Introducing “The Black Thread”

The Black Thread is a new documentary podcast series unravelling Norway’s complex relationship with prosperity, identity, and responsibility in a warming world.Episodes will be dropping weekly over on Drilled Media.

This episode features a conversation with Diya Deb, executive director of Mindworks. It was recorded in April 2025.Growing up as an activist in India, Diya has in-depth experience of working in harsh political and social realities. With a variety of leadership roles under her belt from Amnesty and Greenpeace India, and a background in campaigning and program management too, she holds a deep belief in the need to decolonise knowledge and drive systemic change in Global Majority countries. At the helm of Mindworks, Diya works to apply cognitive and social science insights to support organisations and changemakers, particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, to campaign innovatively to address climate and other systemic issues.Amongst other things, Diya and I discussed the ways that mindsets in places like India and Indonesia demand new strategies and emphasis from climate communicators, the fresh ways that denial emerges in such contexts, and the desperate need for more listening in developing interventions and engagement that resonates.Additional links: Visit the Mindworks websiteDig in to the Anger & Agency MonitorCheck out the Time to Talk insights and toolkit

This episode features a conversation with Rupert Read, co-director of The Climate Majority Project. It was recorded in March 2025.Rupert is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, and at the Climate Majority Project, works to build a mass, moderate climate movement by supporting community-led adaptation, democratic participation, and practical climate action across the UK. He’s the author of several influential books on climate and society, and is a frequent commentator on the likes of the BBC, Al Jazeera, and other major platforms.His latest book, Transformative Adaptation: Another world is still just possible, argues that we are now beyond the safe climate threshold and must bring adaptation to the cenre of our response — not as retreat, but as an opportunity for deep change. Transformative Adaptation offers a framework for reimagining how we live, work, and govern in the face of climate impacts. It champions localism, community resilience, and working with nature, while challenging dominant systems that are no longer fit for purpose.Amongst other things, Rupert and I discussed how communicators can help audiences meet the realities of our current predicament with active hope and a sense of agency, which actions and interventions need to be taken and how we can support them, and what the concept of “thrutopia” offers for imagining what it all might look like.Additional links: Get Rupert’s book Transformative Adaptation: A new world is still just possibleCheck out Rupert’s website The Climate Majority Project websiteSome words from Rupert on ThrutopiaArticle with Caroline Lucas about climate populism

This episode features a conversation with Ingmar Rentzhog, founder and CEO of We Don’t Have Time, the world’s largest media platform dedicated to climate action. It was recorded in March 2025.Ingmar is a serial entrepreneur in finance and communication, as well as a climate changemaker who’s been recognized internationally for his impact. He’s a European Climate Pact Ambassador and a member of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, and through his work at We Don't Have Time, he’s mobilising millions to hold businesses, leaders, and governments accountable and drive genuine progress. With a mission to democratize knowledge about climate solutions and mobilize global action toward a prosperous and fossil-free future, We Don’t Have Time boasts a community of more than 120,000 climate professionals and influencers spanning 180 countries, as well as partnerships with more than 450 companies, governments, and civil society organizations. We Don’t Have Time reaches 200 million people each month on social media!Amongst other things, Ingmar and I discussed the ways that technological infrastructures like media platforms and social networks can support grassroots action, the importance of both sticks and carrots in engaging companies, governments, and other actors on climate issues, and how understanding financial flows can help us propel our much needed societal transformation forward.Additional links: Check out We Don’t Have Time and join the community!Find out more about the Make Science Great Again campaign

This episode features a conversation with writer, editor and strategic communications consultant, Chinelo Onwualu. It was recorded in March 2025.Chinelo is co-founder of Omenana, a magazine dedicated to African speculative fiction, and is the former chief spokesperson for the African Speculative Fiction Society. She’s also one of the reviewers of entries for Grist’s Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest.Her writing has been featured in several anthologies and magazines, including Uncanny magazine, Strange Horizons, The Kalahari Review, and Brittle Paper.It has also earned her many merits including a nomination for the British Science Fiction Awards, as well as for the Nommo Awards for African Speculative Fiction, and also the Short Story Day Africa Award.With a background in journalism, Chinelo previously worked as a reporter and online editor in Nigeria and the United States, including as a senior editor for Cassava Republic Press, one of the leading independent publishers in all of Africa.In her consultancy work, Chinelo has spent more than a decade supporting multi-national non-profits across the world with their strategic communications, including WE Charity International, ActionAid Nigeria, The BBC World Trust, and the University of Sussex's Institute for Development Studies.Amongst other things, Chinelo and I discussed the importance of stories in shaping our societies, how fiction can help us make changes in our real lives, and what Western storytellers might learn from those whose cultures have already faced apocalyptic scenarios. Additional links: Visit Chinelo’s websiteGrist's Imagine 2200 climate fiction contestCheck out OmenanaPeruse Rosarium Publishing and Flame Tree PressExplore Roy Okupe’s comicsDiscover Nightmare magazine and Uncanny magazineRead more about Chinese author Cixin Liu

