Storytelling, Opportunities through Connections, and Everyday Changemakers with Matt Scott

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! 

On today’s episode, we talk with Matt Scott, Director of Storytelling and Engagement at Project Drawdown and founding director of Drawdown Stories about Storytelling, Opportunities through Connections, and Everyday Changemakers.   Read his full bio below.

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Showtimes: 
1:32 - Power of Stories
7:56 - Interview with Matt Scott Begins
15:08 - What is Project Drawdown
24:26 - Bringing everyday people into the convo
35:50 - Draw to Reality TV

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This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.

Connect with Matt Scott at https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-scott-6ba55a28/

Guest  Bio:
Matt Scott (He/Him) is the Director of Storytelling and Engagement at Project Drawdown and founding director of Drawdown Stories, where he helps everyday people connect with climate solutions. He hosts Drawdown’s Neighborhood, a climate solutions docuseries, highlighting local climate heroes across the U.S. with a focus on passing the mic to voices who often go unheard. Previously, Matt led global community engagement for NASA’s Space Apps Challenge, the world’s largest problem-solving hackathon, earning two NASA awards and collaborating with organizations including the UN, USAID, Nike, and the Obama White House. He’s also the creator of Let’s Care and the film 20s & Change: San Francisco, which has been recognized at three film festivals. Matt's work has been featured by The Weather Channel, National Geographic, Grist, PBS, FEMA, NOAA, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Hollywood Climate Summit, and more. 

Music Credits
Intro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace Mesa
Outro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs Muller

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to EPR with your favorite environmental nerds, Nic and Laura. On today's episode, Nic and I talk about the power of stories. We interview Matt Scott about storytelling opportunities through connections and everyday change makers. And finally, did you know Koi Fish always travel in groups of 4? If attacked, KOI A, KOI B, and KOI C will scatter, leaving behind the decoy. Damn. Now you know. NAEP just completed another round of essential and advanced NEPA workshops. Our next event is scheduled in person for November 13 and 14th in Denver, Colorado. These training workshops are designed for emerging and experienced environmental professionals engaged in the preparation of environmental assessments and environmental impact statements to fulfill the federal lead agency responsibilities pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. These courses are designed to help you understand the requirements and how to fulfill the spirit and legislative intent of NEPA. It's absolutely essential in a time like this where agency policies are being updated rapidly. Please check that out at www.NAEP.org. Let's get to our segment. I don't think we've talked about the month before. Do you know what the moth is, Laura? I know the little bugs that fly into flames. So, the Moth is like a storytelling, like, uh, medium, so to speak. I think it's run by like NPR or some of that, and yeah, they have it in different cities and they do different things and I'm probably butchering it all right now, but I've gotten to do that a couple of times and I got to win and then go to the grand finale, which was super fun. Um, and it's a way to connect with people. And a very, you know, it can be a very powerful moment. It can be really awkward and embarrassing, or maybe you shouldn't tell a story kind of moment as well, but, you know, like open mic with storytelling? Not really. It's kind of, it's more like they expect you to have a good story and they expect it to be good.

You get rated on how it is, and so when you do it the first time, they will have the audience have judges, and those judges will tell, will pick the best story. So, yeah, the first time I did it, I decided to, I was like, oh, this is how this works. I got called up to do a story; I like this so this will be my story. I told the story, it was really good, and that was cool, and you know, it was really neat, it's fun to do, and then you get to do the grand slam, that's what they call it, and then it's like a story of really great stories. I did not win that, and honestly, the person that won deserved to win. It was an amazing story, an amazing story, and it was really cool to do. It was really fun, and I just, as a medium, I think it's really fascinating that people come from different places and they have different experiences, but so much of that is shared. In lots of ways. It sounds similar to like TEDx or Toastmasters? How's it, how's its own thing? Sort of, I mean, like to me, I don't know, you have, I think it's 5 minutes or so to tell your story, and there's a theme every night, you know, so they have like, I think ours, the first one was grown. You know, it's like the moment you knew you were grown, you were no longer a kid, and there's some just some real impactful stories from that experience, and I think that's kind of how they set it up and how they organize it. And there are people that are professional storytellers that will, will go on to those things. There are people who are just there and put their name in a hat and they get pulled, and so there's a little bit of open micness to it, which is kind of fun, but it's also Most of the stories are really good. It's a really fun thing. It's truly, if you like to talk, uh, it's worth doing. It's worth doing. I did a storytelling event like that one time in Syracuse. Some people go week after week. I did it once and I was like, OK, check that box. 

