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Nature · Jennifer Atkinson

Facing It

by Jennifer Atkinson

The age of climate crisis is upon us, and grief and anxiety are on the rise. This series explores the emotional burden of climate change, and why despair leaves so many people unable to respond to our existential threat. Overcoming that paralysis is the first step in moving to action, and yet official climate strategies rarely address the emotional toll of climate grief and eco anxiety. Meanwhile, frontline communities — particularly people of color, indigenous communities, and other historically-marginalized groups — are experiencing the heaviest mental health impacts of climate disruption and displacement. Written and narrated by Jennifer Atkinson Music by Roberto David Rusconi Produced by Intrasonus UK Dr. Jennifer Atkinson is a professor of environmental humanities at the University of Washington, where she leads seminars that help students cope with the despair, anger, and anxiety that arise from environmental loss and mass extinction. Her teaching and research have helped activists, scientists, and students build resilience to stay engaged in climate solutions and avoid burnout. She has also spoken to audiences across the U.S. about the global mental health crisis arising from climate disruption, and advocated for addressing emotional impacts in the fight for environmental justice. This podcast introduces some of the experiences and insights behind that work, and explores how we can move the public to action by addressing the psychological roots of our unprecedented ecological loss. "To be numb to the world is another form of suicide."  -Terry Tempest Williams This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest episodes

Showing 6 · updated from the feed

Episode 6: Embracing Uncertainty

Eco-anxiety and climate grief are sometimes framed as “disorders,” but in fact these feelings typically arise from an accurate perception of our ecological crisis. It may

Nov 24 2020
20 min

Episode 5: Is Hope Overrated?

Many consider Hope to be essential for sustaining social movements where change is slow, setbacks are frequent, and the odds aren't good. As Rebecca Solnit once wrote, "T

Jul 20 2020
22 min

Episode 4: Coping with Climate Despair in Four Steps

With the urgency of our climate crisis increasing by the day, many scientists and climate leaders are calling for global action on the scale of World-War II mobilizations

May 25 2020
23 min

Episode 3: Eco-Grief: Our Greatest Ally?

If you suffer from climate grief, you know what it's like to feel hopeless, alone, or bewildered by society's business-as-usual response to our existential threat. Wantin

Apr 22 2020
17 min

Episode 2: Why Climate Emotions Matter

Is reason or emotion more important in driving climate action? Will solutions to mass extinction come from the head or the heart? Or are these binaries themselves part of

Apr 22 2020
17 min

Episode 1: Facing Down Climate Grief

The age of climate crisis is upon us, and grief and anxiety are on the rise. Our pilot episode introduces the emotional burden of climate change, and why despair leaves s

Apr 22 2020
15 min

Chart trend

Position in the Nature chart (US), last 90 days.

#82
all-time peak
5
days in the top 100 since Dec 2024

Chart positions

Where Facing It ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 30, 2026).

#172 ▼ 11 Nature US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

I’ve been working in the climate “space” for nearly 20 years, and battling powerful fossil fuel interests. The insights from these “conversations” have helped me more than i can express. Thank you for being both honest and grounding.

nancylaplaca · Mar 2021

It’s easy to become overwhelmed and feel like our efforts to improve and restore the earth is retroactive and won’t make a big enough difference. This podcast is helping me to recognize and accept those feelings. And giving me strength to keep moving forward vs giving up. Jennifer’s view on emotion is precisely inline with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Thank you for helping me connect the emotion I so easily feel for humanity to nature.

Mogi88 · May 2020

The next biggest podcast is this one right here! Everyone needs to have this podcast in their pockets to listen to sobering, relevant, insightful, and awesome material discussed on this podcast! Can’t wait to here more high quality journalism & content from here!

Flavaflavv · Aug 2020

First podcast I’ve heard to tackle eco grief and climate anxiety. Awesome!

Sequoia TreeHugger · Apr 2020

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.

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