Advertise on podcast: Bridging the Carbon Gap

Eugene Kirpichov, a former software engineer at Google, describes why he and his colleague Cassandra Xia left their positions at Google to create Work on Climate, a rapidly growing nonprofit aimed at mobilizing the talent that can build a regenerative green economy.  Kirpichov calls for redesigning the economy so that all activities will contribute to the health of the entire system. For those seeking ways to join the effort, Kirpichov explains that opportunities don't only come from companies that are already focused on climate. Since every industry has to change, there are a wide range of jobs where someone may make greater impact through bringing new ideas to roles that once may not have been 'climate-focused.' Kirpichov challenges the notion that the climate crisis is about saving nature, instead describing global destabilization as an existential threat to human civilization. This interview is conducted by Marie Fadeyeva, a recent Columbia graduate in computer science. https://workonclimate.org/ Transcript: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/cityatlas-guests-interviews/eugene-kirpichov/ Send us a text

Mark Gongloff is a Bloomberg Opinion editor and columnist covering climate change. He previously worked for Fortune.com, the Huffington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Every week his climate column sends a stark, realistic viewpoint on the urgency of climate change action through the world’s 355,000 Bloomberg Terminals, the principal trading tool for people working in finance. New York City high school seniors Helena Rambler, Pierce Siegel, and Giulia Di Vincenzo interviewed Mark at Hunter College High School, and were joined at the end of the interview by their physics teacher, Ross Pinkerton. This interview took place on October 8, 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/APR88DH6QO0/mark-gongloff https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/mark-gongloff/ Send us a text

Georgia Silvera Seamans, an urban forester, and Giulia Di Vincenzo, a high school student, explore the treescape of Washington Square Park, a public park in New York City that has been famous as a cultural center and gathering place for over a century. Georgia gives Giulia a tour of the trees, giving insights on ecological and social benefits of nature in cities. For this episode, video clips for the following trees are available at the link below: Ginkgo Osage, Northern Catalpa, Bald Cypress, Willow Oak, American Sweetgum https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/georgia-silvera-seamans/ Georgia writes and teaches in New York City, and her work can be seen here: https://www.wspecoprojects.org/ https://www.georgiasilveraseamans.com/ “I write stories about people’s relationships with plants and narratives that connect people to trees.” Send us a text

Dr. Sam Stephenson has just completed his PhD in Energy, Climate, and Net Zero Policy in the Department of Engineering, Cambridge University. In this episode, Sam describes a benchmark report from the UK government-funded research group he worked with at Cambridge, known as UK FIRES. The report, Absolute Zero, and others from UK FIRES can be downloaded here: https://ukfires.org/impact/publications/reports/ Absolute Zero has been downloaded 178,000 times since it was published in 2019, and was written by more than a dozen researchers drawn from five universities: Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, Bath, and Strathclyde.  The top line finding in the report is that the UK should begin to reduce energy demand to 60% of the current usage in order to match the predicted available supply from zero carbon sources. This transition can be completed by 2050 in compliance with the net zero goal that is part of UK law without depending on carbon capture technologies that don’t yet exist (and may not yet exist at scale by 2050), but requires an immediate public discussion about a reduction in energy use. Reducing demand makes the zero carbon target more achievable. Missing the target impairs global cooperation that makes reducing emissions possible, and thus causes an increase in climate impacts. In brief: continuing to miss emission reduction targets will cause an increase in preventable climate impacts. Sam also describes his current research and how he initially chose climate change as his focus, which first led to a masters in environmental economics and now to his PhD. We’re at an inflection point in history; at the time we post in August, 2025, a heat wave hovers over Europe, where southern France is expected to reach 109°f/43°C, and the northeast United States remains under a summer-long plume of smoke from wildfires in Canada. IPCC co-chair Robert Vautard reports that extreme heat waves are doubling in frequency on a ten-year basis, meaning 2035 will experience double the number of this year. Pierce Siegel, a rising high school senior in New York City, Cindy Ye, about to begin her first year of college, and Ahana Pairee, moving from India to begin graduate school in the UK, each draw Sam out with questions about what the future is likely to hold and how to make it work best for everyone: with collective understanding, realism, optimism and determination. Additional references for this interview are included at the foot of the transcript at this URL: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/sam-stephenson/ Pratibha Priya, David Case, and Helena Rambler also contributed to the questions for Dr. Stephenson; moderation and post production by Cindy Ye. Send us your thoughts about Bridging the Carbon Gap at [email protected]. Send us a text