Right. Well, I mean, I've only, I've only really done it twice. I don't know. I, I feel like for me, it would be like, I'm wanting to have a good story to tell. And if I don't have a good story to tell, I won't do it. And it's not that I don't, it's just that that takes time. And, you know, it's like anything we do, Laura, right? We give it 110%. And if we don't, then it doesn't really feel fair to do. And I think that's kind of how I felt about it. Yeah, and that's probably why I haven't done others. Yeah. Yeah. Which is funny though, because the one I won, I actually did like I did the story off the top of my head. I just knew the story. I just knew it well, and I told it, you know, I'd never told it like that, but I did tell it in a way that was really good and really impactful, and I was proud of myself for doing that. But it's also draining and scary and, oh, man. How long was it? It was about 5 minutes. I think it was 5 or 6 minutes, and it was about like one of the tougher moments in my life and how I got through that and How that kind of set me up to be who I am and how I see people, right? And I think that was kind of, it was a really interesting thing to do. It was a lot of fun to do for that experience, but it's not easy to do that kind of thing all the time. So I love hearing from storytellers, people who are used to doing that because it's not common, it's not, uh, it's a really unique skill. Right, but now you know, Sam and I are sitting here wondering what the story was. It's, it's pretty heavy. OK, well, OK, all right, well, you have to share it, but. Well, I mean, OK, I will give you the Cliff Notes version of the story. So, basically, I remember when I graduated college, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I was basically procrastinating, joining the workforce, cause I didn't want to. I didn't want to grow up, I just wanted to hang out with my friends and my girlfriend and have a good time and just enjoy that. Then I finally decided to get a temp job. Like away from school, just to do something, and it wasn't a good job, it was just a job, and, and I, I just wanted to do it. And then the week I left happened to be the week that the Virginia Tech massacre happened, and then I went from being almost like a kid to not right away. And it was like that moment, it's like, this is life and life is hard and horrible and cruel sometimes beyond what you can comprehend. It was really heartbreaking, and there's lots of ways that it was. And I told that story about the people that I knew that died, and I think that frame of reference was why it was so, it's so impactful.

Truthfully, there was somebody that had come from Sandy Hook, had survived that and actually came up to me and gave me a hug. It's hard to say that without, you know, tearing up a little bit, but like, That's the power of storytelling, right? It's, it's you never know where connections are going to come from. I have no idea who that person was, and I'm sad that I didn't even think to be like, here's my number, you know, I never need anything. Um, but, but it's also perfectly great to be that moment and it's something that I have in my head, you know, because. Yeah, storytelling, that's a great example of how sharing our stories is so important for those shared lived experiences. Yeah, good or bad, you know. Yeah, yeah, but yeah, I know. I didn't want to talk about it necessarily, but I always am happy to share that story when I need to, but yeah, that's the power of storytelling, that's what it is. I almost said the power of love, by the way. A little, little, uh, back to the future reference for everybody, but yeah, um turning this into a musical so. But yeah, I don't know. So like I said, I'm looking forward to the episode, looking forward to hearing more about storytelling from a different perspective. Absolutely, let's get to our interview. 

Welcome back to EPR. 

Today we have Matt Scott, director of storytelling and engagement at Project Drawdown, and the creator of Drawdown's Neighborhood, a docuseries highlighting climate heroes across the US. Welcome, Matt. I'm excited to have you here today. Yeah, thank you so much for having me, Laura. I'm, I'm just thrilled to be here and to have this conversation today. Same, I have been following Project Drawdown for a while, so I'm excited to get more of the actual details from someone who knows. I also looked at your bio obviously online and you have so many cool things that you've done before you got to Project Drawdown, so maybe let's start there. Hit some highlights that have led you to Project Drawdown. Oh my gosh. Well, you know, really, and I was just reflecting on the fact that it, you know, it's been just over a decade since I graduated from college, I think 11 years since I graduated from college, and I, you know, got into storytelling almost immediately from that point. I think there's always something about me that was passionate about people and their stories, and I didn't know, I had no idea at all how that would turn into a career, but it led me to digital marketing at first, where I worked on advocacy campaigns, which is perfect for someone who's in Washington DC and I worked on campaigns with education, some with the environment, some with music rights and artists' rights around that. But a couple of years into that, actually, almost exactly 10 years ago, is when I discovered an organization called Second Muse, and they worked with, like, the world's leading organizations when it Comes to social impacts like the White House, like NASA, the USA program, United Nations, so many others. And I thought, wow, that's cool. And it was their director of storytelling and engagement, Devar Ardalan, who had been a senior producer with NPR for 22 years before that, who like hired me on.

