Climate Changed

Can imagination actually change the future?

In our previous episode, Autumn spoke with Tory Stephens, a climate fiction editor and co-founder of Imagine 2200 at Grist, about the profound power of storytelling. If you haven't listened to that conversation yet, don't worry—you can dive right into this episode! In fact, hearing this reflection first will give you a completely different lens when you do go back to listen to the interview.
In this episode, co-hosts Autumn Brown and Rev. Nicole Diroff sit down to unpack the incredible themes Tory raised. They explore why the climate movement desperately needs more imagination and how we can practically incorporate that imagination into our spiritual leadership.
In this conversation, Autumn and Nicole discuss:
The Concept of "Thrutopia": Why we need stories that navigate the messy, realistic middle ground between the world we have now and the better world we are trying to build.
Prefigurative Fiction: How dreaming about and writing down the future we want actually serves as the first step to bringing that reality into existence.
Hope as a Daily Practice: Why practicing hope and imagining positive futures needs to be a regular discipline—just like going to church or taking out the compost!
Next Steps: Where Imagination Meets Practice The change we need won't happen alone—it grows in community. Here are two invitations from today’s conversation to carry these ideas into your shared lives:
Creating Your Story of Tomorrow: Visit The BTS Center's Leadership Commons to access Creating Your Story of Tomorrow. This is a beautifully crafted facilitator guide and video developed by renowned environmental artist Eve Moser. Designed for adult education facilitators and congregation leaders, this resource will guide you and your community through a collaborative workshop to envision the future together.
Write Your Own Flash Fiction: Sit down—alone, with a friend, or with a group—and write a piece of "flash fiction" (a very short story with a beginning, middle, and end) about a future you would love to inhabit.
Share Your Visions With Us! We want to hear your flash fiction and find out what you are creating or discovering! Email us at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voice message at 207-200-6986. Your insights might ripple out through future episodes.
Explore More:
Learn more about The BTS Center: https://thebtscenter.org/
Find transcripts, discussion guides, and full-length video episodes at www.climatechangedpodcast.org
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBTSCenter

If hope is a muscle, then how do I build it? Climate-Fiction Author & Editor Tory Stephens + Autumn Brown

In the Season Four premiere of the Climate Changed podcast, Autumn Brown engages in a deeply inspiring conversation with Tory Stephens, a storyteller, cultural worker, and climate justice advocate.
They explore the transformative power of climate fiction and its role in helping us envision the future. Tory discusses his groundbreaking work at Grist, where he co-founded Imagine 2200, an initiative that asks a simple yet radical question: What if we wrote stories not about what we fear but about what we hope to create? The discussion dives into how imagination connects with responsibility, how storytelling serves as a profound form of spiritual leadership, and why envisioning a new reality is essential for climate justice.
Link to discussion guide and transcript www.climatechangedpodcast.org
Grounding: To begin the episode, producer Peterson Toscano leads a grounding exercise by sharing a short, speculative story. Modeled on the type of climate fiction discussed in the episode, the story features a message from "Timothy Meadows from the Future" giving a broadcast from the year 2115. Timothy explores the history of how human relationships with pets and animals shifted and adapted in the face of climate change. This strange and wonderful story sets the stage for the episode by letting imagination lead and inviting listeners to envision a workable, adaptable future.
Resources & Concepts Mentioned:
Thrutopia: Coined by philosopher Rupert Read and popularized by author Manda Scott through the Thrutopia Masterclass, a Thrutopian narrative threads the needle between utopia and dystopia. It focuses on writing grounded, plausible, and inspiring route maps that show exactly how we navigate through our current struggles to reach a future we'd be proud to leave behind.
Octavia E. Butler & Bloodchild: Autumn quotes the legendary science fiction author—who was the first African American woman to reach mainstream success in the genre—and her collection Bloodchild and Other Stories, reflecting on how sci-fi stimulates necessary imagination and creativity.
Humans of New York: The iconic photoblog that Tory credits with changing his perspective early in his career, teaching him the unparalleled power of human-centric storytelling over dry statistics.
Visionary Fiction: A framework of world-building and storytelling that Autumn Brown and her sister use in their writing retreats, which actively wrestles with the sacred and reclaims spiritual practices.
Dream Seeds: A term favored by Grist and Imagine 2200 to describe stories that plant concrete, hopeful visions of how society could be organized completely differently.
Eve Moser & Creating Your Story of Tomorrow: An adult education facilitator guide and video created by renowned environmental artist Eve Moser, available on the BTS Center's Leadership Commons.
Guest Bio: Tory Stephens is a storyteller, cultural worker, and climate justice advocate. At Grist, he co-founded Imagine 2200, a climate-fiction powerhouse, and has produced two anthologies of climate fiction: Afterglow and Metamorphosis. He now focuses on publishing climate fiction year-round and building partnerships that connect culture, justice, and climate solutions. In addition to his work at Grist Magazine, Tory is also involved with the Hollywood Climate Summit.
Connect with Tory & Explore His Work:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/torystephens
Bluesky: @torystephens.bsky.social
Imagine 2200 (Grist): About Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction
Read the Anthology: Imagine 2200: We Are What We Nurture
Read the Book: Afterglow (The New Press)
More from Tory: Shaping the Future Through Climate Fiction (Podcast Interview)
Thank Yous: We want to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who made this episode possible:
Tory Stephens, for sharing his incredible vision, imagination, and wisdom with us.
Peterson Toscano, producer of Climate Changed, for producing this episode and for providing the wonderful grounding for this episode.
The BTS Center team, for your ongoing support and for providing the resources and platform that make this podcast possible.

Welcome to Season 4 of Climate Changed with Autumn Brown and Nicole Diroff

How do we live, love, and practice leadership in a climate-changed world?
Welcome to Season 4 of the Climate Changed podcast, a project from The BTS Center! This season, we are diving deep into spiritual leadership and imagination. Join our hosts—Autumn Brown (artist, theologian, mother, and freedom worker) and Rev. Nicole Diroff (Associate Director at The BTS Center)—as they explore what faithful leadership looks like in times of immense uncertainty.
Throughout this season, we’ll hear from spiritual leaders, artists, and healers who are helping us navigate the overlapping crises of our time with courage, connection, and community.
This season's powerful lineup includes:
Katie Mears on navigating the front lines of disaster response and communicating risk.
Tory Stephens on the power of speculative fiction and imagination as our greatest climate tools.
Norma Wong, Zen master and Native Hawaiian leader, on how we breathe together and reconstitute our humanity through collapse.
Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner on finding holiness in uncertainty and rooting into our values when we lose our ground.
Francis Weller on the necessity of ritual, and how grief and love are two sides of the same bridge.
🎉 You're Invited: Season 4 Massive Launch Event!
Before the first episode drops, we want to celebrate this new chapter with you. Join hosts Nicole and Autumn, along with producers Ben Yosua-Davis and Peterson Toscano, for a live, interactive launch event.
This isn't your average, boring webinar. We'll be diving into a deep conversation about the current pressure points in American society, politics, and justice, and how they intersect with our climate reality.
When: Monday, March 16th, 2026 at 7:30 PM Eastern
Where: Online! Register for free at thebtscenter.org What to expect at the launch party:
Live conversations with several of our Season 4 guests
Exclusive, behind-the-scenes video footage and bloopers
Giveaways throughout the event!
Episode 1 drops Tuesday, March 17th, 2026, featuring a fantastic conversation with Tory Stephens on speculative storytelling and the futures we actually want to build.
Make sure you are subscribed so you don't miss an episode, and find more resources at www.climatechangedpodcast.com.
Keywords and Phrases
Climate change, spiritual leadership, climate resilience, Autumn Brown, Nicole Diroff, The BTS Center, disaster response, speculative fiction, climate storytelling, Zen practice, grief and ritual, climate justice, community building, navigating collapse, podcast launch event
Chapter Markers
00:00 - Exploring Spiritual Leadership & Imagination
00:24 - Meet Your Hosts: Autumn Brown & Nicole Diroff
00:44 - Katie Mears on Disaster Response
01:07 - Tory Stephens on Speculative Fiction
01:34 - Norma Wong on Breathing Through Collapse
02:21 - Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner on Holiness in Uncertainty
02:50 - Francis Weller on Ritual and Grief
03:52 - You're Invited: Season 4 Launch Event!
05:17 - Sneak Peek: Episode 1 with Tory Stephens
 

Convocation Stories Part 4: Food Sovereignty, Soil, and a Sneak Peek at Season 4

In the fourth and final installment of our special storytelling bonus series, hosts Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis conclude our journey through the 2025 BTS Center Convocation with a powerful story about the connection between our physical bodies, marginalized communities, and the health of the planet.
We hear from Tawni White, a registered nurse and congregational health leader, who shares her moving journey from experiencing childhood hunger and scarcity to discovering the empowering, healing abundance of the soil. Tawni reminds us that food sovereignty isn’t just about having food; it's about reclaiming dignity, connection, and hope through the simple act of planting a seed.
Then, we mark a major milestone for Climate Changed as we officially pass the mic to our new Season 4 co-hosts: Rev. Nicole Diroff and Autumn Brown! Nicole and Autumn share their vision for the upcoming season—exploring what it means to live, love, and lead in a climate-changed world—and share exclusive audio clips from their upcoming guests.
Finally, we cordially invite you to our Season 4 Live Launch Event happening on Monday, March 16th, 2026, at 7:30 PM Eastern! 
Episode Chapters
00:00 - Welcome & Introduction by Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis
01:20 - Tawni White's Story: Scarcity, Resilience, and Food Sovereignty
08:40 - Peterson and Ben reflect on the power of storytelling
09:41 - Passing the Mic: Meet Season 4 Hosts Autumn Brown and Rev. Nicole Diroff
13:42 - Season 4 Sneak Peek: Audio clips from upcoming guests
16:27 - Announcement: Season 4 Live Launch Party on March 16th
18:48 - Teaser: Tory Stephens on Speculative Fiction
Meet the Season 4 Guests
Next season, Autumn and Nicole will be talking with artists, theologians, organizers, and scientists who are helping us imagine new ways of living. Here is a sneak peek at some of the incredible voices you will hear:
Katie Mears: A disaster response leader working on the front lines to create accessible risk communication and collective solutions that empower communities.
Tory Stephens: A climate fiction advocate at Grist who believes speculative fiction and imagination are our most powerful tools for dreaming up the climate futures we actually want.
Norma Wong: A Zen master and Native Hawaiian leader who invites us to breathe together through collapse and honors the vital role of indigenous wisdom in a changing world.
Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner: A rabbi and spiritual leader who helps people find grounding, values, and holiness amidst the messy uncertainty of our current times.
Francis Weller: A psychotherapist and author who utilizes the power of ritual to help us safely fall apart, realign, and recognize that grief and love are two sides of the same bridge.
Mentioned in this Episode
The BTS Center: thebtscenter.org
AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance): aorta.coop - The cooperative where Autumn Brown spent eight years as a facilitator and political educator.
Reclaim: reclaim.care - A Minnesota-based nonprofit previously led by Autumn Brown that helps queer and trans youth access mental health care and community support.
How to Survive the End of the World podcast - A podcast co-hosted by Autumn Brown and her sister, adrienne maree brown.
Grist: grist.org - The media organization where Tory Stephens works on speculative fiction and climate storytelling.
Join Us for the Season 4 Launch Party!
Get ready for a deep dive conversation about the current pressure points in American society, politics, and justice, and how they intersect with our climate reality. We will feature exclusive video samples, behind-the-scenes footage, bloopers, and giveaways!
Date: Monday, March 16, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM Eastern
Register for free at: thebtscenter.org
Connect with Us
We would love to hear your reflections on these stories! Share how they impacted you or share a story of your own.
Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org
Voicemail: 207-200-6986
Website: climatechangedpodcast.org

