Listen to season three of “A Little Green,” an Avocado Green podcast featuring stories of resiliency in the face of climate change.
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts Listen on StitcherA Little Green is a podcast that explores our relationship with the planet. The first season of the series featured experts across the climate movement. People like Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, Jade Begay, and Professor Sarah Jaquette Ray helped us better understand our role in the climate crisis and how we can make a difference. In season two, we heard personal stories from people who have had life-changing experiences with nature, emphasizing our reciprocal relationship with the planet.
This season, we’re highlighting amazing resiliency efforts in the face of climate change. Host Christina Thompson connects with grassroots groups across New York City to learn about the innovative, inspiring, and collaborative ways they’re protecting their communities. From Red Hook to the Bronx, each episode features people who care deeply for their neighborhoods — people who are making tangible change today.
Listen to the first two seasons of A Little Green: Season 1 and 2.
Episode 1: A Turning Point for New York City
“It’s one thing understanding that intellectually… it’s another thing actually seeing what happened.”
In September of 2023, heavy rainfall led to flooding in New York City. Images of cars covered in water were all over the news and reminded people of one of New York’s most harrowing weather events: Superstorm Sandy. To kick off this season of A Little Green, host Christina Thompson sets out on a mission to find the upside. She asks local experts what the city’s learned in the years since Sandy, and what’s been done to make New York more a resilient, climate solutions-oriented place to live – for everybody.
Featured:
- Dr. Anthony Broccoli – Co-director and Earth Systems Science Lead, Rutgers Climate Institute
- Gita Nandan – Founder of the RETI (Resilience, Education, Training and Innovation) Center
- Dr. Alison Branco – Climate Adaptation Director, The Nature Conservancy in New York
Episode 2: An Estuary Transformed
“What if the rebuilding of the city in the face of a climate crisis is a moment to build a more just and a more environmentally flexible city?”
Before we can understand what the future of New York City could look like as our climate changes, we need to go back… way back. With the help of local historian and professor, Kara Schlichting, Christina learns about what the area was like before European colonization, how settlers changed New York’s waterfronts, and how the development of industrial port infrastructure set the city up for economic dominance — and put New Yorkers on a collision course with environmental issues we’re contending with to this day. How can our past help us determine what an equitable future might look like?
Featured:
- Kara Schlichting – Associate Professor of History at Queens College, CUNY, Author of New York Recentered: Building the Metropolis from the Shore
Resources:
- Manahatta to Manhattan: Native Americans in Lower Manhattan, National Museum of the American Indian
- Robert A. Caro – The Power Broker
- Vision 2020 New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan
- Russell Shorto – The Island at the Center of the World
Episode 3: A New Era of Climate Adaptation
“You can multiply the benefits and you can also multiply the joy.”
Big storms aren’t going anywhere any time soon, so it’s essential to understand how cities like New York are adapting to and preparing for these increasingly precedent weather events. Christina gets the lowdown on some of the massive resiliency projects happening in the city. She learns about an exciting model for climate adaptation planning — one that marries community voices with global design thinking. And, we get insight into one development that’s been the subject of some controversy on the Lower East Side.
Featured:
- Amy Chester – Managing Director, Rebuild by Design
- Damaris Reyes – Executive Director, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES)
Resources:
Episode 4: If the World is to be Saved…
“If the world is to be saved, it will be saved by those who care deeply for very small places.”
We’ve heard about some of the giant resilience efforts happening in New York; now it’s time to think a little bit smaller and talk about… oysters! Not only are oysters a delicious treat, but they’re also fundamental to the health and sustainability of New York’s waterway ecosystem. To learn all about their environmental superpowers, Christina joins the team from grassroots organization City Island Oyster Reef for a day out on the water. By partnering with other nonprofits, the Department of Environmental Conservation, local restaurants, and a crew of dedicated volunteers, CIOR is working to restore oyster populations, create new reefs, and allow these amazing little creatures to do what they do best.
Featured:
- Sally Connolly, Mike Carew, Barbara Dolensek, and Luna Placchi of City Island Oyster Reef
Resources:
Episode 5: Taking Care of What Cares for Us
“If we’re witnessing something that’s wrong, how can we work together?”
Inspired by people who care deeply for their corner of the world, Christina takes a trip to the South Bronx to meet someone who’s committed to protecting their community. Mychal Johnson shares his story with Christina, from a childhood in Chicago that fostered love and respect for nature to his move to New York, and how he co-founded the grassroots organization South Bronx Unite. Mychal and Christina discuss how South Bronx Unite is breaking cycles of systemic environmental and economic injustice to ensure a more resilient future for all.
Featured:
- Mychal Johnson – Co-founder of South Bronx Unite
Resources:
Episode 6: Restoring an Unlikely Urban Oasis
“Once you zoom out a little bit, you realize how universal so many of these issues are.”
Back in Christina’s neighborhood in Brooklyn, something huge is developing… The Gowanus Canal has a reputation for being beyond gross — brimming with industrial pollution, sludge, and sewage. Just over a century ago, the Gowanus Canal was one of the country’s busiest waterways, and, over time, it became a superfund site, an eyesore, and one of New York’s smelliest landmarks. Christina is joined by Natasia Sidarta and Diana Gruberg from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, an organization advocating for the transformation of the canal into a resilient, vibrant, and open space. They discuss how this major clean up effort and long term management plan could be an important model for future resilience projects.
Featured:
- Natasia Sidarta, Diana Gruberg, and Jennifer Kepler of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy
Resources:
- Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice
- Gowanus Canal Superfund Profile
- The Gowanus Neighborhood Plan
Episode 7: Strength in Numbers
“We’re going to be loud about this until something’s done.”
We’ve heard from so many amazing individuals and organizations that are mobilizing on the grassroots level, but how do they harness all of that local power and get things done legislatively? Christina speaks to Lonnie Portis, the New York Policy and Advocacy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Lonnie shares the key to getting things done at the policy level. Then, Christina sits down with Louise Yeung, the Chief Climate Officer with the Comptroller’s office to ask whether New York is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to climate solutions and environmental justice.
Featured:
- Lonnie Portis, New York City Policy and Advocacy Manager – WE ACT for Environmental Justice
- Louise Yeung, Chief Climate Officer – NYC Office of the Comptroller
Resources:
Episode 8: High Water Mark
“We have created this future… I think we can also create a different future.”
Let’s dream for a moment… not about a New York that survives climate change, but one that actually thrives in the future. It’s not a simple task, but luckily, there are people like Gita Nandan out there doing some serious reimagining. Gita is a designer, architect, and co-founder of the R.E.T.I. Center in Red Hook. She and Christina discuss how Gita works with the community to build innovative climate solutions. Some of them can even seem out of another world – one that’s guided by the principles of environmental justice, a regenerative economy, and social responsibility. Gita shares her vision with Christina and proposes a refreshing alternative to resilience. In this final episode of the season, we also take a moment to celebrate the resilience and survival of our city more than a decade after Superstorm Sandy.
Featured:
- Gita Nandan – Founder of the RETI (Resilience, Education, Training and Innovation) Center
- The Barnacle Parade
Resources:
In celebration of Earth Day and the launch of our newest season of A Little Green, we’ve partnered with the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), a nonprofit dedicated to creating high-quality public green space for communities across NYC. A percentage of every mattress order placed during Earth Month will support NYRP’s environmental stewardship of more than 80 acres of New York City parkland. Together, we can create a greener, more resilient city for all.
Do you have a story of resiliency to share? Email us at [email protected] to share!
Shop Pillows
The Essential Organic Pillow Collection
Gentle, breathable, non-toxic support.