50 Shades of Green: A Climate Group Podcast

Adam and Katie return to coverage of London Climate Action Week with a lively, optimistic episode that dives into the intersection of climate, health and technology. They set the scene with World Cup vibes before Adam shares his on‑the‑ground experience judging the Health in Climate hackathon — a fast, furious weekend of teams building working AI‑enabled prototypes to tackle real health risks from climate events.Their guests are key figures behind the hackathon: Seema Wadhwa (former lead for sustainability at a major US health system and Founder of Climate in Health) and Chethan Sarabu (a clinician and tech partner from Cornell Tech). Together they explain what a hackathon actually is, why bringing climate scientists, clinicians, engineers, comms and product builders into an intense, time‑bounded room produces finished, deployable tools, and how AI is changing the game. Rather than replacing people, AI accelerates what’s possible — making it easier for non‑tech experts to participate and for teams to ship working solutions in a weekend. But with speed comes responsibility: energy efficiency of AI models, data privacy (especially for health data) and ethical deployment are front of mind.Highlights from the hackathon showcase the breadth and impact of the work. The winning team’s tool addressed firefighters’ long‑term health risks by combining drone‑delivered regional air‑quality sensing with personalised exposure profiles and alerts — a solution that impressed judges and actuaries alike and immediately attracted interest from potential implementers. Other standouts included a resilience tool for healthcare supply chains in flooding events and a post‑disaster travel planner for essential supplies like baby formula. The conversation emphasizes that hackathons don’t just create prototypes; they create networks, incubator opportunities and direct pathways to adoption by corporate and healthcare partners.Seema and Chethan reflect on their journeys into climate and health — from civil engineering and landscape architecture to frontline pediatrics — and on the strategic value of focussing health in climate action. Framing climate impacts through health (extreme heat, respiratory illness from wildfire smoke, pregnancy risks) makes the issue personal and depoliticizes the conversation, engaging clinicians, patients and the public in new ways. They also spell out practical next steps: AI literacy bootcamps, cross‑disciplinary capacity building and plans to expand the hackathon model globally, culminating in New York during Climate Week.Adam and Katie weave in broader reporting: how extreme heat disrupted sporting events and daily life, the need to rethink stadiums and infrastructure, and the urgency of translating technical innovation into policy and practice. This episode is for anyone curious about where rapid innovation meets frontline impact — clinicians, technologists, policymakers and organizers who want to turn ideas into deployed solutions.Find out more at https://healthinclimate.org/

On this episode of Fifty Shades of Green, Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran dive into the intersection of theatre and climate with Molly Braverman, Executive Director of the Broadway Green Alliance. If you love Broadway — or care about practical climate action — this conversation reveals how the theatrical world backstage and onstage is being transformed to reduce emissions, cut waste, and inspire audiences.Molly explains Broadway Green Alliance's two-part mission: make theatre operations more sustainable (lower emissions, boost circularity, change backstage practices) and use the cultural power of Broadway to reach audiences with climate solutions. She walks us through concrete, replicable programs that show sustainability can be both creative and cost-effective — and often a better business decision.Highlights from the episode:Green Captains: A volunteer program with over 1,600 green captains across Broadway, touring productions, colleges, unions, and community theatres. These sustainability champions receive department-specific toolkits and one-on-one support to implement changes that fit each show’s needs, from stage management to props.Rechargeable batteries at Wicked: A striking example of impact — Wicked moved from 15,000 single-use alkaline batteries per year to 96 rechargeable batteries, dramatically reducing e-waste and costs while maintaining show safety.LED marquees: A Broadway-wide transition from incandescent bulbs to LEDs has saved over 10,000 tons of carbon to date and delivered substantial financial savings while preserving the iconic look of Times Square.Front-of-house and dressing room changes: From reusable glassware and reusable “sippy” cups to composting in dressing rooms, Molly shares how small visible shifts reduce waste and normalize sustainable behavior for audiences and performers alike.Circular programs and collections: BGA runs specialty collections (flowers and vases, instrument strings, binders and props) partnering with organizations like TerraCycle, D’Addario, Materials for the Arts, and local florists to keep materials in use across the community.Binder lending library: A Midtown lending system for binders (complete with library slips) to reduce single-use purchases for readings and rehearsals — a charming example of theatre’s inherently reuse-friendly culture.Audience engagement & storytelling: BGA leverages Broadway’s reach — from Earth Month concerts in Times Square to livestreamed events — to educate and inspire audiences. Molly describes using existing shows to “tell climate stories” and creating short climate-themed pieces (e.g., a 30-minute “Climate Talk” with showtune puns) to meet people where they are.Global connections: BGA collaborates with international counterparts (Julie’s Bicycle, Theatre Green Book) to share best practices and amplify the performing arts sector’s climate leadership worldwide.How to get involved: Molly invites theatre professionals, students, and fans to join BGA’s free membership, follow @BroadwayGreenAlliance on social, sign up for the quarterly newsletter, attend public drives in Times Square, or support local theatres by asking what they’re doing to be greener.Throughout the episode, Adam, Katie, and Molly keep the chat lively, full of theatre nerd energy and practical optimism. Whether you’re a stage manager curious about digitizing paperwork, a performer wanting to start a compost routine, a fan wondering about reusable cups, or a student pursuing theatre and climate studies, this episode shows there’s a place for you in the movement — and that “every job is a climate job.”Find out more at BroadwayGreen.com or follow Broadway Green Alliance on Instagram.