And so flash forward to, you know, the next 5 years at Second Muse, I was the global community manager and storyteller of the world's largest global. Hackathon, NASA's International Space Apps Challenge, um, with people all over the world, 80+ countries that I worked directly with, 100+ countries that we had participants in. And I'm so proud of, like, winning two NASA awards because of that. I have to get that in. Um, that still blows my mind a little bit. And then, you know, while there were so many other great projects with the Obama White House and a number of others, like, I really, in 2017, Began interviewing people on my own independently. 2017 also happens to be the year that my dad passed away, which is a huge part of my story. And he was this incredible hero with his own amazing story that rooted back to civil rights era Virginia. And so there was something about that that pushed me to just start interviewing people. And so, over Zoom. Like, time and time again, I would interview change makers and learn from them. And that is sort of the path that led me to where I am now with the work I do at Project Drawdown, because randomly, I took a week off from work. I made a film called Twenties and Change San Francisco, which has been recognized at a few film festivals and realized like, wow, I really love this like interviewing and highlighting change makers thing. And So, so many other days and moments in between all of it, but those are some of the highlights leading me to Project Drawdown where I am now as the director of storytelling and engagement. Yeah, that is amazing. And really, like, the first decade of someone's career is like, just, that is mind blowing. It was, it's kind of funny. 

I had a boss who once said, like, wow, Matt, like you have a resume that like most 4 year olds would be like envious of, and I think I was probably 25 at the time, and it's kind of wild to think about, but I'm thankful for it. I'm glad that good things come if, if there are other, you know, amazing collaborations. that are out there in the world. I'm always welcoming them. So I'm thankful and lucky in so many ways and, and also just glad that things have come together the ways that they have. Yeah, and of course, luck plays a part in anybody's role, but like, what do you think? Yeah. In hindsight, are some of the keys that have helped you open these doors. I mean, is it location? Are you, did you grow up in DC? Like, how does the uh someone from NPR just like, oh, they just hired me. Well, so it's interesting, like that, I guess my overall theme of like how I've gotten to where I am, in large part has just been like openness to Connecting with people and showing up the best I can, like with a smile, with enthusiasm. Like I've found that I'm someone who, again, with storytelling, but also with advocacy, has always just shown up as myself, doing what I'm passionate about. And you never know when those connections will lead to Someone saying, Oh, you should apply for this position, or even inviting you to be interviewed on NPR, for instance. And so, like, I think about my first job out of college, which really, the only reason I knew about the organization was because someone that I knew, I worked with on campus at a student organization called Students Against Sexual Assault here in Washington DC at the George Washington University. Recommended, like, you should apply there. And I did, and that interview worked out well. 

But also, going back to students against sexual assault, the week or two before I graduated from college, NPR randomly emailed our inbox and was like, Hey, do you have someone who could talk about like campus sexual assault and things that you're doing on campus? And I was like, well, that's me. I'm the president of the organization now, and That led to me forming a relationship with Tavar, who's the senior producer, who then left NPR and started this new role. And so, I mean, a lot of it is just like connecting with people genuinely. And I'm sure there are like thousands of others I've connected with over time, which, you know, didn't lead to a job or a career or an opportunity, but you never know who's watching and you never know who's like admiring what you're. Doing or noticing what you're doing enough to like put in a good word or enough to recommend that you apply for a role. So, yeah, just showing, showing up with a smile, I guess is how I would sum it up, probably. I love it. That's great. And, you know, a lot of times these nuggets don't happen in the podcast episode till later on. So here we are. Right out the gate, right out of the gate. I love it. I, I will also say, like, to that point, like, I've also been someone who, you know, through interviews, loves to. Just randomly reach out to people and connect. And so I love that you're doing this podcast because I've also been in the podcast world, and I do feel like when you put yourself out there, when people know you exist, like, wow, magically, it leads to other good things coming up. 

