30. Andrew Revkin on climate journalism - its evolution, perils and narrative capture

Challenging Climate

Andrew Revkin is one of the world's leading science and environmental journalists, with over 30 years' experience thinking and writing about climate change and sustainability. He has written at The New York Times and ProPublica, and his current outlet is “Sustain What?” at Substack. He is also the founding director of the new Initiative on Communication and Sustainability at Columbia University's Earth Institute.
In this episode, Revkin shares his remarkable journalistic experiences, such as reporting from the Arctic, and how media and the climate discussion have evolved throughout his career. Our discussion is dynamic and wide-ranging, from extreme weather, to narrative capture, to tackling questions posed in previous episodes like climate doomism and ‘Is 1.5ºC still alive?’
Links:

• Profile
• Revkin's Substack, 'Sustain What?'
• His 2003 Q&A from the Arctic sea ice
• His dispatches from 2005 Montreal
• His blog 'Dot Earth' at NYT
• His 2016 Anthropocene article, An Anthropocene Journey

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Chapters

1. 30. Andrew Revkin on climate journalism - its evolution, perils and narrative capture (00:00:00)

2. Introduction and background (00:00:34)

3. How did you become an environmental journalist? (00:04:05)

4. Coining the term ‘Anthrocene’ (later ‘Anthropocene’) (00:05:37)

5. Adapting to and adopting new forms of media (00:08:56)

6. The allures of narrative capture (00:13:00)

7. Inflexion points in Revkin’s thinking during his career in climate journalism (00:14:16)

8. The problems with media and climate change (00:21:44)

9. The role of media in spreading climate doomism (00:27:10)

10. That four-hour interview with Bjorn Lomborg (00:30:06)

11. Is 1.5ºC still alive? (00:36:13)

12. Is climate change crowding out other important environmental issues? (00:41:17)

13. Do you think we will be better off, or worse off in 50 years’ time? (00:45:17)