Season 2 Recap: Tangelic Talks on Climate Justice, Storytelling & Collective Action

Name: Season 2 Recap: Tangelic Talks on Climate Justice, Storytelling & Collective Action
Uploaded: 2025-07-29T10:16:14+00:00
Duration: 38 min 46 s
Channel: Tangelic Life

Tangelic Life

From confronting greenwashing to spotlighting youth leadership, Season 2 of Tangelic Talks was all about truth-telling, courage, and community. 🌱🎙️

In this heartfelt recap, co-hosts Victoria and Jensen share behind-the-scenes insights, reflect on grassroots voices, and explore how storytelling drives real climate action. As Jensen transitions to new projects, this season finale offers both closure and inspiration.

📌 Episode Highlights
🌍 Global South perspectives & local resilience
🧼 Debunking greenwashing & reclaiming climate narratives
🧠 From burnout to joy—climate care as collective healing
📚 Youth climate leaders & radical storytelling
🔥 Storytelling as resistance: Why words matter

🙌 Thank you to all our guests: Claudia Cordova, John Pabon, Stefano Cisternino, Dr. Tsipouridis, Megha Padkay, Eric Shonkwiler & more!

📌 Timestamps:
00:00–01:26 Reflecting on Season 2: Experiments, Themes & Surprises
01:27–04:43 Behind-the-Scenes with Toufiq Tonoy: Balancing Storytelling and Data
04:44–07:28 Greenwashing and Youth Perspective: Megha’s Legal Fight for Climate
07:29–10:35 Roundtable Episode: Energy Access, Critical Minerals & Degrowth
10:36–13:25 Queen’s Youth Leadership: Empowerment, Poise & Power
13:26–17:17 Deep Dive into Greenwashing: Callouts, Guilt & Discernment
17:18–20:30 Decolonizing Climate Work with Stefano: Theory vs Practice
20:31–23:54 Breaking News Format: Endangered Species Act & Political Tension
23:55–27:38 Personal Sustainability with Claudia: Water, Golf & Green Realities
27:39–38:47 Cool Uncles, Grandpas & Goodbye: Wrapping Up Season 2

✨ Explore More:
🌐 Website: www.TangelicLife.org
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tangeliclife/
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/Tangelic_
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tangelic/
👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tangelic.org

✨ Watch Now and Join the Conversation: Which episode impacted you most this season? What themes should we explore next? Drop your thoughts in the comments ⬇️

✨ Exclusive Content:
📽️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tangeliclife/podcasts
🌐 Website: https://tangeliclife.org/tangelic-talks-podcast/
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tp4UAU4FmUmKS4md9orvi
🎧 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tangelic-talks/id1789613381

🖱️ Like, comment, and subscribe to support community-driven climate action. Your engagement helps amplify authentic, equity-based narratives across the globe. 🌍⚡

🔖 #TangelicTalks #ClimateJusticeNow #StorytellingForChange #CollectiveClimateAction #YouthClimateVoices #GreenwashingExposed #GlobalSouthPerspectives #SustainabilityAsCare #ClimateStorytelling #DecolonizeClimate #EnergyAccessMatters #AuthenticClimateConversations #ClimateLeadership #RadicalTruthTelling #JustTransitionJustice #ClimateBurnoutRecovery #VoicesForThePlanet #EnvironmentalNarratives #SeasonRecap

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00:00Season two was very experimental, which was fun for us to minor footing, and also somehow had a theme.

00:07We had some cool uncles, cool grandpas, greenwashing, storytelling, balance.

00:12We had youth perspective.

00:14It really ended up being a season that had some continuity, even though we were just testing and experimenting and have a personal big announcement.

00:20So stick around to the end to hear that.

00:22Certainly, creating a warm and engaging mechanism for your podcast.

00:28Consider great.

00:28Tell me as a suggestion that combines an upbeat and abiding spirit without any micro music.

00:34Welcome to Tangelic Talks, your go-to podcast from Tangelic, where we dive into the vibrant world of clean energy, development, sustainability, and climate change in Africa.

00:44We bring you inspiring stories, insightful discussions, and groundbreaking innovations from the continent making waves in the global community.

00:52Tune in and join the conversation toward a brighter, greener future.

00:56Let's get started.

01:00Welcome to Tangelic Talks, a podcast at the intersection of energy, equity, and empowerment with your co-host, Victoria Cornelio, and myself, Jensen Cummings.

01:09In today's episode, we are recapping season two.

01:14We're going to tease the tease of season three, and I have a personal big announcement, so stick around to the end.

01:21To hear that cliffhanger.

01:23There you go.

01:24All right, season two.

01:26It was a wild one.

