That’s the animating spirit behind Climate Magic, a new podcast hosted by Sarah Jaquette Ray, whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Harvard Political Review and Scientific American, and who has been featured on NPR’s Hidden Brain. Ray is the Chair of Cal Poly Humboldt’s Environmental Studies department and author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety (2020). Climate Magic, now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, examines how climate change affects emotions and mental health through conversations with experts and storytellers from different fields. The show invites listeners to explore the “rally muscle” we all possess: the inner capacity to respond to the climate crisis not just with fear or paralysis, but with clarity, courage, and connection.
“Psychologically, our brains aren’t wired to face a problem like global warming,” Ray explains in the podcast’s opening episode. “But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed. It means we need new tools—ones that help us reframe our mental and emotional responses in ways that actually support climate action.”
Each episode of Climate Magic is part education, part reflection, and part rallying cry. It speaks to anyone grappling with climate anxiety, emotional burnout, or a desire to move from despair to engagement—for example, by redirecting attention from national to local news, becoming more aware of the body’s response to information, getting more granular about emotions in relationship to the earth, and developing “grief literacy.”
“Climate work is not just about solar panels and carbon drawdown,” Ray says. “It’s about how we think, how we feel, how we relate to each other, and whether we can find joy, clarity, and purpose in the process.”
Ray is no stranger to the emotional terrain of climate work. A nationally recognized voice on how people psychologically respond to climate change, she brings two decades of scholarship, teaching, and activism to the microphone.
In addition to her role as educator and author, Ray co-founded the Climate Wisdom Lab, a professional development program that helps climate professionals process the emotional impacts of their work. She also teaches mindfulness practices designed to foster what she calls a “climate mind,” a grounded, resilient mindset for facing planetary challenges.
The guests on Climate Magic are as wide-ranging as the topics they tackle. Interviewees include psychologists, neuroscientists, artists, organizers, and educators– people who are versed in the cognitive and emotional aspects of climate politics and action.
“We’re proud to see Climate Magic emerge from Cal Poly Humboldt to reach audiences beyond the campus community,” says Jeff Crane, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. “It reflects the kind of impact-driven work our faculty are known for, and it amplifies voices that are reimagining what climate leadership can look like.”
Climate Magic airs on KHSU, Fridays at 9 a.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. The first seven episodes are now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Listen on KHSU
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify
Read Sarah Jaquette Ray’s Substack.
For more information about this and other podcasts in the Cal Poly Humboldt network, visit humboldt.edu/podcasts
If you’re interested in starting your own University podcast, reach out to Marketing & Communications at news@humboldt.edu