Convocation Stories Part 3: Confessions from the Mud: Eco-Anxiety and the Power of Surprise

A special bonus episode mini-series from Climate Changed
In the third of four installments of our special bonus mini-series, Climate Changed returns to the 2025 BTS Center Convocation. Over the last few weeks, we have heard from participants who “flipped the script”—stepping away from data and policy to share personal, lived experiences of the climate crisis.Peterson and Ben also break down the specific storytelling techniques—The Confession and The Twist—that make these narratives so effective, while storytelling coach Cheryl Hamilton and previous guest Tyler Mark Nelson return to discuss how one person’s story can “unlock” the stories of others.
 
Links to ListenListen on Spotify 
Listen on Apple Podcasts 
Full show notes and all episodes: ClimateChangedPodcast.org
Transcript
Links to Listen
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Full show notes and all episodes: ClimateChangedPodcast.org
Transcript
About This Mini-Series: Convocation Stories
At the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, participants were invited to share climate-centered stories grounded in their own lives. Working with coaches from Stellar Story Company, these storytellers moved beyond the "doom and gloom" binary to find humor, resilience, and spiritual insight in the face of a changing world.
Meet the Storytellers
Kate André serves as Pastor of the Mennonite Congregation of Boston and is the Mennonite/Anabaptist Chaplain at Harvard University. In her story, Kate uses the power of "confession" to admit that, despite her work in creation care, she wasn't always a nature lover. She takes us on a journey from the comfort of dark movie theaters to the muddy reality of planting hope, showing us that we don't have to be perfect environmentalists to do good work.
Blair A. R. Nelsen is the Executive Director of Waterspirit and represents the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace at the United Nations. Bringing a global perspective from her time living in Venezuela and Brazil, Blair shares a story about seeking help for eco-anxiety. Expecting to find a room full of despairing peers, she instead encounters a "twist" that reveals the deep, intergenerational resilience found in community.
Cheryl Hamilton is the Founder and Executive Director of Stellar Story Company. An award-winning communications expert, Cheryl has coached over 1,500 people from 80 countries. In this episode, she shares insights on how stories can lead to unexpected connections and richer conversations.
Next Steps
Share this episode with a friend or your faith community. As Cheryl and Tyler remind us, "Stories unlock stories."
Tell your own story. You don't need a stage. Share a reflection on social media or record a voice memo for a friend.
Contact us. Share your reflections by email at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voicemail at 207-200-6986.
Learn more about The BTS Center and upcoming programs at TheBTSCenter.org.
Explore storytelling coaching at StellarStory.com.
Announcing Season Four of Climate Changed!
Season Four is coming soon! We are thrilled to welcome incoming co-hosts Nicole Diroff and Autumn Brown, who will explore what it means to live, love, and lead with faith and imagination in a climate-changed world.
Season Four Guests include:
Francis Weller: Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow.
Norma Wong: Zen Master and leader at the Institute of Zen Studies.
Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner: Climate Change Chaplain.
Tory Stevens: Climate Narrative Project.
Katie Mears: Episcopal Relief & Development.
Make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss the Season Four premiere!
 