This episode features a conversation with film director, Joshua Oppenheimer. It was recorded in March 2025.Joshua gained notoriety through his documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, which, amongst their many accolades, gained him Academy Award and BAFTA nominations. In fact, back in 2012, it was his extraordinarily beautiful and bizarre film, The Act of Killing, which follows former Indonesian death-squad leaders in reenacting their mass-killings through cinematic set pieces and lavish musical numbers, that put Joshua on my radar. The Guardian called it “The most compelling thing you’ll ever see.” I tend to agree. His latest film, entitled The End, hit cinemas in the UK and Germany last week.The End stars Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, and George MacKay, as a wealthy family living isolated lives in a luxurious bunker, two decades after an environmental catastrophe renders Earth's surface uninhabitable. But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill, seen-it-before disaster take, The End is a genre-bending tale that urges us to reconsider the illusions we hold about the fate of our planet and, perhaps crucially, our role in shaping that fate. Amongst other things, Joshua and I discussed The End, why we often find living in lies a more comforting situation than facing reality, and the need to challenge the silence and the self-deception that is all around us when it comes to climate.Additional links: The End is out now in Germany and the UK. Get tickets to cinemas near you here. Find out where to stream The End in your location by going here. Watch the trailer for The End.Get a sense of Joshua’s inspiration from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.Check out the trailers for The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence.Here’s the panel discussion I mentioned, discussing silence around fossil fuels in Norway.Creatives for Climate is the largest and most diverse network of change-agents using creativity to drive climate action.Read George Lakoff’s book, Don’t Think of An Elephant.

This episode features a conversation with Boaz Paldi, Chief Creative Officer at the United Nations Development Programme. It was recorded in February 2025.In this role, Boaz oversees UNDP’s advocacy, campaigns, events, and activations. For example, back in 2021, he launched the now iconic #DontChooseExtinction campaign, featuring a dinosaur gatecrashing the UN General Assembly, highlighting research that revealed that for every dollar pledged to tackle the climate crisis, four dollars are spent on fossil fuel subsidies that keep that same crisis alive. Last year, Boaz delivered the award-winning #WeatherKids campaign, which used children to deliver weather reports from the future, spotlighting the catastrophic consequences of global inaction on climate change and its impact on the next generations.Through these, and other, activations at the UN, Boaz continues to push the envelope on the kinds of communication we see when it comes to climate, more broadly, as well as shifting what’s expected, and see as acceptable, when it comes to the messaging coming out of the most significant organization on the planet.Prior to joining UNDP, Boaz worked as a TV journalist for almost two decades, covering conflicts, natural disasters, and human-interest stories across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, first for the BBC, then for Reuters, where he worked as Executive Producer for TV News.Amongst other things, Boaz and I discussed the essential components of great climate campaigns, what happens behind the scenes to bring groundbreaking activations to life, and how the element of surprise can help us break through the noise.Additional links:Watch the #Don’tChooseExtinction campaign filmFind out more about #WeatherKidsWatch Weather Kids on YouTubeCheck out Activista AgencySee more from the Framestore Production HouseExplore work from climate writer Casey RandDiscover Anzu in-game advertisingSee more work from The ArterySee Oli Frost annoy fossil fuel financiersCheck out the documentary film, The Game Changers