No, that's a good point. Step one, let people know you exist. Let people know you exist. Step one, that's show up with a smile and be yourself. I guess so, yeah. That's awesome. OK, well, let's get into what you do at, well, what is Project Drawdown and what do you do as the storytelling engagement manager? Yeah, yeah. So, Project Drawdown is an organization that's focused on advancing science-based climate solutions and really serves as a guide to all sorts of stakeholder groups, philanthropists. And investors, businesses, communities, nonprofits, governments, anyone who is looking for science-based climate solutions information, and Project Drawdown first became known for the Drawdown book, which became a New York Times bestseller back in 2017. But over time, uh, particularly in the time. That have been with Project Drawdown, which has been over the last 5 years since 2020, Project Drawdowns evolved to more deeply work with the groups that we work with. So, at first, Project Drawdown was known for the science of climate solutions, which has only gotten stronger with building out a science team, which is probably about half of our organization. And then we've done work to, you know, work with stakeholders when it comes to climate solutions who are looking for the best ways to integrate climate solutions. 

So you've got the science ones, you've got the stakeholders the second S, and the third S. It's stories, and that's where I come in. So it was about like 5 years ago when I was hired as the manager of storytelling and engagement, but 3 years ago when I became director of storytelling and engagement and started the Drawdown Stories program, which I've really focused over that time on passing the mic to voices. often go unheard in the climate space and also humanizing the science and humanizing climate solutions so that people could really see themselves in them and, you know, start to see that they could be the climate heroes that our world needs. And so the big way that I've really done that work at Project Drawdown. Over the last several years has been through the Drawdowns Neighborhood Climate Solution short docuseries. And I'm so thrilled to say it has been 60+ change makers that we've highlighted to date with actually some of those episodes coming out in October, so this month. That's amazing. Where are they coming out? Yeah, they'll be out at drawdown.org/neighborhood. I love getting in a plug for something early, but 7 episodes from the Los Angeles area featuring local climate heroes who are working on food, agriculture, land and oceans. I should also say that to date, Drawdown's neighborhood has been in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Georgia, the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, New Orleans, which has such a storied, powerful history.

I mean, like, 20 years after. After Hurricane Katrina now. And then also the tri-state area, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and, uh, San Francisco Bay area where some of our latest episodes have been out. But yeah, they'll all be out at drawdown.org/neighborhood in the coming weeks. That's awesome. And so what's your role in that? Are you, you're producing the whole thing, or are you actually doing the interviews, doing all of it? All of that. So I was the creator of Drawdown's Neighborhood along with Eric Dowds, who is the creator of Dowd's studio, the great filmmaker, adventure filmmaker, and advocate in his own right. And while he edits the episodes together, we just the two of us go and film these episodes with the climate heroes and sit down with them to do the interviews for a few hours. So I identify change makers in collaboration with one of my teammates at Project Drawdown, Drew Arrieta. And then I'm there sitting down with people, like setting up our figuring out what our little sets should be in their workplaces, and then, of course, like advising what the edit should be, what's the narrative, what we want to really highlight for each of those folks. So, everything creating the series to helping identify interviewees, to coordinating on the logistics with them, to sitting down and interviewing with them, and then also hosting launch events to, and other opportunities to help get their stories out there. That's awesome. So, what are some of the cross-cutting themes that you've had going through them or some highlights that you'd like to share? Oh my gosh, that, well, that's one thing I love the most about interviewing because even prior to Project Drawdown, I'd probably, you know, Longform had interviewed 100 plus change makers and then in my work with Drawdown's Neighborhood, it's been 60 others. There are also a lot of like short interview clips where it's only a few minutes, like social media sound bites that I've done. And I have seen that one, just overall, that the people that we feature, the climate heroes, so to speak, but also anyone who's showing up to make an impact. 

Like they are people too. And we often idolize people who are doing really great work as being exceptional when I've realized that the people who show up to make an impact are just like you and me and just like the listeners. And in fact, many of them are also probably people that I would categorize as climate heroes, or as heroes in their own right for whatever they're doing. So I think about the fact that many of them like start where they are, like they acknowledge the truth of the challenges that they face, whether that's, you know, in my case, for instance, like grief and loss and losing my dad or some other challenge, they don't shy away from those things, but they own the lemons in their lives and then they Take those and make lemonade. And so it's like that comes in the form of them, like owning their uniqueness, owning their story, owning their difference. And then I really, as a storyteller, think of it as them rewriting the narrative. Like they're not going with the narrative that we as individuals are powerless. They're not going with the narrative that they're not good enough for some reason, you know, they might. Again, similar to me, might have imposter syndrome and the like, but they're not letting that limit them from taking action and showing up. And so that's some of what I've seen in terms of how people have found that their stories and who they are is a superpower. But, I mean, other themes, just to list them out, are like personal and community resilience, collaboration, because no one person is doing it alone. There's the power of like diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. There's, it's like So much more. I could go on and on. But like, you would expect, like in any conversation that you have, and even in this podcast, we see it, like there are so many examples of cross-cutting themes. And, you know, I see the same thing in, in the work I do on storytelling, which is amazing. Like, it's cool to see that as different and diverse as we are, there's so much that we have in common that's kind of brought us to where we are. If even, and this is the last thing I'll say, like a sense of hope that our work matters. Oh, for sure. 

