DiscoverWHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?Climate hushing, fart jokes, and love. 😝 John Marshall on how to market climate action.
Climate hushing, fart jokes, and love. 😝 John Marshall on how to market climate action.

Climate hushing, fart jokes, and love. 😝 John Marshall on how to market climate action.

Update: 2025-11-02
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For those of us trying to advance climate solutions (go team!), there’s always the question of how to be more impactful, how to bring more people along with us into this work. And often the answer is not fancier technology or more brilliant policy, it’s more compelling communication for recruiting and persuasion.

Today’s podcast guest, John Marshall, is an expert in marketing. He spent the first half of his career working with corporations who want to sell us stuff. And now, as founding executive director of the nonprofit Potential Energy, he’s using those same tools to sell climate solutions.

So, what messages are most effective? What words should we use or avoid? Who are the best messengers? What’s his advice for me about how to be a better one? And what’s love got to do with it?

I learned so much, including that we simply have to talk about climate MORE. So, Earthlings, let’s get into it!

John’s CALL TO ACTION πŸ—£οΈ

Rally your crew, build the team: "Do things, invite people. You invite three people and they invite three people, and that’s how change actually happens. And that’s how we get an acceleration. So do talk about it with somebody. Invite somebody to do something together."

Simple, necessary, and something each of us can do more of. To put it in the words of Bill McKibben, sometimes the best thing an individual can do is to stop being such an individual.

Podcast notes:

If you’re enjoying this podcast, please help others find us β€” follow, rate, and review the show. βœ… Text the link of your favorite episode to your favorite group chat, and discuss!

This podcast is ad-free thanks to the support of Future Being, a grant making and special project studio, which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity.

This episode was produced and edited by Gabby Bulgarelli, and me, Ayana, with help from associate producer Jenisha Shrestha.

If you’re new here, peruse the back catalog. A few dozen hours of sweet podcast conversations with incredible guests await you. ✨



Get full access to WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? at ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/subscribe
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Climate hushing, fart jokes, and love. 😝 John Marshall on how to market climate action.

Climate hushing, fart jokes, and love. 😝 John Marshall on how to market climate action.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson