Share

cover art for Why tackling climate change is art, not just science

Climate Curious

Why tackling climate change is art, not just science

“I use socially engaged art to help people visualise their climate vulnerability,” shares lawyer turned climate artist Xavier Cortada on the Climate Curious podcast. Recorded live at TED 2024, Xavier shares how art can help neighbourhoods to visualise their climate vulnerability, engage new people into the sea-level-rise conversation, and empower communities to hold their elected officials accountable and demand action.


Watch Xavier’s TED Talk – A creative approach to community climate action.

Listen to Xavier’s previous episode on Climate Curious – What is an eco-artist?

More episodes

View all episodes

  • Climate Quickie: Why photography is a powerful climate storytelling tool

    08:16|
    National Geographic photographer Jaime Rojo joins Climate Curious to share why his photography of the migration of monarch butterflies across North America tells a bigger climate story, and why photography is a powerful climate storytelling tool. Recorded at TED2024. Instagram  @jaimerojoWebsite  www.rojovisuals.comX  @rojovisualsFollow Climate Curious:NewsletterInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebookSuggest a topic you’d like Climate Curious to coverCreated by TEDxLondonProduced by Josie ColterEdit, mix, master by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Maryam PashaHosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst
  • How electric boats are turning the tide on polluted waterways

    08:14|
    Keeping our waterways safe and clean is a major challenge. Daylin Frantin, a clean energy entrepreneur is taking on the challenge by electrifying the recreational small boats sector with Flux Marine. Our intrepid producer Josie joins Daylin live onboard a fully-electric boat in Vancouver’s harbourfront to discuss how electric boats can decrease pollution, cut emissions, and reduce fuel costs, and make leisure boating more sustainable, environmentally-friendly and enjoyable. Recorded live (on the water!) at TED 2024.Follow Climate Curious:NewsletterInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebookSuggest a topic you’d like Climate Curious to coverCreated by TEDxLondonProduced by Josie ColterEdit, mix, master by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Maryam PashaHosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst
  • 52. Climate Quickie: Why methane must go

    09:25||Season 5, Ep. 52
    “No shaming, no moral high ground, it's about working together to tackle something,” says Marcelo Mena, the CEO of the Global Methane Hub based in Santiago, Chile, on the Climate Curious podcast. Recorded live at TED 2024, Marcelo joins us to share why methane is the poison in the dagger of fossil fuels, how the methane hunting mission is going, and why he’s optimistic about global progress in eliminating this super pollutant.If you enjoyed this episode, listen back to Marcelo's past episode on Climate Curious, Meet the invisible climate villain: methane.Follow Climate Curious:NewsletterInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebookSuggest a topic you’d like Climate Curious to coverCreated by TEDxLondonProduced by Josie ColterEdit, mix, master by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Maryam PashaHosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst
  • 51. Climate Quickie: The extraordinary life of monarch butterflies

    08:09||Season 5, Ep. 51
    Jaime Rojo joins Climate Curious to share his experience photographing the migration of monarch butterflies across North America each year, diving into the latest research behind how these mesmerising insects make their multi-thousand-mile journey. Recorded at TED2024.Instagram  @jaimerojoWebsite  www.rojovisuals.comX  @rojovisuals
  • 50. Climate Quickie: How community-led art is sparking climate conversations in Florida

    09:50||Season 5, Ep. 50
    “Socially engaged art is an untapped resource,” says Adam Roberti, the executive director of the Xavier Cortada Foundation on the Climate Curious podcast. Recorded live at TED 2024 in Vancouver, Adam explains how local, community-centric art projects can galvanise conversation and action around the invisible threat of rising sea levels in Florida. Tune in to learn how the paintbrush is mightier than the pen! 
  • 49. Climate Quickie: The hidden beauty in climate data

    07:13||Season 5, Ep. 49
    This week, we’re speaking to data artist, TED Senior Fellow, and founder of Translating Nature, Dr. Julie Freeman, to delve into the hidden beauty in climate data. Numbers, charts, graphs – data gets a bad rep as being dense and hard to interpret. So what if we could use art to visualise data in more appealing formats? That’s exactly what Julie set out to do with her commission for Hiscox, ‘More Than Us’; a live data-driven digital artwork that uses Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life algorithms to respond to multiple data sets including future climate catastrophe predictions and the past 100 years of climate related disasters. Follow Climate Curious:NewsletterInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebookSuggest a topic you’d like Climate Curious to coverCreated by TEDxLondonProduced by Josie ColterEdit, mix, master by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Maryam Pasha Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst  
  • 48. Climate Quickie: Why climate wars go unreported

    10:55||Season 5, Ep. 48
    Small Indigenous communities make up only five percent of the world’s population, but they defend 80 percent of the biodiversity that remains on Earth, says Anjan Sundaram. Climate Curious spoke to war reporter turned climate reporter, Anjan Sundaram, about the realities of reporting on our planet’s bloody ecological frontlines, and how corporations and cartels will stop at nothing, even taking human life, to destroy our last natural ecosystems. Recorded live at TED 2024. Follow Climate Curious:NewsletterInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebookSuggest a topic you’d like Climate Curious to coverCreated by TEDxLondonProduced by Josie ColterEdit, mix, master by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Maryam Pasha Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst  
  • 47. How storytelling can honour forgotten climate conflicts

    20:42||Season 5, Ep. 47
    Ever met a mathematician turned war reporter? Yep, neither us! Until we met Anjan Sundaram, a war reporter turned climate reporter, who joins Climate Curious at TED 2024 to share his work sharing the stories of indigenous communities defending our planet's last pristine ecosystem, particularly in Mexico. Anjan shares the dangers faced by environmental defenders, the cause of these conflicts (large-scale industrial projects, corruption, and cartels), and the urgent need for global awareness and solidarity for these forgotten climate conflicts. Sundaram also reflects on his career shift from mathematics to frontline reporting, and shares the motivations behind his work.  Follow Climate Curious:NewsletterInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebookSuggest a topic you’d like Climate Curious to coverCreated by TEDxLondonProduced by Josie ColterEdit, mix, master by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Maryam Pasha Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst