ramaker
Engineer: Dennis Maxwell
Project Manager: Asia Simms

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Announcing “A People’s Climate” - a NEW climate podcast by Counterstream Media and The Nation. Hosted by Shilpi Chhotray. 

This isn’t climate talk as usual. This is environmental justice. 

Over nine powerful episodes, we bring together activists, organizers, and movement leaders who are fighting on the frontlines. Every conversation reveals not only why the fight matters, but how communities are already putting solutions into practice and power back in the hands of the people. 

The future we need is being built from the ground up. Not by corporations. Not by billionaires. By us. The people demanding justice, reclaiming power, and rebuilding what’s been broken.

New episodes every Saturday starting Sept 27, 2025.

Available wherever you get your podcasts: https://pod.link/1840515801

Presented by Counterstream Media and The Nation

Powered by Wildseeds Fund

Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] and let us know your thoughts.

Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps others discover the show.

Find us instagram: @counterstream_media

Our Season Finale comes to you live from NYC Climate Week. It was an unforgettable afternoon honoring and elevating the power of expression, unity, and civil disobedience in the Environmental Justice movement. This episode features powerful stories from activists and organizers who have taken bold stands against environmental injustices that threaten their communities and our shared future. 

Guests: 

Thalia Cachimuel, Director of Philanthropic Networks, NDN Collective

Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Environmental Health

Chris Tandanzo, Poet and Former New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance organizer

Story Salon Host: Michael McKenzie, Counterstream's Executive Director

Key Topics:

• Does our current democracy function enough for us to protect it?
• Dissent is a sacred act for historically excluded communities. 
• It also means “We are going to give you hell.”
• The importance of storytelling and reclaiming narratives to drive social and environmental change
• The fight to free Leonard Peltier as a story of truth and reconciliation.
• How environmental justice advocates are the embodiment of dreams.
• The power of Gen-Z.
• The interconnectedness of environmental justice work and the movement to end the genocide in Gaza.

Additional resources

• See images from the Season of Dissent Story Salon
• NDN’s #FREELEONARDPELTIER Toolkit
• The urgent need for federal policy on ‘forever’ chemicals, by Kizzy Charles-Guzman
• Revisit some of other Story Salons: 
  • Cancer Alley Rises Up: Honoring Black Women in Environmental Justice
  • Climate Week 2023: In Houston, Texas
  • Food Sovereignty As a Pathway to Justice
  • Story Salon at Hip Hop For Change

Want more?

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People over Plastic is a project of Counterstream Media. 

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One of the most fundamental freedoms in American democracy is the freedom of expression and assembly. In other words: our right to protest. This freedom ensures everyone can speak out and mobilize without fear of censorship or retaliation. It allows everyday people to challenge disinformation, hold those in power accountable, and rally together for changes that protect both people and the planet. But censorship, criminalization, and complacency threaten the fight for equity and justice, at a time when direct action is more important than ever.

Guest: Candice Fortin, U.S. Campaigns Manager for 350.org, a global climate nonprofit fighting for a world beyond fossil fuels.

Key Topics:

• The power of protest and direct action
• Criminalization of environmental activists in the United States and around the world 
  • From the founding of the EJ movement in Warren County, NC 
  • To the recent murder of Manuel “Tortuguita” Paez Terán who was killed by Georgia state troopers while protesting against Cop City
• Censorship of pro-Palestinian voices
• The need for white liberals to support historically excluded communities in the fight for democracy and justice

Additional resources:

• See Candice in action at the America’s Energy Summit
• Learn more about Cop City in People over Plastic episode The Hot Seat
• Learn more about direct actions like the Summer of Heat here and in our latest issue of Peace & Riot.

Want more?

If you haven’t already, subscribe to People over Plastic on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get the latest episode each week.

Show your support and leave a 5-star review ️️️️

People over Plastic is a project of Counterstream Media. 

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Disclaimer: Counterstream Media does not endorse any political candidate or party. These conversations aim to create a safe space for open dialogue.

Protections are essential for ensuring laws and policies safeguard both people and the environment. And under the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, equal protections means fair treatment under the law for everyone—regardless of race, gender, religion, or socioeconomic status. But historically, Black,  Indigenous, and other communities of color have faced the brunt of environmental, health, and climate change impacts. Despite historic advancements in recent years, deregulation efforts threaten to make things even worse for frontline communities that are demanding democracy delivers on its promise.

Guest: Abre’ Conner is the Director, Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP where she oversees strategy and collaboration to dismantle environmental racism.

Key Topics: 

• The intersection of Civil Rights, Environmental Justice, and Democracy
• Fighting to strengthen protections that center people, not just the environment 
• Critical Race Theory
• How threats to environmental justice go beyond any one political party or presidency
• Potential impacts from the Supreme Court ruling on Chevron Deference
• Weakening of protective agencies, like the EPA, through plans like Project 2025

Additional resources

• James Baldwin’s 1965 debate at Cambridge University 
• Order Toxic Wastes and Race and Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty FREE, Here. Just pay for shipping.
• More contextual books to consider on Critical Race Theory.

