Culture Dose | Join the Regeneration

Our guide on what to read, watch and listen to For Earth Day

Read: Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility

book cover Not Too Late by Rebecca Solnit andThelma Young Lutunatabua

People think we live in an age of abundance and climate requires austerity. We stand that on its head in so many ways. We live in an age of austerity: austerity of hope, austerity of community, austerity of clean air and water.
Rebecca Solnit (co-editor)

We wanted to help people find clarity through all the noise that exists out there, and through that clarity, feel they have power and that they can be a part of this fight.
Thelma Young Lutunatabua (co-editor)

In this recent book, these two women focus on people of action, reminding us that action isn’t quick and change won’t come over night. But if we show up, if we do the work, there is so much hope to be found…

Who says you aren’t the next AOC, who was tending bar when she joined the Standing Rock protests…fast forward, she’s a congresswoman and one of the main designers of the Green New Deal; or maybe you’re more like Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, Community organizer and poet, creator and performance artist tackling the evolving issues of climate change and the legacy of nuclear testing through her culture’s unique lens. (And should we add while also, in what spare time?!! is pursuing her PhD while serving as the Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment).

So if you’re tired of gloomy prognosis and ready for action, read Not Too Late where you’ll find an “accessible, encouraging, and engaging invitation to everyone to understand the issue more deeply, participate more boldly, and imagine the future more creatively.”

AOC marching at the Standing Rock protest

Watch: 2040

Watch 2040 as a way forward. Award-winning director Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we embraced the solutions already available to us to improve our planet.

Structured as a letter to his daughter, Damon blends documentary with dramatized sequences and high-end visual effects to create a vision of how these solutions could regenerate the world. We couldn’t think of a more radical way to end Earth Month than this “fact-based dreaming” embraced by Gameau. Everything from solar-powered micro-grids to regenerating farmland, to revitalizing coral beds and planting trees are offered as paths towards re-imagining a positive shared healing planet. It doesn’t hurt that Gameau comes off like a cool school teacher dad type who shows us that we already have the tools to create a more sustainable planet. We just need to be as brave and curious as his 4 year daughter and embrace an optimistic path forward.

Buy or rent on YouTube

Listen: Singing About a Revolution Playlist on Spotify

FILE – In this April 22, 1970 file photo, a Pace College student in a gas mask “smells” a magnolia blossom in City Hall Park on Earth Day in New York. (AP Photo)

Listen to this playlist which began in the 70s when the environmental crises first burst onto the scene as inspiration for a generation. Protests songs were the watchword, and we still listen, and we sing, and we march and we protest.

Listen