Hey there Reader,

Today I've had a few "knew it" moments. And to hear that correctly along with a visual, channel the meme "Nailed it!" But then point your finger down to the table and slowly tap, and the words to yourself.

First knew it moment: Sarah Polley's film Women Talking did get the Best Picture nomination today, adapted from a novel by the same name, by another stellar Canadian writer Miriam Toews (Polley also nabbed a nom for Best Adapted Screenplay).

Last September I was gifted a ticket when it screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff, as we like to call it). By the end of the film, I had been crying for long enough that the stranger sitting next to me leaned over, with great care, and asked: "Are we going to be ok then?"

It's a wonderful and challenging film that takes on a #MeToo style question, among a group of ultra orthodox Mennonite women.

Which is another way of saying it wasn't a shoe-in for this honour. But I knew it would get the nod...it's an important, if difficult, film.

My second knew it moment has been slowly brewing for a while, but today I finally put my finger on it.

I just finished the book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose In The Age Of Climate Change, by Britt Wray.

The book dives into the uncomfortable places where mental health and climate change intersect. She does this in a very accessible and narrative way. She finds a different way each chapter to connects people and issues with concern and reflection. She does not offer solutions, because there are no magic buttons to press. Her point is that we just first need to call it out, and begin to discuss it.

I'm just a barrel of laughs today, aren't I? Stick with me...

As I finished the book, I sat there thinking to myself...I've had this conversation before... or one just like one of the anecdotes buried in this book.

Mid way through our trip to Antarctica in 2018, when I pulled Sarah Hamylton and Sarah Lucas together to talk some more, our topic was this: To explore the question that Sarah Hamylton raised, about how doctors manage to feel resilient when faced with constant grief, and what they can teach a coral reef scientist who feels a similar emotions, but in her case, from visiting her coral reef research sites that had gone through difficult bleaching events...I knew there was something more to this. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I told this story in a very early newsletter, and then pulled the story together in a short piece that I called Reef Grief.

Do I regret calling it that, with all its rhyming cuteness? Yes, a bit.

But as I finished the last pages of Generation Dread, I sat there thinking to myself, knew it. There's more to this idea of feeling grief for the natural world we see struggling around us under the weight of the Anthropocene.

And then I had another moment. I knew it that my work on that ship back in 2018 would continue to teach me and guide me, for years to come. And I knew it that someday, I would find a way to share some of my knowledge with the next generation of eco-minded storytellers.

This month I'm excited to start to work with a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, formerly Ryerson) to teach his students how to make a short narrative podcast about the themes and ideas that come up for them in Generation Dread.

So, making short stories about things like Reef Grief...or as we might call it with a more weighted term, eco-anxiety, or eco-distress...using narrative podcasting as the format of storytelling.

I'm excited to help teach all that I know about how to pull out, put a narrative on, and dive into ideas and issues, that are both personal and planetary.

Maybe I'll re-make Reef Grief into a longer piece next, or I'll find new ones to share with you...but for now, here's a replay of a very early story from the archives of audio love.

Sending Audio Love,

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P.S. If your are an indie audio creator, and you're thinking about submitting something to the Tribeca Audio Festival, HIT REPLY and to connect with me FIRST!

I've been in touch with the festival and they are looking for ways to make submissions more equitable for everyone.

And if you're wondering what it means to be "indie," it means you create things that aren't always paid for, and that you're not employed by one of the BIG 10 companies out there, and you don't have a giant payroll to fulfill each month.

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