A Slight Change of Pace
Making sure a podcast about sustainability is sustainable
“I am a person who starts things.”— something I just said to a future podcast guest
Which is not to say that I don’t finish them as well (please see my 50+ novels across two pennames and a fortunate life full of doing cool things)—I was referring to the new Solarpunk meetup I organized for tonight as well as the podcast itself.
I plant a lot of seeds, run lots of experiments (hello, Engineer Sue), start a lot of initiatives and plans and programs. I ran for political office once because I wanted to change the way the school board worked (and I did).
My current initiative of trying to change the narrative on climate change includes a wide range of efforts: creating the stories themselves (short fiction, novels, screenplays), boosting other authors’ works, speaking out about climate on social media, tabling at conventions like the Solarpunk Expo, supporting activists and organizations like Grist and the Climate Imaginarium, and the podcast itself, which talks about how to create these stories that work for a better future.
Things don’t always work out the way I plan, but I’ve seen more than my share of success, and I remain undaunted when it comes to trying new things.
Being undaunted is a key ingredient to starting things—not least hosting a podcast when I’d only ever guested before—but the key to every project that I’ve heedlessly thrown myself into, full of great enthusiasm and energy for the passion-work, has been to give myself the opportunity to pause and re-evaluate along the way.
For the pod, I told myself I’d get to 10 episodes and then see how this podcasting thing was working out. Well, we sailed past that, up to Episode 14 now, with more on the way, and as I pause for a checkpoint, it’s clear that Bright Green Futures has unfolded into something even more wonderful than I expected.
Sometimes projects fizzle out or just run their course, but others have the kind of potential that gains momentum as they go: Bright Green Futures has that kind of traction, with a lot growing underground at the moment that might not be entirely obvious, not unlike a mycelial network that threads through the ground for a long time and then, suddenly, after the rain drenches the earth, sprouts its fruiting bodies above the soil for everyone to see. Organic is a good word for that and Bright Green Futures has that kind of life to it.
There’s just one problem: the pace.
I’m very excited about the momentum, but I also have other things in my life—novels and short stories to write, meetups to organize, some travel and teaching, and simply picking up the farm share on time—and the podcast takes a substantial amount of time and effort to produce. That time is well-spent, and I love what we’ve been able to do so far, me and my guests co-creating this content, but that’s precisely it: I want it to be sustainable because I want to keep doing the pod.
Producing this podcast in 2024 feels like planting a flag that says “this is where we are in the fight today.” But I also want to be podcasting about climate fiction in 2025 and 2026 and beyond. There are no guarantees in life (tomorrow is not promised), but I feel like this next decade is a critical one in the climate fight. Documenting the evolution of hopeful climate fiction, as well as trying to grow the genre and support the writers and get these stories out where folks can read them, in this decade in particular, feels time-critical (like so much of climate work).
All this to say: the pace of the pod will have to slow so I can keep doing the work.
The rhythm of alternating monologues about the genre or industry or storytelling with conversations with guests about their work and the deeper issues seems to work well—each episode inspires the next. I plan to keep that pattern for now, but I will also add in more newsletter-only posts like this one. Those will be more informational: giveaways or announcements of new releases or posts like this one that talk about things that don’t fit neatly into the podcast, but are important to share.
My promise: every Friday, something will land in your inbox from Bright Green Futures (unless I take a scheduled break, because we all need those too!). The podcast will continue to release regular episodes, but not every week.
Right now, that seems like a sustainable pace.
We’ll see how the rest of 2024 plays out!
Above all, thank you for going on this journey with me. Together, we can change the way we think about and talk about the climate, and with that, anything is possible.
My New Short Story in Reckoning 8
Don't force yourself to please people; don't 'cast for 'casting's sake, but 'cast when it makes you feel nice giving people fuel for happiness.