Pete Sikora is the Climate & Inequality Campaigns Director at New York Communities for Change (NYCC). Before a big mayoral election in New York City, Pete sat down to talk with high school students Helena Rambler, David Case, and Pierce Siegel in Cobble Hill Park on a sunny Saturday afternoon.  Pete explains NYCC's endorsement of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, based on Mamdani's platform for working class New Yorkers and his help in a successful campaign to stop a fracked gas power plant in Astoria, which means less air pollution and fewer cases of asthma for Mamdani's Astoria constituents. Sikora also describes his own career as an organizer and criticizes the influence of money in politics. He explains how sustained activism is the best cure for climate anxiety, and gives examples of real world results won with relatively small numbers of committed members. Additional interview production: Cindy Ye. The interview took place on May 24, 2025. https://www.nycommunities.org https://www.nycommunities.org/climate Send us your thoughts about Bridging the Carbon Gap at [email protected] or via the text button: Send us a text

Ellie Johnston is the Director of Programs at Climate Interactive, an organization that builds online simulators to let anyone test out the most effective strategies to limit climate change. Johnston also happens to live in Asheville, North Carolina, a city that bore the full brunt of flooding from Hurricane Helene in late September, 2024. In our interview, which took place two months after the storm, she describes her first hand experience with the most destructive hurricane to strike the US since Katrina in 2005. Many people lost their lives, many homes were washed away, and there was no functioning water system during October and into November, shutting down much of the city. A sense of the disruption from the storm can be seen in the Wikipedia entry on Hurricane Helene in North Carolina: "Mayor of Canton Zeb Smathers referred to recovery efforts as being for a '21st century storm with 20th century technology' due to telecommunication and power outages forcing first responders to use pack mules and handwritten notes for communication and delivery.[37] Black Mountain residents resorted to using makeshift message boards to list missing residents and humanitarian aid details.[80]" In her interview, Johnston emphasizes the community's resilience and the role of local organizations in disaster response. She also noted the ongoing challenges, such as water shortages and economic impacts, and the importance of personal and community preparedness for future disasters. Cindy Ye, from Stuyvesant High School, and Helena Rambler, David Case, and Pierce Siegel, from Hunter College High School, spoke to Ellie Johnston on December 1, 2024. Send us your thoughts about Bridging the Carbon Gap at [email protected] or via the text button: Send us a text

Helena Rambler, a high school junior, and Adam Aron, a professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, discuss the emotional challenges of addressing climate change. Adam shares his journey from his rise in the field of cognitive neuroscience, to his growing concern about climate change, and then to his surprising career switch to learn, and teach, what makes movements effective.  He emphasizes the importance of collective action, social obligation, and the need for high school curricula to address climate change as a political and social issue. Aron's class at UCSD incorporates collective action projects, aiming to foster a sense of mutual care and responsibility among students. He advises high school students to join groups and engage in strategic actions to effect change. Transcript: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/adam-aron/ https://aronlab.org/ At UCSD, Aron teaches PSYC185: The Psychology of Climate Crisis and PSYC193L: Social Movements and Organizing. https://psychology.ucsd.edu/people/profiles/aaron.html Send us a text

Gail Whiteman is a Professor of Sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School, and a social science expert on how decision-makers make sense of systemic global risks from climate change and other environmental threats. Since 2012, Whiteman is the Professor-in-Residence at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and is actively involved in building science-based targets for collective business action.  She is a past member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Frontier Risk, keynote speaker at Davos in 2023, “Unlocking the Polar Crisis” with HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, and in 2020, “What’s at Stake: The Arctic,” alongside Sanna Marin (Prime Minister, Finland) and Al Gore. In 2021, she organized and participated in a High Level Panel – “A Plan for the Planet – the Arctic and Beyond” -- with TIME Magazine as part of WEF's media program for the online Davos Agenda, together with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Robert Downey Jr., Baroness Bryony Worthington, Rainn Wilson, and Eric Rondolat. Professor Whiteman is the Founder of Arctic Basecamp and the co-founder, with Rainn Wilson, of Climate Basecamp, two nonprofit climate communications organizations. Pierce Siegel and Helena Rambler, juniors at Hunter College High School in Manhattan, spoke to Professor Whiteman on November 11, 2024. Video: Helena Rambler's exploration of the Arctic Basecamp climate science website (four minutes). Send us your thoughts about Bridging the Carbon Gap at [email protected] or via the text button: Send us a text

Mariana is an organizer with Climáximo, a climate justice direct action group in Portugal.  Cindy Ye and Adeline Sauberli, seniors at Stuyvesant High School, and Helena Rambler, a junior at Hunter College High School, spoke to Mariana on November 17, 2024: after the US election which brought Trump back into the White House, and before the fires in Los Angeles. Mariana describes the anxiety about climate change among young people in Portugal, the short window of time for phasing out fossil fuels, and the need for alternative paths to prevent climate collapse. She highlights the importance of emotions in climate activism and criticizes the disconnect between environmental education and real action, advocating for a curriculum that addresses current climate crises and solutions. Climáximo's approach includes a disarmament plan to stop harmful infrastructures and a peace plan for a future society.  https://www.climaximo.pt/the-missing-agreement-among-organizers/ Mariana is also co-author of a new book: https://all-in.now/ "All In is an easy-read, a tough-read, a deep-dive, and an honest conversation, engaging with strategy and organization using theory, analysis and emotions simultaneously." Please send us your thoughts at [email protected] or via the text button: Send us a text