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran speak with Betsy Apple, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef). Betsy — a longtime human-rights lawyer who has worked across Africa, Asia and beyond — explains why legal protection for climate defenders is now essential, how CliDef operates in difficult and dangerous environments, and what ordinary listeners can do to help.What we cover:Why climate defense is a human-rights issue: Betsy frames climate work as inseparable from human wellbeing — whether defenders are villagers, park rangers, journalists, teachers or scientists — and explains how opposing fossil fuel projects often puts people at risk.How CliDef works: A small, high-impact team partners with trusted local legal groups and private counsel across roughly 20 countries, funding local representation, supporting jailed or prosecuted activists, and bringing “affirmative” cases to challenge abusive laws and official misconduct.The global scale of repression: From apparently democratic countries (UK, France, Germany, the U.S.) to authoritarian states, Betsy highlights the alarming trend of closing civic space — criminal prosecutions, harsh sentences (even for organizing via Zoom), disappearances, and targeted legal harassment.Case studies and frontline struggles:UK prosecutions of protesters and extreme sentences for organizers.COP-related repression in Azerbaijan and Egypt, where local activists faced mass arrests and ongoing detention.Uganda’s East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) protests: grassroots mobilisation that has delayed projects — and why “delay is victory.”DRC park rangers defending Rarunga National Park, facing armed threats, corporate capture of courts, and spurious criminal charges.SLAPPs and social-media repression: Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are being used worldwide to intimidate and silence critics — including criminal defamation charges for posting videos or warnings online.Limits of tech and AI: Betsy reflects on AI’s role in expanding access to legal help but cautions that technology can’t replace human judgment, trust-building, contextual understanding, or the holistic support defenders often need.Pathways into climate legal work: Betsy offers realistic career reflections — the long arc of legal activism, the inequality of arms in legal systems, and why practical experience, patience and diverse skills matter more than a rushed route to law school.Why this mattersThis conversation pulls back the curtain on how powerful economic and state interests — often tied to fossil fuels — shape legal systems and civic freedoms. It also spotlights courageous people risking their lives to protect communities and ecosystems, and the vital role lawyers and civil-society partners play in keeping them safe.Resources & how to helpLearn more about CliDef and donate: climatelegaldefense.orgNeed help or want to refer a case? Email: hello@climatelegaldefense.orgIf this episode sparked questions or you want to dig deeper into any case we discussed, email us or leave a comment. If you found the episode useful, please subscribe, rate and share — it helps get these urgent stories to more listeners.

Katie and Adam kick off this episode with their usual warm banter (groundhogs, hay fever, and gardening included) before diving into a seriously inspiring conversation with Sam Elfmont, Director of Response at World Central Kitchen (WCK) — José Andrés’ disaster-response outfit that gets food to people fast when climate-driven storms, floods, fires and conflicts strike. Sam walks us through what being “first on the ground” actually looks like: rapid deployment, working with local chefs and restaurants, buying fresh food locally (no mystery MREs), and getting hot, culturally familiar meals to people on day one. From a surprise flood response in Texas to a category‑5 typhoon in Saipan, WCK’s model is simple but powerful — feed people with dignity, support local economies, and move fast. Sam also explains clever resilience work they do, like handing out long‑lasting water filtration bags and community filters so places don’t become flooded with disposable plastic water bottles after disasters. We hear about the tough realities too: unpredictable logistics, airports and ports closed, responding to fires and conflict zones, and the need to keep teams safe while being quick. Sam estimates most of WCK’s work now addresses climate-related disasters — floods, hurricanes, fires — and describes an innovation team working on future tools to make responses smarter and greener. Katie and Adam reflect on why this matters: food is immediate, human, and easy to support — Sam says even $10 can cover a meal and a bottle of water. They discuss how celebrity support (think Colbert and José Andrés) can amplify donations, why storytelling and practical language matter for climate conversations, and how aid is increasingly politicized despite being fundamentally about helping neighbors.Find out more at https://wck.org/