Flipping the Script: Loons, Butterflies, and the Courage to Begin Again

In this second bonus episode from Climate Changed, we return to the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, where participants were invited to flip the script—shifting climate conversations away from data and debate and toward lived experience, spiritual insight, and imagination.
Co-hosts Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis introduce two deeply personal stories from members of the BTS Center community: Tyler Mark Nelson and David Arfa. Their stories explore mental health, vocation, migration, lineage, wonder, and responsibility in a climate-changed world—offering listeners not solutions, but companionship, honesty, and renewed attention to the wisdom of place.
About This Mini-Series: Convocation Stories
At the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, participants were invited to share climate-centered stories grounded in their own lives—stories shaped by courage, vulnerability, and spiritual practice. Rather than expert lectures or policy analysis, these stories center on imagination, grief, hope, and relationships.
In this mini-series, Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis share two of those stories in each episode, offering listeners a glimpse of how ordinary people are integrating climate concern with faith, creativity, and daily life. These episodes are especially suited for seasons when exhaustion, uncertainty, and longing coexist—and when stories can help us breathe again.
How These Stories Were Made: The Story-Making Process
To bring these stories to life with care and craft, The BTS Center partnered with Stellar Story Company. Months before Convocation, community members were invited to submit story “seedlings” connected to the Convocation theme. From more than twenty proposals, seven storytellers were selected.
Each storyteller worked closely with an experienced storytelling coach over several months, meeting multiple times to shape, revise, and rehearse their narratives. The goal was not polished performance for its own sake, but faithful storytelling—stories lovingly and prayerfully crafted for a shared community.
As Associate Director Nicole Diroff explains in the episode, this process was itself an act of “flipping the script”: centering voices from within the community and trusting that lived experience can open pathways to courage and connection.
Stories in This Episode
“Teach Me the Ways of the Loon” – Tyler Mark Nelson
Tyler Mark Nelson begins his story seated on a warm rock along the north shore of Lake Superior—a place he returns to when his mental health falters, and his vocational path feels uncertain. Living with long-term depression and anxiety, Tyler finds himself one year away from graduating from Yale Divinity School and questioning everything.
As he watches loons dive and resurface in the cold inland sea, Tyler recalls another moment years earlier when he stood at this same shoreline after dropping out of college. The loons become unexpected spiritual companions, offering a metaphor for nourishment, patience, and survival beneath the surface.
A simple prayer—“God, teach me the ways of the loon”—marks a turning point. Tyler does not emerge with easy answers or dramatic healing, but with breath, presence, and a renewed commitment to care for his body, spirit, and community. His story reframes vocation not as certainty or ordination, but as learning how to swim alongside others in deep water.
Tyler Mark NelsonTyler Mark Nelson is a community educator, ecotheologian, activist, and artist. He currently serves as a Research Associate with the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and is involved in projects exploring kinship and public ritual in a time of planetary crisis. Raised in Minnesota, Tyler’s work is deeply shaped by place, contemplative practice, and the more-than-human world.
“What Migrations Have You Been On?” – David Arfa
David Arfa’s story begins with a childhood encounter with a snake in a Detroit backyard—an early moment of exhilaration and curiosity rather than fear.
As David studies ecology, wrestles with family expectations, and searches for spiritual grounding, he finds unexpected resonance in Jewish ritual, prayer, and lineage. A formative experience with monarch butterflies in California—hundreds falling frozen from eucalyptus trees and lifted back into flight by human breath—becomes a moment of awe and ethical clarity.
Weaving together migration stories of butterflies, ancestors leaving Warsaw, and his own vocational journey, David invites listeners to consider what migrations—spiritual, emotional, generational—have made their own lives possible. His story holds wonder and responsibility together, asking what we are creating now that may not come to fruition for generations.
David Arfa coordinates bereavement services and offers grief counseling at Baystate Hospice. A storyteller and educator rooted in Jewish tradition, David’s work weaves together ecological awareness, spiritual lineage, and narrative as tools for meaning-making, wonder, and ethical responsibility.
Reflection and Response
Following both stories, Ben Yosua-Davis and Peterson Toscano reflect on the craft and impact of climate storytelling. They note the power of spaciousness, the refusal to rush toward solutions, and the way sound, image, and silence can carry meaning.
Together, they suggest that climate storytelling works best when it trusts listeners—when it offers images rather than explanations and allows sorrow, humor, holiness, and resilience to coexist.
Next Steps
Share the episode with someone who may need it. Stories create connection, and connection creates courage.
Tell your own story. Consider where land, body, memory, or ritual shape your climate story.
Practice storytelling as spiritual practice. Begin with image, place, or breath rather than argument or data.
Learn more about The BTS Center and upcoming programs at TheBTSCenter.org.
Explore storytelling coaching at StellarStory.com.
Announcing Season Four of Climate Changed!
In Season 4, incoming co-hosts Nicole Diroff and Autumn Brown will explore what it means to live, love, and lead with faith and imagination in a climate-changed world. We are especially honored to welcome Autumn—a visionary artist, theologian, and co-host of the acclaimed podcast How to Survive the End of the World with her sister adrienne maree brown—whose profound expertise in community resilience and speculative fiction brings a rare, transformative perspective to these essential conversations.
Season Four Guests
Francis Weller: francisweller.net (Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow).
Norma Wong: Institute of Zen Studies (Zen Master and leader).
Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner: Climate Change Chaplain
Tory Stevens: Climate Narrative Project (Climate storyteller).
Katie Mears: Episcopal Relief & Development (Disaster response leader).
 