This work does matter. I don't know. Anyone who thinks this work doesn't matter is not one of our listeners. No, you need to believe it because then why else are you showing up to do that work each and every day. And so that's maybe the part that's really hit me the most is that like, yeah, people who take action on climate and otherwise are very hopeful group of people. And I think for good reason, because our work does make an impact today and hopefully it'll make an impact in the long term to, you know, save our planet and preserve it for future generations. Yeah. And it does. And the, the connectivity is the important part, and that's what we're here to do is to connect environmental professionals and to open up a space for young professionals and people just getting into the field too, to understand, like you just said, we're all just people. You might come into the field and go to a networking event and feel like, cause everyone has degrees and educated for the most part, you know, so then you're like, oh, I don't, I don't know. I hear this all the time as a career coach, it's like, I don't have anything to bring to the table. Yes, you do. And even if you do. But even if you don't have those degrees, like you have so much to bring. And I often reference the, well, the Climate action Venn diagram, popularized by Dr. Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson, where she talks about like, what brings you joy, the kind of the three circles of the Venn diagram being, what brings you joy, what you're good at, and what the problems are that you want to solve. And then at the middle of that is your climate action. 

And I'd love that within Drawdown's Neighborhood, available at drawdown.org/neighborhood, we have so many examples of people who, like, regardless of their degrees, regardless of the challenges in their lives and the backgrounds, you know, unintentionally, because like, none of us knew about this Venn diagram approach before we, I mean, got To this point, many of them don't know about it, but they're doing what brings them joy, they're doing what they're good at, and they're solving the problems they want to solve. Not just like any problems that we're told are important, but problems that are personally relevant to them and their skills. And so I love that like everyone has power, but it's just a matter of finding what that power is sometimes. Right. And then so, you know, part of the goal is to connect and bridge all of us together who are fighting this fight together. But what are the other goals in putting this out there for maybe educating people who aren't aware of these things or what the problems are? Like, how does having these conversations help sort of bring in everyday people into the conversation? Yeah, well, I mean, people start at so many different levels. So you have some folks who I've often heard referred to as the climate choir, who are people who are like, probably listening to these conversations, or whenever they started listening to this podcast, like, maybe they weren't in it, but they're definitely in it now if they're listeners of the podcast. And it's folks who are already like passionate about environmentalism and about taking action. On climate issues. But then there are also folks who aren't yet as familiar. There are folks who don't think about solutions and who don't know what their role can be. And so, at the base level, I feel like with storytelling, I start from a place of wanting people to know that like climate solutions exist, that we can do something, because so often the dominant narrative is about the problems. Like, we could probably turn on. The news right now and see that. 

But there's also the whole other part of the story, the whole, whole other half of the story, which is about what we could do about those problems. So, knowing that climate solutions exist is important. Knowing that people implement those solutions is also important because so often when we think about big problems, we don't think about, like, who's taking action, what are the levels. needed, what are the systems that have power to do something. And then within that, recognizing that those systems are made up of people is really important. So there's not, like, the problems that we're facing aren't, you know, magical or from out of nowhere. And the solutions also aren't from that place. Like actual people, including, you know, our neighbors, people we meet day in and day out, are people. who are, you know, one contributing to the problems, but also even more contributing to the solutions, or the power to do that. And then I think from there, like, helping people see that they could be those people contributing to the solutions is so critical. And so that is what I want to get across is to get everyone sort of leveled up to the point where we know solutions exist. We know people. Contribute to them. We know that we could be those people contributing to them. And then Project Drawdown has a bunch of resources to help folks do that, whether that's at this point, like the Drawdown Explorer, which we just released at Project Drawdown, people could check that out at drawdown.org/explorer, um, that came out at Climate Week NYC this year. And it's just a more in-depth look at a variety of climate solutions. And, you know, helping people see that, that we're not hopeless. Like we are powerful. but we need to choose to embrace that power and to do something, even if it's our own, like, drop in the bucket, that can make a big impact. Right? Absolutely. 

How has having these interviews and doing the show and working at Project Drawdown, how has it changed your own personal perspective on climate? Oh, that's such a good question, because I didn't see myself as a climate person before Project Drawdown truly. Like, actually a couple of years before I applied to the role of Project Drawdown, I attended. A training with the Climate Reality Project for the first time at the recommendation of one of my friends, just to point to the importance of like, our friends and peers, like putting us on, I'll say, to this type of stuff. And that was really my first exposure to in depth to climate change and what I could do. I knew about climate change and, and the problems of it and everything else, even back to being a fan of Captain Planet and the Planteers as a kid, and like all this stuff was out there, but I never saw my role in it. And it was, you know, before Project Drawdown, kind of to lead up to your question, it was seeing, like, people who I related to, who didn't care about the emissions first and foremost, but who cared about people, who cared about community, who cared about joy and health and equity. Like those things drew me in. It was being at Project Drawdown, this science-based organization where I realized that while I was someone that cared about the more human aspects of climate solutions over the science and data and the numbers, but that was OK. Like, it's OK to be someone who's not, and I say this lovingly, like someone who's not nerding out about the data and the numbers, and your eyes might even gloss over sometimes when you hear, you know, these things explained, it's OK to be someone who's motivated by building. Um, better, more beautiful, more resilient communities.

 It's OK to be someone who's motivated by helping people find their purpose and power and make the most of their own, like, superpowers, so to speak, and showing up. So I think I really realized that we speak in so many different languages, often about the same thing that we want to lead to. Like, I might be thinking about people and humanity and justice, but also someone else might be thinking about their kids and how they create a brighter future to them for them. And when we're able to communicate with each other about where we wanna go, like, we realize, oh, I'm not in it alone when it comes to these problems. Like, oftentimes people are not talking about climate change and climate solutions, but when we bring up those conversations, like, we're on the same page about wanting this better, brighter future for all of us. And I, I love that, that we have more in common when it comes to these issues than we don't. Right, absolutely. And I think too that that makes a lot of sense where like, I think a lot of people right now are struggling with so much happening in the world, like, what problems should I fix? And I think you, it's important to understand that you don't have to try to fix all the problems. There's plenty of people with different interests and different Things that led up to where they are that make them want to attack a certain thing. Some people have a history of cancer in their family, so that they're going after cancer. There's someone else who has a history of abuse, and then so they're tackling abuse, and then there's other people with animal rights, and there, they're going after that. So like, yeah, back to the Venn diagram, pick the one that feels right for you and just focus on that one, you know, and not trying to fix everything. And then, so watching a show like that, you can watch the other people who are doing stuff, let them do it and then go do your thing. Yeah, and also recognizing, like, building on what you said that even within an issue like the climate issue, the climate crisis, that I could see that as an incredibly important issue, but I don't need to become, and I have not become a solar installer. Um, you know, I haven't become someone who's like delivering food that would be wasted to people who are hungry in order to ensure. That we're not wasting as much food or someone who's worked in another capacity with another solution. 

There are so many different roles doing all this work and even my role with storytelling and communicating with folks and, and in part educating folks about these issues or inspiring them about their roles. Like that is one way of plugging in and that's my way of plugging in. But there's not a limit to what People can do to bring their, and you'll hear me say it again, they're superpowers to solve these issues. Because like if you really think about it, and this is one of the things I, it's unfortunate, but I appreciate it. Like, climate change is one of the most intersectional or interconnected issues of our time, where you, there's the Connection with our family, and there's connections with women and girls and education and so on and so forth. Like with everything, there's a connection, even just down to the fact that we live on this planet. And so you could find ways to connect what you care about, even if it doesn't seem relevant to addressing these issues and being part of the solution. Another thing I wanted to touch on that I saw in your profile was human centered design. Is that something that you still focus on and and work with and how do you, how do you use that? I would say that I was most inspired by human centered design in my time at Second Muse. So I, I'm informed by it in the sense that I recognize and, and this really goes more specifically back to this idea of complexity theory, which I learned about in my, through my old job. Uh, which is just this idea that we need people from a range of stakeholder groups to solve any problem. Like we can't just look to only the city officials or only businesses or only investors to solve a problem. We need people from all sorts of levels of systems. We need whole systems to show up in rooms to solve problems. And so that is definitely something that I bring into my work and that human centered design approach. Even in the I would say informs my storytelling, where I want people to see the value in people from a range of perspectives. I want people to be open to asking more questions and learning from other humans along the way. And then designing programs based on that, that are not only resonant and relevant, but that are more impactful because we've heard from people from a range of perspectives. Awesome. 

