In 2023, after my tenure as a Caribbean Climate Justice Journalism Fellow, Climate Tracker approached me with a new opportunity! They were getting ready to launch something I was very excited about, a climate-focused podcast series. 🎙
I’m not sure if Dizzanne knew exactly just how much of a podhead I am, but it was kismet.
Taking some audio recordings from the Fellowship, I was tasked with the challenge of creating the very first season of the podcast.
Now, this is the thing…from podcasts like Malcom Gladwell’s Revisionist History, The Prancing Pony Podcast, or even limited series reportage pieces like This American Life’s S Town, my interest in the medium was real. So I saw this as an opportunity to be at the foundation of a growing podcast that is not just climate-focused, but Caribbean-focused. Stories about the Caribbean, by Caribbean people.
Brainstorming the name for the podcast with Dizzanne was also like seeing the stars align – Caribbean Climate Calabash.
What is a Calabash? Well, in the Caribbean, it’s a gourd that serves multiple purposes. To drink from, eat from, dip water with, etc. So our idea, was that from our Calabash, we would pour the climate stories of the communities already facing some of the harshest impacts of climate change. And so, it was born.
This was an opportunity for me to explore a genuine interest while also engaging in another passion: the environment.
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Editing myself was especially strange, among other things 😅. But being able to really have another look from an editor’s perspective of the cohort and the stories produced, was a priceless experience.
It gave me ideas, got my creative juices flowing, and inspired me. I love being on the editor’s side of podcast creation now. This provided a lot of guidance for what I was about to do and the direction we wanted to take the podcast in for Season 2.
The Caribbean Climate Calabash Podcast is meant to provide a platform for the amazing climate and environmental journalism in the Caribbean region. We began as an audio podcast with a modest listenership but decided to make it more accessible with a video format.
In Season 2, we’ve managed to put together the look and branding identity of the video format and began releasing episodes via YouTube Podcasts. When paired with a growing audience on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, the video format has helped to increase the listenership significantly.
So far we’ve managed to help platform stories in a new medium for journalists from the first and second cycles of the Caribbean Climate Justice Journalism Fellowship, as well as showcase Caribbean experts in the climate space and mentors of the extended Climate Tracker family.
We also have variety in episode dynamics with individual and group podcasts. We’ve been able to share and give a literal voice to stories of crisis, hope, injustice, indigenous people, energy transition, the erosion of coastal life as well as the progress of global climate discussions on big stages like last year’s COP28–to name a few.
The aim is to have all the colourful perspectives of journalists around the Caribbean combine to form a singular point of interest in this growing weekly podcast. We want even some of our listeners to have the chance to share what they know and so for the next few episodes of Season 2, we will also be engaging YOU!
The podcast is about creating a space to share our stories and as we expand in 2024, we hope to create a community of not just listeners but kindred spirits who feel a similar kind of concern and drive to help the environment. We want to create a comfortable space where even though we are talking about some serious topics, people feel safe in knowing that those who are speaking on these topics genuinely care.
Join us! We’re also just starting up on Instagram and TikTok.