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, hosts Adam and Katie chat with Cecilia Brenner, Managing Director of Design for Good, about how design skills are being mobilized globally to tackle the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Design for Good is a global non-profit that convenes a global alliance of companies, design schools and NGOs to co-create open-source solutions for real community problems. Cecilia explains their two-year SDG cycles (past: clean water & sanitation; current: quality education; upcoming: people and planet health combining SDGs 3 & 13), and how local NGOs provide briefs and community access while volunteer designers form cross-functional task forces to prototype, validate and implement solutions.Key themes:Open-source approach: How alliance members waive IP so solutions can be adapted and scaled, shifting from ownership to shared impact.Practical impact: Learning about campaigns like a water-saving social media initiative which reached millions;Design practices: How they co-design with communities, systems thinking, life-centered and regenerative design, and treating climate impacts as design constraints rather than afterthoughts.Capacity-building: Updates of how a partnership with the Royal College of Art and the Design for Good Academy has trained over 1,200 designers to design for measurable impact, including sustainability and AI ethics topics.Scale and ambition: Find out how over 2,000 designers mobilized across 30 countries with a goal to improve 10 million lives and help regenerate the planet by 2030. You can find out more about Design for Good here: https://www.designforgood.org/Fifty Shades of Green is produced by Climate Group North America and recorded in New York City. Climate Group is a non-profit with a global impact. You can support this podcast and our wider work here: https://support.theclimategroup.org/give/280085/#!/donation/checkout

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, Adam and Katie sit down with Jamil Wine, founder of the Hazelwood Network, for a wide‑ranging conversation about climate finance and climate tech—from the fast‑moving innovation hubs of the Middle East to the practical realities of scaling solutions in vulnerable countries. Jamil traces his accidental entry into climate work, explains why regions like the Gulf are both urgent hot spots and hubs of ingenuity, and lays out the “ecosystem” ingredients—talent, diverse capital, governance and markets—needed to build climate tech at scale. He shares lessons from advising governments, NGOs and corporations, reflects on how necessity drives invention in the world’s most affected places, and offers actionable career advice for young people: build social capital, embrace networking, and be willing to fail. The conversation also spotlights adaptation and resilience as growing investment priorities and ends on an optimistic note about cross‑sector collaboration and the role events like Climate Week NYC play in accelerating action. Practical, hopeful and full of on‑the‑ground insight, this episode is a must‑listen for anyone curious about where climate innovation is happening—and how to get involved.

On this episode of 50 Shades of Green hosts Adam Lake and Katie Lanagren interview Jennifer Hinton, co‑founder of Carve Designs, about building a performance swimwear brand rooted in sustainability. Jennifer explains how Carve developed recycled‑bottle and natural‑blend fabrics (including coconut‑infused blends), the challenges of recyclable swim materials, and the company’s shift from local manufacturing to certified partner factories. They discuss logistics and carbon reductions, the importance of supply‑chain visits and ethical factory choices, and ambitious plans to create fashion recycling loop. Jennifer also shares her observations of changing seasons from an outdoor‑athlete perspective, and how policies such as California's textile producer responsibility legislation is starting to push the industry toward end‑of‑life solutions.

As we prepare for Smart and Sustainable Mobility Week, where cities showcase their progress on clean transportation and identify the steps needed to advance effective mobility policies in their region, we're joined by the Québec Government Office in New York and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to take us through the agenda and identify how, why and where companies, transportation agencies, and community partners are primed to take action on these issues. This episode features: ⭕ Richard Parker, Senior Manager, Transportation Programs, Climate Group North America⭕ Frederic Langlois, Transportation and Energy Attache, Québec Government Office in New York⭕ Alessandra Guido, Commercial Attache, Québec Government Office in New York⭕ Emily Duncan, Manager of Business Innovation, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)⭕ Rachel L. Lamb, PhD, Assistant Secretary, Maryland Department of the Environment