By Holly Kirkpatrick (Producer and Host of Rise’s podcast, LIFTED)

Podcasts are free. So are the lessons.

This week I’ve been listening to Season Two of Threshold, which is all about the Arctic. I’ve not even finished listening to the whole season yet, and I have been getting schooled.

Before listening to this podcast, any mention of the word ‘Arctic’ cued a mental slideshow of stereotypical stock footage: miles of white barrenness shot from a helicopter, starving polar bears, an iceberg forming. And I doubt I’m alone. After all, in most of the 1-4 minute news and radio reports about the Arctic or climate change, we don’t always hear enough from the four million people actually living there. Threshold aims to change that by exploring the complexities of the Arctic through the stories of its residents. According to the podcast website, executive producer Amy Martin visited all eight countries in the Arctic Circle, interviewing the people that live there, in an attempt “to find out what the Arctic is, how it is changing, and why it matters.” Indeed, Martin mainly focuses on amplifying the voices of the area with the support from a few outside experts. The standout episodes for me are those which really delve into the stories of the people living there (Ep 2 ‘Invisible Hands’ and Ep 6 ‘Just Decide’, are faves so far), and we often hear from individuals from indigenous communities whose voices have been systematically suppressed.

If it’s all sounding a bit serious, be assured that it’s not all doom and gloom. As with any story that is told in-depth, it has light and shade. In fact Martin starts episode 1 by declaring, “I fell in love in the Arctic” immediately providing a counter-narrative to the usual overwhelming sense of hopelessness that can accompany Arctic reports. And it soon becomes clear that this series is not just about one thing: Threshold does a brilliant job of demonstrating how climate change is interconnected with many other elements, specifically colonization. Want to know how? Have a listen. 

Check it our via their website: thresholdpodcast.org