01:27Season one happened really fast for us because when we started, we had a whole bunch of guests lined up.

01:33Season two, we had to scramble a little bit and figure out what kind of show we wanted to be, test out some new models.

01:38You're going to hear about some different models of shows that we've done, and we did some solo episodes.

01:44We kind of felt out the type of guests, started planning for season three, so it's very like evolution.

01:51I feel like season two's often are the evolution of any given show, so it was exciting for sure.

01:57Any overarching thoughts before we break down each episode and kind of our takeaways?

02:01Season two was very experimental, which was fun for us to sign our footing, and also somehow had a theme, and we just didn't expect it.

02:10Yeah, kind of greenwashing, basically became like the overarching theme because we were also learning how to navigate this space as storytellers and for the podcast itself.

02:22And for us to understand what type of stories we want to be telling, what type of stories are needed out there, what type of voice and narrative style, and how we edit those things, how we show up.

02:33All those things were really important, so it was really good.

02:36So we started season two looking behind the scenes a little bit.

02:40We talked marketing in the green sector with our own Tophique, who people finally got to see out front of the camera because he is behind the camera running things for us,

02:51making sure that we look and sound right.

02:53Anything you've seen from social media, from the website, from branding, Tophique has had his hand on that.

03:00So what was your top takeaway getting to speak with Tophique?

03:04I think it was really interesting because I think this happens with coworkers where it's like you know a lot about them now in the now,

03:11and you don't really know how they came to be your coworker or why they're here.

03:15And something I found really interesting was that he was talking about green certification.

03:19He used to work in that kind of industry and hospitality and having green certification sparking the want to work in the sector because he was like,

03:27what is a green certification?

03:28What does that even mean?

03:29And then we were talking about greenwashing without even knowing it.

03:33Yes.

03:34It started in episode one.

03:36We just didn't have a name for it yet.

03:38We were just kind of fumbling around in the dark trying to have an interesting conversation with Tophique.

03:42For me, learning about his origin story is great, especially that we both have hospitality backgrounds,

03:49which is kind of unique and connected us even further.

03:53His drive for balancing storytelling with like data and facts, I think is the most compelling thing about him specifically.

04:02Yeah.

04:02And the most challenging thing in this space and that we've seen for Tangelic as we have kind of a technical team

04:08that's been working on these crunching these big numbers and these big systems and programs.

04:14And then over here, us trying to connect on a human level and tell those stories,

04:18connect with our audience, with people in the field, with funders, with grants, foundations, all these different things.

04:25And it's really complicated and confusing.

04:27And Tophique continuously bringing us back to both of those points of balance.

04:33I was really impressed, have been impressed.

04:36And to hear him articulate that was really nice to get him to have that opportunity.

04:40Because I think it even crystallized it even more for him being able to kind of speak it into the world.

04:46100%.

04:46Yeah.

04:46He's a really good bridge of that, of the two sides of Tangelic.

04:50And, you know, being behind the scenes, making all that shine for the public.

04:54So, incredibly grateful for Tophique, we are.

04:59Tophique.

05:00He's the magic man behind the scenes.

05:02Love it.

05:03All right.

05:03So, then our next episode, we went and talked to Meta Fadke, who is Legal Tools to Fight Climate Change.

05:12She's a 23-year-old kind of whiz kid, attorney working in this space.

05:19What were you hearing?

05:20What were you learning from Megha specifically?

05:22I mean, climate litigation has always amazed me.

05:26It fascinates me.

05:27It's so weird.

05:29Because, you know, it's one of those things that are so human.

05:33Like, nature would have never come up with.

05:36Right.

05:37You know what I mean?

05:39So, it was amazing to get an insight into how social that process is.

05:42It's one of those things that you kind of know.

05:44But the way that we fight climate change in the courts is from a human perspective.

05:50Because climate change affects us humans.

05:52You know, there is a social thing there.

05:54And seeing her articulated in so many different ways.

05:57You know, she's been around.

05:58She's seen so many things.

05:59She's so young and been part of so many projects.

06:02And at the end, all she kept going back to was, like, that social value of it all.

06:07It goes down to the communities and the people actually affected by the litigation going on.

06:11And that's storytelling again, you know?

06:14So, that was really cool.

06:15But I don't know what you think.

06:16I liked how she already was an old soul.

06:20That came up multiple times.

06:22We also had kind of greenwashing and thinking about the storytelling mechanism of this green sector.

06:27But also, there was a big youth perspective.

06:30And so, you've brought that throughout the show.

06:32And, you know, I'm an elder millennial.

06:34I'm not ancient.

06:34I'm not a boomer.

