ENCORE: Taylor Brorby and Suzie Hicks Tell The Stories We Don’t Always Hear

This Climate One encore episode revisits two powerful conversations from the previous year, spotlighting the deeply personal and transformative work of Taylor Brorby and Suzie Hicks in confronting the climate crisis through storytelling. Taylor Brorby, a fourth-generation North Dakota fossil fuel family member and author of 'Boys in Oil,' shares his journey of growing up gay in a rural, coal-dependent company town. He reflects on the emotional and creative tension between his identity and his roots, using writing as both healing and activism. His arrest during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and his fight against editorial censorship underscore his commitment to truth-telling and representation. Meanwhile, Suzie Hicks, a former theater student turned climate educator, discusses her children's show 'Susie Hicks, The Climate Chick and Sprout,' which uses joy, emotional regulation, and hope to teach young children about climate change without inducing fear. Through characters like Sprout, a sunflower puppet embodying the inner child, the show models emotional resilience and empowers kids with agency. Both guests emphasize that storytelling—whether through memoir or children's media—is essential to shifting climate narratives from doom and gloom to possibility and collective action.