Hi, all.
Climate change doesn’t often feel like a laughing matter (for obvious reasons), but a conversation on our latest podcast with a couple of comedians from the Climate Comedy Cohort made a good argument for being able to find a laugh here or there when contemplating the end of the world.
A little over a month ago, Lucy and I had the opportunity to connect with Katie Hannigan, a member of Generation 180’s newly-formed Climate Comedy Cohort, and Esteban Gast, who helped create the cohort. It’s not too often we get to chat with comedians, and getting to shoot the breeze with Katie and Esteban did not disappoint; Our conversation ranged from the role of humor in talking about and understanding climate and we even delved into how comedy works these days and how they’re hoping this cohort will be a good way for the comedians to learn about the climate and then spread that knowledge through their material.
Give the episode a listen here!
I’m pretty drawn to the power of inserting some comic relief when talking and thinking about climate change (if you’re going to cry or laugh, you might as well cry and laugh…), but if you still need some convincing, you should check out this scientific paper on humor and climate change, “A Laughing Matter? Confronting climate change through humor,” and this recent and very fitting interview from Grist, “Dallas Goldtooth on the liberation of laughter and the power of joy in organizing.” Something that comes out of all of these pieces is that not only does humor allow us to process what’s happening with climate change in the present, but allows us to imagine better futures as well. Huge thanks to Katie and Esteban for giving us lots of things to laugh and think about!
Til next week,
Ingrid