It all started when…

my colleague Alexander Lee (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Alaska Pacific University) and I were co-authoring a paper on livability and the ethics of climate-related displacement of non-human species. Our conversations soon spiraled into discussions of a range of philosophical issues related to climate change, and we were easily de-railed about discussing the philosophical weight of the day’s news headlines. We also were making each other laugh a bunch. Then we started to wonder out loud about the possibility of sharing this conversations with others.

Out of our friendship and philosophical collaborations, A Hostile Climate was born. A Hostile Climate is a podcast & public philosophy project about what it means to care about nature and human nature in a changing world.

It is hard to find purpose and meaning when facing seemingly existential threats, but through exploration of ourselves and listening to the narratives and lived experiences of others, we hope to provide a space for connection and to share the awe and wonder that inspires care for the natural world and each other. As philosophers, we hope to help our listeners peel back the underlying structures, goals, morals, assumptions, values, and perspectives that shape the contours of our life under climatic change.

In our episodes we check in with other philosophers as well as climate scientists, activists, politicians, athletes, artists, and people living in front line communities to explore how we think about nature and our relationship in a warming world. We do so by getting up and out of the armchair, sometimes putting ourselves in unfamiliar environments, in order to learn what various places and spaces (and the people and non-human entities who occupy them) have to teach us about nature and our relationships in a warming world.

Podcast website: https://www.ahostileclimate.org/