Series Introduces Listeners to Climate Action Conversations and Strategies in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Featuring Interviews with Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad and US House Candidate Summer Lee
Hosted and Produced by Pittsburgh-Based Artist and Filmmaker Michael Pisano
Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) announces the launch of its new podcast series, We Are Nature, with the first episodes available now. The new series, comprised of 11 regular episodes and several bonus episodes, features 30 interviews with museum researchers, organizers, policy makers, farmers, and science communicators about climate action in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The goal of the series is to share how humans can create–and are already working towards–a livable, just, and joyous future.
The series is created, produced, and hosted by Pittsburgh-based filmmaker and environmental educator Michael Pisano. Science communicator and former CMNH program manager Taiji Nelson joins as co-host and co-producer. Field reporters Di-ay Battad, David Kelley, and Jamen Thurmond round out the production crew.
The first episode, entitled “This Is an Emergency, Not an Apocalypse,” featuring interviews with Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad and CMNH Curator of Anthropocene Studies Dr. Nicole Heller, is available now along with a bonus episode, “We Can Fix This,” delving into effective climate change communication strategies. The second episode, “Steel City,” featuring an interview with US House of Representatives Candidate Summer Lee, will be available on November 4.
“These stories show many diverse ways people are working together on the frontlines of climate change mitigation, adaptation, and justice,” said Pisano. “You’ll hear from people who grow our food, protect our greenspaces, and fight polluting industries. For me, their stories are a vital reminder that we aren’t doomed, and that getting involved with local issues like air quality is connected to making a difference globally.”
All episodes will be available at https://carnegiemnh.org/learn/we-are-nature-podcast/ and on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and Stitcher. The podcast We Are Nature follows CMNH’s successful A Is for Anthropocene podcast series and builds upon the museum’s We Are Nature exhibition series.
About the Hosts and Contributors
Host Michael Pisano’s first career aspiration was to be a dinosaur. Thirty-five-ish years later, he makes films about sustainability and solidarity. He also makes fantasy games about collaboration in the face of doom. Michael fell in love with Pennsylvania’s forests as an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon and has called Pittsburgh home for nearly 20 years since. In We Are Nature, his experiences as a teacher, documentary filmmaker, and climate justice organizer meet his passions for ecology and natural history; as a host, Michael works to draw connections between science, history, ethics, and a livable future.
www.pisanofilms.com
Producer and Co-host Taiji Nelson studies Learning Sciences and Human Development at the University of Washington (Seattle), but lived in Pittsburgh from 2006-2022 and grew up in the Allegheny National Forest. He is passionate about developing ways to promote solidarity between the environmental movement and other justice movements, and facilitating learning environments that help people answer big questions about taking action toward climate justice.