06:35But also, just having the youth perspective is different from a millennial perspective to a Gen Z to alpha all the way down.

06:44And so, I thought that was interesting.

06:46The balancing act, again, was there of the storytelling versus the law.

06:52How are we connecting, like, the penal code and policy?

06:56How are we connecting these different aspects?

06:59And it's not always the legal argument that kind of wins the day.

07:04It's often the better story that wins the day.

07:06And that was very unique to hear from an attorney perspective.

07:10Because I just feel like they'd be so tethered to the law versus the storytelling aspect.

07:18But it makes a lot of sense, especially if you're making that argument in court.

07:22So, that really stood out to me.

07:24It was, again, the balance of storytelling and kind of the youth perspective and the experience of how much experience that mega had.

07:31All right.

07:32I totally skipped.

07:33And that was episode three of season two.

07:35So, my bad.

07:38But do check out that episode.

07:39The second episode of season two was actually our first kind of roundtable discussion.

07:45And so, we connected with Arizona State University.

07:49And they offered up a Ph.D. student who became a doctor, like, the day before, right?

07:56And then a math student as well.

08:00So, we got to talk to Tam Kimambonta and Madison Harris, who are at ASU.

08:07We had a great roundtable discussion.

08:09We kind of broke it into three parts.

08:10We talked about energy access.

08:12We talked about critical minerals.

08:13And we talked about degrowth debates.

08:16Those are kind of the three sections we talked about.

08:18So, break it down a little bit.

08:19What were your takeaways?

08:20It was so cool.

08:21I think it was a new format for us doing a roundtable discussion.

08:25So, that was really fun kind of getting different perspectives on the same topic.

08:29I think it's always a good way of expanding a conversation.

08:32But also during the planning process, I remember we had this first talk with them of what are we going to talk about?

08:39And energy access came up.

08:41And it just reminded me, on our first episode with Dr. Atul, we were talking about just transition.

08:47And he was like, what are we talking about?

08:49And that just kind of reminded me of, like, sometimes we get so ahead because we are so enmeshed in this area that Dr. Kamambonta was able to bring us back and be like, if we're going to have this discussion, we have to start with energy access.

09:02And I think that really laid the groundwork for us to go from there in the actual discussion, you know, touching on every point until we got to degrowth.

09:10So, that was really fun.

09:11I think it was super cool.

09:13And it was cool to be part of the panel, too.

09:15I got to nerd out a bit with them.

09:17So, that was fun.

09:18Yeah, it was great.

09:18You didn't have to stay more in your host mindset.

09:21I played the moderator.

09:23And you were able to get into your field a little bit more.

09:27And I could tell there was just a unique energy about that where you got to really expound on those thoughts that you sometimes just tease in there.

09:35And then you ask the next question for the guest, you were able to, like, really get into your zone, which I appreciated.

09:40Maybe the most about that, seeing you kind of shine in that way was really, really great for me personally.

09:45And I think it represented the show and that episode really well.

09:49And being able to talk to Dr. Kamambonta right after getting, you know, accepted for his doctorate was an amazing experience as well.

10:01Well, Madison talking about critical minerals, which we've talked about on the show before.

10:06So, getting that perspective in a different perspective, right, than we had had in the episode before.

10:12So, it was really, really nice to kind of see how each of you took your story and kind of ran with it.

10:18What it made me feel the most is that our future is in good hands.

10:23Number one takeaway for me.

10:24The level of thinking, creativity, and urgency and earnestness that, like, this needs to happen and we are going to be the ones to make it happen, taking that mantle and taking that responsibility, that to me says, okay, we're in good hands.

10:42You know, generationally, we've messed things up for quite a while.

10:44You're going to be the first generation to make a net positive impact on nature in this way for a long, long, long time.

10:53So, that was a big takeaway there.

10:54Great, great, great episode.

10:56Yeah.

10:56It was great.

10:57Dave, with the youth perspective in episode four of season two.

11:03And we talked to Queen.

11:05Yeah.

11:06Who, like Topeak, only needs one name.

11:08And Queen is also a part of the Tangelic team.

11:14Just absolutely dynamic, young leader, right?

11:18We talked about kind of women and youth empowerment and leadership in climate action.

11:24Queen, I'm going to jump in first.

11:26Queen is like an old soul.

11:29Yeah.

11:29She's like mega in that way.

11:31So young and so much experience.

11:32Her voice is so slow and deliberate.

11:38And it feels so wise and ancient in this way.

11:43I love that.

11:44And then she's speaking at these conferences, you know, G20 and these different things around Africa, especially.

11:50And she's, you know, based in Lesotho in South Africa, encompassed in South Africa.