Convocation Stories, Part One: Walking for Peace, Listening for Song

In this special bonus mini-series, Climate Changed returns to the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, where participants “flipped the script” and stepped forward to share climate-centered personal stories—not lectures, not data, not policy, but lived experience. Co-hosts Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis introduce two powerful stories of walking, vision, and spiritual practice from BTS Center community members June Zellers and the Rev. Sara Hayman.
About This Mini-Series: Convocation Stories
At the 2025 BTS Center Convocation, participants were invited to share climate-centered stories grounded in their own lives—stories shaped by imagination, vulnerability, and courage. In this mini-series, Peterson Toscano and Ben Yosua-Davis share two of those stories in each episode, offering listeners a glimpse of how ordinary people are integrating climate concern with spiritual practice, community, and daily life.
This end-of-year series is designed for a season when many of us are carrying questions about justice, the environment, and the future of our climate-changed world. Reflection, exhaustion, hope, and uncertainty often intermingle. These stories offer a companion for that moment, reminding us that one of the most powerful tools we have is our own voice and our own lived experience.
How These Stories Were Made: The Story-Making Process
To bring these stories to life with care and craft, The BTS Center partnered with Stellar Story Company. Months before Convocation, the BTS Center staff invited participants to propose story “seedlings” connected to the Convocation theme. More than twenty community members responded.
From those proposals, seven storytellers were selected. Each worked with an experienced storytelling coach from Stellar Story Company over several months, meeting in multiple sessions to develop, revise, and rehearse their stories. Together they shaped deeply personal narratives—rooted in faith, place, and embodied experience—designed to be shared in a plenary setting rather than as expert lectures.
As Associate Director Nicole Diroff explains in the episode, the intention was to “flip the script”: to center not headline keynotes, but the voices of people sitting at the tables, taking the leap to tell stories they had “lovingly, prayerfully crafted” for this community. The hope is that these stories will not only move listeners but also spark new stories in all of us.
Stories in This Episode
“When the Earth Sings” – A Vision Quest with June Zellers
Attorney and long-time BTS Center participant June Zellers takes us back 32 years to Eagle Song Camp in western Montana, where she joined 27 women and Indigenous teacher Brooke Medicine Eagle for a three-week physical and spiritual training culminating in a two-day vision quest.
Sitting within a carefully prepared medicine circle on a grassy mountainside, June seeks “soul-level answers” to why her outwardly successful law career feels so soul-crushing. What follows is a night of galloping horses, a mountain lion stalking a fellow participant, and the unsettling choice to break the rules in order to move toward another’s distress.
The second morning, as she wakes, June hears what she can only describe as the earth itself singing—a three-syllable chant carried first by stillness, then by warm rain, and finally by a brook she has crossed many times before. Tone-deaf and unable to reproduce the melody, she nonetheless carries this silent chant as a mantra through decades of difficulty, sorrow, and grief, a reminder that “regardless of my circumstances, the spirit of life is so incredibly joyful. And my soul, our souls, are designed to be radiant.”
“Walking for Peace and Friendship” – A Long Walk with Rev. Sara Hayman
The Rev. Sara Hayman, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, Maine, describes how intentional walking has become a primary way she gets grounded amidst overlapping crises, ministry demands, and the weight of liberal religious leadership. From the Camino de Santiago in Spain (500 miles, no blisters—though bedbugs made an appearance) to the wild coasts of Newfoundland and a sheep-covered Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, walking renews her spirit. It reconnects her to land, ancestors, and gratitude.
When Penobscot spiritual leader and activist Sherri Mitchell invites her to help organize a “Journey for Peace and Friendship”—an 82-mile, eight-day prayer walk from Indian Island (Penobscot Reservation) to the State House in Augusta—Sara says yes without asking her congregation’s permission. Alongside Wabanaki leaders and a diverse group of walkers, she experiences ceremony, risk, hostility from passing traffic, unexpected welcome (church bells, homemade chocolate-zucchini muffins, cold sparkling water), and the daily discipline of simply putting one foot in front of the other.
On the State House steps, exhausted and unprepared with formal remarks, she finds herself moved into a litany of gratitude—for Sherri, for fellow walkers, for the chance to remember that she is “from here,” deeply rooted in relationships that change her from the inside out. Six months later, her life has not been transformed in dramatic ways. She is still overwhelmed, still entangled, still wrestling with the demands of leadership. But every time she laces up her boots and walks the local mountain, 17 minutes from her house, she again touches the soul nourishment and connection that walking makes possible. And no matter what, she always feels “a little bit better when I’m walking.”
Season Four Preview: Welcoming Autumn Brown
This bonus episode also offers listeners a first look at Season Four of Climate Changed. Ben and Peterson announce that there will indeed be a fourth season—and that it will bring something new: writer, musician, and organizer Autumn Brown will join Nicole Diroff as a guest host.
Autumn is the recipient of the 2025 Margaret Brent Award from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a 2020 Auburn Seminary Lives of Commitment honoree. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College who continued her theological studies at the General Theological Seminary in New York, Autumn is a speculative fiction and creative nonfiction writer whose work appears in journals, anthologies, and collected volumes. Her band, also named Autumn, released two EPs in 2024, produced by Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. Many listeners will also know her as co-host of the podcast How to Survive the End of the World, created with her sister adrienne maree brown.
Season Four will continue to explore what it means to live, love, and lead in a climate-changed world, now with Autumn’s voice and experience adding new depth to the conversation.
Next Steps
Tell your own story. If these stories stirred something in you, consider sharing your reflections with someone in your community, in a sermon, newsletter, social media post, or small group gathering. Your voice matters more than you may think.
Practice climate storytelling as spiritual practice. Try noticing where your own stories begin with land, body, and ritual rather than with data or arguments.
Connect with The BTS Center. Explore upcoming programs, resources, and past events at TheBTSCenter.org.
Learn more about Stellar Story Company. Discover their coaching and storytelling offerings at StellarStory.com.
Meet the Storytellers
June Zellers June Zellers is an attorney and long-time member of the BTS Center community. An active member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Augusta, she also regularly practices with the Kennebunk River Zen Sangha. June’s story in this episode draws on an earlier chapter of her life, when—newly divorced and a partner in a respected law firm—she traveled to Eagle Song Camp in western Montana seeking “soul-level answers” about work, vocation, and joy. Her ongoing spiritual practice weaves together Earth-based ritual, contemplative listening, and a commitment to keeping the earth’s song alive as a silent chant in daily life.
The Rev. Sara Hayman The Rev. Sara Hayman has served for over fourteen years as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, Maine. A “justice mover and shaker” in the region, she works at the intersections of faith, public witness, and solidarity with Indigenous communities. Sara was part of the planning team for the “Journey for Peace and Friendship,” an 82-mile, eight-day prayer walk from Indian Island (Penobscot Reservation) to the Maine State House in Augusta, shaped daily by ceremony led by Wabanaki and other spiritual leaders. Long walks, local mountains, and a persistent practice of gratitude nourish her ministry.

