About this episode

Craig Applegath speaks with Chris Turner about shifting the narrative around climate change towards optimism and innovation.

Chris Turner: The Case for Climate Optimism “We’re not just trying to eliminate something bad—we’re building something better.” In this episode, Craig speaks with journalist and author Chris Turner about his book How to Be a Climate Optimist and the shifting narrative around climate change from one rooted in fear and sacrifice to one driven by possibility, innovation, and better ways of living. Chris traces his journey from early reporting on climate catastrophe to a pivotal realization: instead of documenting the worst impacts, he could seek out places already solving the problem. That shift led him across the world to communities, technologies, and systems that are quietly building a low-carbon future. “What would it look like to go to the places already beating climate change?” A defining moment came when Chris visited the Danish island of Samsø, where a community had effectively achieved net-zero emissions. It wasn’t theoretical, it was real, functional, and deeply ordinary. People were living their lives comfortably, powered by clean energy. That experience reframed the problem: the solutions weren’t distant or speculative - they already existed. From “Less Bad” to “Much…

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