What do disasters reveal about human nature? | Rev. Katie Mears + Autumn Brown | Climate Changed

In this full-length episode of Climate Changed, host Autumn Brown speaks with Rev. Katie Mears, Senior Technical Specialist for U.S. Disaster and Climate Risk at Episcopal Relief & Development. Together, they explore what it means to live, love, and lead in a climate-changed world where disaster, displacement, housing, and belonging are increasingly intertwined. Katie brings nearly 20 years of experience in faith-based disaster response, helping communities prepare for, respond to, recover from, and adapt to disasters across the United States. This conversation moves beyond familiar climate action language and asks deeper questions: What does faithful climate adaptation look like? How can faith communities become places of welcome for people experiencing displacement? What does housing justice have to do with climate change? And how might disaster response invite our hearts and imaginations to grow? Autumn and Katie discuss climate mobility, land grief, queer and immigrant vulnerability in disaster systems, climate gentrification, the limits of individual household-based recovery, and the spiritual practice of expanding the menu of choices available to people after disaster. The episode begins with a grounding reading from Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell, inviting listeners to consider how disaster can reveal human generosity, mutual aid, and unexpected community. Featured Guest Katie Mears is the Senior Technical Specialist for U.S. Disaster and Climate Risk at Episcopal Relief & Development. Their work focuses on people-prioritized, climate-adaptive disaster response, especially around housing, displacement, climate risk, and community resilience. Learn more: Climate Changed Podcast: https://climatechangedpodcast.org/ The BTS Center: https://thebtscenter.org/ Episcopal Relief & Development: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/ Katie Mears’ articles: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/?s=ka... A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo... Adaptation Through Shock by Katie Mears and Sarah Labowitz: https://carnegieendowment.org/researc... Stay Connected Email: [email protected] Voice Message: 207-200-6986 Chapters 00:00 Opening quote from Katie Mears 00:24 Welcome to Climate Changed 01:47 Grounding reading from A Paradise Built in Hell 03:59 Introducing Katie Mears 05:28 Autumn Brown welcomes Katie 05:36 How Katie began disaster recovery work after Hurricane Katrina 08:34 Spiritual leadership, chaplaincy, and climate disaster 10:32 Land grief, place, and the loss of home 12:00 Safe, sanitary, secure — and chosen 13:26 Climate mobility and the limits of the term “climate refugee” 14:41 Housing, climate adaptation, and climate gentrification 17:39 Mitigation, adaptation, and moral imagination 19:09 Faith communities as places of welcome 21:29 Stories from Hurricane Irma and Maria recovery 24:13 The state of disaster response in the United States 26:13 Why individual solutions cannot solve collective problems 28:35 Collective solutions and unlikely collaborators 30:14 Expanding the menu of choices after disaster 32:40 Liberation, agency, and spiritual leadership 34:02 Queer families, immigrant communities, and disaster response 37:44 Open-heartedness, sharing, and the Grinchy heart 39:09 A practical next step from Katie Mears 41:53 Closing reflections and resources 43:07 Blessing 43:29 Preview of the next episode #ClimateChangedPodcast #TheBTSCenter #KatieMears #AutumnBrown #climateadaptation #disasterresponse #housingjustice #ClimateMobility #spiritualleadership #faithandclimate #climateresilience #podcast #climatejustice #ecospirituality #climatechange #creationcare #faithandclimate #spiritualecology #earth #sacredearth #climateaction #sustainability #environmentaljustice #regeneration #climatehope