This episode features a conversation with Natalia Vega-Tracy, founder of centralised communications hub, New Zero World, and multi-sector coalition, EPIC, the Earth Public Information Collaborative. It was recorded in July 2024.Natalia is a leader in global advocacy and social impact, with more than 25 years of experience leading campaigns and content designed to influence culture and drive positive change in the world. She’s been the driving force behind collaborations with international partners across all sectors, from progressive brands and corporations to humanitarian non-profits and both governmental and intergovernmental organizations, where her work has earned nominations and awards from many of the most renowned international festivals in the advertising world.Natalia has been widely recognized for her work creating innovative strategies, campaigns, films and experiential events in support of the United Nations, and was named one of the “Top 10 most influential media and communications executives" for her work supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.In 2022, she founded New Zero World to shift public opinion and promote behavioural change by building new climate narratives and positively reimagining our visions of the future. New Zero World’s flagship report entitled, “A New Era In Climate Communications” gathers world-leading research and insights from the best minds in science communications, creativity, and cultural influence. The resource is a must-read for anyone working in and around climate communication, with chapters dedicated to practically every facet of the craft. In 2024, together with the Global Commons Alliance, New Zero World launched EPIC, the Earth Public Information Collaborative, with the vision to bring together businesses, media platforms, ad agencies, creators, philanthropy and, of course, science, to reposition climate change across every community on earth.Acting as a campaign in itself, the process is designed to not only engage agencies, industry and media, but also the public. It’s described as a campaign for all of us, involving all of us – taking a whole earth approach.Amongst other things, Natalia and I discussed the power of using creativity for good, the need to fill an imagination gap about the future we’re heading towards, and how the sausage is made when it comes to large, multi-stakeholder coalitions.Additional links: Check out whitepaper, A New Era in Climate CommunicationsVisit the New Zero World websiteExplore the Earth Public Information Collaborative websiteHoward Bloom’s book, Global BrainWatch the trailer for the film, 2040

This episode features a conversation with Kris De Meyer, Director of the UCL Climate Action Unit. It was recorded in July 2024.Kris is a neuroscientist, a science communicator and a science-policy co-production expert, bringing insights from neuroscience and psychology to the domain of climate change. He specialises in how people become entrenched in their beliefs, how this leads to polarisation in society, and how to overcome these conditions. The Climate Action Unit works to change how scientists, policymakers, businesses, media, civil society organisations and citizens engage with each other about climate change. And Kris is responsible for the neuroscientific basis of the interventions that the unit designs and delivers. Kris is also a Senior Research Fellow in UCL’s Department of Earth Sciences, has co-produced an award-winning documentary, called Right Between Your Ears, exploring how people views become ingrained, and co-created The Justice Syndicate, a participatory play about how we disagree. Amongst other things, Kris and I discussed fear and agency, where the conventional wisdom gets things wrong, and why stories about actions taken in response to climate change offer the total package when it comes to stimulating meaningful responses from our audiences.Additional links: Visit the Climate Action Unit websiteWatch Kris’ brilliant TEDx TalkTransforming the stories we tell about climate change: from issue to actionCheck out Elliot Aronson’s article Fear, Denial, and Sensible Action in the Face of DisastersExplore the UN Climate Chief’s speech “2 years to save the world”Read Mike Hulme’s article on “Deadline-ism”

This time, instead of chatting to a special guest, listeners just like you are joining the conversation. It’s a Call-In Show!Over the last couple of months, all kinds of voice messages have been submitted by listeners to act as a springboard for brainstorming, problem solving, and broader discussion around a range of climate communication challenges, observations, and questions. Through the course of this episode, we’ll dig into a number of them, exploring themes like framing, psychological distance, climate deadlines, and some fundamentals of climate communications, across formats ranging from social media posts to speeches, and more.But we won’t just be pointing out flaws and failures. This is a show about solutions. So, I’ll be looking to a kaleidoscope of disciplines and perspectives, as well as the wisdom of previous Communicating Climate Change podcast guests, to find a path forward in each case.If you want to leave a voice message of your own, whether to respond to a topic discussed in this episode or to raise a new one for consideration for the next call-in show, just head over to the Call-In Show page. It couldn’t be easier to get involved!Guidance on submitting to the Call-In Show:Step 1: Go to the Call-In Show page.Step 2: Hit the “Start Recording” button.Step 3: Describe your challenge, example, or observation.Step 4: Hit the “Stop” button when you’re done.Step 5: Enter your name and email if you want (it’s optional) and hit “Send”. Step 6: Tune in to the Call-In Show to see if your message gets featured!I can’t wait hear from you!Additional linksCommunicating Climate Change With Funmibi OgunlesiCommunicating Climate Change With Josh GarrettCommunicating Climate Change With Kevin GreenBohn and Rogge paper “The Framing of Green Innovations”Tesla Cybertruck beats Porsche 911 while towing a 911Adam Corner on how to reach people beyond the green bubbleFull transcript of Simon Stiell’s speech at Chatham HouseMy attempt at rewriting Simon Stiell’s speechHere’s some recent research about doomerism and shareablity Here’s the link to the Mike Hulme piece on deadline-ismLink to the original Climate Crisis Advisory Group post on LinkedIn