Small Experiments with Radical Intent with Allen Ewing-Merrill and Rev. Nicole Diroff

What does it mean to take faithful action in a climate-changed world—especially when the problems feel impossibly large? In this final Behind the Scenes episode of the Climate Changed Podcast, host Jessica David sits down with Allen Ewing-Merrill, Executive Director of The BTS Center, and Rev. Nicole Diroff, Associate Director, to explore a defining BTS Center phrase: “small experiments with radical intent.”
Together, they reflect on how this deceptively simple idea invites spiritual leaders and communities to take creative, courageous steps—grounded in curiosity, rooted in discernment, and open to transformation. Through stories of congregations testing new practices, the BTS Center’s own experiment with reading weeks, and even Nicole’s family’s choice to replace disposable napkins with reusable ones, they reveal how small, intentional acts can lead to profound shifts in culture and worldview.
Jessica, Allen, and Nicole discuss what it means to lower the stakes, embrace failure as a learning opportunity, and approach faith work as experimentation rather than perfection. They unpack the “radical” in radical intent—not as extremism, but as a return to our roots—to what nourishes and sustains life. The result is a conversation that reimagines leadership and community as living laboratories for hope, spaciousness, and renewal.
Key Quotes
Allen Ewing-Merrill:
“The root of the word radical is radix, meaning root. What if being radical is really about sinking deeply into our roots—into our essence, our source of life and nourishment and vitality? It takes real discernment to know what that is, but once we do, transformation follows.”
Rev. Nicole Diroff:
“For me, small experiments with radical intent build the muscle of curiosity. They’re manageable but meaningful, and they keep our hearts open in uncertain times. Without curiosity, our hearts can harden—and that’s when transformation stops.”
Allen Ewing-Merrill:
“We’re more likely to act our way into a new way of thinking than to think our way into a new way of acting. A small experiment—taken with radical intent—helps us step toward that new way of being.”
Meet the Guests
Allen Ewing-Merrill Allen Ewing-Merrill serves as Executive Director of The BTS Center and is a pastor, writer, and father of three daughters. With a background in ministry and community leadership, he brings deep commitment to cultivating spiritual imagination for a climate-changed world. He lives in Portland, Maine, with his family and continues to find joy in the small experiments that keep faith active and alive.
Rev. Nicole Diroff Rev. Nicole Diroff is Associate Director of The BTS Center and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. A mother, an amateur naturalist, and a self-described “pet collector,” Nicole brings warmth and curiosity to every conversation she leads. Her work focuses on developing programs that nurture spiritual leadership, curiosity, and awe as pathways toward ecological and cultural transformation.
Join the Conversation
Have you tried a small experiment with radical intent in your own life or community? What did you learn?
Share your reflections by email at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voicemail at 207-200-6986.
The Climate Changed Podcast is a project of The BTS Center in Portland, Maine. Produced by Peterson Toscano.
Discover more episodes, transcripts, and resources at climatechangedpodcast.org.

Ash Temin and Ben Yosua-Davis Explore Curiosity as a Spiritual Practice

What does it mean to approach a climate-changed world with rigorous and reverent curiosity? Inthis special Behind the Scenes Edition of the Climate Changed Podcast, host Jessica David sits down with Ben Yosua-Davis and Rev. Ash Temin of The BTS Center. Together, they explore how curiosity—paired with imagination—can become a spiritual practice, a way of meaning-making, and a pathway toward more faithful responses in a climate-changed world.
From maple sap and chickens to contemplative practices and ecological grief, Ben and Ash share both the practical and the profound ways they cultivate curiosity in their own lives. They also reflect on how The BTS Center’s programs encourage spiritual leaders to slow down, pay attention, and imagine new ways of living and leading.
Key Quotes
Ash Temin: “Curiosity as a quiet, contemplative stance doesn’t make it any less alive. It might not be as visible, but it’s there fomenting the change that comes.”
Ben Yosua-Davis: “If you want to change, you have to slow down. You have to create spaciousness to ask big, open-ended questions that don’t have a one-to-one correspondence with your to-do list.”
Ash Temin: “Taking curiosity with rigor and reverence moves us out of selfishness and into an ecology of relationships, where growth and flourishing become possible.”
Meet the Guests
Ben Yosua-Davis
Ben Yosua-Davis is Director of Applied Research at The BTS Center, where he leads projects rooted in rigorous and reverent curiosity. A graduate of Drew Theological Seminary and Colby College, Ben previously co-planted a missional church and hosted the podcast Reports From the Spiritual Frontier. He lives with his family on Chebeague Island, Maine.
Rev. Ash Temin
Rev. Ash Temin is an ordained minister and Communications Manager at The BTS Center. She also offers spiritual direction in Portland, Maine. A graduate of UVA, Trinity College Dublin, and Harvard Divinity School, Ash brings her passion for ecological theology and grief work into her ministry and writing.
Join the Conversation:
Where do you fall on the hope spectrum? What practices do you use to cultivate hope — or maybe you don't?
Share your reflections via email at podcast@thebtscenter.org or leave a voicemail at 207-200-6986.
Climate Changed Podcast is a project of The BTS Center in Portland, Maine. Produced by Peterson Toscano. Visit climatechangedpodcast.org for more episodes of the Climate Changed podcast.

Claiming Your Call: Navigating Spiritual Leadership in a Climate-Changed World

What does it mean to have a calling in a climate-changed world?
In this episode, Jessica David is joined by Alison Cornish and Allen Ewing-Merrill from The BTS Center team to explore the idea of “calling.” How do we know what our deepest purpose is, especially when the world is shifting beneath our feet? Through personal stories, reflections on chaplaincy, congregational life, and ecological crisis, this conversation models how calling is not just a destination—it’s an ongoing dialogue between joy and need, self and world, spirit and action.
“My calling is to be an agent of God's love, healing, justice, and peace in the world.” — Allen Ewing-Merrill
“My specific calling really came when I heard the earth calling directly.” — Alison Cornish
✨ Highlights from the Episode
Alison and Allen reflect on their personal callings—from a childhood love of carpentry to a life of teaching and pastoring
The BTS Center’s unique framing of vocational discernment: spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world
A theological and interfaith understanding of calling as active, evolving, and collective
How congregations and chaplains are responding to climate change in ways that are embodied, compassionate, and spiritually grounded
An invitation to discern not just what you are called to do, but who you are called to be
🧭 Resources Mentioned in the Episode
Frederick Buechner’s Definition of Calling: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” https://www.frederickbuechner.com/
Refugia Faith by Debra Rienstra – framing congregations as spiritual refugia in a climate-changed world https://debriarienstra.com/refugia-faith/
Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World — A program led by The BTS Center in collaboration with: Creation Justice Ministries, Anabaptist Climate Collaborative. https://thebtscenter.org/claiming-your-call-for-a-climate-changed-world/
Chaplaincy Innovation Lab (Partnered with BTS Center on climate chaplaincy programming) [https://chaplaincyinnovation.org]
📣 Share Your Calling
We want to hear from you!
📞 Call or text: 207-200-6986 📧 Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org 🌐 Learn more and explore past episodes: climatechangedpodcast.org
 

