Editor with MN350
This isn’t a post about how to be productive during coronavirus. I started writing this post in January and since then, my productivity has plummeted (understandably so). In fact, my number one recommendation for entertainment while we are staying at home would be Schitt’s Creek. I know I’m behind the times, but it’s been a much needed break the past couple of months. Enjoy the witty humor and escapism, then come back to this list when you’re ready.
When you do find yourself wanting to broaden your knowledge, support excellent climate journalism, and stay inspired to change our world, we polled MN350 volunteers and staff for their recommendations. Fire up Netflix, Stitcher, and Hulu, borrow them from your library, or support your local bookstore.
Climate Change
Before The Flood is streaming on Disney+ and follows Actor Leonardo DiCaprio as he explores the impacts of climate change, climate inaction, and climate solutions. DiCaprio’s second documentary on climate change, Ice On Fire, is streaming on HBO.
Noa Shavit-Lonstein, Just Transition Organizer at MN350, recommends Naomi Klein’s work. Klein’s latest book outlines the urgent need for a Green New Deal.
The Ezra Klein podcast recently ran a series on Climate Change featuring scientists, thinkers, and policy makers. Each episode is a deep dive into a different topic.
Stuart Henry, volunteer with MN350, suggests the Nova documentary Decoding the Weather Machine, the Climate One podcast, and Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Flight Behavior documenting climate change’s effects on butterflies.
Greater Than Fear Livestreams feature organizations fighting for a more just world following COVID-19. Each week a different organization shares its solutions; MN350’s episode took place Tuesday, May 5.
On Plastic Pollution
Broken, available on Netflix, has an episode on the plastic pollution crisis and its connection to petrochemical companies like Exxon.
On Earth Day, The Story of Stuff premiered its documentary, The Story of Plastic. I loved how the film made the connection to producer responsibility over personal choice as the solution to this huge crisis.
Frontline has a documentary called Plastic Wars that’s streaming on YouTube.
A Plastic Ocean, available on Netflix, looks at the impacts of plastic on our world’s oceans.
While personal changes alone won’t save us and we can’t shop our way out of this crisis, the books Life Without Plastic by Chantal Plamondon and Jay Sinha and Plastic Free by Beth Terry demonstrate solutions for opting out of a plastic-heavy lifestyle. 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste by Kathryn Kellogg is full of recipes, ideas, and personal swaps to reduce all disposable products.
Other
Sid Farrar, volunteer with MN350, tackles the link between climate and animal agriculture on our blog, and his series draws on the book We Are The Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer. Foer’s first book, Eating Animals, is now a documentary available to rent.
Chasing Coral, which looks at the mass bleaching events around the world, is streaming on Netflix.
Stuart Henry also recommends the podcasts The Energy Gang and America Adapts, which focuses on climate adaptation.
While not directly related to climate change, Doing Good Better by William MacAskill is a primer on effective altruism, and any work that helps vulnerable populations is climate work.
Finally, Comedian Hasan Minhaj did a segment on the environmental and justice issues associated with fast fashion on his Patriot Act news comedy show.
What are your favorites movies, books, and podcasts? Share them on our Facebook page.