11:59To be the youngest speaker at many of these conferences and to hold the stage and hold the present, hold the mic in the way that Queen does, impressive.

12:08100%.

12:09And I think also she shared in the episode that a lot of times she'll be in rooms and panels where her being so upfront might, you know, ruffle some feathers or might get some people side-eyeing.

12:24And it was really funny because the behind the scenes of that is she kind of put on her hat and she was ready to go.

12:32And I love that because she kind of explained it as a way of you get into character and you don't care because you have a mission.

12:39You have something that you've got to say and you've got to say it.

12:41And I love that.

12:43It's so cool.

12:44It's one of those things like you see in movies where people like, you know, flip a switch and they're in character.

12:48It was awesome.

12:49I mean, it's literally like a Superman since that movie is so hot right now.

12:54It's like a Superman spin in the phone movie.

12:57She puts on a cape and comes out in superhero.

13:00Yeah.

13:01Yeah, it's amazing.

13:02Like ready to take on any of these, you know, boomers or the powers that be or whatever label is slapped on somebody who's in a position of authority or power.

13:12Who's looking at this young woman, young African woman and saying, you're not at my level.

13:17And she says, oh, yeah.

13:19Yeah.

13:20So that was powerful.

13:22So check out.

13:22If you want to, you want to see that, check out Queen in that episode.

13:26Absolutely.

13:27And then just follow along with Tangelic.

13:29Like you'll see constantly posts that Tophique is putting out about what Queen is doing, you know, around the continent.

13:36So great, great to see.

13:38Then we got into some fun.

13:39We did a two part episode.

13:40First ever two part.

13:41We want to extend the conversation because now we said, OK, greenwashing is just such a big factor in this sector.

13:47And we keep talking about it kind of a subtext of these episodes.

13:52Let's just get into that and actually talk about greenwashing.

13:55So we broke it down in two parts.

13:57We talked about what it is, how it presents itself.

14:00We called out a lot of companies who have been put on blast for greenwashing.

14:06So if you want to hear some of the companies, and this is a very short list comparatively to how many companies have leveraged the green sector for their own nefarious intents, be it completely insidious and villainous, down to they're just trying to capitalize and they don't exactly know what to do.

14:27And we learned a lot about that.

14:29So what were your takeaways from that?

14:32That was so cool.

14:33I mean, I love deep diving.

14:34I'm a nerd at heart.

14:35So it's so cool to get, you know, two hours of us just talking about a topic, especially a topic that has so many ways to go.

14:42You know, we could have done a whole thing on greenwashing and we kind of did.

14:46Right.

14:47There is so much to talk about.

14:49But I think the main thing with greenwashing that I want people to understand is it is a very deliberate thing that happens.

14:55And at the end of the day, it's one of those things when we blame the system for doing wrong, we have to be able to name what that wrong is.

15:04And greenwashing is one of those wrongs that if we don't name, just goes under the radar.

15:09You know what I mean?

15:10And I think as we dove more, it became even more clear the ways that it happens that are, quote unquote, subtle.

15:17But really, if you just take a second, they are banking on people not taking a second to get away with a lot of things.

15:24Yeah, there are two things that I learned that still actually hold true.

15:27How clueless I personally am when it comes to greenwashing.

15:32I know more now and I'm still as confused as I was before, which leads me to the second part.

15:37I have to, we have to ask one more question.

15:42Be just slightly more discerning.

15:45They're saying this, is this in fact, if I'm going to spend my time, effort and money on anything, I need to be a little bit more aware.

15:53Now, we talk about this in many episodes in this season and we've talked about before.

15:58We all should take some personal responsibility over our impacts.

16:02The reality is there's a lot of guilt thrown on the individual that we're going to talk about this specifically because I thought it was a great quote.

16:10I'm going to bring it up now and I'll tell you why I'm bringing it up now later.

16:13Remember, it's like reverse bearing the lead there, that if we don't recycle that Coke can, we're the problem.

16:20And the reality is these levers are being moved at much, much higher levels.

16:23So I want to take personal responsibility and I want to speak truth to power and hold those who are actually moving big rocks and making big impacts for the potential of positive,

16:35but mostly at this moment, negative impacts.

16:38So that was interesting in kind of that greenwashing of the discernment, the questioning, understanding, even just understanding some of these companies.

16:47Like they look green and they use ethereal blue and color schemes and all this.

16:52And you're like, oh, wait a minute.

16:54This is just a Nestle company?

16:55Like, yeah.

16:56Okay.

16:57But I think it was really cool because as we were deep diving, this conversation came up of like, how much guilt do we put here?

17:03How much guilt do we put there?

17:04And then I think our next couple of guests really helped us unpack that.

17:09Yeah.

