Podcast Feed

 Jay Inslee, who recently announced that he’s running for President, joins The Coolest Show to discuss why addressing climate change with equity and justice should be the top priority of our elected leaders. He sits down to breakdown how he, as the governor of Washington state, has put communities of color at the forefront of climate solutions and the need for diversity in the environmental movement. Mustafa Santiago Ali hosts.

 In part two of our special “State of the Climate Movement” series, we are joined by a group of prominent activists and experts to continue the conversation on lack of diversity in mainstream environmental NGOs and Foundations. Guests give testimonials on what it’s like to be a person of color at an environmental organization and discuss solutions to strengthen our collective effort for thriving communities and a healthy planet. Special guests include Dr. Michael Dorsey, Dr. Adrienne Hollis, Rosemary Enobakhare, and Kristin Mink. Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. hosts along with co-hosts, Mustafa Santiago Ali and Antonique Smith. Recorded live for radio, the episode opens with current events in the climate movement.

 In part one of our special “State of the Climate Movement” series, we are joined by Green 2.0’s Whitney Tome and Erika West to discuss their new eye-opening report that traditional environmental non-profit organizations and foundations are actually becoming less racially and ethnically diverse. Their decline in diversity is not good for our collective ability to win on climate change, but there are solutions. Find Green 2.0’s report at DiverseGreen.org. Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. hosts along with co-hosts, Mustafa Santiago Ali and Antonique Smith. Recorded live for radio, the episode opens with current events in the climate movement.

In this documentary style episode, we hear from a Member of the Omaha Tribe and Human Rights Activist, Nathan Phillips, who dives into what the Indigenous People’s Movement is about, what our climate movement can do to follow the knowledge, wisdom and expertise of Indigenous people’s across this country and the world, and the crossroads the Catholic Church is at today between a culture of division and a vehicle of peace. We also hear from Chase Iron Eyes of Lakota Law Project, Quese IMC, an award winning recording artist and cultural activist, Phyllis Young, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and Father John Dear, a Catholic priest who has spent 40 years advocating for nonviolence. Antonique Smith hosts.

How do we get our elected leaders to take necessary action on climate change? How can we organize to help make it happen? We are joined by leaders from one of the most successful regional climate organizations in the United States, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, to learn the blueprint for climate action and what it took to get D.C. to pass the boldest piece of climate legislation in the country. Guests from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network include Executive Director, Mike Tidwell, Maryland Director, Brooke Harper, and Virginia Director, Harrison Wallace. We also give you a bonus special interview with Nathan Phillips, the Indigenous elder who showed amazing bravery while diffusing a confrontation following the Indigenous People’s March. Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. hosts along with co-hosts, Mustafa Santiago Ali and Antonique Smith. Recorded live for radio, the episode opens with current events in the climate movement.

 Since the ousting of corrupt former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, Andrew Wheeler has been busy on behalf of polluters, rolling back public health and environmental safeguards, including basic protections to clean air and water. In this episode we host an incredibly important and timely dialogue about Trump’s dangerous nominee to run the agency in charge of protecting human health and the environment. We are joined by the U.S. Congressman, Donald McEachin (VA-04), Rev. Leo Woodberry from Kingdom Living Temple, and Dominique Browning, Co-Founder and Senior Director of Mom’s Clean Air Force. We discuss real solutions for our communities and planet, and why we must #StopWheeler. Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. hosts along with co-hosts, Mustafa Santiago Ali and Antonique Smith. Recorded live for radio, the episode opens with current events in the climate movement. 

 Environmental racism is playing out in Union Hill, a predominately African-American community in rural Virginia founded by freed slaves. One of the largest monopoly utilities in the country and corporate donors in Virginia politics is helping run a campaign of disinformation in order to build a massive polluting gas compressor station in the heart of the community as part of the massive Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. We are joined by the actor and activist, Tim Guinee, as well as Pastor Paul Wilson, a leader of the #WeAreAlllUnionHill coalition, to break down environmental justice, transitioning off fossil fuels, holding elected officials accountable, and protecting the health and heritage of Union Hill and other communities around the country. Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. hosts along with co-hosts, Mustafa Santiago Ali and Antonique Smith. Recorded live for radio, the episode opens with current events in the climate movement.