Hot & Bothered: a climate podcast

Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe investigates how flooding is increasingly impacting DC’s lower-income districts

While flash flooding does make headlines in DC—like the dog daycare center in Northeast that flooded in August 2023 leaving 10 dogs dead—we don’t as often hear about how chronic flooding is increasingly problematic for certain District residents. This week, Hola Cultura Assistant Editor and investigative journalist Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe walks us through what he uncovered about the disproportionate impact flooding is having on poorer DC communities, stories of individuals being hardest hit, how climate change is exacerbating the problem, and the solutions that are bringing the most hope.
 
You can find Marcelo on LinkedIn and learn more about Hola Cultura here. You can also catch Marcelo hosting Hola Cultura’s podcast, “The Climate Divide,” which examines DC’s heat islands and related health disparities along racial, ethnic and class lines.
 
Resources:
The Hidden Costs of Flooding in D.C.’s Poorest Wards | Pulitzer Center (by Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe)
DC Flood Task Force
Other Hola Cultura investigative reporting:
Development is wiping out trees in less-affluent parts of Washington, DC, putting residents’ health at risk, grantee finds - The Fund for Investigative Journalism
Investigative Series: D.C.’s Heat Islands / Serie: Islas De Calor En D.C. | Hola Cultura
 

Walt Ray on Expanding Atlanta’s Trail Network Through the Chattahoochee RiverLands

Getting our feet wet with our water and environmental justice series we are joined by Walt Ray who is the Chattahoochee Program Director for The Trust for Public Lands. He shares all about the process of creating a 100+ mile network of greenways, blueways, and parks along the river and connecting Metro Atlanta. Listen to learn about their collective impact methodology and how to launch a similar project in your community.  
 
Follow Walt on LinkedIn. Find out more about the Chattahoochee RiverLands on their website.  

Amber Hasselbring creates butterfly habitats in SF

In our closing biodiversity episode, we sit down with Amber Hasselbring to hear about the work that Nature in the City is doing to save butterflies and connect people with nature.
Find Nature in the City on the web at natureinthecity.org and on Instagram at @natureinthecity. Follow them on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/nature-in-the-city-projects-sf. Become a Nature Keeper to support their work for local wild places.
Find us on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Resources:
Biodiversity Factsheet from WHO
Reimagining San Francisco
Music by QubeSounds.

Jorge Bogantes Montero on the many benefits of boosting biodiversity of DC’s Anacostia River

Seeing a river otter trotting around the National Mall is cute, but predators like otters returning to the region is also an indicator of the Anacostia River’s improving health! This week, we are back in DC speaking with Jorge Bogantes Montero, Natural Resources Specialist at the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS). He explains to us how the various restoration, reforestation, and educational activities AWS leads are having an outsized impact. From planting wild rice in the marshes, to propagating freshwater mussels, to invasive plant management—listen in to hear all about the amazing progress being made to boost biodiversity along the Anacostia, ultimately improving the health of the watershed and surrounding communities.
Oh! And if you’re local, you can join their discovery boat tours, trash pickups, mussel surveys, and paddling excursions (see events calendar link below).
You can find Jorge on LinkedIn and learn more about the Anacostia Watershed Society here.
Resources:
-          Anacostia River Cameras Show Native Wildlife Returning | DCist (includes pics!)
-          North American River Otter Spotted Near the Tidal Basin | DCist (includes pics!)
-          Climate Change Is Hurting River Water Quality | Maryland Today  
-          Anacostia Watershed Society - Events Calendar
 
Find us on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Music by QubeSounds.

Alex Dileo on Advocating for Biodiversity in Your Own Yard and Community

Launching into our series about the importance of Biodiversity in our cities, we are joined by Alex Dileo, Founding Board Chair of the Intown Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society. Alex brings her passion and patience learned from her own yard to grow a group of Atlantans who are interested in spreading native plant knowledge, appreciation, and protection. Listen to learn how to join or create a similar group in your own community.
 
Follow Alex on Instagram and on LinkedIn. Find out more about Georgia Native Plant Society on their website.   

Liz Cahill finds old things new homes in SF

On our last episode on sustainable design, Liz Cahill shares with us the wonder of clothing swaps and takes us on a tour de force of BuyNothing groups in San Francisco.
Follow Liz on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Find us on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Resources:
Double Vision Thrift
Buy Nothing No Rules San Francisco
Free Clothing San Francisco
Fancy Free SF
Music by QubeSounds.

Liz Cahill on turning trash to wearable treasure in SF

On our San Francisco stop on sustainable design, we have our first of two episodes with Liz Cahill, co-founder of Decentered Arts! Join us as Liz takes on on her upcycling journey, from her frugal origins to becoming a trash fashion icon. If you just touch the trash, you too may find love and community.
Follow Liz on LinkedIn or Instagram and the Piles Collective on Instagram.
Find Hot & Bothered on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Resources:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyxsalazar/
https://www.instagram.com/pilesofsanfrancisco
Music by QubeSounds.

Heather Jauregui Shares the Oversized Impact of Sustainable Design on DC Public Schools

Sustainable design is no stranger to the DC Public School system! In our second episode on sustainable design, we bring in Heather Jauregui, Director of Sustainability at design firm Perkins Eastman, to share the work her firm has been doing to rebuild, revitalize, and renovate at least 14 DC public school buildings since the district dedicated $4 billion in 2007 to make its facilities healthier, more energy efficient, and sound. Come explore the far-reaching effects of “net positive education.”
You can find Heather on LinkedIn and learn more about Perkins Eastman here.
Resources:
Latrobe Prize Study Produces New Insights into Benefits of School Modernization (full report as well as a more approachable summary)
Net Positive Education
Green New Deal (GND) for DC and Green New Deal for Schools - Sunrise Movement
This Hyper-Sustainable Elementary School Is the First of its Kind
 
Find us on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Music by QubeSounds.

Lawson Sumner On Converting I.C.E. Cars to Electric Vehicles

Welcome to Season 2 and our series on Sustainable Design! We're kicking it off with Lawson Sumner, Co-founder and Chief Engineer at Ampere EV, one of Forbes 2025 30 under 30. Lawson is a graduate from Georgia Institute of Technology who co-developed an aftermarket EV powertrain that can turn any vehicle into an electric vehicle. We learn about his passion for motorsports and how Ampere EV is bringing this technology to antique and modern vehicles.
Follow Lawson and AmpereEV on Instagram and on LinkedIn. Find out more about Ampere EV on their website.   
Find us on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions!
Music by QubeSounds.

Season 2 - Introduction

Join us for our launch of Season 2 of Hot and Bothered: a climate podcast! We discuss the season 2 topics and what we've been up to since Season 1! Join us weekly throughout the summer for new episodes. 
Find us on LinkedIn. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts! Email us at hnbpod@gmail.com with any comments or questions.
Music by QubeSounds.