17:09And that naturally just kind of unfolded, which is just, okay.

17:13We didn't really have a plan for season two.

17:15And it turned out we had a great plan for season two in retrospect now, whereas season three is much more planned out.

17:21And again, we're going to touch on that a little bit as well.

17:24So decolonizing climate change.

17:26We talked to Stefano Sisternino, who is a journalist in this space, about this and really insightful, bringing a lot of kind of perspectives that I hadn't considered and felt like he was taking on a lot of fights that you and I personally are very interested in.

17:45So it was nice to kind of see somebody out there who's carving a little bit of a lane, a path, and maybe allowing us to kind of go in their wake a little bit.

17:55So Stefano was a powerhouse for sure.

17:59What did you have some takeaways from that episode?

18:01I think my main thing is he was so good at explaining theory to practice.

18:06There's a lot of things that we talked about up here, you know, in the high level.

18:09And him being a journalist, having that firsthand, but also having the career he does.

18:15He's been in so many rooms and so many talks.

18:17And he's so good at just being able to pick up like, yep, that's the same lie I heard a year ago.

18:22And that's the same, you know.

18:24Yes, exactly.

18:25And it's like, it's all this theory that you read about of how do people lie?

18:29And he's like, no, no, no, I can tell you I was there.

18:33And that was awesome, especially coming from a postcolonial academic that is so enmeshed.

18:38You know, the climate crisis conversation is so global north centric that, you know, every time we talk about anything global south, we kind of like mystify it.

18:50And he was very good at, like, we don't have to mystify it.

18:53There is practice here that we can just like start doing.

18:56We don't have to talk about it like it's a myth.

18:59Right.

18:59It was very practical in the way he approached it.

19:02The note that I put down for myself was active listening.

19:05He mentioned it.

19:06I mentioned how it's something that I struggle with and that I work on deeply, personally, active listening.

19:14The ability to listen to the people in the global south, for example.

19:18And apply solutions with that in mind first versus the modality we see so often is, you know, the global north, the intellectuals, the academics, the elites are going to solve all your problems.

19:34And then we force a round peg in a square hole because it's not the way that they actually operate.

19:39It's not culturally relevant.

19:40It's not relevant to their infrastructure, their processes, their way of life, their governments, their financial and economical systems.

19:48So that, to me, was the biggest thing.

19:51If we spent more time with active listening versus trying to force the fix on everybody, we might actually get a lot further.

20:02That, to me, was the biggest takeaway from Stephanie.

20:03Yeah, and I think he said it in such a way that it's so easy to understand and you don't need to read a white paper.

20:10You don't need to be an academic to understand that, you know.

20:12It's as simple as when you ask people what you want for dinner and they tell you, done.

20:17Hey, imagine that.

20:21And then we have to figure out how to cook it, how to get the ingredients.

20:23Right, yeah, we'll figure that one out.

20:25But once we have a plan, the plan doesn't come before the goal, does it?

20:29Yeah, there we go.

20:31There we go.

20:31All right, next episode, we tested out a new model, a 15-minute breaking news type episode where it was very much sharing the specifics.

20:40We talked about the Trump administration's changes to the Endangered Species Act and some of the things that happened downstream from that.

20:49For me, this was the most uncomfortable episode that we've done so far because we didn't understand exactly how we were going to navigate into the political sphere and how we were going to have open-ended questions.

21:03Yet still, we have personal points of view.

21:06And when you're in the clean energy space, it's become so politicized that it's almost like you're on one side of this debate or the other.

21:14So, difficult from that perspective.

21:17And even the imagery and everything that we went with were a little bit more jarring.

21:21You know, Trump standing on a turtle.

21:24Yeah, I think we embraced that.

21:25That's the imagery that we ended up going with for the episode.

21:28So, it was pretty specific in its direction and intent in the end, even though we didn't understand that going into it because we wanted to just stay open to understanding the subject at hand.

21:41But the 15-minute episode, much more quick, much more just sharing what's happening.

21:46I know you're planning to do more of those as we go forward because I think it's an important way to just have a differentiation from the 30-minute episode and be able to share something that's real and now.

21:58So, what else kind of came up for you from that episode?

22:01I think for the whole team, it was a new format because for Tophie, who does our beautiful thumbnails, you know, he got creative and did that.

22:08But for Nosy, she does our editing and that was a different editing format that we used.

22:14So, I think for the whole team, it was different and it was really rewarding.

22:17I think we all really enjoyed how it came out.

22:20And it's the kind of thing where, like I said, season two was so experimental.

22:24We were like, we're just going to try it and if we don't like it, then we're just going to scrap it.

22:28And when that episode came out, we were all like, oh, my God.

