OUR FUTURE NOW! PODCAST EPISODE # 7
The Spark of Activism Into Action is the title of the seventh episode of Our Future: Now! A National Children’s Campaign Podcast. The show’s co-host Jonah Gottlieb and Natalie Mebane are joined by Jamie Margolin, Founder and Co-Executive Director of Zero Hour.
To listen to the Podcast, you can go here. It can also be heard on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts and at the National Children’s Campaign and Parentology websites.
During the neary 17-minute episode they talk about Margolin’s youth activism, the environment movement centered around combatting the existential threat of climate change, and her new book: Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It.
Below is a guide to key points in the podcast:
- At 1 minute 30 seconds: Margolin talks about going to the Power Shift Conference a few years ago to make connections for a Youth Climate March she was organizing. Margolin recruited Mebane, who was working for the Sierra Club, to serve in the position she still holds today – Zero Hour’s Fundraising and Adult Mentor.
- At 2 minutes 20 seconds: Mebane talks about the first time she worked with Zero Hour, which was a Lobby Day that included meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders and shooting a video with him.
- At 3 minutes 40 seconds: Mebane talks about how she went to the first Power Shift Conference after graduating from college back in 2007, where she got inspired to get into organizing and fighting for the environment. In many respects her early career in activism mirrors Magolin’s journey.
- At 4 minutes 40 seconds: Margolin talks about the most indispensable piece of advice Mebane gave her, which is “finding your why”. That became the title of the first chapter in Margolin’s book. She talks further about the inspiration for her book, which was about responding to the question people have about how to become activist. Instead of continuing to respond on an individual basis, she decided writing a book could be a teaching tool for the masses.
- At 6 minutes 15 seconds: Margolin and Mebane talk about some of their favorite moments working together, which included prepping Margolin to testifying before Congress.
- At 7 minutes 35 seconds: Gottlieb talks about his experience facing wildfires in his community, which are supercharged by the climate crisis and the government’s inadequate response to the growing threat. It turned him into an activist. Last year at a lobbying training event for young people before they meet with members of Congress in Washington D.C., Gottlieb met Mebane. The effectiveness of the event helped lead to the creation of the National Children’s Campaign.
- At 9 minutes 40 seconds: Margolin talks about how her book consists of charpters dedicated to interviews with young people who are becoming politically engaged on different issues. It gives readers a window into the different paths young people can take.
- At 11 minutes 15 seconds: Mebane talks about how anything can inspire people to take action, such as what we are seeing with the nationwide protests against police brutality since the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- At 12 minutes 10 seconds: Margolin talks further about the type of concrete, helpful actions people can take with regards to police brutality that go beyond using hashtags on social media.
- At 13 minutes 10 seconds: Gottlieb and Mebane talk about the upcoming National Children’s Week, a virtual series of events that focuses on issues that impact young people that the National Children’s Campaign is hosting from June 14 – June 19.
- At 14 minutes 45 seconds: Margolin talks about how people can connect with her through social media and how to order her book.