Carolyn McGrath and Kate Schapira co-authored An Educator's Guide to Climate Emotions, a project from the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America. "The human-driven processes and impacts of climate change are disrupting young people’s lives and are putting their homes, institutions, and physical and mental health at risk. While young people may not always talk about these experiences in school or act outwardly distressed, their feelings about climate change are still making their way into the classroom. What can educators do to help young people navigate these difficult emotions?" David Case, a senior at Hunter College High School in New York City, spoke to Kate and Carolyn to hear about what they think is missing in education now, and what could be done to help schools catch up to the rapid change facing students as climate impacts escalate. Transcript: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/carolyn-mcgrath-and-kate-schapira/ Educator's Guide: https://www.climatepsychology.us/educators-guide-climate-emotions Send us a text

Dr. Christopher Shaw is an independent climate communications expert. Chris was previously Head of Research at Climate Outreach, where among the reports he worked on is the IPCC handbook for climate scientists on how to communicate effectively. Chris is also author of the book Liberalism and the Challenge of Climate Change. (London: Routledge 2023) From the publisher's website: "In this book Christopher Shaw analyses how liberalism has shaped our understanding of climate change and how liberalism is legitimated in the face of a crisis for which liberalism has no answers." Chris spoke about his evolving views on the barriers to action on climate change with Helena Rambler, just after the conclusion of Climate Week in New York City. Transcript: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/cityatlas-guests-interviews/christopher-shaw/ Send us a text

Dr. Gianluca Grimalda was fired by his employer, a German research institute, after refusing to travel by plane for his return from Papua New Guinea, where he was conducting research on the social impacts of climate change. To reduce his own carbon footprint Dr. Grimalda instead chose to make his way back to Germany by ferry and then overland, a trip that took 72 days, but saved 9/10ths of the emissions that he would have been responsible for by using air travel. In his journey he crossed many borders and met dozens of friendly traveling companions, and his choice to remain land bound attracted worldwide media attention. This episode is complemented by a ten minute YouTube video including photos. https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/gianluca-grimalda/ Dr. Grimalda is interviewed by Marie Fadeyeva and Gabe Gitter-Dentz.  Episode edited by Eli Gitter-Dentz. Send us a text

With Troy Vettese, Drew Pendergrass is the co-author of the book Half-Earth Socialism, which comes with a free online video game, play.half.earth. Pendergrass graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 2020 with a BA in Physics and Mathematics and a minor in English, and is now doing his Ph.D in Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard's Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His research in atmospheric physics includes work on real time satellite tracking of pollutants. "My work imagines how humanity can democratically govern itself in an age of environmental crisis. In my scientific research, we build computer systems that can use observations of the Earth system to provide maps of pollutants and their sources. Together with social scientists, historians, and designers, I imagine the sorts of institutions and protocols that would allow humanity to democratically manage our economy and its interchange with ecosystems. Most importantly, in my activism and organizing we work to make ecological democracy a reality in my home of Massachusetts. Imagining a better world pushes against the normal boundaries between fields, and with my collaborators we express our ideas in a variety of forms beyond traditional scholarship, including popular writing, fiction, and video games." Video excerptEpisode link on newyork.thecityatlas.orgSend us a text

While working at the consulting firm KPMG, the econometrician Gaya Herrington undertook an update of the social and environmental projections in the 1972 MIT report "Limits to Growth." Her research formed her thesis for her Masters in Sustainability at Harvard, and then gained attention in the press after being published in 2020. In this episode, Gaya describes her path to studying sustainability and the solutions proposed in her free book, "Five Insights for Avoiding Global Collapse: What a 50-Year-Old Model of the World Taught Me About a Way Forward for Us Today." The abstract of her earlier paper, "Update to limits to growth," includes the statement: "The two scenarios aligning most closely with observed data indicate a halt in welfare, food, and industrial production over the next decade or so, which puts into question the suitability of continuous economic growth as humanity’s goal in the twenty-first century." Hosts: Marie Fadeyeva, Columbia '24, Gabriel Gitter-Dentz, Bowdoin '25 Producer/Editor: Eli Gitter-Dentz, Hunter HS '24 Send us a text

Alice Hu works with New York Communities for Change and has participated in several of their most visible actions, including storming the Hamptons with plastic pitchforks to call attention to the enormous carbon footprints and destructive investments of the billionaires that vacation there. Hu also joined with fellow protestors to visit a live broadcast of the morning show The View and interrupt Ted Cruz, to spotlight the lack of coverage of climate change on ABC. In this episode, Alice describes her path to becoming a full time climate activist after graduating from Columbia University. Hosts: Eli Gitter-Dentz, Hunter HS '24, and Marie Fadeyeva, Columbia '24 Producer/Editor: Eli Gitter-Dentz Send us a text