22:32And I think it was really fun just, you know, from that perspective.

22:36The topic is sad, obviously, but I think it's the kind of episode that allows us to share with all of you something that's happening in a capsule that might be relevant for bigger discussions that we have later.

22:48Yeah, and quick in the 15-minute, sub-15 minutes, I think that one was 12, 13 minutes, but sub-15 minutes will be the goal for that.

22:56So, let's say 10 to 15 minutes, a little bit quicker hitting, a little bit like here's what's happening.

23:01And then you can kind of go down that rabbit hole further if you feel like that versus the more storytelling method that we typically apply, that more human storytelling method.

23:09So, a little bit different approach.

23:10And, yeah, so check that one out and let us know what you think of it and then if there's other topics that people want to see covered in that way as kind of the new cycle is happening, let's go because that's the goal with those is plug them in as they're real time.

23:23So, there may be season three going and then all of a sudden there's kind of a bonus episode that happens because something relevant is happening in the moment.

23:32That's kind of the modality that that'll be.

23:36And then we moved into talking about a little bit of kind of personal sustainability.

23:40But this episode kind of went in a lot of different directions that I didn't expect.

23:44When we talked to Claudia Cordova, who had a great kind of personal story and her personal story was so deeply connected to the work that she's doing with supporting a lot of people looking to go green.

23:56And her story talking about how somebody could use instead of having disposables, they could just wash certain items and be able to reuse them.

24:12And they said, we don't have water and it clicked for her that her again solution, her more, you know, highfalutin idea of what you can do, because that's the conversations that people in the sector are having.

24:26When you go to the real world application of it, they don't have water.

24:33There's no way for me to do this, this green thing that you're trying to get me to do.

24:38Changed her perspective, changed her approach.

24:40Really appreciated hearing that.

24:42And also her own personal struggle, right?

24:45She talked about going to a golf course with her father and seeing this utopia and realizing, like, that's such a disconnect from the reality of most people's lives and how potentially wasteful and how a golf course can kind of be the manifestation of so many of the wrongs that she's trying to right.

25:04But still loving her father and the relationship and that leisure time and having that outlet and how do we balance all these things?

25:13There are no right answers, it feels like, sometimes.

25:16It was a powerful conversation.

25:17What about for you?

25:18In this season, we talk so much about balancing, right?

25:21Balancing your relation to other people, balancing things.

25:24With the story that she told us about, you know, not having access to water, it brought me back to the conversation we had with Dr. Kama Bonta.

25:31And in our first ever episode of, we can't talk about just transition without access to energy.

25:36Like, so many things just kept coming back.

25:39And I think bringing that personal perspective, it was something, I deal with this a lot.

25:43You know, I'm very green-brained.

25:45And in my personal life, there's a lot of people who are like, you're so annoying.

25:52And I'm like, it's okay, I'm just asking you to do this.

25:55I'm just asking you to do that.

25:57And it's the same thing she does with her father.

25:59There are some fights you just have to let go for the peace of community.

26:04But other times, it is just about balancing, you know, teaching people through doing that it's not as hard as they might think.

26:10You know what I mean?

26:11So it was really interesting to have someone put that into words.

26:15And then we went into our next episode where we talked about the end, the collapse of it all.

26:23Which was so fun.

26:24It was, it was slightly more uplifting than I thought, right?

26:28We've had some existential crisis on this show, you know, talking about the 10,000 years of impact and how we're never going to be able to change all this, you know, with Professor Murphy.

26:40And so I thought maybe talking to Eric Schunkweiler, Schunkweiler, Eric Schunkweiler, I'm going to make sure I get his name right.

26:50And he's a prepper, but he's a kind of a leftist prepper.

26:53And we often think of that being more of a right wing type thing in your bunker with a whole bunch of canned beans and guns.

27:00And there was plenty of things where like, okay, that still sounds like a prepper that I imagined, but there was a lot of things that he brought up, which this leftist perspective was very different, much more community driven than I had imagined, less isolationist than I had imagined.

27:16And the fact that the joy that came to his life was letting his chickens out and running around us, I was so connected to that part of the story that it really made a lot of what he was saying a lot more relatable.

27:29And I think that's a difficult thing is when you're talking about some of the prepper, it seems so off based with the way that most people are going to live, act and view the world.

27:39That was my big, my big takeaway there.

27:41The joy of the chickens made everything else kind of sink in even deeper for me personally.

27:46He just had so much joy, not about the end of the world.

27:49I want to make that clear.

27:51I think his joy came from community.

27:53The leftist side of the prepper discourse is that, I loved how he said it, if you want to survive by yourself, fine, you get those bragging rights.

