Protest and Beyond: Annie Leonard On What You Can Do

Protest and Beyond: Annie Leonard On What You Can Do

From Climate One by Climate One from The Commonwealth Club

May 15, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

Annie Leonard discusses the multifaceted nature of protest and activism in promoting positive change.

Protest is the ultimate in equal-opportunity political action. As Annie Leonard, former executive director of Greenpeace USA says, "Making change is like laying a stone path across the garden. Peaceful protest may be every 4th or 8th or 200th stone; it helps us get where we want to go but also we need a lot of other stones too.” Leonard explores the history of protests in her new book “Protest: Respect It. Defend It. Use It.” And while protest is the loudest and most visible tool, it’s only one of many ways to take action. Through community building, through civic engagement, through elected office, through corporate boardrooms, through churches and nonprofit agencies, there are countless paths to exercising power and promoting positive change. In this episode we hear from three leaders working in three different arenas, all toward the same goal. Guests: Annie Leonard, Environmental Activist, Author of “Protest: Respect It, Defend It, Use It” Danielle Lee, Founder, Climate Action Club James Coleman, City Councilor, South San Francisco For show notes, transcript, and related links, visit climateone.org/podcasts Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 04:00 – Annie Leonard shares the story of…

People in this episode

Guests: Annie Leonard, Danielle Lee, James Coleman

Topics covered

  • protest
  • activism
  • community engagement
  • environmentalism
  • political action

Keywords

  • protest
  • activism
  • Annie Leonard
  • Greenpeace
  • community building
  • civic engagement
  • environmental activism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Greenpeace USA

Books & works: Protest: Respect It. Defend It. Use It.

Places: San Francisco, South San Francisco

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