Host Michelle Lewis interviews filmmaker James Schroeder about his film The Tree Economy, featured at the 2026 Outer Banks Environmental Film Festival. Schroeder explains how living in Atlanta for nearly 30 years inspired the film as the city’s tree canopy is increasingly lost to development, including a beloved stretch of trees clear-cut for a self-storage facility. He discusses balancing tree protection with housing needs, unexpected ties to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, and news that Atlanta’s canopy is at its lowest recorded level after a delayed 2024 assessment. They compare development impacts in Atlanta and North Carolina’s Outer Banks, touch on joys and challenges of filmmaking, preview the walkable festival atmosphere in Manteo, and share sources of hope and priorities for putting public health before profit.

00:00 Meet The Tree Economy

00:44 Why James Made It

03:16 Surprises During Filming

04:25 What Viewers Should Take

06:34 Development and Tree Loss

10:33 Joy in the Process

12:14 Filmmaking Pet Peeves

13:39 Outer Banks Festival Guide

16:24 Finding Hope Today

20:11 Climate Stick and Farewell

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Host Michelle Lewis interviews Lis Cohen of the Talking Climate Collaborative, a new effort led by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe and Bernadette Woods Placky to amplify climate communicators and connect people across disciplines—faith, health, nonprofits, and business—with practical communication support and accessible scientific information. Cohen describes early growth including a website, community-building, and a survey with American University suggesting climate communicators often work in isolation. They discuss tailoring climate messages to audience reading levels and linking climate impacts to local concerns like health and extreme heat, including examples of cooling spaces. Cohen shares her path from loving clouds and studying atmospheric science to becoming an interpretive park ranger at Yellowstone, where climate talk was limited. She finds hope in dedicated volunteers, cheaper renewables, local leadership, and more sophisticated climate communication, and says polluters should pay for the harm they cause.

00:00 Meet Lis Cohen

00:20 What Talking Climate Does

01:52 Building the Collaborative

03:49 Communicating for Real People

06:36 Extreme Heat on the Ground

09:08 Lis’s Climate Origin Story

12:55 Yellowstone Ranger Lessons

17:37 Finding Hope in the Work

21:34 The Climate Stick Question

23:27 Where to Find Talking Climate

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Michelle talks to Ashley Ward, director of Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub, to discuss why extreme heat has been overlooked and how it is changing, especially in the Southeast. Explore Ashley Ward’s work at Duke’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub and push local leaders and organizations to prioritize heat safety, affordability, and infrastructure resilience now.

03:07 How Ashley Got Into Heat

07:36 Why Heat Gets Ignored

28:11 Staying Cool Without AC

34:12 Finding Hope and Momentum

37:05 Infrastructure Under Heat Stress

40:25 More Heat Songs and Climate Stick

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