Lists and Lima Beans: A Tactile Practice of Grief and Gratitude

Grounding:How do we make space for both sorrow and joy?
In this tender and tactile episode, Jessica David steps out of her hosting role and into practice leadership, guiding listeners through a deeply personal ritual that blends lamentation and gratitude — with help from candles and beans. Drawing inspiration from her love of list-making, Jessica offers a sensory-rich experience for naming griefs and exaltations, helping us hold the complexity of life in a climate-changed world.
Main Practice:This episode’s practice invites listeners to physically express emotions using small, everyday objects. With humor and heart, Jessica guides us through a sequence of lamentations and exaltations — statements of grief and gratitude — placing one object down for each.
Through this embodied ritual, we’re reminded that:
Grief and joy often coexist
Tactile practices help us stay grounded in the moment
Honoring loss is itself a sacred, healing act
Even impermanent gestures can hold deep meaning
This practice is accessible, creative, and well-suited for individuals, groups, and even children — with plenty of room for improvisation and personalization.
What You’ll Need:
A candle and lighter (optional but recommended)
A flat surface (floor, table, ground)
Two types of small objects (8 of each)
One type represents grief or lamentation
The other represents gratitude or exaltation (Examples: beans, stones, buttons, leaves, shells)
 
Next Steps:
Try the practice using what you have on hand: beans, buttons, shells, or stones
Explore it alone or with a group
Consider bringing it to your faith community, youth group, or a climate-related gathering
Share your experience with us:Email: podcast@thebtscenter.orgText or Call: 207-200-6986
Revisit the earlier practices in this series, offered by Madeline Bugeau-Heartt, Ash Temin, and Peterson Toscano.
Meet the Guest / Host:Jessica David is a Harvard Divinity School student and intern at The BTS Center. She is a curious and courageous spiritual leader who finds meaning in honest conversations, tactile rituals, and community-based exploration of climate, faith, and care. She’s also an excellent list-maker and lover of beautiful beans.
Meet the Guest / Host:
Peterson Toscano is the producer of the Climate Changed podcast and a longtime collaborator with The BTS Center. A skilled storyteller, performance artist, and climate communicator, Peterson brings creativity and depth to every episode. Learn more at his website, PetersonToscano.com
This episode concludes our Behind the Scenes mini-series — four practices for spiritual grounding in a climate-changed world.Learn more at: thebtscenter.org

Embracing Climate Change Uncertainty: A Practice for Impossible Questions

How do we hold space for what feels unanswerable?
In this episode of the Behind the Scenes Edition, host Jessica David welcomes Madeline Bugeau-Heartt, Program Associate at The BTS Center, to guide us through a contemplative practice. This episode isn’t about solving anything — it’s about embracing what feels impossible.
Main Practice:Madeline shares a guided meditation that invites listeners to sit with the “impossible questions” — the ones that don’t have tidy answers, especially in the face of climate uncertainty. Born from personal experience and deep spiritual reflection, this practice reframes uncertainty as sacred, not something to be avoided, but something to be honored.
Key themes include:
Holding profound uncertainty with reverence
Embracing not-knowing as a spiritual act
Honoring the questions that shape us
Cultivating bravery, not certainty
Listeners are encouraged to move outside (if possible), settle their bodies, and gently bring their impossible questions into presence, not to “figure them out,” but to tend to them as holy.
Next Steps:Try this practice again — or share it with a friend.Reflect on your impossible questions: What are they whispering?Journal. Walk. Breathe. Notice what unfolds.
Share your experience with us:Email: podcast@thebtscenter.orgText or Call: 207-200-6986
Keep journeying with us — the next episode in this series features a practice led by Jessica David.
Meet the Guest:
Madeline Bugeau-Heartt is a Program Associate at The BTS Center. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School and NYU Tisch, she brings her background in experimental theater, farming, and caregiving into her work. Madeline is passionate about creating spaces for radical imagination, deep embodiment, and joyful resistance, especially as we navigate life in a climate-changed world.
Meet Our Host:
Jessica David is a Master of Divinity candidate at Harvard Divinity School, founder of Local Return, and President & CEO of Rhode Island Community Investment Cooperative. With 20 years of experience working at the intersection of people and place, Jessica focuses on the intersection of spirituality and money, supporting community wealth-building and strategic organizational development.
This episode is part of our Behind the Scenes edition — a mini-series offering spiritual and embodied practices from The BTS Center’s team.Learn more at: thebtscenter.org

