Turning pain into purpose can often be the cornerstone of activism. Dr. Lucy Kalanithi exemplifies that in her work as a physician. In this episode, Lucy walks us through her unconventional journey into activism. She explains what it means to find joy in the midst of suffering, the importance of discovering your purpose, and why she’s fighting to make the healthcare system more human and more humane.

Check out Lucy’s podcast Gravity

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With a problem as big as the climate crisis, it can be hard to truly visualize its impact. We're excited to share the first episode of As She Rises, a new Wonder Media Network podcast that brings together poetry and stories of action to contextualize the elusive magnitude of climate change.

This episode of As She Rises visits the land currently known as Louisiana. Poet Jerika Marchan reads from her collection “SWOLE,” recounts living through Hurricane Katrina, and tells us why she'll stay in Louisiana as long as it will let her. Colette Pichon Battle, founder and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy, advocates for structural shifts towards ecological equity and climate justice in communities of color on the frontline of climate change.

Subscribe to As She Rises on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Lucy Kalanithi and Mary Annaïse Heglar explore what becomes possible when we look at the climate crisis differently.

Mary Annaïse Heglar’s essays include “2020: The Year of Converging Crises” (Rolling Stone), “Home is Always Worth It” (Medium), “Climate Change Isn’t The First Existential Threat” (Zora), and “I work in the Environmental Movement. I Don’t Care If You Recycle” (Vox). Listen to Hot Take (co-hosted by Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt) wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to their newsletter.

Curious about the poem you heard in this episode? It was “How Dark the Beginning” by Maggie Smith, read by her. Find more of Maggie’s poetry in her latest collection, Goldenrod. You’ll also love Keep Moving and Good Bones.

Dr. Kate Marvel’s essay is “We Need Courage, Not Hope, To Face Climate Change” (On Being). Rebecca Solnit’s quote – “hope is not like a lottery ticket… hope is an ax you break down doors with” – is from Hope In The Dark. For more on climate grief, look to Dr. Renee Lertzman. Dr. Glenn Albrecht’s neologism is solastalgia.

For Drs. Kimberly Nicholas and Seth Wynes’ work on behavior change to shift culture, read “A Hard Look in the Climate Mirror” (Scientific American): “for me, turning my scientific knowledge into action was a little like falling in love. It was a switch that got flipped.” Dr. Nicholas’ book is Under the Sky We Make.

Climate action and activism: The All We Can Save Project, Sunrise Movement, End Climate Silence, 350.org, Project Drawdown, Currently, Extinction Rebellion.

Gravity is produced by Wonder Media Network. Original music by Rachel Wardell. Rekha Murthy is our editor. Jenny Kaplan is our executive producer.

For more on why we’re doing what we're doing, check us out on Instagram and on Twitter. Find Lucy on Twitter at @rocketgirlmd.