28:03But like where you brag to, it's like the whole point of surviving is living with people.

28:12That's why we talk about adaptation when it comes to climate change.

28:15That's why we work on clean energy.

28:17That's why we, you know, clean the rivers, whatever it is that we're doing in terms of climate action is to protect community at the end of the day.

28:24And I think it was really interesting, his view of like, yeah, that's the whole point.

28:28I think he did the analogy of like, you put your mask on to help the other person, not to put on while the plane crashes.

28:35Yeah, exactly.

28:37Put your mask on first and then help others.

28:39Right.

28:39And then you help others.

28:40That's the next step.

28:42Yep.

28:42I was in sync with that for sure.

28:46Even though I may not be living and making decisions the way that Eric is, I could understand now how that is much more of a relatable possibility and perspective and way of life.

28:58So then we talked to John Pobono, author, and that's my takeaway.

29:05I'm going to jump.

29:06Cool uncle.

29:06That's always an approach that I take.

29:08It's always my goal.

29:10He nailed cool uncle.

29:12Stefano nailed cool uncle.

29:14Eric ended up coming off kind of cool uncle.

29:16So I was very taken by that, that, you know, even in the titles of his book, he was breaking down the preconceived notions of what you expect to hear when you're talking about sustainability.

29:29He was very good at making, again, those points very relatable when he talked about, you know, it's just like, here's a no bullshit plan to save the planet.

29:40Like, oh, oh, okay.

29:41Like, that's how we're going to talk about this.

29:44Let's talk about it then.

29:45And it felt very raw and real.

29:49So what else were you feeling from John's episode?

29:51I mean, it felt like just chatting to someone at the pub, to be honest, over a pint is great.

29:55I think mainly he is in a very unique intersection where he is very no BS while also trying to help businesses, which many of us would point to as culprits of this to do better.

30:11And the way he explained it to us, I believed it, you know?

30:14So it's like, if a business wants to do better, they will.

30:18Whatever their motivation is, they will do better.

30:21But he's very focused on being genuine.

30:24You can't just do it for, you know, for the F of it, to be honest.

30:29And then he said, you know, he's working with companies, like you mentioned, that, you know, may be guilty of past regressions.

30:35And sometimes they're full of it and they're trying to sell him on helping him sell, you know, their product, their initiative, whatever.

30:43He talked about firing clients.

30:47And as somebody who's been in the consulting space for a long time, too, when I learned how to fire a client, it empowered me in a way that I could pick the projects that made the most sense to me.

30:55And sometimes you're pushing mud uphill, 100%.

30:59You're trying to fight that good fight and there's just, they just can't get there.

31:03But it's worth the effort, I think, in many instances.

31:06So that was really great to hear.

31:08And then we roll to the last episode of season two, where we talked to cool grandpa.

31:15Cool people in this season.

31:17We talked, yeah, we talked to Iona Separatis, who's a professor, doctor, engineer, who has been in the renewable space for 45 years, you know, goes to the cops, is on those stages, speaking at that level, has seen how little action we've done.

31:37He talked about, is it too little, too late?

31:40Maybe it is.

31:41I said, okay, so we're done.

31:43The conversation's over.

31:43He said, no, how hopeful he was for the future and the students that he works with in Kenya and beyond was really palpable for me.

31:52And his energy was just infectious.

31:54It was really powerful to see that he's still locked in at the 45 years of screaming down an empty hallway of getting people to make changes in this space.

32:04Very convicted to the fight.

32:06It's amazing.

32:07And I think the way he spoke with such optimism is something that you don't normally hear from people that are so senior in this space.

32:14And when I say senior, not old.

32:16Right.

32:16I mean, like, very high up, you know, who have the experience he does.

32:21And he's still, you know, optimistic.

32:23But he's also valuing what young people have to say.

32:27And normally in this space, you get a lot of people just being like, oh, you're just naive.

32:32You'll get over it.

32:33Like being vegetarian is a phase.

32:35Wanting to do green stuff is a phase.

32:37It's like you always get dismissed in that way because it's like, oh, you haven't seen the realities of the world.

32:42He's seen it all.

32:44And he's like, do you know what?

32:45Put your shoes on.

32:46Let's go.

32:47Where you got to keep going.

32:48And that was amazing.

32:49We had some cool uncles, cool grandpas, greenwashing, storytelling, balance.

32:54We had youth perspective.

32:55It really ended up being a season that had some continuity, even though we were just testing and experimenting and feeling it out.

33:02At the end, there was really a thread that we pulled through.

33:06So very proud of us for the work of season two.

33:09Please go check out any and all of these episodes.

33:12Check out season one as well.

