Lawyer, climate storyteller, and founder of the UBC Climate Hub, Grace Nosek, joins host Am Johal on a mission — to publicly uncover feelings of ‘climate doom’ and ‘individual responsibility’ as narratives propelled by the fossil fuel industry. While leading this charge, Grace speaks about Exxon Mobil at the forefront of climate science — spinning its narrative web that entangles any space from broadcasting and universities, to legislation.

Grace also discusses her work with the UBC Climate Hub, and the integral role that youth (as well as Indigenous and racialized people) have in this movement of anti-capitalist defiance. She and Am also speak about overcoming eco-anxieties, the importance of making a small day-to-day difference that can ‘ripple outward,’ and Grace’s belief in Pleasure Activism. They end this interview with a brief discussion of Grace’s inspiration to write her hopeful young adult climate fantasy series, Ava of the Gaia.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/125-grace-nosek.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/125-grace-nosek.html

Grace’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/GraceNosek
Grace’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grace.nosek/
Grace’s website: https://www.gracenosek.com
UBC Climate Hub: https://ubcclimatehub.ca/
Ava of the Gaia: https://www.gracenosek.com/books
‘Build Student Resiliency in the Face of Multiple Crises’ blog by Grace Nosek: https://www.gracenosek.com/blog/build-student-resiliency-in-the-face-of-multiple-crises-empower-youth-climate-organizers
‘The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Push to Target Climate Protesters in the U.S.’ by Grace Nosek: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol38/iss1/2/
Planet Potluck podcast: http://planetpotluck.com/

Bio:
Grace Nosek is the Founder and Student Director of the UBC Climate Hub, a unique entity combining significant financial and administrative support from the university, with a governance structure that allows student staff and volunteers to shape priorities for the Hub — and collaborate with stakeholders from across the university and beyond. Grace has published several academic articles on law and narrative; is the author of a hopeful young adult climate fantasy series, the Ava of the Gaia trilogy; and is the host of a climate storytelling podcast, Planet Potluck.

She’s given dozens of talks on climate narratives and storytelling, and writes and speaks about the topic whenever she can. She is also the Executive Producer of Climate Comeback, a short film harnessing the power of sports to bring people together around tangible climate action.

Grace is currently pursuing her PhD in law at the University of British Columbia, studying how to use law to protect climate change science from manufactured doubt. She is fascinated by the intersection of law and story, and focuses her research on how law can tell better stories in the pursuit of environmental and social justice. She holds a B.A. from Rice University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an LL.M from the University of British Columbia. Grace’s research has been supported by a Fulbright Canada fellowship, a Harvard Knox Memorial Traveling Fellowship, and a British Columbia Law Foundation fellowship, among others.

Cite this episode:
Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Restorying the Climate Crisis — with Grace Nosek” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, June 15, 2021. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/125-grace-nosek.html

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