And then, OK, so you are also a podcaster, yeah, outside of my work for the most part, yes. It's called Rob Has a podcast. Rob, Rob is a podcast. Yes. Happy to talk about Rob is a podcast. What's that about? So I actually, just before I started at Project Drawdown, I started as a podcaster on Rob is a podcast and as context, because R Rob is a podcast is a wild name for a podcast network. It's not like entertainment, reality TV media, you know, but Rob is a podcast. RHAP is something I actually started listening. Listening to Quince thenley just after my dad passed in 2017. And I became this fan of it because I was a fan growing up and still am a fan of unscripted TV or reality TV and also scripted TV and all that stuff. And Rob is a podcast is this great place where you could listen to people that you don't know who you develop pair social relationships with, as we, as happens through podcasts about these shows, like breaking them down and analyzing them. So you can imagine, like, why Watching a show like the show Survivor, which I love. And watching an episode for 90 minutes, then after, you're buzzing like, Oh my gosh, why did this person make this strategic decision? Why did these people not get along? Like this person made that mistake or that funny character moment happened. Like, let's talk about that. That's what Rob is a podcast is all about. But I have two main shows on Rob is a podcast. One of them is called Pod Friends, where I, I guess people wouldn't be surprised that I, that this This is the theme of it, but with pod friends, I interview people who have been part of the network as other podcasters. 

I interview sometimes people who are on the shows who are part of that reality TV community. And then I also have another show called The Pride Has Spoken, where I interview LGBTQ plus people who were on the show Survivor about their stories, about their experience. So it's like my way of nerding out about reality TV. Because so many people just look at TV and they're like, Oh, that's so stupid. They're so silly. And I have those moments too. But isn't it better when you have like friends to talk about it with or people to listen to talking about it? So that's, uh, what my podcasting work. But what is the draw? Because some people would say, OK, fighting climate change, that's like, you know, good, you know, we're talking good versus evil. Good. Reality TV evil. So you're kind of like, like, what, what. Oh, that puts you into reality TV. And it could be people and stories. That would be obvious. Oh, that's a huge piece of it. That's a huge piece of it. Because growing up, especially as a young black queer person, like, I did not see myself represented in TV or in media in ways that felt like they were me, in ways that weren't based in stereotypes. And, and also, I think just as a person in the world, at least for me, seeing how other people live or operate or move through the world. is a way that I feel like I better understand the world. Like, I'm sure there's so much, there's so many types of people who I haven't met or interviewed yet, but like people who have, I've learned about their experiences. Like, I give this example, which I know is one of the favorites of the show Survivor, but earlier this year, on Survivor season 48, they have, they're on 48, actually they're on 49 seasons right now and counting. It is still on. And 2 seasons a year, keeps going. We can no doubt about that later on another episode of the podcast. 

But, you know, there were these two people, two characters, Joe and Eva. And Joe, you know, he was cast for the show. They're all cast for the show, but Joe showed up and was motivated in the show by the loss of his sister to, it's interesting how much this is coming up in, in the conversation, but the loss of his sister, unfortunately, to domestic violence. And so he was really motivated by that, and he shares A lot of that story along the way, which is not something that, you know, someone who's watching Survivor is expecting to hear. And then he formed a friendship with Eva, and Joe being in his mid-forties, Eva, younger, I think maybe in her late twenties, but she was the first person cast on Survivor who had autism. And so she was talking about that and how that affects her ability to communicate with people and know when people are telling her the truth and lying and all these things. And so for me, there are like beyond the You know, sometimes like over the top competition or if we're talking about the housewives shows, which I don't watch as much, like flipping tables or throwing drinks in people's faces, like, for me, the part I gravitate to is understanding more of how people navigate because I mean, with Survivor, you know, I guess probably my favorite or my go to reality show, like, there are so many challenges people face. There's so many dynamics that you could see reflected in everyday life. And I also love that it's a family show where one of my teammates at Project Drawdown has even said this, that like, it leads to some really powerful conversations about like ethics and integrity and relationships and all these other things. So I think that like anything is what you choose to get out of it and how you choose to look at it. But that's my plug for reality TV and finding your show. cause like, it's not, some of it is, some of it's not gonna give you much of that. But, you know, that's where you have to pick and choose. 

