Join us for a funny, fascinating reminder that the most powerful environmental stories focus on characters and plot, not lectures. Today's guest is award-winning novelist, former beekeeper, and accidental farmer Julie Carrick Dalton.

Let your characters work it out. Julie hands off her big existential climate questions to her fictional characters and let's them sort it out. Not only does this let her sleep at night, it also allows her to see multiple perspectives. After all, no character in real life (or good fiction) is always right or always wrong.

Love the hell out of what you have. When confronted with loss, you have a choice: get stuck in the grief or protect and celebrate what's still there. Let's love the hell out of what we have left, because that’s how we find strength and inspiration to take action.

Find your personal why. Don't write a "climate story", write YOUR story. Julie lost 40,000 honeybees in a single day when a neighbor's lawn chemicals drifted into her hives. That loss inspired "The Last Beekeeper."

Story first. The people who pick up books labeled "climate fiction" probably aren’t the ones who most need the message. Julie gives her thriller readers the content that they want … and if they wind up rethinking their assumptions about environmental issues, that’s a happy extra.

• New Hampshire's growing season has extended by 22 days over the last century, but some regions have seen even more dramatic shifts. Check out the EPA's Climate Change Indicators: Length of Growing Season.
• Moth Story Slams are hosted in cities across the country, and you too could tell a 5-minute story on stage!
• The Land Back movement seeks to put more Indigenous lands in Indigenous hands. NPR did a recent story on efforts in the US.

Want to nerd out about craft? We dove deep into processes like Julie's visual plotting system (with spirit animals!) and the intensive writing program that took her from journalist to published author. Tune in if that sounds like fun.

• Website: juliecarrickdalton.com
• Newsletter: Julie's Plot Twist on Substack
• Instagram: @juliecdalton

Julie's Books

• "Waiting for the Night Song" (2021) - CNN, USA Today, Newsweek Most Anticipated Book
• "The Last Beekeeper" (2023) - Massachusetts Book Award longlist
• "The Forest Becomes Her" (July 2026) - forthcoming from St. Martin's Press

Leave me a comment (guest and topic suggestions welcome!) and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Visit www.marinapsaros.com/earthworks for show notes, transcripts, and more.

Come explore a world of music, art, and environmental hope with Sarah Kraning. Sarah is a painter with synesthesia whose work bridges contemporary art and music cultures. In her ongoing project with global wildlife nonprofit Re:wild, she's fusing the colors, rhythms, and movements of nature with the emotional palette of popular music. In our conversation, we get into:

• Painting wildlife soundscapes during the 2024 Texas eclipse, and what it sounded like when it got real dark (04:05)
• Why making the invisible visible is at the heart of her conservation work (10:55)
• The challenge of measuring cultural shifts (instead of just counting eyeballs) (21:32)
• How letting yourself be authentically you (even without formal art training!) can lead to your most impactful work (24:37)

• Website: sarahkraning.com
• Instagram and TikTok: @sarahkraning

• Go ahead, make a weird mashup of the things you love. Sarah has a neuroscience background, not formal art training. Her most impactful work started happening when she brought together her passions for wildlife conservation, music, amd painting with her synesthesia.
• When imposter syndrome hits, ask "what would I create if I was alone in my room, just enjoying the process?" You’ll be more authentic, which means you’ll probably do a better job (and you’ll certainly have more fun!)
• Rethink what success looks like for impact work. Don’t let the algorithms and platforms make you believe that follower counts are the end-all-be-all. Shifting hearts and minds and culture is what actually matters.

• Re:wild: Global wildlife conservation nonprofit Sarah partners with on Invisible Worlds
• Speaking of Psychology podcast episode: Tasty words, colorful sounds: How people with synesthesia experience the world, with Julia Simner, PhD
• #TeamWater: The latest impact campaign from MrBeast and Mark Rober (spoiler alert: they crushed their $40m fundraising goal)
• Sarah's art + wildlife prints: 100% of proceeds support Invisible Worlds and Re:wild's conservation work
• “Fish make music! It Could it be the key to healing degraded coral reefs?” Listen to the recording at this link to hear marine life howling at the moon!

Leave me a comment (guest and topic suggestions welcome!) and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Visit www.marinapsaros.com/earthworks for show notes, transcripts, and more.

Christa Avampato shares how she created Secrets and Lies, a live storytelling game show that brings secret New York City history to life. After surviving an apartment fire, cancer, and COVID shutdowns, Christa relaunched her show at Climate Week NYC with a focus on nature in the city. In this conversation, we explore what it takes to bring a creative vision to life when you've never done it before, how to partner with organizations authentically, and why rejection can’t stop you. We get into:

• How Christa turned several loves at once into a sold-out live show (03:36)
• Taking random advice from strangers on LinkedIn (07:56)
• Becoming your own hype person (18:21)
• What passenger pigeons cost for dinner in 1900 (24:16)
• What happens when you almost die twice and how it transforms your relationship with creative risk (27:07)

Christa Avampato is a licensed New York City tour guide, storyteller, and the creator of Secrets and Lies, a live game show that explores the city's hidden history. After earning her master's degree in environmental management and surviving both cancer and COVID, she relaunched her show at Climate Week NYC 2025 with a focus on sustainability and community partnerships. Christa brings together her love of history, game shows, and environmental storytelling to make the weird and wonderful accessible to New Yorkers and visitors alike.

Find Christa:

• Website: doubleornothangmedia.com/secretsandlies
• Instagram: @christarosenyc | Threads: @christarosenyc | LinkedIn: @christaavampato
• Next show: December 10th at the Maritime Museum, NYC

Please rate and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! Your reviews help other creative people find Earthworks.

Visit www.marinapsaros.com/earthworks for show notes, transcripts, and more

Contact host Marina Psaros atwww.marinapsaros.com/contact or connect on LinkedIn.