PROMO Embracing Climate Change Uncertainty w/ Madeline Bugeau-Heartt

Guest: Madeline Bugeau-Heartt
 How do we hold space for what feels unanswerable?
In this episode of the Behind the Scenes Edition, host Jessica David welcomes Madeline Bugeau-Heartt, Program Associate at The BTS Center, to guide us through a contemplative practice. This episode isn’t about solving anything — it’s about embracing what feels impossible.
Main Practice: Madeline shares a guided meditation that invites listeners to sit with the “impossible questions” — the ones that don’t have tidy answers, especially in the face of climate uncertainty.
Born from personal experience and deep spiritual reflection, this practice reframes uncertainty as sacred, not something to be avoided, but something to be honored.
Key themes include:
Holding profound uncertainty with reverence
Embracing not-knowing as a spiritual act
Honoring the questions that shape us
Cultivating bravery, not certainty
Listeners are encouraged to move outside (if possible), settle their bodies, and gently bring their impossible questions into presence, not to “figure them out,” but to tend to them as holy.
Next Steps: 🌀 Try this practice again — or share it with a friend. 💬 Reflect on your impossible questions: What are they whispering? 🪶 Journal. Walk. Breathe. Notice what unfolds.
📲 Share your experience with us: Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org Text or Call: 207-200-6986
🧭 Keep journeying with us — the next episode in this series features a practice led by Jessica David.
Meet the Guest:
 Madeline Bugeau-Heartt is a Program Associate at The BTS Center. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School and NYU Tisch, she brings her background in experimental theater, farming, and caregiving into her work. Madeline is passionate about creating spaces for radical imagination, deep embodiment, and joyful resistance, especially as we navigate life in a climate-changed world.
This episode is part of our Behind the Scenes edition — a mini-series offering spiritual and embodied practices from The BTS Center’s team. 🌿 Learn more at: thebtscenter.org

Listening Deeply in a Climate-Changed World with Peterson Toscano

Grounding:How do you stay grounded when facing climate chaos? For many, the journey begins with listening.
This episode opens with Jessica David reflecting on how grounding practices can help us remain present and compassionate in a world shaped by climate disruption. She’s joined by podcast producer and longtime BTS Center collaborator Peterson Toscano, who invites listeners into an immersive sonic experience. Through a guided soundscape meditation, Peterson helps us attune our ears — and our hearts — to the world around us.
Main Practice:In this practice-based episode, Peterson shares his love of sound and his approach to listening as a grounding ritual. He encourages us to let go of labeling, to listen without judgment, and to experience sound as connection — to place, to others, and ourselves. By tuning in to the textures and rhythms of daily life, we can awaken to the more-than-human world and our role within it.
Key themes include:
Reframing “background noise” as presence and meaning
Listening as an act of compassion and embodied awareness
How recording sound (even casually) heightens attention
Soundscapes as spiritual companions
This episode features a short soundscape, recorded and led by Peterson, to help listeners practice listening deeply. Whether you’re familiar with contemplative practices or new to them, this is an invitation to pause, notice, and reconnect. 
For the best experience, we recommend using headphones or earbuds. 
Next Steps:Try your own soundscape meditation — no fancy equipment required. Sit still and listen. Or take a gentle walk with your phone’s voice memo app.
Share your experience with us:Email: podcast@thebtscenter.orgText or Call: 207-200-6986
Explore additional grounding practices in the upcoming episodes with Madeline Bugeau-Heartt and Jessica David.
Meet the Guest:Peterson Toscano is a performance artist, climate communicator, and the producer of the Climate Changed podcast. He brings playfulness, vulnerability, and storytelling to conversations about faith and climate. Through sound, satire, and personal narrative, he helps listeners discover unexpected ways to connect with the climate-changed world. Listen to more experiments with sound on Peterson’s personal podcast, Bubble and Squeak.
This episode is part of our Behind the Scenes edition — a mini-series offering spiritual and embodied practices from The BTS Center’s team.Learn more at: thebtscenter.org

Practicing Groundedness in a Climate-Changed World

How do we stay grounded in a time of climate disruption? In this special Behind the Scenes Edition, host Jessica David invites listeners into a conversation with three BTS Center colleagues—Ash Temin, Madeline Bugeau-Heartt, and Peterson Toscano. Together, they explore the importance of spiritual and embodied practices that help us stay connected, present, and resilient in our climate-changed world.
Each guest shares how they engage in grounding practices, what works for them (and what doesn’t), and what these practices offer us in the midst of fear, grief, and uncertainty. The episode features a beautiful, nature-based practice led by Ash, with more practices to come in the next two episodes.
In this episode:
Ash invites listeners into a practice of creaturely communion.
Madeline offers reflections on holy noticing and joyful disruption.
Peterson talks about reclaiming the power of deep listening.
Jessica opens up about moving beyond words into embodied presence.
Whether you’re seasoned in spiritual practice or just starting to explore, this episode offers a taste of what’s possible when we make time to slow down and notice the world around—and within—us.
🎧 Plus, stay tuned for upcoming practices led by Peterson and Madeline.
Meet the Guests
Rev. Ash Temin Ash serves as the Communications Manager at The BTS Center and offers spiritual direction through her independent practice in Portland, Maine. An ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Ash is passionate about ecological theology and exploring the experience of ecological grief. She finds joy in coastal walks, creaturely companionship, and practicing connection with the more-than-human world.
Madeline Bugeau-Heartt Madeline is a Program Associate at The BTS Center. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School and NYU Tisch, she brings her background in experimental theater, farming, and caregiving into her work. Madeline is passionate about creating spaces for radical imagination, deep embodiment, and joyful resistance, especially as we navigate life in a climate-changed world.
Peterson Toscano Peterson is the producer of the Climate Changed podcast and a longtime collaborator with The BTS Center. A seasoned podcaster, performance artist, and climate communicator, he helps audiences see climate change from fresh angles. Through storytelling, satire, and sound, Peterson fosters empathy and sparks curiosity. 
💌 We’d love to hear from you! Tell us about your own grounding practices. Email: podcast@thebtscenter.org Call or Text: 207-200-6986
🌐 Learn more: climatechangedpodcast.org 🔗 Visit us: thebtscenter.org