J Queen's Podcast

Youth for Climate India was born in New Delhi in 2019. A youth group, whose members met each other all by chance. In today’s episode, I speak with Rumit, one of the members of the group, who will shed light on this very unique concept – a climate justice library! In the age of 3 second videos, do books matter? Yes! A resounding yes! Books will not phase out because of social media, if anything there will be a knowledge integration. And that is the principle of the CJL, learning, discovering, and facilitating a space for ideas and minds. Isn’t that wonderful?! Rumit also tells us the plans for more than one library. Youth for Climate India will host an online event on 3rd June, Friday at 12 pm. If you want to perform for this online event and help them to raise funds to start a new library, please visit their instagram handle @youthforclimateindia. While Delhi is the capital of India, it is also the capital of pollution and heatwaves ( now don’t panic, you can do something about it) The doom scrolling has probably convinced you that world is coming to an end, or there is no point, but trust me, there are people and communities who are wanting to do something about it, and while no change is guaranteed, it is critical to keep trying new ways. The Library is a shining example of this thought process. You can follow me on Instgram @ruhey_climatebabbler and @ruhie on Twitter, I would love to hear any feedback, comments or ideas on the podcast!

What does a devastating flood have to do with mental well being? EVERYTHING. Just this year alone, almost 29.70 lakh people in 30 districts were affected in Assam. Floods are a recurring disaster in Assam. For the media and everyone who is not affected, we see it unfold on our screens, but the real impact of an environmental crisis, further made worse by human interventions from bad flood water management results into increasing mental health issues. But, this topic does not even show up in the mainstream media or in environmental circles. In this episode, my guest, a clinical psychology student Eesha Borthakur from Assam, gives us insights on what happens when such level of distress in floods is experienced year after year, and what possible interventions the government can make. If you have any feedback, write to me on Twitter @ruhie or @ruhey_climatebabbler on Instagram. Eesha is on @EeshaBorthakur on the gram too. Thanks for listening, and do share if you like the episode!

In this episode, we speak to Jacob Cherian, who is part of the editorial team at 'The Kodai Chronicle' magazine. As the tagline says, it is a dispatch from the hills. I spoke to Jacob about how did this magazine come about, and if we want more people, community and environment related news, the way forward is more local media. Mass media is laden with vicious agenda setting from editorials which are influenced by the polluting industries. With a shrinking space for independent voices in the media, The Kodai Chronicle team is turning to people for funding its campaign to run the publication. Listen to this story which is leading a new way for journalism, straight from the citizens of Kodai, and if you're convinced, head to their magazine and social media profile to know more and potentially support their efforts. Website https://www.thekodaichronicle.com/  IG - @thekodaichronicle You can find me on @ruhie on Twitter and @ruhey_climatebabbler on Instagram

Our final episode on elections and this time we are talking to an experienced and incredible journalist Gunjeet Sra, she is the editor-in-chief of SBCLTR, which publishes stories on culture, gender and issues that get missed out often from the main stream media. Gunjeet Sra is from Punjab and lived in UP, she highlights many pressing issues around womxn and how every issue from waste management to water to air pollution affects womxn adversely. We also speak about landfills in Punjab and the infamous cancer train, and how the health of citizens of Punjab is taken for a ride.  You can find Gunjeet on Instagram at @GunjeetSra and follow subculture @sbcltr.in You can follow me, Ruhie on twitter @ruhie and on @ruhey_climatebabbler on IG

Today, Avinash and Ruhie chat with Ekta Shekhar, Director of Climate Agenda, a non for profit organisation based out of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Ekta works with several partners on ground which focus on energy transition, solar energy and air quality and health links. In this episode, she highlights the political space environmental and climate issues during election seasons, and lack of basic things like data for the state, and how communities - especially women are affected time and again from pollution and climate impacting health. She also gives very interesting insights on lack of proper plans from authorities in UP to phase out of polluting industries like brick kilns, and how this affects people health and economy in the long term. For more info on Climate Agenda's work , follow them on Twitter here @care4air Follow me @ruhie and @avinashchanchl for any feedback or suggestions!