33:13You can also find a recap of season one if you kind of want to get a sense of what happened in season one,

33:17which was much more of a pure kind of one-to-one interviewing experts in their spaces with season one, kind of more traditional that style.

33:25Again, season two, more experimental, a few different threads and themes that we're focused on.

33:30And then season three coming up, we're going to tease that.

33:32But first, I have to share with everybody some personal news.

33:35I am wrapping my own time with Tangelic now, as so many other projects close to my heart have really started to ramp up.

33:46And so Victoria is moving on without me.

33:49Very sad moment, but we will be connected forever through the stories that we have told.

33:54They will live on forever.

33:56And I'm excited to see where Victoria takes season three because I know I've helped plan it out.

34:03I'm excited to see what happens with it.

34:06And definitely, you know, anybody check out my stuff.

34:09Follow me on Instagram, at Jensen Cummings, and I'll keep you updated on everything that's happening.

34:14But the story of food, look out for that.

34:16Best Serve podcast, more happening there.

34:19So I'm excited about all that.

34:20But, yeah, Victoria has got to carry the torch without me from here for Tangelic.

34:26No, but I've learned a lot from you, and I'm sure the audience will miss you a lot.

34:30So thank you for your such human perspectives.

34:33To be honest, if we hadn't started this with you, I don't know how human this would have been.

34:38So I'm quite the nerd.

34:40I'm not smart enough to keep it at an intellectual level.

34:43So I had to keep us very grounded.

34:47Undersell, sure.

34:48But it worked.

34:50It worked.

34:51This show really worked.

34:52And I'm so proud of the 25 episodes that we've done.

34:59And I know that we've laid the foundation for, like, really great things to happen.

35:02So share with us.

35:03Tease the teaser.

35:04Because next episode, you're going to be digging in with your new co-host, talking in more depth about Season 3.

35:12But just tease your new co-host and what's happening in Season 3.

35:15Yeah.

35:15So for Season 3, we have Andres joining us.

35:18And you'll be able to get to know him a lot better in our episode kicking off Season 3.

35:24We're going to take a little two-week break.

35:27We have a conference happening on the 14th of August.

35:29So if you want to join us and you miss us a little, just come join us at the conference.

35:35All the links will be in the description.

35:37But aside from that, Season 3 is going to be focused on the Sunrise Spectrum Initiative, which is a project that Tangelic is running.

35:46And we have a lot of pillars.

35:49We have a lot of topics.

35:50We have a lot of things that we're doing with that project.

35:52And we kind of want to dive into it.

35:54You guys don't know how much we do at Tangelic.

35:56So I think it's time to let you in with an array of guests.

36:00We've got a lot of cool guests coming on, a lot of human guests, not that many, you know, white paper experts, which I think is really important.

36:08And it's going to be a very human, community-focused season where we hear how projects like the Sunrise Spectrum Initiative change lives, but also what is there left to do?

36:21What else can we put our energy into?

36:24What can you do?

36:25How can you get involved?

36:26So get ready because Season 3 is going to be crazy.

36:30And we're already planning Season 4.

36:32So strap in.

36:33Yes, let's go.

36:35I told them they have to have me as a guest in Season 4.

36:37A hundred percent.

36:38I'll make a triumphant comeback.

36:40We'll talk about the story of food, regenerative agriculture, chefs, policymakers, all the things that I'm so passionate about.

36:47There's so much intersection.

36:49I have the Moringa for Life podcast, which is talking about, you know, soil health and soil biology and growing food and permaculture.

36:58So there's just so many intersecting storylines that I'm just grateful for the connections that I'm going to have with Justin.

37:04Justin and Justin, our two leaders, Amber, Taufik, Nosy, yourself, Matt, Queen, just a really great and dynamic team that I know is going to continue to do great stuff.

37:17And we'll be connected through our story and through our work together forever.

37:20Exactly.

37:21Well, the Internet is forever.

37:23It is forever.

37:24For now, unless we hit those end times like Eric was talking.

37:28Very true.

37:29But look out for that email on, do you want to be a guest on Tindelic Talks?

37:33Yes, I am ready.

37:36So thank you, everybody, for the audience that you've been, the interaction that I have, how you've welcomed us into this sector, into this space.

37:44This show challenged us to continue to think about the stories that we tell, the impact that we make.

37:49It's meaningful.

37:51It's worthwhile work.

37:52You are a part of that.

37:53We could not do this as storytellers, as podcasters, without your engagement, your interaction.

38:00So continue to do so and support the show, support the work that Tindelic is doing.

38:04We appreciate you all.

38:38In the world, side by side, a spark becomes a fire, a vision that's true. Together we rise. It starts with you.

38:39Oh