I've only recently been exposed to more of it recently because my roommates watched tons of it. Like, like after they're. watching life after lockup. They're watching the below the deck shows. They're watching all this stuff. And I'm like, wow, this is a whole world I knew nothing about. Yeah, so that's not like that. And that's not even like the like I have never watched Below Deck or Love Island or like, I barely watched The Bachelor, Bachelorette and all that. So you have different flavors for people, but I will also say just the other piece of it is that it's nice that people could have a form of escapism. In a world of a lot of heavy stuff, even when it comes to climate change and, you know, all these environmental topics, like, I think one of the things that's helped keep me sane has been just not having a social media feed that's inundated with the news, even living in DC, not having a social media feed that's inundated with politics. It's nice to have positive messages and also just things that are silly and make us laugh and, you know, help us disconnect because we are, you know, just like someone, I don't know who said like we are what we eat, like, we are also what we consume in our media diet, and that's something I try to be really thoughtful about. Yes, absolutely. And is there an unscripted climate reality show? There should be because I think it has Matt Scott's name on it. Call me, call me, get connected, like we can make it. Um, but no, I, I mean, there should be more of that. I will say earlier this year, I was part of the Hollywood Climate Summit hosting some events around our upcoming drawdowns Neighborhood Los Angeles series but also meeting a lot of people along the way who are with these different networks and show. So some of them in unscripted TV, others in scripted TV or podcasts or other forms of media. And yeah, we don't have that the ideas there and you have the connection. So like you to come back and thank me after it's a hit. Um, no, I mean, I love it. I, I know, and I will say it's been interesting because I, this year have thankfully done presentations for a number of groups. I mentioned Hollywood climates. Summit, the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance, which has folks like NBC Universal and Netflix and Amazon Studios, and like, think of a big studio, they're probably represented there. 

And, you know, there are people who are definitely trying to shift the narrative, and it's happening little by little. We're seeing it, but we need all of it. We need more of these stories to shift. So I'm saying, like, call me up, happy to be an executive producer, co-creator. Of a series, like, and I always just love like more of these ideas of how we could do it in a way that feels ethical and authentic and not extractive from the people featured because there have been some attempts like that at these types of shows, but I think that, yeah, there's a lot of possibility. It does sound like I am the person to call Laura for like the climate solutions reality show. The Venn diagrams there. So yeah, get in touch, please. Awesome. Well, we are running out of time. Is there anything else that you'd like to touch on before we let you go? Yeah, I'll just mention that I have a webinar coming up at Project Drawdown happening on World Food Day, October 16th, and I'll be talking about food and storytelling, which go together so well. Food is great in general to hear about. Storytelling is also great in general to hear about. So it's those things coming together, and I'll be giving a bit of a preview of the drawdowns. Neighborhood LA series, and some of the stories that are featured there. So you could join that if you go to, I mean, Project Drawdown on any and all of the social media platforms, usually at Project Drawdown, but we're also on LinkedIn, we're on Instagram, we're on Blue Sky. 

Check us out, and I'm sure you could find a link to that webinar. And again, I'll say visit drawdown.org/neighborhood to check out Drawdown's Neighborhood. I'm so proud of the stories that we've been able to tell there in collaboration with, just to give a shout out, um, not only Eric Dowds of Dowd's Studio, my teammate Drew Arrieta, our stories follow Daphne Prodis, but also Jothsna Harris of the Organization Change narrative. And then finally, if you want to follow me, like, follow me on platforms, connect with me on LinkedIn, Matt Scott on LinkedIn. I'm LinkedIn.com/in/mattscottGW. Fun fact, that's my link. And also, Matt Scot GW on all platforms. So those are all of my plugs and announcements. But thanks for having me here and just the opportunity to share more about all the, the many things I'm up to. I will also say one other thing is that if people out there want to share their own climate stories or how they're working on climate solutions, at Project Drawdown, we have an initiative called the Global Solutions Diary, which you can check out at drawdown.org/diary and submit your video story of how you're Taking action. So, I'm never at a loss for things to point people to, as you could tell, but I want to make sure to get that last one and in case people want to share their stories, because all the stories matter and I hope to see people submitting them. Absolutely. Very cool. And if you're listening too, you can always send your field stories to us with our form online at environmentalprofessionalsradio.com. But thank you, Matt, for joining us today. This was really fun and I'm looking forward to checking out all of these things, and we hope to talk to you again soon. Thanks, Laura. Talk soon. That's our show. Thank you, Matt, for joining us today. Please be sure to check us out each and every Friday. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Bye. See you, everybody.