Want more?

If you haven’t already, subscribe to People over Plastic on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get the latest episode each week.

Show your support and leave a 5-star review ️️️️

People over Plastic is a project of Counterstream Media. 

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

Participation plays a critical role in building a thriving democracy. But participation goes far beyond voting—it’s a powerful tool for reclaiming rights, restoring land, and ensuring justice for communities that have long been left out of decision-making. Which is why we’re looking at participation through an Indigenous perspective. Indigenous knowledge systems can inform and inspire broader movements for justice and democratic participation.

Guest: 

Dr. PennElys Droz is the Power Building and Curriculum Coordinator with NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy organization.

Key Topics: 

• The founding of the U.S. Democratic system, which was built on Indigenous ideas from the Haudenosaunee (The Six Nations People)
• How the complex relationship between indigenous communities and the U.S. Democratic system impacts participation in environmental justice and beyond
• Voting rights and ongoing challenges to achieving a truly representative government
• The LandBack movement as participatory justice
• Solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement
• Indigenous Economies in contrast to colonial, capitalist, and extractive economies — like the petrochemical (plastic) industry. 

Additional resources

• Explainer video on the Haudenosaunee’s influence on the US Constitution with a Haudenosaunee scholar.
• Explore more about NDN Collective here.

Want more?

If you haven’t already, subscribe to People over Plastic on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get the latest episode each week.

Show your support and leave a 5-star review ️️️️

People over Plastic is a project of Counterstream Media.

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

Welcome back to a very special season of the People over Plastic Podcast “Democracy and Dissent” where we’re exploring the intersection of Environmental Justice & Democracy. The urgency surrounding democracy is at an all-time high. But this is about more than politics, who wins the presidency, or maintaining the status quo. It’s about ensuring democracy delivers on its promise—for everyone, not just those in power.

Over the next episodes we’ll tackle three of the most critical aspects of democracy through the lens of environmental justice: Participation, Protections, and Protest. 

Host Shilpi Chhotray will have candid conversations with Environmental Justice thought leaders who have complex and differing relationships, histories, and hopes for democracy. Tune in and listen wherever you get your podcasts — because the fight for environmental justice is also a fight for democracy itself.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to People over Plastic on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get the latest episode each week.

People over Plastic is a project of Counterstream Media. 

Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

In our season finale, we shine a spotlight on the vital leadership of Black women in the realm of environmental justice. Often, after environmental catastrophes wreak havoc on frontline communities, well-funded environmental organizations descend like Trojan horses, offering solutions that often lack community input. In some cases, these organizations and their so-called 'relief' efforts blow in and out of communities as quickly as the crises themselves.

Today, our co-hosts Shilpi Chhotray and Alexis Young explore the enduring impact of Black women leaders who have nurtured spaces of care and refuge for communities on the frontlines of the climate justice movement. Joining us are remarkable individuals who have dedicated their lives to urgent issues that affect their communities.

Roishetta Sibley Ozane, founder of The Vessel Project of Louisiana; Dr. Beverly Wright, founder of The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice; and Wawa Gatheru, founder of Black Girl Environmentalist, share their journeys and insights. These visionary leaders have focused on creating sustainable, community-centered solutions that prioritize long-term well-being.

Join us for a captivating discussion as we honor the incredible contributions of Black women in environmental justice, highlighting their enduring commitment to communities that cannot escape the frontlines of the climate justice movement. You’ll want to listen to the very end for a special poem by internationally-acclaimed poet and activist Sunni Patterson.

Check out our website for additional reporting on guests featured on Season Four of The People over Plastic podcast. https://peopleoverplastic.co

On today’s show, we delve into the profound role that faith plays for Black and Indigenous environmental organizers in their relentless pursuit of both climate justice and racial justice. Drawing inspiration from Matthew 17:20-21, which reminds us that even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, we explore how they've harnessed their faith to drive change.

Joining us are remarkable individuals whose faith has moved industrial polluters and deepened their connection with the Earth. Dr. Joy Banner, Co-Founder of the Descendants Project, and Shamyra Lavigne, from Rise St. James, share their powerful narratives of how their faith compelled them to take action against industrial polluters, ultimately reclaiming their homes.

Additionally, Frankie Orona, representing The Society of Native Nations, sheds light on the ancestral wisdom passed down through generations—the kind of wisdom that encourages a profound and healing relationship with nature. Frankie advocates for this enduring connection with the Earth, one that soothes and honors our planet.

Tune in as our co-hosts Shilpi Chhotray and Alexis Young explore the intersection of faith, environmental activism, and the transformative power of belief in the fight for justice and the Earth's well-being.