Dia Mirza needs no introduction. And yet, the person who shows up in this conversation is not quite the one her public life has made familiar to us. Yes, she is the longest-serving UNEP Goodwill Ambassador India has had, and yes, she carries the full weight of that role: the access, the diplomatic constraints, the careful calibration of when to speak and how. But what drives her goes back much further — to a childhood in Hyderabad spent watching cobras without fear and absorbing, through a mother's quiet alarm, the first inklings that the world's body was getting sick. In this episode, we talk about mangroves under threat in Maharashtra, the extractive mindset that patriarchy and profit share, why environmental stories still can't find mainstream oxygen, and where -- despite everything -- she finds reasons to keep going. We're releasing this on World Earth Day — it felt like the right day to begin Season 2, and Dia feels like the right person to get the season started.

SHOW NOTES: ABOUT DIA MIRZA
Official UN profile: https://unpartnerships.un.org/dia-mirza

Where it began: the UNEP announcement of Dia's appointment and mandate: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories...

IFAW wildlife advocacy award: https://www.asianstandard.co.uk/dia-m...

Detailed Wiki entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dia_Mirza

On Global Landscapes Forum, Dia traces her environmental awakening to witnessing plastic wase in the Himalayas: https://thinklandscape.globallandscap...

DIA'S TALKS:
A December 2023

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