VANCOUVER — Three months before his 85th birthday, iconic scientist, broadcaster, author and activist David Suzuki has released season 1 of his first podcast, The David Suzuki Podcast.

Through five episodes, the podcast’s first season, COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life, explores how the pandemic can help us refocus on what’s most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like.

“That’s really what this podcast is about: this virus — this historical moment — that has engulfed an entire planet, and the chance we have right now to find a healthier, happier, equitable and sustainable way forward,” Suzuki says. “We are the elements — fire, air, earth, water — and spirit. My great hope is that by coming back to this fundamental understanding of who we are, we can find a better path forward.”

Suzuki interviews old friends like Jane Fonda and Neil Young, leading thinkers like Jennifer Keesmaat and Kwame McKenzie, Indigenous activists and leaders like Winona LaDuke, Jeannette Armstrong and Autumn Peltier, financial journalist Attracta Mooney and youth activist Allie Rougeot, plus a variety of David Suzuki Foundation science and policy experts.

The podcast explores the issues of our time, while providing listeners with insights on how to get involved and make change in their lives and communities.

“People should join movements,” actor, activist and author Jane Fonda says in Episode 1, Fire. “Individualism is the tool of the ruling class. We’re so vulnerable as individuals. We have to work together in concert with like-minded citizens, in movements that are experienced and strategic. It was when I became an activist that I knew I wanted to live, what my purpose was and that my time wasn’t being wasted on Earth. Activism saved me; career was secondary.”

“‘Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s’ — I wrote that in 1970,” says Neil Young in Episode 5, Spirit. “[The environmental crisis] is just something we need to deal with, but we can’t deal with it with the old head. We need a new head. This is the challenge. It’s coming.”

“COVID-19 is 100 per cent one of those moments,” former Toronto chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat says in Episode 2, Air. “This is an opportunity for us to up our game. This is our opportunity to go, ‘Hold on a minute here… We have a public health crisis. We have an environmental crisis. We have a social equity crisis. How can we drive forward just and sustainable approaches to community design?’ The public health crisis isn’t separate from the environmental crisis. We need to link these objectives together and link together the way we think about the future.”

The podcast is available as of December 2, 2020, by visiting DavidSuzuki.org/Podcast.

– 30 –

For more information or to arrange an interview with David Suzuki, please contact:

Brendan Glauser, David Suzuki Foundation: bglauser@davidsuzuki.org, 604-356-8829

Acknowledgments:

Season 1 of The David Suzuki Podcast – COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life – was produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

David recorded these interviews from the traditional unceded territory of the We Wai Kai First Nation. He and his team are profoundly grateful to Indigenous Peoples, who have been responsible stewards of these beautiful lands for thousands of years, and who continue to teach us so much about how to live sustainably on this planet.

This podcast was developed and produced by Jason Arkley, David Leibl and Brendan Glauser. Editing, production and sound design by Katie Jensen, Renita Bangert and Michal Stein of Vocal Fry Studios. Theme music by Scott Nolan. Artwork generously provided by Roy Henry Vickers. We are thrilled to wrap each episode of this podcast with a song – four of which feature independent artists from the heart of Turtle Island. A heartfelt thank you to Andrina TurenneRichard InmanLeaf RapidsCarly Dow and Neil Young.

The David Suzuki Foundation (davidsuzuki.org) is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization, collaborating with all people in Canada, including government and business, to conserve the environment and find solutions for a sustainable Canada through evidence-based research, public engagement and policy work. Its mission is to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life, now and for the future. Its vision is that we all act every day on the understanding that we are one with nature. The Foundation operates in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.